BookMarks #115: Dream with Your Eyes Open

Title: Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey

Author: Ronnie Screwvala

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoirs, Entrepreneurship

Published: 2016

BookMarks

“Dream with Your Eyes Open” is not exactly an autobiography but more of a collection of lessons learnt in what goes in making a successful entrepreneur. The book narrates the author’s learnings from his various ventures starting from his childhood, like selling balcony seats at his family home to get a glimpse of the stars at a premiere, starting a theatre group, a toothbrush production company and multiple ventures into the media space! And all along he passes on the learnings he has acquired from his experiences from the struggles, the success and most importantly the failures.

Here are a few nuggets taken from the book about entrepreneurship

• Entrepreneurship is a journey, not an outing.
• Entrepreneurship is about living life on your own terms.
• Dream huge and dream with your eyes open
• Risk means pushing the envelope when others want to take the safe route, and caring more about potential rewards than possible losses.
• As long as you have the hunger to succeed, innate confidence in yourself and in your abilities, the guts and conviction to take sensible risks and a can-do attitude, you will prevail.
• Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.
• Entrepreneurship in a nutshell: action and reaction; understanding, confronting and transcending fear; working, disrupting and succeeding; trying and failing. And then laughing about it all later, while absorbing lasting life lessons.
• When you start from scratch, you’ve got nothing to lose.
• Deep knowledge comes from doing.
• Authenticity is at the heart of effective communication.
• The importance of acquiring domain knowledge—or at least the ability to ask the right questions if you want to succeed in a new initiative at scale.
• Failure is inevitable. One of the hardest and most enduring lessons everyone in business learns is that not all great ideas succeed. Plan for failure. Embrace failure. But understand that failure is a comma, not a full stop.
• Failure can be a stronger motivator than success.
• Failure is more interesting and instructive than success.
• You’re not answerable to anyone but yourself.
• Level your gaze beyond the horizon. Life is too short to allow others to make you feel inadequate.
• Do what needs doing. Figure out what went wrong and fix it.
• Plan for success and insist on survival. To survive is to give yourself a fighting chance to succeed.
• Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
• Exits are about creating value and letting go when the need and opportunity arise.
• Focus occurs in the present.
• Most success springs from feeling joyous and confident, believing one can accomplish almost anything—and sporting victories contribute to such euphoria. The day India wins big at the Olympics and becomes a global player in sports, we will already have become an economic superpower.
• It's all possible.

Overall and engaging read. It also helps that the Ronnie Screwvala’s journey has already been in the public eye. So getting to know the background of these ventures makes it more interesting. 

Previously on BookMarks: Endgame 

BookMarks #114: Endgame

Title: Endgame: An Insurgency on Wall Street

Author: Sheelah Kolhatkar

Genre: Non-fiction, Finance, Real events

Published: 2023

BookMarks

Invested money was likely to appreciate much more rapidly than income in the future, which would only increase the gap in wealth between those who already had money and those who didn’t 

- Thomas Piketty (Capital in the Twenty-First Century)

Endgame narrates the events surrounding the short squeeze and unprecedented rise in the share price of Game Stop stock in 2021.

This is a short volume. The subject is interesting, the protagonists are interesting, there is lot of history built up, it is a fight of the underdog against a rigged system. And yet, somehow the book just falls flat. The narrative seems abandoned and hurriedly finished at the same time. While we learn about a few characters, the book seems more like an extended trailer rather than an entire movie!

Previously on BookMarks: Landmark Judgments that Changed India 

BookMarks #113: Landmark Judgments that Changed India

Title: Landmark Judgments that Changed India

Author: Asok K Ganguly

Genre: Non-fiction, Law

Published: 2015

BookMarks

As the title says, the book focusses on some of the key cases which provided landmark precedents and brought the Constitution into its current shape. Over the years, the judiciary through its interpretations has adapted the legal system from its British origins to one more suitable for India.

