My thoughts on the Emptiness of Birthdays and Anniversaries

Yesterday, December 3rd, marked our 18th wedding anniversary.

My wife, Dipti, places great significance on these landmark dates. They are meaningful to her. I am different. I do not.

I will admit: there is a slight, undeniable niceness in the air on these days. It offers an opportunity. It forces a reflection on the journey. Our marriage has been anything but a beautiful fairy tale. It has been rocky. Yet, it is still rock steady and we have put in a lot of work. and we are proud of it.

That reflection, however, is a reminder.

It reminds me how I truly feel about birthdays and anniversaries.

The Visibility Trap: When Expression Meets Effort

 We easily abandon efforts that yield few initial results. We try for a time, then let go.

For weeks, I have contemplated a question: How do I create more visibility?

AI tools and social media experts offer the same advice: Build content. Grab attention.

Conversely, I believe—as Naval Ravikant notes—that quality work naturally attracts its network. We should not chase mindless networking.

This principle may hold true for B2C or B2B services. However, as an individual, you must still present your views for industry leaders and peers to find them. The motive is not ulterior. It is ensuring the voice inside is heard. This matters to me.

The $16 Transaction That Paid Me Back in Joy

The day had just begun here in Chicago when the storm rolled in. The air was cold, the streets were quiet, and I was mentally preparing for a long, slow day indoors.

Then, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door to find a young boy, bundled up in winter layers. 

He looked like a middle-schooler, and he had a well-worn snow shovel in his hand.

He offered a simple transaction: "$16 to clear your driveway."

It had barely snowed, and I knew the biggest part of the storm was yet to come. 

I initially told him to come back later. But the earnest expression on his face—the look of a person hunting for their very first customer—made me pause.

"Okay," I said. "Let's do it."

Why Do We Refresh? The Attention Economy vs. The Production Economy

The question keeps running through my mind whenever I look around the airport or the coffee shop: Why do we refresh?

We aren't consciously waiting for a specific, life-altering message. 

We simply pull out our phones, launch the app, and scroll up. 

That motion—that quick, muscle-memory jerk—is evidence that we have been re-wired to expect something magical to appear. 

We are seeking a dopamine hit, and the platforms are designed never to let that expectation die.

This is the unfortunate side of social media, but to understand the damage, we must first understand the fundamental business model.

The Myth of the "Real India": Why Travel Vloggers Get It Wrong

I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos recently featuring foreign vloggers traveling to India to document their experiences. and something is not right in what is happening.

India is, without a doubt, a complex country. We are 1.6 billion people strong, and yes, we face massive hurdles. Our politics, a collective consciousness often influenced by pseudoscience, and blind faith have sometimes worked against us. I am the first to admit that we have fallen behind in the global race. While we once had a massive advantage with our English-speaking population, countries like China have surged ahead in manufacturing, defense, robotics, and infrastructure. Meanwhile, we are still grappling with corruption that rots our public systems, a lack of jobs, and environmental exploitation. Rivers, forests, air, and food—everything sacred has been compromised. Our civic sense often leaves much to be desired; we ogle, we honk without reason, and our hygiene standards in public spaces needs a complete overhaul.

The Home Espresso Paradox: Why Geeking Out feels like Ruining My Coffee

The more I geek out about coffee, the less I seem to actually enjoy drinking it. 

It is a strange paradox.

I have had a home espresso machine for over a year now. By this point, my routine is set in stone. I pull three double shots every single day.

The first shot: 15 minutes after I wake up and down my first glass of water.

The second shot: Right after breakfast (which changes depending on the season).

The third shot: The afternoon pick-me-up, usually between 2:00 and 3:00 pm.

I have enjoyed this ritual immensely. Making espresso at home is a total banger of a deal. However, I quickly learned that coffee is a rabbit hole. You can totally nerd out and spend an almost infinite amount of money on gear.

I am careful about those things. To keep my adventures controlled (and within budget), I started with a modest Wirsh Espresso machine. It only cost about $110 USD. I didn’t go crazy with accessories, either. I grabbed a heavy tamper, a cheap $6 digital scale, and a couple of nice cups.

Most importantly, I bought a decent coffee bean grinder that gave me control over how fine or coarse I needed to grind. With that setup, I was off to the races.

The 51mm Limitation
My Wirsh machine uses a 51mm portafilter. With time, I learned that this size is distinct from the pro or semi-pro machines, which usually rock a 58mm standard. While the 58mm baskets allow for a wider puck, they require you to build pressure differently. I found that the smaller 51mm size is actually cheaper to manufacture and slightly more forgiving for a beginner home barista.

