life story Archives - Lifestyle Architecture Lab

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 217 // Week 50 // 2022

December 10, 2022 No Comments

Hi Friends!

Greetings from Mumbai!

It’s been a while since I published this newsletter. Life gets in the way. Other critical things became priorities. But I’m glad to be able to make it back here.

Even though I’ve not been publishing this newsletter. but I’m writing consistently in private or publishing short writings on my Twitter.

In the past few months, I’ve become passionate about smart note-taking and how to better capture and retain what we consume. So you’ll be having more and more coming in this newsletter as I’m trying to make better notes from the books I read, videos I consume and conversations I have.

So here is to a few start for my weekly newsletter and the weekly review exercise.

Without further adieu, Here is this week’s Saturday-Pentacle. A list of things and ideas I found Interesting.

Issue 217 // Week 50 // 2022

A person I’m highly inspired from—

Nathaniel Drew – He and his YouTube channels have been a constant source of inspiration for me. His perspective and how he turns those ideas into beautiful pieces of art videos. Wow. It’s just mind-boggling. You can see that in the video I shared as the next bullet in this newsletter.

Here’s his YouTube Channel and Twitter.

A thought-provoking video I loved —

Success ≠ Happiness – In this video Nathaniel shares his perspective and his friends’ perspective on happiness and how it is not connected with success.

Here is a snippet from the video to get you curious –

Success is synonymous with our career. But you could be really unsuccessful in your career but you could be a successful Father. So you need to meditate on which area you want to be successful at.
– Eric Tabach

A song I loved —

You – Gabe Coulter – I got referred to this song from Ali Abdaal’s Spotify wrap 2022 and I instantly loved it.

A podcast episode which I loved —

Tim Ferriss Podcast with Roland Griffiths – This was such a great episode. Tim is sounding drunk on wine and having a conversation with Roland who is terminally ill. But it doesn’t sound anywhere like a pity conversation. So many great nuggets and funny moments in this conversation.

Quote which I found meaningful –

Don’t get frustrated with someone who YOU didn’t tell properly WHAT to do.

Better delegation comes from better SOP documentation and timely check-ins.
— one of my mentors

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu

PS. – I’m on Twitter and Instagram. Follow for regular tidbits.

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 217 // Week 50 // 2022

podcast, podcasts, regular

#19 – Rajat Ubhaykar (Journalist and Author of the book – Truck De India) – Hitchhiking 10000kms with Truckers of India and writing for a living

March 9, 2020 No Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:00 — 48.5MB)

In this episode, I’m talking to Rajat Ubhaykar who is a journalist and author. His first book “Truck De India” launched in late 2019 and since then it’s trending in top travel books in India. In this book, he shares his 10000km hitchhiking adventure throughout India with Truckers. He documented the lives of truckers, the highway economy and busted a lot of myths about truckers.

In this conversation, we talked about his book, his writing process, a lot of stories he actually lived through while on this crazy journey, including an insurgent attack in northeast India

It was a great experience talking to Rajat about his own story and his documented journey called “Truck De India”.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Rajat Ubhaykar.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#18 – Delton Dsouza (Adventure Film Maker and Director of Photography) – Living life one adventure at a time!

February 23, 2020 No Comments

Delton Dsouza on zipline over some forest with Action cameras mounted on his body. — Delton Dsouza

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:43 — 63.8MB)

In this episode, I’m talking to Delton Dsouza. He’s an adventure Film Maker, Director of Photography and Cinematographer. He’s been publishing his amazing adventure outdoors videos on YouTube including his BikePacking Series. His video editing works are just out of the world. He’s also done commercial work with names like Vogue, Flipkart and more.

In this conversation, we cover a wide variety of topics – his creative process, how he transitioned to this creative career from a regular airline job. We also talk about his YouTube series called BikePacking. There is a lot of nitty-gritty details if you are an aspiring filmmaker, YouTuber or Director.

It was just pure joy listening to this guy talks about his passion.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Delton Dsouza.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#17 – Chhavi Sachdev (Founder of Sonologue and Independent podcast consultant) – Telling stories through Audio and bringing podcasting to life in India

February 19, 2020 No Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10:00 — 64.1MB)

In this episode, I’m talking to Chhavi Sachdev. She’s an independent podcast producer, consultant, and coach. Basically one-stop-shop for podcast production. She is also the most experienced podcaster in India; she has been making podcasts since 2008.

She is also a multimedia journalist and has worked with names like BBC, PRI and NPR. When she moved back to India from the US almost 10 years back, she saw almost nobody in India was working with the new intelligent medium of storytelling which was podcasts. So she embarked on this long journey of making the Podcast medium relevant in India. Like smart and intellectual radio stations.

Meanwhile, Chhavi worked on interesting projects and co-founded IVM which is a big podcast production company now, but she left after a short stint and eventually founded Sonologue which is her own podcast production company. She has worked on a wide array of projects in Audio and it reflects in her production value.

Chhavi has also been conducting regular workshops for individuals, colleges, corporates, as well as NGO’s. Her 4-hour crash course in podcasting is fairly popular.

In this conversation, we cover many of the things about podcasting, the state of radio industry in India. Her productive routine, tools and tips about podcasting.

I had a blast having this conversation with Chhavi.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Chhavi Sachdev.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#16 – Ashish Bedekar (Chief Product Officer of picoNets and a Startup Mentor) – Predicting the future by the patterns of the past.

