The Blog of Himanshu Sachdeva
Shibani Gharat (CNBC Awaaz)
[Photo Courtesy – Shibani Gharat (Instagram)]
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:49 — 49.3MB)
In this episode, I’m talking to the Shibani Gharat, who is the principal correspondent at CNBC Awaaz News Channel and also an ultra marathon runner. She has travelled to more than 32 countries. On her Instagram page, she shares her fit lifestyle with the audience and inspires thousands of people.
An audiobook I listened and loved –
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker J. Palmer – I listened to this book and it felt like I listened to this book too fast and should have at least listened to it with a very slow pace as Author Parker put out the fact of “what you can be” instead of “who you are” with such ease that it’s almost like a piece of cake. For some people, this book is the advise that they were waiting to listen from someone (anyone).
But when the book is over in almost a couple of sittings and then you wonder why it got over and then you relisten to it twice more.
Link – Audiobook at Audible | Book at Amazon.in
My most popular Instagram post recently —
MirrorCube!
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…Click the photo below to read the entire story.
A Person I’m fascinated with —
Aditya Shroff – He is a young author (26) and recently published a book named “The Best Life Ever”. I know him through running, as he’s almost always in the top 3-4 runners in any race he runs.
He lives in a farm in the Gujarat state of India. To me, he’s indeed living the best life ever.
Check out his profile to get inspired – Instagram
A song I’m re-listening —
Oceans by Seafret – I listened to this song almost 3 years back for the first time and it took me on a ride. A world where I found myself to be anything I want. Maisie Williams (Arya Stark from GoT) blew my mind with her expressions in this video.
Check it out – Spotify | YouTube
Quote I’m pondering on lately –
If it’s humanly possible, you can do it.
Marcus Aurelias
Until Next Saturday!
Thanks for reading.
Himanshu
A couple of things I could use your help with:
No spam, ever. Only great stuff.
Saturday-Pentacle – Week 21 – 2019
Mental health has a lot of stigma around it. It can take someone who is struggling with a mental disorder into really dark places, in some cases even suicide.
So I thought why not talk about it and spread some awareness.
These conditions not only consist of severe conditions like Schizophrenia but also a few as mentioned below which may seem negligible, but in reality, they are not.
Do you feel a sense of dread, not being able to breathe, relax or sleep? Feel like you are losing control of your life and are going to die? Feel trapped in your own mind? Always feeling like you are missing out on something.
I too have dealt with one of these issues (anxiety) and I know what it feels like. I have seen a few close friends and relatives too who dealt with one of the more severe conditions. In a few cases even going to the stages of therapy and rehab.
Pain in the chest, heart racing, feeling a cloud of worry gonna choke you? In more intense cases, even thoughts like – “Is it worth it?” “What is the meaning of this life?” can start creeping up.
It can be any of the conditions I mentioned above – anxiety disorder, clinical depression or even bipolar disorder.
While dealing with anxiety, I experienced that what worked for me was natural remedies which were pain-free.
Before we can move on to learn about these remedies. Let’s first understand what is the difference between these conditions which are common?
A product I’m excited about –
SmartHalo 2 – This minimal bicycle computer is beyond amazing. It looks to fit so well on the bike that it looks like an integral part of the bike itself.
It automatically starts tracking your bike rides and also can sync them directly to Strava, Apple Health and Google Fit. The cherry on top is it also turns into a headlight with 250 lumens light intensity. Which is huge to have in a bike computer.
Check out this film by SmartHalo guys. I’m so inclined to buy this, maybe I will soon.
Links – KickStarter | Indigogo
My most popular Instagram post recently —
Mahamanav (superman)!
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…Click the photo below to read the entire story.
A product I’m fascinated with —
Vegan Bags by Broke Mate – A few weeks back when I was researching for one of my podcast guests, I found out that in fact there are many Vegan companies in India and number of these companies are growing like anything now.
One of these companies which stood out to me was – BrokeMate
Even though (right now) they just have a women’s line up as of now and I checked with them if they gonna come up with Men’s line up of bags and wallets sometime soon? The response was positive and I’m excited about that.
The materials used in making these women bags and wallets are all vegan and Peta approved in fact. So If you care about the environment and would like to switch your normal leather bags or even other material bags. These bags from BrokeMate look classy and chic, aesthetic wise.
You can check out their website for these bags or check out their Instagram Page.
