Regular programming will resume once I heal a bit more. Thanks for understanding.
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Hey, <<First Name>>!
I don't even know where to begin. One of my favourite people on Planet Earth was taken away from me in an unnecessary accident and for all the stoicism I read and philosophy I talk about - nothing seems to be working.
Sanath Rao was one of my best friends and the equivalent of a brother to me. We had the pleasure of working together for one whole year and I have learned so much from him in the process.
Sanath was always smiling and jovial - he had this ability to light up everyone around him and made entire roomfuls of people feel warm. Sometimes he did that by making fun of me in public. In the 20 years that he was around, I'd known him for less than 20 months - yet he made me and everyone I introduced him to feel like they've known him for a lifetime and beyond.
Sanath was also an amazing learner. Always hungry to get better. Zero qualms about asking for feedback and always willing to put in the hard work. 3 days before his untimely death and minutes after having a CTR Dosey with me, he worked on an Excel Sheet while we sipped hot coffee at Kalmane Coffee.
Sanath never judged people. He practised a form of radical acceptance and knew how to talk to different kinds of people. In Eventosaur, he found a family and we found a kid brother we could pamper, spoil, and groom.
And groom him we did - only because he let us do so. While his peers were busy spending holidays doing whatever 20-year-olds do - Sanath would rush to office directly from college. His college was in Mysore and I remember a time when he landed in Bangalore, asked his parents to meet him at Lalbagh or Majestic to hand him over his lunchbox and then directly came to office. Which 20-year-old does that?
Sanath became our go-to benchmark for any incoming talent. Will they be ass passionate as Sanath? Will they have his sense of belonging? Are they as coachable as Sanath is? - these are things my co-founders and I always spoke about...and I think we will continue to do so.
I often tell people that my team is built like a cross between a family and a sports team. How does one bounce back after losing one's most promising upcoming player and a potential heir? I don't know.
If you read my blog and my emails, you'll probably watch me come to terms with this tragedy via my consumption habits or writing. They say time heals. I hope we find a way. His wonderful family, us, and every other life that he touched in his short time here.
One thing I've learned is that gratitude helps. I visited 5 colleges as part of an entrepreneurship drive by the Government - as a speaker. My co-founder TJ visited 4 more. Out of the 2000+ students we got to interact with during that trip in late 2016, Sanath was the only one who stood out and joined us as an intern. He spent one whole year with us. Not just the holidays...any weekend, if he was in Bangalore he was with us. He attended my co-founder Setu's wedding and made all of us dance and celebrate there.
There are so many people who didn't get to meet Sanath or spend as much time with him as I did. For that, I am grateful. He truly was too good for this world. I don't want to send you away from this post without adding value to your life.
Sanath has a parting gift for you. He maintained a Google Keep note of all the important truths he encountered anywhere. Some of it he attributes to us, but we actually read it somewhere and shared it with him. He read it whenever he felt like he wasn't happy with where his life was going or if he needed that extra bit of inspiration. If he were around, he'd have given me permission to share it with you.
Truths:
Nikhil Jois, [03.07.18 18:58]
1. Nikhil Jois : We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.
2. Nikhil Jois : Stand your ground when you know you're right. It's very easy to be on the receiving end through no fault of ours.
3. Setu : Along with a to-do list, make a to-not-do list that includes everything that needs to be avoided that day/week/in long-term. This may include social media, distractions, any bad habits etc that may be slowing us down. Works pretty well.
4. Varsha Shenoy : "From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event."
5. Nikhil Jois : Every time you are presented with a new opportunity, give it a score from 1 to 10 in terms of importance in your life and the impact the opportunity can have. You are not allowed to give the score 7. 6 and below means no. 8 and above means yes.
6. "Any man can stay sober in the desert.
Only the loyal can sit in an oasis and refuse to part lips" - Dan Brown
7. Pro sales tip ... Be good at finding the g-spot of a customer
8. Stream of consciousness journalling is super helpful and builds your ability to describe your surroundings and feelings as a writer.
9. “It’s not how well you play the game, it’s deciding what game you want to play.”—Kwame Appiah.
