Over the years of several projects, practices, pursuits, and passions, I’ve cultivated an exciting multipolar career. My diverse experiences have inspired me to rationalise my purpose and create value by:

• Humanising solutions to build equitable and independent communities
• Fostering self-education to develop an interdisciplinary mindset
• Crafting reflective experiences through artistic and immersive wonders

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Humanising solutions

CORPORATE & VENTURES //

My journey began with research projects at Lancaster University Management School during my MSc in Advanced Marketing Management. The projects were conducted in collaboration with Microsoft to identify a new product-market opportunity for Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS). I uncovered a critical application gap in the retail industry amongst the high-street labels, fashion outlets, distribution centres, and warehouses, specifically in their UK supply and distribution network. The project provided strategic and market-driven insights to develop a robust RMS solution that enabled companies to adopt to the e-commerce and the digital era during the years 2006–07.

The success of this project opened opportunities for another research to study the UK government’s IT infrastructure for public accounting, and develop a B2G shared service model in association with UK e-Government and e-Envoy (LGA IDeA) using Microsoft technologies, to offer integrated services for UK citizens. The solution featured an innovative strategic framework for a collaborative approach for all the gov departments. It was well received and in turn scalable to other countries in Europe, Mexico, and Turkey. These projects offered to be an invaluable experience by broadening my scope of solutions over the course of my career.

I progressed to consulting roles in 2008 with Oracle enabling ISVs and OEMs to integrate their applications with databases and middleware, and led the SaaS for ISV campaign to transition them to On Demand. In a short span of time, I received several awards – the Oracle Hall of Fame, MVP and Superstar ’09 awards for my achievements and contribution to channel partners marketing and business development strategies.

At the cusp of the world forging towards cloud infrastructure, social and mobile technologies, I switched to digital data analytics formulating KPIs and insights for digital, social, and interactive media for Fidelity Investments in 2010. As their first senior analyst for Web 2.0 data and media, I established several new industry practices by implementing measurement and analytics tools building the foundation for the Web 2.0 research and analytics team in IN, along with the new strategic team in the US for all the years to come.

Ever since 2014, I’ve leveraged my experience and curiosity to partner with industry recognised and established thought leaders to develop Web2.0 solutions across mobile and professional networks for the arts and entertainment industry while building teams with over 45 members. Over the years of 2018-21, I’ve consulted on AI solutions for F&B, B2B platforms, built POCs with doctors using VR for healthcare diagnosis, and bootstrapped e-commerce platforms for makers markets, hyper-local home businesses, and EdTech solutions to mention a few.

During the years of 2017-21, as blockchain technology gained industry traction, I explored several Web 3.0 layers across arts, social networking, and education platforms. Beginning 2020, I joined the Cent.co beta platform as a passive observer learning the dynamics of various industry leading NFT solutions the company launched over the years. Eventually, between 2022-23, I began exchanging ideas and thoughts directly with the founders and their team, contributing to their solutions and evaluating the platform for my projects. Through their community, I gained deep insights into the creator economy by interacting with active and established creators, builders, and developers. Although the industry faced several challenges with cryptocurrencies, the collaborative attitude of creators and developers to support each other with innovative economic solutions over market speculations, marked a truly significant shift.

A growing concern I’ve observed in the digital landscape particularly in Web 2.0, Web 3,0, and lately AI, is how highly capable individuals and Big Tech contributing to the technologies, impact our everyday economic conditions which are directly at the mercy of the pace of their activities. While infrastructures and resources play a critical role with many professions and industries to benefit, governments and organisations must enforce laws and governance to facilitate progress with policies to protect human rights and posterity, beyond economic gains in the context of advancement.

Over the years I’ve observed the progress in my career being inline with the emergence of new technologies. While I’ve learnt new skills and acquired valuable insights into the interplay of markets, technology and policies, their contribution to emerging economies and opportunities for the curious generation is truly boundless.