The major cases discussed in the book include (a) Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, which limits the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution; (b) Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India which defined personal liberty; (c) Golaknath v. State of Punjab, where it was ruled that amendments which infringe upon fundamental rights cannot be passed.

Following are some of the highlights from the book

• Definition of Constitution: The set of the most important rules and common understandings in any given country that regulate[s] the relations among that country’s governing institutions and also the relationship between those governing institutions and the people of that country.
• The Constitution is the autobiography of a nation - it articulates the conscience of the nation in particular and of mankind in general. This voice is most eloquent in the judgments of the constitutional courts.
• The Indian Constitution is based on three fundamentals, which form the core of constitutionalism. They are: (1) A written Constitution, (2) A chapter on fundamental rights, and (3) Limited government
• In all representative democracies that the government is one of laws and not of men.
• The book emphasizes the role of due process and precedence. As it states, the law is uncertain. It does not cover all the situations, where the decision may go either way. Hence the need to follow the due process always.

Overall, an interesting read on how some judgements have played a key role in shaping the Constitution. 

Previously on BookMarks: Learning How to Fly 

Road To Paris – Episode 6

Since Episode 5, there has been some activity but no major progress on the qualifiers front. Here is a brief recap of the past two months.

Football: In the Round 1 of Women’s Asian Qualifiers – India beat Kyrgyzstan 4-nil & 5-nil to qualify for the 2nd Round, whose matches will be held in Oct-Nov ’23. 

Boxing: At the Men’s World Championships: India won 3 Bronze medals, their best-ever performance via Deepak Bhoria (Flyweight), Mohammad Hussamuddin (Featherweight) and Nishant Dev (Light Middlewight). The first two are also in Olympics weight category

Weightlifting: At the Asian Championships, Bindyarani Devi got a Silver medal in the 55 kg category, while Jeremy got a Snatch silver in the 67 kg.

Athletics: There has been a flurry of activity on the track and field with quite a few athletes making an appearance across the globe. Neeraj Chopra (is it a surprise) started his season with a World Lead throw winning the Diamond League opener and became the first ever India athlete to top the IAAF rankings!

And off the track

The Wrestlers vs Wrestling Federation saga continued and got murkier. The agitation continues with neither the wrestlers nor the Brij Bhushan Singh backing off. Careless and casual comments from those in charge are also not helping. This really needs an early resolution.

Meanwhile the qualification race is heating up. Till next time!

Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports: 2, Events 5, Entries:7, Athletes: 7 

Links: Episode 5 

BookMarks #112: Learning How to Fly

Title: Learning How to Fly: Life Lessons for the Youth

Author: APJ Abdul Kalam

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoirs, Compendium

Published: 2016

BookMarks

I am born with wings So, I am not meant for crawling, I have wings, I will fly.

The book is a collection of speeches given by Dr. Kalam in his interactions with students across India and the world. As always, simple but inspirational words. Here are a few bookmarked items from the book.

• The tools for life: have a great aim in life, continuously acquire the knowledge, work hard and persevere to realize the great achievement. Finally, how to manage failures and success in life. And you will definitely succeed in all your missions. It does not matter who you are.
• Knowledge = Creativity + Righteousness + Courage
• Learning gives creativity, Creativity leads to thinking, Thinking provides knowledge, Knowledge makes you great.
• Goal - I realize that aiming small is a crime. If something important is at stake, the human mind gets ignited and the working capacity gets enhanced manifold.
• The culture of excellence is driven by innovation and creativity. A nation’s economic development is powered by competitiveness. Competitiveness is powered by knowledge. Knowledge is powered by technology. Technology is powered by innovation. Technology and innovation are powered by resource investment.
• The important aspect of creativity is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of something different.
• The important elements that constitute a nation are: being disease free; high earning capacity; high productivity; harmonious living and strong defence - Thiruvalluvar. How can all these elements be provided to citizens of every nation?
• We learnt, dreamt, experimented, failed, recovered and succeeded.
• The test of a human being is in accepting the failure and to keep trying until he or she succeeds.
• What worked yesterday, will not work today.
• Leaders must have a vision…a passion to realize the vision…be able to travel into an unexplored path…know how to manage success and failure…have the courage to take decisions…and be transparent in every action. Leaders must work with integrity and succeed with integrity.
• A culture that values wellness and healing will create a flourishing society—productive, creative, healthy and peaceful.
• Excellence happens not by accident. It is a process.
• Science is an eternally evolving enterprise. It is a never-ending journey across generations of committed researchers. Science thrives when it converges to solve pressing challenges of the world and this is the 21st century requirement from engineers.
• Coming into contact with a good book and possessing it, is indeed an everlasting enrichment.
• It says for those who do ill to you, the best punishment is to return good to them.
• Your beliefs become your thoughts Your thoughts become your words Your words become your actions Your actions become your habits Your habits become your values Your values become your destiny.

