surfin' through some ideas
I turned 27 two days ago. No birthday post(??) Oops.
To fill in the immense intellectual vortex caused by this mis-step, I am happy to present to you; the invaluable rambling of my mind, once again.
Sit back and relax (kidding, when have any of my posts been relaxing to read)
All experiences are not equal
One of the most grounding things somebody passed on to me is that the value of an experience is not in whether it is good or bad; it is that it occurred and now you’re better off having gone through it.
It works great because you stop judging experiences as good or bad, and stop regretting your decisions.
For example, you date someone. You date them for a year. It doesn’t work out. After the breakup, you are likely to criticise yourself. You’ll probably regret your decision to date them in the first place.
But this is all a waste of time and emotions. Even if it was a bad relationship - having gone through it, you are more aware of yourself and your style of relationship. This is useful information that you couldn’t have gathered elsewhere.
No experience is good or bad. It is just an experience. And all experiences are useful.
I’ve begun to dispute this.
First, is it really necessary to go through a minimum amount of bad experiences to develop good judgment? Is there no alternate way where you learn more about yourself, without having to screw up your life? I am not convinced that we must go through the archetypical heartbreaks of various kinds to develop “character”. I’ve seen numerous people go through the worst experiences and yet still find themselves in another version of the same old problem, so I don’t know who are these wonderful individuals who develop judgement from bad experiences. And I’ve also seen people who thankfully haven’t been screwed in life and still have a sound way of life.
Second, I think all this narrative of the necessity to go through bad experiences in life is our desperate attempt to justify the banality of life. Life doesn’t make sense. At all. The most pure people will go through the most evil experiences. The worst people we know will somehow have a good life. There is really no way to justify most of life. We, poor humans develop heuristics to make things simpler for us. But, sometimes, these heuristics are more about alleviating the existential symptoms of life than answering the pertinent questions. I think this narrative is one of them.
So what now?
I’m still figuring that out and will report to you once I develop a better ideology!
I am 27.
I am 27. And honestly that’s about it. No grand revelations were achieved. 27 is a decent age. As one of my friends asked me, “How does it feel to be properly in late twenties?” I quipped that I am not yet running marathons so still consider myself young.
Having said that, having turned 27, I would like to prioritise the same trifecta: health, career, relationships. In whatever ways I can. I’m experimenting with some systems of life, and will report back if something sticks and helps.
Potentially the only difference between Divyanshu at 27 and younger Divyanshu is that I commit the same mistakes, just better than last time. There is still a wide gap between realising something and implementing that into practice. Perhaps the years ahead are meant to close that gap. I (hopefully) have a bunch of years more left to live. There are things to look forward to. (wink wink)
The only thing I’d like to point out about this birthday would be that it made me realise (even more prominently) how important friendships are to me. Seeing so many kind people wish me birthday and even going to the extent of sending me gifts made me very grateful. I am grateful to have such wonderful friends around me. If you’re reading this, you know who you are. Thank you for your service.
Aaj Kuch toofani karte hain
One of the most common themes in my conversation with my sister is the fact that both of us get irritated with the monotony of life. We need to do something bhhannat1 from time to time.
I’ve previously written about how the upper middle class corporate lifestyle puts you in a quiet lull which is very hard to get out of (see here, here and here). I’ve been experiencing the symptoms for three years now.
As a measure to do something bhhannat - I’m trying to figure out how to hold a young professional informal convention at home. The idea is to get people under 35 from law, economics, and policy who would like to discuss/ present their work. The “work” can be some project they’re doing professionally, or some academic paper that they’re developing. I’d like to encourage people to present their work for either pure discussion, or even feedback.
The idea is to get young people together and create new surface areas of serendipity. Of course, the selection of law, policy and economics is purely because of my own profession and interests. And of course, the main motivation is selfish. I would like to meet new people and learn more things. Anything else that comes out of it, is bonus!
If you fit the description, and would like to participate in something like this - hit me up with some suggestions! I’d really like to make this work and would appreciate any help along the way :)
Miscellaneous reading
To cover up the intellectual negative aura the preceding paragraphs have created, below is a list of content that I consumed recently and really enjoyed.
Why UK’s political future rest(ed) on one small constituency: Makerfield
Rahul Ahluwalia in conversation with Amit varma (you can listen my episode with Rahul here)
Supreme Court of the United State’s decision in Trump v Slaughter
Nithin Kamath on how Zerodha didn’t just become a nice place to work
The Ken’s long form podcast on Airtel (yet to listen, but self recommending)
As I said above - I’m trying to meet new people in the city. I live in Delhi. So if you have some time to kill and would want to grab a cup of coffee - reach out to me! I’m on divyanshu3504@gmail.com
Also, I am currently accepting suggestions for guests on my podcast. If you think I should speak to somebody who you think is an interesting thinker - reach out :)
So long. Cheers!
Bhhannat is a marathi word which translates to ‘something out of the ordinary’.
Crazy that I started reading your blogs around 2 years back, and now I'm myself an Associate at a T-1 Law Firm. Nevertheless, over the course of years, your writing has only improved. Hoping to read another piece soon! TIA.