Insane things are happening at the World Yogasana Championships

TIL there are Indians who actually use Telegram for personal use. What a bubble I have been living in.

I don't know who else to tell this to, so I am going to tell my story here. Every day is a struggle for a young business, but the last few months have been harder than usual. We are a small Indian company. For more than ten years we have been building a homegrown brand in a product category dominated by big foreign players. There are almost no Indian names in this space. We set out to be one. We started in 2014. Over the years we began making parts in India instead of just importing, and we started selling in the US, Dubai, Nepal, Malaysia and South Africa. We showed up at global trade fairs to represent an Indian brand on the world stage. In 2023 we changed the import code we use for our product. We did not do this quietly. Every shipment was declared. Nothing was hidden. We didn't invent our approach. We followed written professional advice and the way this product is treated in markets around the world. And now we are facing a government demand running into tens of crores in duty recovery and penalties, plus personal penalties on the founders and even on an employee. For a company our size, this is not a fine we can pay and move on from. This ends us. We have not run from any of this. I am not built like that. It is not how I was raised. We have written to the authorities, met officials in person, and we have now filed a writ in the High Court. All we are asking for is a fair treatment. I set out to build in India and sell to the world. I am asking only that the system back honest founders trying to compete globally, instead of breaking them. The process is the process, and it exists for a reason. But process should not feel like punishment. From where I am standing today, it does. I am not giving up. I have worked too hard for this. If you have read this far, please share it. If you know someone who can help, point them my way. Help me get the word out.

IMO women's wear became too complicated and confusing somewhere along the way. What is women's office wear? Men's office wear is simple. There are full sleeve shirts, polo t-shirts and round-neck t-shirts. V-neck t-shirts are not allowed in most workplaces. Then there are formal trousers, jeans or denim trousers and chinos (somewhat in between). Unless you are at an early stage nerdy startup in which case guys wear shorts. I have gone office wear shopping several times with my wife. It always ends the same way. I fall back to men's wear options as suggestions and she hates them. Finally ends up with somethings that she herself hates after a few uses. Maybe we need women to come together to define it? Maybe let the HR function decide it instead of the generic and useless "appropriate for work" guideline.

It’s a great time for another foundational LLM startup in India. With the HCL investment as a precedent, it’d be fairly easy to get another IT co to back them. Who’s building this?

And the market pump continues

Somethings that will never grow old: Guys wanting a quick beach bod and some fitness "coaches" taking undue advantage of it.

What is the best way to indicate the portion size of a noodle dish? and if it has soup? Asking for a friend.

Good on HCL. We may have collectively pressured Indian IT companies to invest in AI. Am I glad I'm still holding on to their shares :)

How much vanilla powder does it take to make a really tasty vanilla protein shake? (read: tastes like vanilla) Attempt 1 - 2 scoops of The Whole Truth Unflavoured Whey - 1g real vanilla powder. That's 0.5g per 24g scoop of whey - 2 bananas Verdict - extremely tasty, but could not taste even a hint of vanilla.

Never imagined I’d see the day Stanford becoming our own JNU. What a self-goal, USA.

Sunday special: Bhel Puri with a twist. Almost everything that can be eaten outside can be made at home, with a little effort. Have to say D2C brands are making it easy. From imli paste to gochujang paste everything is just 20 min away.

Look at that street man. I’ve come to believe that the real estate developers in India work with politicians and administrators to keep the streets broken and dirty so they can build clean societies and charge an insane premium.

I don’t understand the fuss here! This is a wonderful idea and I definitely will try to be there when it happens next. I could do without the DJ but that’s not a deal breaker. Social media is too polarising.

We should really worship our cattle for our huge dependence on dairy for nutrition and livelihood. Not in the "touch a cow or offer a prayer when you see it on the street" way, but in a "offer good food, good living conditions and take care of it" way. One of my personal goals when I have enough money🤞