My learning curve involved playing around with grinding settings, ratios, and puck prep until I finally figured out the beans I liked and how to get the best taste.

The Ratio Trap
Recently, I decided to re-examine my process to see if I could learn a new trick or two. I told myself: Let’s hone in on the output ratios and see if I can make my coffee stand out a little more.

That is where the trouble started.

The first problem is that I don’t have a high-end, micro-gram measuring scale. When you are dealing with espresso, precision matters.

The second problem is the hardware. With a 51mm portafilter, I can squeeze in a maximum of 13 grams of coffee grounds. If I go overboard and touch 14 or 15 grams, the machine chokes and ruins the extraction.

This brings me to the math. If I use 13 grams of coffee at a strict 1:2 espresso ratio, I am supposed to get only 26 grams of liquid output.

That is nothing. It is hardly two sips.

Yes, I can tell that the concentration of the coffee is getting better, and the flavor profile is more distinct, but I can’t get enough of it. It is really messing with the experience I used to have.

Before I started bothering with the math, I enjoyed the silky crema and the beautiful warm tones of a larger cup of coffee. But I seem to have lost that joy recently because I got caught in the ratios.

Espresso is just such a weird thing sometimes. It is nerdy, artsy, techie, frustrating, and rewarding all at once. It is challenging, yet still so simple.

Just like life.

Why Your Cold Email Strategy is Failing?: A 2-Year Case Study

For two years, I stepped out of my comfort zone to take our Inside Sales team under my wing.

The goal was simple: Generate more leads.

The reality? It was anything but simple. We were a brand new team with limited experience. We had to build the plane while flying it—making calls, writing scripts, and navigating the noise of LinkedIn.

We ran campaigns that stretched over weeks. We sent thousands of emails. And while our open rates looked decent on paper (consistently over 20%), the actual opportunities were scarce.

It was a grueling marathon, but it taught me exactly what works—and more importantly, what doesn't.

If you are building an outbound engine today, here is the playbook I wish I had on Day 1.

Stop Pretending Your Layoff Was "Okay"

This is one of the most difficult periods in the IT industry, but the strangest part isn't the economy. It’s our reaction to it.

I’ve noticed a trend on LinkedIn. When people are let go, they aren't necessarily "celebrating," but they are reacting with a bizarre sense of acceptance.

The tone is almost: "Well, it happened. It is okay. On to the next."

They write updates that sound calm and unbothered, almost normalizing the event. 

They hide the anxiety of losing a job they gave years—sometimes decades—of their lives to.

I say this with full sympathy, and I’m not trying to be an ahole.**

But why do we feel the need to act like "it is okay"?

Solitude vs. Loneliness: Why Being Alone Doesn’t Mean Being Lonely

It took me a long time to realize the difference between two very important words: being alone and being lonely.

I have always enjoyed being alone. 

Even as a kid, I felt that I simply needed more time by myself. 

There was just so much to do.

During my early college days, when I first got a computer, I was constantly working with CDs and software. In those days, everything came on physical discs. There were a few tech magazines that were very popular, like Chip and Digit. My mom bought them for me regularly, and they became a ritual.

Because they were premium magazines, they came wrapped in a plastic bag. They covered the latest news from the tech world, but the most important thing was the beautiful CD packed inside. It was loaded with new software, demos, and games.

H1B: A Two-Way Street Turned Political Game

 Job hunting or switching jobs on an H1B visa is a nightmare.

That is the reality.

With the constant news cycles, political debates, and emotionally charged narratives around H1B, the environment has become extremely volatile. I’m not going to go deep into the politics of it. Everyone has an opinion, and most of it is noise anyway.

My view is simple.

H1B is a legal visa that allows highly skilled professionals to come and work in the US. It exists because the ecosystem needs it. Is it abused sometimes? Yes, absolutely. I know companies that charge people money to bring them here, drain the soul out of them, and function more like exploitative consultancies than ethical employers.

But in my experience, the majority do not fall into that category.

Most H1B professionals I’ve worked with have been paid at or above market rates. There are mandated baseline wages for each role, and I have not personally seen anyone working closely with me who was underpaid simply because they were on H1B. In fact, many of them are paid extremely well because their skills genuinely justify it.

