From the desk in Dehradun

Things worth
reading slowly.

Not a blog. Not content. Essays written when something is worth saying — on leadership, intentional living, FIRE, and the questions nobody asks out loud.

01
FIRE & Intentional Living

He Had Enough to FIRE. So Why Couldn't He Stop?

Most people chasing financial independence in India are also, without realizing it, building the structures that make it impossible. Not because they are bad at math. Not because…

9 min read  ·  May 2026
02
Leadership & Work

The Participant Who Almost Didn't Come

Viram is a four-day executive retreat in India for senior professionals who have been carrying a question they haven’t had space to ask. I want to tell you…

8 min read  ·  Apr 2026
03
Leadership & Work

The Sunday Evening That Told the Truth

The Sunday Scaries is what most people call it. But that phrase flattens something that deserves more precision. Sunday evening has a particular quality that no other time…

7 min read  ·  Apr 2026
04
The Inner Road

What 48 Hours in Silence Taught Me That 22 Years in Boardrooms Didn't

I want to tell you about a weekend in Rishikesh. And what the two days I spent in silence for clarity revealed to me, that twenty-two years in…

8 min read  ·  Apr 2026
05
FIRE & Intentional Living

How I FIREd at 45. The Honest Numbers

Most people who write about FIRE don’t tell you their actual number. They tell you principles. Frameworks. Multipliers. They tell you to save 25 times your annual expenses,…

9 min read  ·  Apr 2026
06
Personal · Proof

What the First Year After Corporate Actually Looked Like

Leaving corporate job after twenty-two years is not what the clean version of the story suggests. I have told the story of leaving corporate many times now. The…

9 min read  ·  Apr 2026
07
Leadership & Work

What 200 Resignations Taught Me That No Leadership Book Will

Why good employees leave is one of the most expensive questions organizations consistently fail to answer honestly. In twenty-two years of HR leadership, I sat across from roughly…

8 min read  ·  Apr 2026
08
The Hollow Feeling

The Promotion You Worked Three Years For. And the Monday After.

The hollow feeling after success is one of the most common and least talked-about experiences among high-performing professionals I want to tell you about a Monday morning. Not…

7 min read  ·  Apr 2026
09
The Inner Road

Steve Jobs Came to Kainchi Dham. What Did He Really Find?

In 1974, Steve Jobs was 19 years old, had recently dropped out of Reed College, and was looking for something he couldn’t name. He traveled to India. Not…

9 min read  ·  Apr 2026
10
Retreat & Coaching

What Happens in the First 72 Hours of Viram

A leadership retreat in Dehradun is not what most people expect when they arrive. I am going to tell you what actually happens at Viram. Not the brochure…

8 min read  ·  Apr 2026
11
Leadership & Work

Why I Now Disagree With My Own Book

The best career advice for senior professionals helps them climb faster. My 2020 book was built on exactly that premise. I now disagree with it.” It is a…

7 min read  ·  Mar 2026
12
FIRE & Intentional Living

The FIRE Number That Keeps Moving

A friend of mine (let’s call him Maddy) hit his FIRE number four years ago. His number was ₹5 Cr. in liquid assets. He had decided on this…

7 min read  ·  Mar 2026
13
Personal · Proof

I Painted My Future in 2013. Here's the Honest Truth.

In 2013, I painted my future. A lousy picture, actually. I am not an artist. But that picture changed my life more than any degree, any promotion, or…

8 min read  ·  Mar 2026