Open letter to Indians in America. -- Dear brothers and sisters from Bharat: Like I did 37 years ago, you arrived in America with no money but with a good education and cultural heritage from Bharat. You achieved outstanding success. America was good to us. For that we must remain grateful - gratitude is our Bharatiya way. Yet today, a significant number of Americans, may be not the majority but not too far from it either, believe that Indians "take away" American jobs and our success in America was unfairly earned. You may think the next election will fix this, but your choice would be between people who hate our Bharatiya civilisation and people who hate civilisation itself. That is the "hard right" vs "woke left" battle. You are mere bystanders to that conflict. Meanwhile there is one thing that is true now and will be true in the future: the respect Indians command world-wide will substantially depend on the fortunes of India herself. If India remains poor, the woke left will give us moral lectures with pity and the hard right, different moral lectures with scorn ("hellhole") and we must not confuse either with respect. Respect in today's world, along with prosperity and security, comes from one source: a nation's technological prowess. India produces sufficient brain power to achieve that prowess but alas we exported so much of that talent, particularly to America. As we develop that prowess in India, our civilisational strength will assert itself. As difficult as it is for many of you to contemplate this, please come back home. Bharat Mata needs your talent. Our vast youthful population needs the technology leadership you gained over the years to guide them towards prosperity. Let's do it with a missionary zeal. Respectfully Sridhar Vembu

Make her famous. It is our duty to stand by the rare officers who dare to do their job fearlessly. She has put her future on the line for us. Let us reciprocate by standing with her!! 🫡🙏🙌🏽🙌🏽

The #1 mindvirus you have to prevent from catching is the compulsion to please other people. It’s so ingrained that you won’t even realise you’re doing things to seek others’ approval. But do things because you’re having fun, even if they garner no interest from others.

Sensational headlines that shame a founder on his apparel versus support them on their net contributions is everything that is wrong with media (social and press) Today's trending news: Unacademy CEO Announces No Appraisals While Wearing $400 Burberry T-Shirt, Internet Reacts So what is the point being made? * Had Gaurav's wardrobe comprised of t-shirts worth $4 versus $400, could this situation have been avoided? Would the $394 per t-shirt saved have materially impacted the profitability or growth of Unacademy positively? * Is it that it was insensitive of him to be wearing semi-luxury apparel whilst communicating his message? I for one will make my judgements from the content of his communication, and the humility in his acknowledgement of having made a mistake rather than the label of his clothing Being a Founder is a lonely job. Ben Horowitz summarizes it in his book - "The Hard things About Hard Things". Founders face constant uncertainty and change. It is an emotional rollercoaster. It involves tremendous personal sacrifices. It often comes at the cost of personal relationships, physical health, mental health, personal happiness and more. The edtech businesses in many a country have faced existential crises. India perhaps leading the pack. Unacademy is amongst the last companies standing in the country in this space. Certainly it is not free from challenges. Every company goes through their trials and tribulations. I empathize with every individual at Unacademy. It cannot be easy to receive this announcement. I can state from experience that Founders take no pleasure in these decisions. It is always with a heavy heart. It is not motivated by personal gain. However, I can say, that this is a Founding team who have on several occasions slashed their own compensations, taken paycuts, aligned their incentives to the performance of the company, and toiled towards the betterment of access to education in the country. This is a company that has created and maintained 1000s of jobs in the course of its history, and provided low cost, affordable, high quality education to lacs of students. If the media and the community wishes to help humanity, then lets celebrate Founders during their wins and support them during their trials as opposed to reducing the legacy of an organization and its founders to the logo of their clothing This is not the first and will not be the last of the challenges Unacademy may face in its journey. I will continue to cheer from the sidelines knowing that the Founders, the leadership and the entire organization will brave these and other tough times in the relentless pursuit of democratizing education in the country, and, irrespective of the foibles, flaws and failures they have and will continue to have a net positive impact on the lives of many. @unacademy @gauravmunjal

My article with @sureshpprabhu in the Economic Times today. Higher Education Institutions are now facing a moment of reckoning. They need to reinvent themselves on the face of disruptive trends. Can they rise up to th challenge? It begins by answering fundamental questions

Switzerland has 9 million people (fewer than Chennai) and has 3 official languages with equal status and one smaller language still used. All the children receive their education in their respective mother tongues. India can do this. We must believe! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang…

It is almost completely forgotten today, but there was a time when a giant wall made of thorny bushes and dead vegetation snaked its way for some 4000 km throughout India - from Kohat in NWFP to Sonepur in Odisha. This was the Customs Line, better known as the Great Hedge

The Danger of Minimalist Design (& the death of detail) A short thread...