The changing dynamics of our economy posit a need to humanise solutions to build equitable platforms for independent communities by leveraging emerging tech, data insights, and empathetic foresight, thereby shifting innovation from a human-centric to a humane-code approach.

FAMILY & INSPIRATION //

I’m deeply fortunate to come from a family native to the Nilgiris, with a heritage spanning high-ranking judicial members, landlords, agriculturists, reformists, and artisans. My paternal great-grandfather was the first generation of tea cultivators and producers, setting up thriving tea trades continued across generations by several family members till date. We hold a legacy with over a 100 years in tea plantations and production, including establishing the first bought-leaf tea factory. While we support the local growers and auction the produce both locally and globally, we also conduct exclusive tea tasting experiences and tours across the highland estates.

My paternal grandfather was the first judge from the Nilgiris to have served in the magistrate, district and the high court in the state of Tamil Nadu. He influenced several of our family and community members to take up law as a profession, and contribute to the welfare and order of the state. Alongside, he expanded our tea plantations and supported the livelihood of several family members. My father, having specialised in botany, continued with our tea cultivation, trade, and agriculture. For several years both of them contributed towards various philanthropic activities, associated with the arts and crafts development in our community, and the literature collective with the Nilgiris Library.

The artisans in our family led by my mother, possess over 27 years of artisanal crafts of hand-knits, crochet, embroidery, and macramé, creating bespoke couture with sartorial taste. Having trained over a 100 women in various handicrafts, my mother has supported their welfare and occupations.

Several members in my family have contributed to the welfare of our native community, and have reformed various sectors in the Nilgiris including agriculture, education, transportation, entertainment, crafts, and culture. Their accomplishments have stood the test of time, and have earned an honourable recognition across the state and the nation for their social impact.

While I’ve spent less time growing up around my family or our businesses, I’ve been deeply inspired by everyone, and been driven to engage and contribute. In 2014, I’ve experimented by launching a niche hand-rolled black, green, and white gourmet teas branded Native Hill, and in the same year setup a bespoke knitwear house The Yarn Closet. In early 2018, I rebranded to Auve Gava (translated to Mother Love, in Badaga, our native language of the Nilgiris), to support my mompreneur and her team of knitters, comprising of woman and mothers working alongside her.

The learning was none like others. Having to understand the crafts, the trade and the process of cultivation, is an art and science by itself. I’m far from being an expert in these areas but can take you on a narrative journey over the art and heritage of our artisanal teas or design a couture cardigan.

This experience further inspired me to uplift our traditional crafts and trades with diverse expertise. I bootstrapped a beta project My Mother Made This to empower mompreneurs to promote and sell their hand-crafted products online, share their stories on digital platforms and in-real-life events, and build sustainable home-grown brands during the years 2019–21. I interacted with 70+ makers with 500+ products, with a two degree impact of 200+ makers through a platform. I partnered with wellness studios and co-living spaces to open in-store locations to distribute the products.

There were several parallels I drew from my experience with Microsoft. The future I had foreseen and hoped for the makers and retail industry, was unfolding right before me.

While this is just a handful, it provided me with fascinating insights into small business maker-markets, and to further conceptualise a hyper-local solution to support independent home businesses to overcome the Covid-19 lockdown.

Our local crafts, trades and services hold tremendous potential for an economic boost and must be empowered with knowledgeable and tech ecosystems. Consumers must be made aware of the nuances of the crafts, benefits of the trade and the humane support makers require.

Alongside, I worked on an education platform for teachers to overcome the covid-19 lockdown challenges during 2020. Globally, the world faces a severe shortage of teachers and the human capital required to support the quality and to bridge the widening equity gap. While the launch of generative AI solutions shows promise of assistance, but implementing the solutions have set backs and will not directly address the key requirements.