A song I’m loving —
Con Altura – First – This is a Spanish song, so you may not very well understand the lyrics. But..but…but…Once you listen to this song, it will do rounds in your head, I can quite assure you that.
This is by Spanish artist Rosalia. Even though you may find the music video a bit sassy. But she’s very thoughtful of the songs and videos she does, check out her other videos as well on YouTube. I can recommend another one which is Bagdad. A different level of music video creativity.
Go check it out – Spotify | YouTube
Quote I’m pondering on lately –
The secret to your success is found in your daily routine.
John C. Maxwell
Until Next Saturday!
Thanks for reading.
Himanshu
A couple of things I could use your help with:
No spam, ever. Only great stuff.
Saturday-Pentacle – Week 20 – 2019
A tool I found useful –
CloudFlare – I recently got introduced to this CDN service and to my wonders it just reduced a lot of issues my website was facing – performance, security and weird 501 (service down) errors. This service is like a proxy server plus a content delivery network (CDN). So if you have a site – blog or podcast or any other person or a brand website. I recommend using CloudFlare as your CDN system. It will make your life much easy. I literally brought down my site’s loading time from 10+ seconds to under 1 second. Go check it out.
My most popular Instagram post recently —
Asiatic!
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…Click the photo below to read the entire story.
A Person I’m learning more about —
Sonam Wangchuk – Oh yeah he’s the one who inspired the Aamir Khan’s 3 idiot movie’s character Phunsukh Wangdu. However, he says that he is not Phunsukh Wangdu. I really wish to get him on the podcast someday.
He is an Indian engineer from Ladakh and also an innovator and education reformist.
He has also been conferred a Doctorate of Literature. Here is a video of his speech from that day in the presence of The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind –
A song I’m loving —
Don’t Worry Bout Me – This song by Zara Larsson has been running in loops. It has that tempo beat which keeps you going and focused. Loving it.
Go check it out – Spotify | YouTube
Quote I’m pondering on lately –
Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect.
Unknown
It means that you decided to look beyond the imperfections.
Until Next Saturday!
Thanks for reading.
Himanshu
A couple of things I could use your help with:
No spam, ever. Only great stuff.
Saturday-Pentacle – Week 19 – 2019
A Conversation I really loved –
Neil Gaiman — The Interview I’ve Waited 20 Years To Do – This conversation on The Tim Ferriss show with Neil Gaiman (one of my favourite fiction Authors), just took me to another world’s ride. It even got me intrigued again towards fountain pens.
Don’t miss this one –
My most popular Instagram post recently —
Bottled horse!
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…Click the photo below to read the entire story.
A YouTube channel I found really helpful —
MrAlexTech YouTube Channel – If you are a video editor or a YouTuber who is attracted to an amazing of video editor – DaVinci Resolve. You’ll find this channel really helpful. The nitty gritty and the tricks which actually make wonder to your videos. This channel has almost like 5-10 mins how to video on different things about DaVinci resolve and related stuff. I actually made my first MultiCam video for my podcast learning from his YouTube video.
Check out his channel he’s really good.
A song I’m loving —
Tere Jeya Hor Disda by The Yellow Diary – This song from one of my favourite band (I’m a little biased because one of my friends is in the band – Stu, but you’ll know when you hear this if you haven’t yet) just takes me away from all the worldly sufferings.
Check it out.
Quote I’m pondering on lately –
The meaning of life is to find your gift
William Shakespeare / Pablo Picasso (Quote is attributed to both)
and the purpose of life is to give it away.
Until Next Saturday!
Thanks for reading.
Himanshu
A couple of things I could use your help with:
No spam, ever. Only great stuff.
Saturday-Pentacle – Week 18 – 2019
A book I’m loving –
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – When I stumbled upon this book in the Audible Store while searching for some fresh books to add in my reading/listening list. I had very low expectations (contrary to the title) and kid you not, I took some time while breaking into this book, in the beginning. But when I got hold of the characters a bit and was comfortable with the narrator’s voice in my Audible app. This book has covered half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening on a daily basis from past some days while commuting back home from work.
Great book with a wide array of characters and I just wonder how the author (Charles Dickens could hold so many characters in his mind while writing. The plot just keeps on slowly opening up.
I would definitely recommend this book.
My most popular Instagram post recently —
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…Click the photo below to read the entire story.
A playlist I’m loving —
Netflix n’ no chill – This spotify playlist is a mix of chill vibes and melancholic electronic beats. Awesome to just let loose and listen to it and be in the moment.