December 18, 2019 No Comments

Ashish Bedekar Portrait

Ashish Bedekar

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:12 — 65.2MB)

In this episode I’m talking to Ashish Bedekar who is the Chief Product Officer of Piconets (a company which is working on revolutionising Content Delivery Network system by working acceleration the last mile performance. To simply say he is making the Internet sites you see daily, load on lighting speeds and meanwhile decrease the cost.

He is also a productivity expert and a start-up mentor. He works with many start-up incubators to nurture and support start-up companies who are focusing on clean-tech, energy, Internet of Things (or IoT).

There are a lot of small tools and apps you’ll learn in this episode about and can implement to improve your productivity.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Ashish Bedekar.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#15 – Venkatraman Pichumani (Founder of YouTooCanRun) – Cultivating uncorrupt behaviour, Providing world-class user experience and Coaching Cardiac patients!

October 30, 2019 No Comments

Venkatraman Pichumani

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:45 — 77.6MB)

In this episode I’m talking to Venkatraman Pichumani who is founder of YouTooCanRun, a company through which he provides a 360 degree platform to organise sports events starting from the registration process till the event wrap up. YouTooCanRun is leading the charts in the end to end user experience it provides. He is also the Founder of the Zippers Club, which is a very unique club where he coaches people who have or had cardiac conditions, he trains them to run long distances and even Marathons. Venkat himself is a long distance runner despite having a cardiac surgery years back.

In this conversation we talk about his life journey, things and experiences from the 80s and 90s. How he surrendered his CA title after achieving financial freedom and started various ventures and found success in many of his entrepreneurial acts. All of this and much more in this episode.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Venkatraman Pichumani.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#14 – Aditya Shroff (Author of the book “The Best Life Ever”) – Taking the road less travelled, being a writer and living the best life ever!

September 22, 2019 No Comments

Aditya Shroff
[Image Courtesy – Aditya Shroff]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:11 — 82.6MB)

In this episode I’m talking to Aditya Shroff popularly known through his blog as “The 5AM Guy” who is also an author of the book “The Best Life Ever”. He is also a competitive runner and frequently gets podium positions in various running races. He leads quite a simple but interesting life at a farm in a Village of Gujarat. After doing his engineering from Mumbai, he got a high paying job in Germany but eventually dropped that job and came back to India to work on his passion which is writing.

In this conversation we cover a wide variety of topics – how he took the brave decision to drop the job and work on his passion and live on a farm, his creative process while writing the book. How he got the book published and even got a forward from a celebrity whom he didn’t directly know. How someone, who has a passion can convert it into a profession. All of this and much much more is in the episode.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Aditya Shroff.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#13 – Kuntal Joisher (First vegan to climb Mt. Everest from both the sides) – Living a life of compassion and Summiting the highest mountains!

September 15, 2019 No Comments

Kuntal Joisher
[Image Courtesy – Kuntal Joisher (Instagram) ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:44 — 90.4MB)

In this episode I’m talking to Kuntal Joisher who became the World’s first Vegan to scale Everest in 2016 and now in 2019 he has summited Everest again from the North Side becoming the only vegan on earth climb Mt. Everest from both the sides. Kuntal’s expeditions are driven by compassion as a Vegan and he also spreads awareness on Dementia. He has also been on the cover of multiple international Vegan magazines. Apart from his mountain expeditions he works as a technology professional and also speaks at various events through out the globe as a public speaker.

In this conversation we talk about his story, how the early exposure to the idea that it’s ok do crazy things seeded his life with the sense of adventure. How his journey as a mountaineer started and the moments when he was first awestruck with the magnificence of Mt. Everest. His training regime and advise for people who are aspiring to summit Mt. Everest. It’s all in this episode.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Kuntal Joisher.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#12 – Gopi Vadsak (Aawaari) – Breathing emotions into visual art and making it come alive!

August 20, 2019 No Comments

Gopi Vadsak (Aawaari)
[Image Courtesy – Gopi Vadsak (Instagram) ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:05 — 55.9MB)

In this episode I’m talking to Gopi Vadsak popularly known on Instagram as Aawaari. She is a visual designer, stylist, photographer and a creative director. Her creative photos and videos go viral every now on then on the Interwebs. Her work has been recognised by the likes of Adobe. We touch base on a variety of things in this conversation like – Her story, her struggle with anxiety and her way out of it, her creative process. How creatives like her make money in this profession and on what scale they should charge. How to work with whatever tools you have in hand to make something awesome! All of this and much more.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Gopi Vadsak.

Links and references from the episode –

podcast, podcasts, regular

#11 – Monica Chopra (The Eco Trunk) – Living an ethical Lifestyle, contributing towards a sustainable planet and bootstrapping an online store!

August 13, 2019 No Comments

Monica Chopra (The Eco Trunk)
[Image Courtesy – Monica Chopra]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:28 — 69.1MB)

In this episode I’m talking to Monica Chopra, who is an entrepreneur and has built up a company named The Eco Trunk which curates eco friendly products on their online store, to help people live a conscious lifestyle of Veganism. She herself is a Vegan and cares a lot about the environment and the carbon footprint.

In this conversation we talk a wide variety of things starting from her own story. Leaving a high paying career to finally go forward to her calling and building up The Eco Trunk from scratch. How our environment is getting worse and what measures we can take as individuals to reduce our carbon foot prints. We also talk about challenges she faced as a young entrepreneur and go In detail about the issues like pain points of the modern online stores like package delivery system and sustaining the company.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Monica Chopra.

Links and references from the episode –