Now, it is also human nature for people to feel threatened when the size of the pie feels like it’s shrinking. That instinct exists everywhere. In India, we argue over states, language, caste, and region. So when Indians talk about racism or exclusion abroad, it often feels ironic. But I’ll leave that thread here.

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A Transaction, Not a Favor

I don’t even think the US has done H1B holders a “favor.”

They created a system with strict conditions and hefty fees. People who qualified made it through. That’s it.

It has always been a two-way street.

You contribute to the American economy.
You pay taxes.
You pay visa fees.
You help build companies and innovation.

In return, you earn well, gain global exposure, build a life, and become part of the social and cultural fabric of this country. It’s not charity. It’s a transaction. A fair one.

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Where the Real Problem Lies Today

The biggest challenge now is not the visa itself — it’s the uncertainty around it.

Due to constant political signaling, companies have become hesitant to hire or transfer H1B professionals. What was earlier an uncomfortable process has now become a risky one.

Organizations see H1B hiring as a compliance risk. Tomorrow, a new rule might penalize them for increasing their H1B headcount. Or new conditions may suddenly make their workforce legally vulnerable.

We saw this recently when there was sudden news about H1B fees shooting up to $100,000 and forcing some visa holders to return to their home countries. That announcement caused global panic, only to later be clarified that existing visa holders were not impacted. Damage done. Trust shaken.

For companies, this uncertainty translates into:
“Better safe than sorry.”

For employees, it translates into something far worse.

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Living on Fragile Ground

Being on an H1B visa is already a fragile journey.

You live with:

• Continuous renewals

• Long green card waits (often a lifetime)

• Fear of procedural errors

• Anxiety of policy changes

• Dependence on employer sponsorship

Politics only makes this worse.

You become tied to your employer, not because you want to stay, but because you cannot afford to move. Mobility gets restricted. Opportunities shrink. And in some cases, this creates fertile ground for exploitation.

No professional should feel trapped simply because they chose to contribute to an economy legally and ethically.

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My Perspective After 13 Years

I’ve been in the US for 13 years.
And I have never felt that the US government owes me anything.

I came here by choice. I followed the rules of the land. I respected the system. I benefited from it, and I gave back more than my share through work, taxes, and contribution.

But I sincerely believe programs like H1B should be simpler, clearer, and more humane.

If the country wants to abolish the program and Congress believes that is in the nation’s best interest — fine. That is their prerogative. But don’t use H1B professionals as political chess pieces. Don’t destabilize lives to score vote points.

Let people do the bigger and better things they are capable of. Make movement easier. Make portability simpler. Let talent flow where it is most productive.

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A Thought That Keeps Coming Back

My personal opinion — and I have held this for years — is simple:

Anyone who has spent more than 10 years in the US on an H1B, remained compliant, paid taxes, and met all legal thresholds, should be granted permanent residency.

These are not temporary placeholders anymore. These are people who have built companies, raised families, driven innovation, and strengthened the economy. Making their life easier would not weaken America. It would multiply its potential.

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This is not about entitlement.
This is about logic, stability, and long-term national interest.

And more importantly — it’s about basic human dignity.

The Hidden Cost of Working From Home for Too Long

For years, I have worked from home.

In fact, ever since I moved to the US in 2013, remote work has been my default. I would either travel to customer locations or work out of my home office. As I moved into more senior roles, this freedom became even more natural.

Except for a couple of years when I moved to Florida and worked from a client’s office, I’ve essentially lived a remote-work life for more than a decade.

And while working from home has amazing advantages, it also comes with meaningful downsides that reveal themselves only over time.

Upsides of Working From Home

Massive Freedom
I can pick up and drop my kids. I can step out between meetings to run errands. Life becomes more fluid, like everything fits into one continuous calendar instead of two competing ones.


Extreme Flexibility
This is the big one. No commute. No traffic. No wasted hours sitting in a car or on a train. Honestly, it’s hard for me to imagine now how people willingly choose to spend a couple of hours every day going to and from work.


Better Energy Management
You can tailor your environment, take breaks when needed, eat at home, and generally run your day without the usual office friction. For many years, this felt like the perfect setup.

Downsides of Working From Home

This is where reality hits after you’ve lived remote life long enough.

The experience becomes stale
You start craving the freshness of stepping into an office—new spaces, new energy, random interactions, the simple human feeling of movement. Sitting in the same spot for years begins to feel like creative suffocation.


The magic of serendipity disappears
Offices are not just workplaces—they’re idea factories.
Being remote is like being on a mission: you execute what you already know.
Being around people helps you figure out new missions—what really matters, what has value, what direction the team should take.
That randomness is underrated, and it’s lost when you’re remote for too long.