However, while building these solutions, the work revealed that all independents regardless of their professions, need a centralised platform to access knowledgeable and educational resources for upskilling, to adapt to the rapid shift in economic dynamics, and to safe-guard against the digital dilemmas. Efforts are now being directed towards a comprehensive solution whilst addressing several pressing issues for makers, creators, influencers, specialists, founders, and consumers alike. While this is a moonshot, there is more work to be done.

The future we build for tomorrow is determined by the challenges we address today, humanely.

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Self-education

While I specialised in business, research, and marketing, my career progression demanded me to constantly learn in alignment with the development of technology and the market. Staying ahead of the curve requires endless upskilling, as one must simultaneously uncover new frontiers and contribute to their advancement. Market developments, wider opportunities, and a range of exposure, open doors to acquiring knowledge of domains beyond our qualifications for collaborative and innovative solutions.

This sheer curiosity has driven me to branch out and seek knowledge on topics in arts, cultures, technology, and science, sparking a deep sense of wonder for topics like astronomy, the origins of life, our environment, fitness and movement to name a few. This broad exploration has influenced my work, research, and quests in more ways than imagined.

Self-learning is contagious.

ARTS & EDUCATION //

As a child, I was introduced to various arts, literature, music, and dance through parental guidance. This early tryst with the arts awakened my artistic flair. With keen interest and self-learning, I explored several fine arts of sketching, painting, liners, calligraphy, ambigrams, and forms digital and interactive arts. I also explored literary genres of poetry, fables, and playwrights, opening a world of imagination and the wonders of creative expression.

Keeping with my interests over the years, I’ve authored educational stories and artworks in collaboration with Grammy awarded artists, published worldwide for K-12 students by Macmillan Education, supported by UNICEF. The project titled My Earth Songs was an addition to the curriculum learning based on all of the UNSDGs. It was compiled in 8 booklets with illustrated stories for grades 1 to 8, along with a comprehensive book with all the songs and artworks, as applicable for all grades. Altogether, over a million copies of the first original editions were printed in 2018 and distributed across India. The works are now published worldwide with several millions of additional copies in distribution.

Educating a child with stories, illustrations and colours, however simple it may seem, was the single most fulfilling and a deeply thoughtful work I’ve undertaken. Shaping a child’s mind is the most important and extraordinary task one can pursue.

To have brought over millions of smiles with wonders of imagination and nuggets of knowledge, swells my soul.

Every child deserves more. Two billion of them. Wonder makes the world better.

There is a growing need to self-educate ourselves and guide our younger generations beyond the boundaries of formal education systems to become aware of the changes impacting our lives socially, ecologically, economically, and our responsibilities towards its betterment.

CULTURE, FITNESS, & MOVEMENT //

Practising dance, Yogasanas, martial arts, somatic movements, running, cycling, and inline skating from a very young age helped me stay fit, build flexibility and endurance. It also helped me develop a deeper understanding of the body-mind dimension.

I was initiated into classical Bharatanatyam dance and Karnatic music at an early age of five, but could not continue the traditional practice after moving away from home to attend primary education at a boarding school. At the age of six, I was introduced to theatre and acting for school events, and over the years directed and scripted several plays. I performed my first solo dance recital at nine, and further continued to learn folk dances in my school. However, all these activities were directed towards cultural events, performances, and depicting ideologies, while lacking the authentic traditional practice and in-depth knowledge.

Over time, with cultural curiosity to broaden my understanding of artistic diversity and acquire unique skills, I redirected my approach towards authentic practices. My interests ranged from traditional arts of Bharatanatyam, Yoga, and Kalaripayattu, to modern styles of Indian contemporary dance, Hip Hop, Latin dances, introductory Ballet and Jazz. Furthermore I explored various martial art styles from Kickboxing to Muay Thai. All my practices have been through established gurus and recognised trainers. However, these art forms require regular practice and self-study to develop an individual style. Hence, are ongoing and require more years of dedicated learning.