Simple & actionable words, to be put to use in life.

Previously on BookMarks: Krishna - the Man and His Philosophy  

By Dr. Kalam: My Journey 

BookMarks #111: Krishna – the Man and His Philosophy

Title: Krishna – The Man and His Philosophy

Author: Osho

Genre: Non-fiction, Philosophy, Religion

Published: 1991

BookMarks

The book is compilation of talks given by Osho on Lord Krishna, the Bhagavad Gita and contrasts with Jesus Christ, Gautam Buddha and Mahavira. The narration is in a Question & Answer format and covers the course of a few days as Osho talks to his followers.

Some of the messages are:

On God & the world: God and the world are not two separate entities. They are like body and soul. The visible part of the soul is known as the body, and the invisible part of the body is called the soul.

On war: Confronted with the challenge of war, man's brain begins to function at its highest level and capacity. In times of war man's intelligence takes a great leap forward, one it would ordinarily take centuries to make. All our cooperative efforts and institutions are the products of war. It is called cooperation for conflict.

Individual vs collective: If you want some evil act to be done, you will find it easier through a group than through an individual. The law of evolution doesn't apply on individual it applies on group

All great persons are born ahead of their time, and all insignificant people are born after their time. It is only mediocre people who are born in their time.

We worship those who perplex and defeat our ability to understand them.

If one has wealth, one can have the suffering of his choice

Happiness and suffering are like clouds passing through the sky. They come and go.

Nobody has any difficulty finding in the Gita what he wants to find.

They say that man has only to remember what he has forgotten. has to remember who he really is, who he is right now. He does not have to do a thing except recollect what he has forgotten.

Everyone is unique: Everybody has his own karmas to fulfill, and they will go through them. Everyone is unique and different. God is a creator, not a technician, and he only creates original things, first-hand things. To be oneself is the only virtue and to be another is a sin. Imitation is wrong. It is ironic that we imitate those who never imitated others.

The story of a great person can never be historical, it is always poetic, mythical, mythological. It is so because it is written retrospectively.

To live on this planet problems will always be needed, because it is through our struggle with problems that we grow and mature.

On Work: Work for what? Why does man work? Man works so he can live. And what does living mean? To live means to celebrate life. We work so that we can have a moment of dance in our lives. Really, work is just a means to celebrate life. But the irony is that the way we live there is no leisure left to sing and dance and celebrate life. We turn means into an end; we make work the be-all and end-all of life. And then life is confined between two places, our home and the office. Home to office and back home is all we know of life. (In the WFH environment, even that “to” has gone missing.)

Everyone is mad with running and reaching somewhere. And no man knows where this "somewhere" is.

Entertainment and celebration are never the same. In celebration you are a participant; in entertainment you are only a spectator.

On future: Man is an animal who makes promises. We are captives of the future, we live in future hopes. Man wastes all his todays in the hope of a tomorrow that never came.

The meaning of a word does not, as is usually believed, come from the dictionary.

Life begins where logic ends.

That which attracts you is not your type; it is the opposite of your own nature, because the opposite attracts. Opposites are complementary to each other.

