Extracts from a Diary

Traditionally, I wasn’t much of a New Year’s resolutions guy. Nor much of a “how has this year been” reflecting-type either. January 1st is an arbitrary date chosen to start a calendar year. One could just as well introspect about the past 365 days or initiate a resolution on, say, 29th Aug, and it shouldn’t make a difference. But, it does. And 31st Dec/1st Jan works great, at least in terms of neatly bookending events occurring in a given year. Last year, inspired by a practice that The Missus has been a regular with, I wrote a letter to my future self. You can write to yourself from here ( https://www.futureme.org/ ). It allows for different durations, or you can choose a custom date, and it’ll come to your inbox at the end of it. Consider. I also had second thoughts and some mild reservations about ‘publicly’ introspecting on the year that was, or the plans/hopes for the year that would be. Mostly because I am still finding my voice and am not sure if it is a good idea to write abou...

Examining claimed market failures, government intervention, and the regulatory alternatives that were ignored It’s not often that you get one clean-and-cut story that at the same time showcases: Government’s natural tendency to consolidate more power and reduce citizens’ freedoms, their swift movement in doing so, in a growing industry that has a large number of business-to-consumer users, and the overwhelming discourse, even among the otherwise basic economics educated individuals, is actually cheering them on in this move. But, that’s what happened. The government (of India) recently came out with a bill that effectively banned ‘real money gaming’ (RMG). It banned apps that allowed or facilitated gambling or fantasy leagues, where people bet actual money. It’s a 10 page bill and can be read here ( link ) if one is interested. It passed on Friday, 22nd August 2025 after the President Droupadi Murmu signed on it. In about 4 days from the time it re...

Introduction: How an AC Explains More Than You Think It’s peak summer. The temperature outside is 37°C. You’ve just switched on the AC and set it to cool to 24°C. A sensor detects the external temperature and notes it to be above the target temperature. The controller receives observes this gap and commands the system (in this case the cooling fan) to start the cooling effect. The fan begins cooling, initially with greater intensity due to the high error signal. A sensor constantly checks the room temperature. Gradually, the error signal shrinks, the fan slows, and eventually runs at the speed needed to maintain the target temperature. This post isn’t about how ACs cool a room; it’s about how most complex systems — teams, habits, cravings, cultures, and many other things — behave. We often think the world runs on linear relations and straight causal links. Instead, it runs on loops. This generalised flow: Goal → Sensing → Action → Feedback → Adjustment → Sensing → Repeat governs not j...

<2nd Nov 2012, 1144 am, Versova, Mumbai> Long time no see! I think this datestamp thing of mentioning when a particular article was being written is something that I might be skipping soon. There have been multiple posts that I started in between the last published one which for whatever reasons (like losing interest in the topic I was writing about or wanting to write down something more urgent and important) I've not completed. And, this practice of maintaining a datestamp of each of these things tends to psychologically make me want to complete an older incomplete article than to start writing about my latest fascination. But, I am digressing from what I intended to write in this particular post. I've always maintained that the human mind is among the strongest and most fascinating things (self-serving/narcissistic statement made by my human mind, yes I know). So, whenever people seek other people's advice (and I do too, obviously) there is this part of my br...