A video I found helpful —
Multicam Editing and Sync WITHOUT Audio in DaVinci Resolve – I’ve been using DaVinci Resolve as my primary Video editing tool from past 1 year. Recently when I started thinking about podcast video episodes as I’ve only been doing audio episodes for a long time, my main insecurity was how will I handle Multicamera footage from different angles, one camera on guest close up and one on the full scene and one on myself. Syncing multiple video angles and audio was a major major issue in my head. But the below YouTube video resolved it completely and I was able to learn how to do multicam with audio syncing in almost like 7 minutes. Greatly recommended if you are a video make or YouTube creator or even just an enthusiast for videos of interview format.
Quote I’m pondering on lately –
Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you.
Unknown
Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you.
Until Next Saturday!
Thanks for reading.
Himanshu
A couple of things I could use your help with:
No spam, ever. Only great stuff.
Saturday-Pentacle – Week 17 – 2019
First of all an Announcement —
This year I’m trying to make my blog and my podcast self sustainable as there is a lot which goes on monetarily apart from the human efforts I put out myself. For this purpose, I’ve integrated with Patreon. Patreon is a service/site which helps creators like me be supported by their readers or Fans. So you can support my work every month by becoming my supporter at Patreon. You can support me with as low as Rs. 70 (or $1) per month.
By doing this you not only provide your support to me but also get the benefits as per the support level you choose. Some of the benefits are –
So please consider becoming a Patron to me and my work and you’ll receive the benefits and immediate access to this annual life review post and more exclusive stuff.
Go here to check me out on Patreon and support or click the Patreon button below –
Post of the week –
#7 – Bijay Nair (#TheyINSpire) – Active War Deployments, Becoming a Leader and balancing your life and passions – In this episode, I’m talking to the Bijay Nair, who is a former Lt.Cdr of Navy. He also a blogger and author. He has written a book named #TheyInspire. He’s also an endurance runner and a corporate professional post his retirement from defence services.
In this episode, we talk about his story. How he got into defence services despite all the financial and other difficulties. His naval academy day and some stories from his active service deployment times. At some places in this conversation, I literally got goosebumps listening about the armed forces and the sacrifices they make for the nation.
Please enjoy!
My most popular Instagram post recently —
Intercom!
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…Click the photo below to read the entire story.
A video I found helpful —
As I and my family are working on the organization of our home a lot more now. So for upcoming kitchen work, during my research, I found this video for Indian Kitchen Organization very helpful.
Go check it out on YouTube.
Quote I’m pondering on lately –
If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
Michael Pollan
Until Next Saturday!
Thanks for reading.
Himanshu
A couple of things I could use your help with:
No spam, ever. Only great stuff.
Saturday-Pentacle – Week 16 – 2019
A Camera lens I’m intrigued towards –
50mm Prime Lens – I love the pictures and video which has a great depth of field. So while researching and discussing with other photographers and filmmakers. I found that 50mm prime lens for almost every brand with f stops of less than 2 is a great lens to get that sweet bokeh effect. I’m very much inclined towards buying this lens. But I shall try it out by renting it before I put in the real chips.
In case you are interested, here is a great video explaining this lens.
If you own a DSLR here are a couple of links for buying one – Nikon | Canon
My most popular Instagram post recently —
Did the drinks just start to shrink?
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…Click the photo below to read the entire story.
A Person I’m fascinated with —
Gopi Vadsak – This visual artist/photographer has really stunned me with her each piece of work. New perspectives and techniques used in photographing the subjects. Her work is just amazing.
Go check her out – Instagram
A song I’m loving —
Sunflower by Post Malone, Swae Lee – I recently watched the animated movie – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The movie was amazing but the song by Post Malone got stuck in my head. For a few days.
Go check it out – Spotify | YouTube
Quote I’m pondering on lately –
The best camera isn’t the one you have. It’s the one you master.
Matt D’Avella (Filmmaker and YouTuber)
Until Next Saturday!
Thanks for reading.
Himanshu
A couple of things I could use your help with:
No spam, ever. Only great stuff.
Saturday-Pentacle – Week 15 – 2019
Lt. Cdr Bijay Nair (retd)
[Photo Courtesy – Bijay Nair (Instagram)]
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:50:37 — 101.3MB)
In this episode, I’m talking to Bijay Nair, who is a former Lt.Cdr of Navy, a blogger, an author, an endurance runner and a corporate professional post his retirement from defence services. He has written a book named #TheyInspire.