Leadership becomes harder
In corporate jobs, leading teams, influencing decisions, and building relationships is a requirement—not optional. You simply can’t survive without it.
Remote leadership works on paper, but in reality, subtle things get lost: body language, mood, hallway chats, trust-building moments.
You only realize how important these are when they’re gone.


Freedom becomes a curse
This one sounds counterintuitive.
But having an open schedule, especially as a leader, is one of the hardest things to navigate.
When you are senior enough and have done things right, most of your time becomes unstructured.
You’re often staring at a blank page—your day, your goals, your plans. And that blank page can feel overwhelming.
Remote work amplifies this loneliness. There’s no natural rhythm, no environmental cues, no spontaneous direction-setting.

Why Full-Time Remote Is Less Than Ideal for Senior Leaders

This is my honest takeaway after more than a decade of remote work:
full-time remote work is great for execution roles, but not ideal for senior leadership.

Leadership needs presence—physical energy, human connection, proximity to people, and the ability to influence through the subtle moments that never get scheduled on a calendar.

If there’s one thing I would change about my work today, it’s this:
I would not be fully remote in a senior role.
Not because remote is bad, but because leadership requires a level of in-person richness that simply cannot be replicated behind a webcam.

From Cloud to AI: How Tech Vendors Profit While Businesses Hunt for the Real Gold

Not just now, but since the gold rush era, one thing has been consistently true: selling shovels has almost always been more profitable than digging for gold.

As long as there is a fantasy created around riches, and dreams associated with wealth, there will always be more diggers than discoverers.

The IT and technology industry has been playing this game since its beginning.

What started simply as a cost arbitrage—hiring an engineer halfway across the world instead of paying a high salary to someone on the mainland—quickly turned into an industry of shovel sellers.

You could hire engineers with every imaginable tech skill at a fraction of the price. But what you did with them, how you made them productive, and whether they produced “gold” for your business—that responsibility was entirely yours. 

Why I Say No to Most Recruiter Calls: The Reality of Senior-Level Hiring in Today’s IT Market

My style of operating and talking to people has always been simple, straight, and just as things are. I don't like to complicate life, and I don’t like pretending either. It still surprises me when I hear some of my colleagues say they get one or two interviews every week. I have honestly never experienced that.

My LinkedIn profile has done extremely well. I publish regularly. I stay active and visible. But the number of meaningful positions I get approached for, or the number of interviewers who actually reach out with something real, is very small.

I also know how the game works on the other side. Companies advertise for roles that expect you to have managed several hundred million dollars of business. And I personally know some of the people interviewing for these roles—they have not done those numbers. So it surprises me how easily people make big claims, and how easily decision-makers on the other side believe them.

But that is not really the point of this post.

Why I moved from publishing on LinkedIn to publishing on Blogger?

 From publishing on LinkedIn, I have moved to writing my thoughts on my blog. 

There are a few reasons.

Publishing on the LinkedIn means, I must write on professional stuff only.

I don't want to talk about running, endurance, food, and other life related things.

I see people doing that all the time, and sharing personal things.

this makes LinkedIn feels like Facebook sometimes.

but I don't want to do that.

Starting to eat Eggs everyday as an endurance runner, and returning to blogger

I restarted eating eggs. 

I had stopped eating eggs few years back. 

I had in fact stopped consuming dairy - butter, milk, cheese, and trying to become a responsible human being. I never turned fully vegan, but the consideration was always there. I would still like to do things which don't harm animals which are inclusive and respectful. 

Through my last 2 years running journey, I have had an occasional Ghee or cheese when unavoidable. 

But I didnt use any milk, cheese, eggs, or any other forms of dairy in my day-to-day diet. 

And I didnt face any tangible downsides. but I missed eggs.

There are a few things which I'm fond of when it comes to eating or drinking. 

Maximize Your Cold Email Open Rates | Book now!

What happens when your curated messages go unnoticed? 

You're not alone. 

You know the power of a great cold email. 

Here’s How to Fix That.

Every day, businesses face a silent killer in their outreach strategy: 

Low open rates.

An unopened cold email is a missed opportunity.

if great products sold themselves, we won't need sales, advertisers or copy writers.

You need to understand your customers desire, and tap into that.

The subject line, tone, structure, and the clarity - play role in getting attention. 

If you're not seeing the results you desire from your cold outreach, it's time to reassess.

That’s where I come in.