One who clings to his past cannot come to truth, because truth is always now and here, it is in the moment. Truth has nothing to do with the past nor with the future. Truth is really timeless, and one who lives in the past can never be in the present. Truth and time don't walk together."

That which helps life grow, flower and dance ecstatically is religion. And that which impedes life's growth, which distorts and stifles life's flowering, which smothers life's joy and festivity is irreligion.

Some simple explanations and some complex ones. Do not necessarily agree with all of them, but he does present and interesting perspective. No wonder Osho was so wildly followed. 

Previously on BookMarks: The Importance of Being Earnest

Road To Paris: Episode 5

Well, it’s been a while since the last episode of the Road to Paris series. There have been quite a few developments in the journey. Here is a look at the major ones in the past 5 months.

Quota Places

Athletics

• 20 km Walk (M) – Akashdeep Singh breaks the National record to beat the Olympics qualifying standard. He was joined by Vikash Singh & Paramjeet Bisht, making it max qualifiers in a single event for India!
• 20 km Walk (W) – Priyanka Goswami qualifies for the Olympics for the second time in a row.

In other news

Highs

• Boxing: Nitu Ghanghas, Saweety Boora, Nikhat Zareen & Lovlina Borgohain became World Champions, although the field was slightly depleted. Unfortunately, only Nikhat and Lovlina are in Olympics weight categories.
• Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu lifts the Silver Medal in World Weightlifting Championships.
• Manika Batra’s bronze medal at the Asian TT championships after a disappointing run at the Commonwealth Games – seems to be back on track to success
• The Women’s Hockey Team won the Nations Cup and qualified for the next season of Pro Hockey League. They had finished 3rd last time in the Pro Hockey League, so should not have been sent to the qualifiers in the first place!
• The Badminton team won a Bronze medal at the Mixed Asia Teams Championships, while Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand duo proved that their last year’s run in the All England Championships was no fluke by again reaching the semi-finals this year.
• Tennis: Rohan Bopanna became the oldest man to win an ATP 1000 series event. At 43, he is still going strong but does he have a partner for the Paris Games. Meanwhile Sania Mirza has called time on her glittering career. And there is no successor for her.

Disappointments

Men’s Hockey Team finished 9th in a Home World Cup.

Controversies

The battle between the top wrestlers and the Wrestling Federation. Hopefully a rigorous probe will result in a clearing out this mess!

So as usual, with Indian sports it has been a case of some good, some bad, and some downright ugly! Hopefully we will have better tidings in the next edition.

Till Next Time!

Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports: 2, Events 5, Entries:7, Athletes: 7

Links: Road To Paris: Episode 4 

Learn N Blog #25: The IPCC Report

“Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.” - António Guterres, on the release of the 6th IPCC Report.

Mr. Guterres has been known to use cultural references in talks on Climate Change. Remember the “Highway to Hell” reference during COP27!

“There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all….the choices and actions implemented in this decade [i.e., by 2030] will have impacts now and for thousands of years” – This is the key messages from latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). And hence the call from action by Mr. Guterres.

IPCC has been publishing the reports on Climate Change since early 1990s. Following is a brief history of the reports, their findings & imapct.

1st Report (1992)

Finding: predicted a global temperature rise of about 2C by 2025, compared with the period before the industrial revolution that sparked the mass burning of fossil fuels. (In 2023, the rise is 1.4C.)

Impact: Creation of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

2nd Report (1995)

Finding: Climate change is likely to have wide-ranging and mostly adverse impacts on human health, with significant loss of life. 

An Appeal: Where there is a lack of full scientific certainty, [countries] should: ‘take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects’.

3rd Report (2001)

Finding: There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. 

A Warning: Impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately upon developing countries and the poor persons within all countries.

4th Report (2007)

Finding: Delayed emission reductions significantly constrain the opportunities to achieve lower stabilization levels and increase the risk of more severe climate change impacts. The evidence leads to a simple conclusion: the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting … delay would be dangerous and much more costly. 