Limited by time and opportunities, I could not continue with formal music training as my other family members. Nonetheless listening to a wide genre has honed my sense of rhythm and musicality, enabling to create repertoires and choreographies for several events. More so, pushing me to try contemporary forms of dance and movements through self-exploration.

At the age of eight, my parents gifted me a pair of skates during my summer vacation. I developed the skill purely through self-training, and since then it has been an exciting sporting activity. At fourteen, I acquired a pair of inline skates, which edged me into adventurous stunts, techniques and styles, eventually leading to performances at numerous sports events in school and college. It occurred to me years later that my endurance in running, cycling, hiking, swimming, and other sports activities developed intuitively with my skating and movement adeptness, along with the foundation in dance established at very young age.

At the age of ten, my maternal grandfather initiated me into the basics of Hatha Yoga, and later into the intensive practices of Ashtanga Yoga. He was a lifelong practitioner disciplined in his routine and diet. He cured several of his physical ailments with Yoga, and eventually lived a healthy life upto 93. He also appeared on TV channels in the late 90’s to demonstrate on various styles and techniques. Although my sessions with him were limited to my vacations, I continued to practice emulating his discipline. As I grew older he introduced me to Kriya Yoga demanding a strict personal and isolated practice as the advance discipline requires a deep understanding of one’s mind, energy and abilities through self-practice. A practice I’ve found to be arduous as it challenges our mental faculties over body abilities, and demands a complete rewiring of our social and behavioural patterns. While Yoga was taught in school, it did not follow any traditional formats of training. This led me to focus on my personal practice, and further self-explore various forms and techniques.

Integral to dance and martial arts, is to condition the body to endure the physical rigour and exertion to perfect the stances, moves and repertoires. Fitness is hence an absolute necessity, demanding a disciplined approach practiced every single day. A wide range of movements and activities cultivates a holistic development to broaden mobility, agility, and flexibility. Practicing pranayama, somatic movements, and meditation, strengthens the mind to take control over the body and awaken the body-mind dimension. These practices are deeply explored in advanced forms of Yogasanas and Maipayattu of Kalaripayattu. Attention to the body requires the mind to take control. Everything is possible when the mind awakens.

A balanced body-mind conditioning helps us perform at our optimum in every aspect of our lives.

Infusing forms of Yogasanas, martial arts, dance, and rhythmic beats, along with contemporary fitness lifestyle, I created the Yogic Warrior, an intensive workout focused on body-mind conditioning with rigorous moves and stances. I introduced it in 2016 training several members of premier and established fitness centres in Bengaluru – Fit District and Tribe Fitness (both taken over by Cult Fit). Through the workout, I also introduced the basics of our traditional arts in a demonstrative manner, in order to draw awareness of our traditional arts and motivate members to pursue through traditional practices.

In 2017, I co-created the introductory master workout for Prowl, a HIIT fitness regime by Cult-Fit along with industry leading fitness experts incorporating dance and martial arts, which was introduced in 2018 and is now being practised across India. However, I opted-out as a master trainer for the program.

My focus today is directed towards research and to study the deep knowledge our traditions hold, which can be applied to our modern lifestyles and practices. Several modern fitness regimes focus on the appearance of the physique, quick formats of fitness, and the pleasurable experience of a workout rather than a lifelong discipline towards health, nourishment, and fitness. Every fitness centre or a gym is structured around hype, deluxe branding, flashy workouts to entice memberships and prioritise short-term gains.

Our traditional workout regimes hold generations of research and practices with in-depth holistic knowledge of body fitness, mental wellness, and our inner consciousness. Understanding the science of movement helps to perfect the art, inherit the cultural spirit, and awaken the body-mind. Prolonged practices with established trainers, gurus, centres, or schools provide an environment of discipline and purpose.