10. Potassium chloride when injected in the body causes immediate death that look like an apparent heart attack
This is very much noted from my side, Sanath 😂
11. Exercising is a good analogy for writing. If you’re not used to exercising you want to avoid it forever. If you’re used to it, it feels uncomfortable and strange not to. No matter where you are in your writing career, the same is true for writing. Even fifteen minutes a day will keep you in the habit. - JENNIFER EGAN
12. Afford yourself the luxury of time to find what you need.
13. If I asked you to name all the things you love .... How much time would you take to name yourself?
14. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
15. Dialogue is always more important than consensus
16. Behind every sleepless night is a whole day that goes to waste ... might as well flip that coin. Unless of course you feel more productive at night. - Sanath
17. Nikhil Jois:
The key to high energy is to always be playful and enter any situation hoping to play and have fun
18. You don't always have to take a perfect approach to things. While writing an article, instead of always thinking of the comfort of the other person, perhaps put what they need to hear there. If it makes them jump, they will register what you're trying to say. And most times, that's important. Abandon the formalities sometimes. Write stupid instead of insipid or intolerable. And don't forget to let yourself come out to play. - Sourya Banerjee
19. The stress you take isn't worth the years it'll cut from your life. It especially isn't worth all the friends you'll never meet again. - Vandita Morarka.
20. sometimes it the people that no one imagines anything of, do the things that no one can imagine
21. In a long enough timeline, the least stressful path is also the most honest one. True of every scenario and relationship.
22. If you find yourself in a thought rut, challenge yourself to think of a new thought, no matter how mundane. It could be anything that doesn't borrow from the past. Keep the past away.
23. Perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add but when there is nothing more to remove
24. Not every time you get something out of trying to help people
Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it anyway
25. Reassuring even those who take it for granted that you care about them is better than assuming they know.
26. Your energy introduces you even before you speak. Cultivate a fearless approach to life. Attack everything with boldness and energy. Nikhil Jois, [03.07.18 18:58]
27. It's all about that person you miss at 2pm when you're busy, not 2am when you're lonely.
28. Mentorship is more import than we take it to be. It’s like finding the right girl. If you think you’ve found THE ONE, you’re lucky af.
The earlier the better(only in case of mentorship though😂 not girls/boys).
29. Inspiration should be a habit. Watching an Inspirational video once in a while will not change anything. Inculcating the watching inspirational videos/ listening to podcasts or ted talks should become a daily or at least a weekly thing. That is when it will actually matter and the affects will show.
30. Your state of mind and your ability to focus and concentrate depend majorly on the cleanliness and sanitation of your living space/space you spend time working. It works vice-Versa too.
31. https://www.julian.com/blog/running-an-agency - some parts of it are too fucking helpful
32. Never reply when you’re angry
Never make a promise when you’re happy
Never make a decision when you’re sad
- The pursuit of Happyness
33. Priority links closely to perspective. Assuming a certain person's priority has changed without looking at the persons perspective of the situation is just half knowledge.
34. Blood bonds don’t matter when it comes to family. Feel lucky to have certain people in your life, and be a part of theirs too. Remember these people had a choice not to keep you this close, and yet they chose otherwise. They are family in the true sense of the word. Nothing could make them feel better than just listening to them whenever they have something to say, as they say it with the deepest of concerns and the truest of love.
36. We always have the urge to stay in a constant state of happiness and whenever things get a little down, we tend to think it’s the end. Seeing the bigger picture helps as we then know that we are cut out for much more than just one moment of happiness or sorrow. So when things don’t go your way it isn’t right to find a means to gain temporary happiness or relaxation. This will only slow you down from achieving your end goal.
37. We are all so blind when it comes to looking to the future, making up perfect scenarios just to satisfy ourselves. This is also the reason why we tend to get disappointed when we don’t get our version of reality. Set realistic goals and work towards the most ideal scenario. That way you’ll know what you’re getting into, and you will be cautious to avoid the foreseen shortcomings.
38. Learn to recognise when people just want to be heard and differentiate that from when people want a solution from you. Offering a solution instead of a shoulder and/or ear won't work. Other way around is true too. Context matters. Failure to find that difference usually ends up leading to conversational Narcissism
39. Failures don’t become stepping stones to success unless you make them so.
40. Having a wish list is very important. If we don’t have things to look forward to, we lose our drive to work. The moment that happens, eventually we shun growth and lose our will to live.
41. Never give in, never give in, never never never in nothing . Great or small, large or petty never give in. Except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to a force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy .
- Winston Churchill
42. If it entertains you now and will bore you someday, it’s a distraction, keep looking
- Twitter share by Nikhil Jois