Impact: IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. However, the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 put the report on its backburner. Hope the same doesn’t hit the 2023 report!

5th Report (2014)

Finding: Human influence on the climate system is clear. Recent climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems [and] many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. 

Impact: The report laid the scientific ground for the UN’s Paris agreement in 2015, which for the first time spurred most nations to cut emissions.

Special Report (2018):

Finding: Contrasted the stark difference between 1.5 & 2.5 C temperature difference

6th Report (2023)

Key messages: In the near-term, global warming is more likely than not to reach 1.5C even under a very low emission scenario. And any given future warming level, many climate-related risks are higher than [previously] assessed. “Without a strengthening of policies, global warming of 3.2C is projected by 2100.”

The Three signposts

1. Climate crisis is fundamentally a crisis of injustice: “The 10% of households with the highest per capita emissions contribute 34-45% of global consumption-based emissions, while the bottom 50% contribute 13-15%.” The climate emergency cannot end without addressing the inequalities of income and gender for the simple reason that “social trust” is required for “transformative change”.
2. Any new fossil fuel developments are utterly incompatible with the net zero emissions required. “Projected CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure without additional abatement would exceed the remaining carbon budget for 1.5C,” the report says. It implies that the oil, gas and coal projects already in operation will lead to rise beyond 1.5C, unless carbon capture technology works at scale (yet unproven).
3. Need for technology and finance: “Feasible, effective, and low-cost options and adaptation are already available.” Solar and wind power, energy efficiency, cuts in methane emissions and halting the destruction of forests are the key ones.

The report acknowledges the daunting task at hand. “The systemic change required to achieve rapid and deep emissions reductions and transformative adaptation to climate change is unprecedented in terms of scale [and] near-term actions involve high up-front investments.” While money is key the report concludes “the costs of climate action are clearly lower than the damages climate chaos will cause.”

Given the dire warnings, as Mr. Guterres says, tackling climate change will require actions (policy, technology, monetary) everything, everywhere, all at once.

Links:

• IPCC Report: IPCC 
• Reports Timeline: The Guardian 

Previously on Learn N Blog: Ozone Depletion & Rejuvenation 

Learn N Blog #24: Ozone Depletion & Rejuvenation

Rio Declaration

Kyoto Protocol

Paris Climate Accords

Global Methane Pledge

Net Zero Pledges

I always wonder if these myriad conferences and agreements on climate have ever had any real impact on the world. Most climate conferences seem to be about making the right noises and then coming back next year to do more of the same!

However, while there is skepticism about the real impact of these conferences and agreements, there is one area in which collective action has yielded the desired results. The “hole” in the Ozone layer over Antarctica is now shrinking and this is attributed directly to the results of the Montreal Protocol of 1987.

Ozone Depletion: observed in the 1970s, there was a depletion of ~4% in the total amount of Ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Antarctic Ozone Hole: Discovered in 1980s, it is not exactly a hole, but rather a reduction in the amount of ozone in different regions of the atmosphere over Antarctica. The reduction is not uniform. Similar “holes”, but of much smaller size have also been observed in the Arctic and Tibet.

Chief Causes: Increased amount of chemicals emissions – chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) present in refrigerants. These compounds when released, eventually break down the atmospheric Ozone into Oxygen.

Impact of Ozone Depletion: The Ozone layer prevents the harmful Ultra-violet rays from entering the earth’s atmosphere. With its depletion, it would lead to increased incidences of skin cancer, sunburns, cataracts and blindness in humans, increased temperatures globally, reduced crop yields etc.

Montreal Protocol, 1987: required countries to stop producing substances that damage the ozone layer, such as CFCs. The Montreal Protocol happens to be the only Treaty ratified by all UN members!

Impact of the Montreal Protocol: Post the ban on CFCs production in accordance with the Montreal Protocol from 1989 onwards, there has been a steady change in the atmospheric ozone. The depletion stopped in mid-1990s and the levels have been recovering. Currently, the hole in the Ozone layer has been the smallest since its discovery in 1980s. And as per current projections, the Ozone Layer is expected to completely regenerate by 2045! Truly, a remarkable success case.

As per UNEP, this has also helped in avoiding 0.5C of global warming by 2050!

Other Causes of Changes: There are seasonal changes to the amount of Ozone in the atmosphere. The depletion is greatest during spring and lowest in winter (when there is hardly any light) Major volcanic eruptions can also cause change in the composition. E.g., the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption of 2022 could have reversed the decline in the growth.

The Challenge

It took 4 decades for the damage to take place and another 7 decades+ to reverse it. Hope that we have not reached the irreversible stage in other areas!

However, there is one more challenge – the deniers. Every claim is denied backed by counter-research which seems equally credible. Whether the ozone layer is depleting, or it is caused by CFCs, or if ozone depletion does any damage – all of these have been disputed subjects by both scientists and the lobbyists.

A Case of Optimism

The reversal of the Ozone depletion through collective action does present a case of hope for the larger issue of Climate Change as well. While it took 4 decades for the damage to be noticed, its reversal is taking much longer. Just showing the scale of the task at hand. But at least, we have an example of how to yield the right result - Identifying the source and then collectively taking the corrective action to prevent permanent damage!

P.S. Unintentionally this post is getting published on the day Google is celebrating the birthday of Mario Molina, who discovered the harmful effects of CFCs on the Ozone layer, with a doodle.

Links:

• Global Climate Agreements: CFR  
• Monitoring the Ozone Layer: Atmosphere 

Previously on Learn N Blog: The Global Methane Pledge

Learn N Blog #23: Global Methane Pledge

What Is It? 

The Global Methane Pledge aims to reduce methane emissions to bring down the global temperature increase.

When was it launched? 

November 2021, in Glasgow at COP26

What do the participants have to do?

Participants joining the Pledge agree to take voluntary actions to contribute to a collective effort to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030, which could eliminate over 0.2˚C warming by 2050. This is a global, not a national reduction target.

Participants also commit to moving towards using the highest tier IPCC good practice inventory methodologies, as well as working to continuously improve the accuracy, transparency, consistency, comparability, and completeness of national greenhouse gas inventory reporting under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, and to provide greater transparency in key sectors.

The Pledge aims to catalyze global action and strengthen support for existing international methane emission reduction initiatives to advance technical and policy work that will serve to underpin Participants’ domestic actions. The Pledge also recognizes the essential roles that private sector, development banks, financial institutions and philanthropy play to support implementation of the Pledge and welcomes their efforts and engagement.

What are the Action Areas? 

It is a wide ranging field covering improved emissions measurement and tracking, reducing food & water wastage, policy changes to regulating emissions from various industries especially oil & gas

Who are participating? 

Approximately 150 countries have taken the pledge including USA and EU.

Who are the Notable Absentees? 

China, India, Russia – 3 of the Top 5 methane emitters have NOT taken the pledge!

Why India did not sign?

The chief reasons given by the Indian govt are

• Methane emissions are survival emissions in India and not ‘luxury’ emissions, as in the case of the West.
• Agriculture is not included in India’s emission intensity target
• Shifting of CO2 reduction burden to methane reduction: CO2 the predominant gas responsible for climate change has a lifetime of 100-1,000 years, while methane has 12 years
• Low global contribution to methane emissions by the Indian livestock
• Methane Pledge outside the ambit of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement

So will the Pledge work? 

Wait and watch. Like every climate related announcement and signing, this also needs time for any actual impact to be visible! However, given that some of the biggest countries have not taken the pledge is seems another case of more words than actions. However, not taking the pledge doesn’t mean these countries are not taking any action in this regard and vice versa. And given that actions are voluntary, there is no compulsion on even those taking the pledge to take any real action.

Links:

• Global Methane Pledge: Home Page 
• IEA Methane Tracker: IEA 
• India not signing the pledger: Link

Previously on Learn N Blog: The Energy Trilemma