SCHOOLING & GRADUATION //

Through my early schooling, I was introduced to the rich Vedic culture embracing the practice of Sanatana Dharma. Its profound teachings are relevant today more than ever. The insights about our lives in relation to the cosmos are beyond our interpretations, practices, religious beliefs, philosophies, or that of modern science slowly uncovering its in-depth knowledge. We come to understand that everything is deeply connected to our existence, purpose, and our everyday lives.

My schooling and graduate institution was founded on a culturally inspiring ethos and holistic learning enriched with a value-based education inspired from the Vedic culture. However, practices in the system and its sub-cultures, lacked the authenticity in its learning experience, as it gave precedence to uphold and display its identity through cultural performances, sports, and social activities. Although it imparted the meanings and significance of its values, it merely adapted a rote learning approach without imparting any traditional disciplines of practice, thereby propagating cultural appropriation by assimilating traditions, disciplines, and of the performing arts.

A mind conditioned to display and perform over learning, is driven to derive gratification through pleasing audiences rather than building genuine curiosity to foster learning. It results in creating a performative mind which relies on social signals of opinions and external perceptions rather than internal growth.

Pursuit in adherence to the traditional disciplines which have been structured with over millennia of deep knowledge and culture, helps to attain the right knowledge, and find our true and unique self through the process before any display or performances.

The philosophies, teachings, courses, and structure of the education system nonetheless illuminating, need a foundation of authenticity led with professional and personal integrity, and a genuine vision rooted in the learning process beyond values, performances, and display of ideology.

While Its professional courses were promising, its vision fell short on fostering students curiosity and lacked a practical economic outlook. It enacted several restrictions in the context of protection or discipline, and built a very sciolistic view of the world. Its notion of creativity was wrapped around its platitudes of expressions and walls of ideologies. This incapacitates minds from taking necessary risks to find innovative solutions for real-world situations or taking leadership initiatives with ownership of work. Instead, it succumbs to following trends or finding spaces similar to cultures it is accustomed to in complacence.

The system fostered a methodic conditioning of an ideal self with identities and labels which deeply restricted free-thinking. While it characterised those who did not abide by its rule book, it idolised those who exhibited exemplary character in conformity and a chosen few of excess privilege. Many are therefore inclined towards virtue signalling for sheer recognition and social validation, rather than by virtue of being true. By institutionalising moral conduct and practices, it misconstrued obedience for discipline, enacted discrimination in the guise of equity, often misspelt prejudice as altruism, and exalted amateurism over expertise.

These behaviours unconsciously become a trait in individuals forming patterns through the course of one’s life without critical thinking. Many invariably hold rigid beliefs drawing boundaries and conditions of moral behaviours, and hence when together in groups or associations, breed dysfunctional group dynamics. The ones of privilege assume imperious behaviours guised in righteousness for self-serving gratifications with lack of professional authority erasing lines of personal boundaries, while the ones promising, being misdirected and silenced, behave in deference to appease authorities, and are still hiding behind their own goodness. Many are conditioned to feel obligated to uphold the collective identity, and hence lack a sense of self or personal disposition, and behave to be validated into the group. While the communal activities are offered as welfare and service, more often, engage in excessive hearsay, derision towards anyone not in conformity, and anything unconventional to their standards is either a mistake or ridiculed. These constructs of mind leave no space for self-enquiry, as knowledge collapses to beliefs, and independence ceases to exist.

Equity is the non-negotiable foundation for any and all moral standards. 

When we choose to view minds through moral filters, we only see them as who they are not, and not who they truly are. 

No one is short on wonder and goodness, only short on knowledgeable judgements, either of others, or primarily of ourselves.

It is a poignant state to see an education system with access to several resources, a conducive environment, and a vision rooted in human values and culture, giving preference to display of ideologies, people of privileges, and ambitious morals propagating a performative attitude, over and above the genuine experience of learning and merits of true accomplishments.

A shift towards disciplined practices and knowledgeable subjects will bring out the true potential in everyone. Initiating the right culture of learning at a young age will spontaneously train the mind to be genuinely curious for a lifetime. The mind overcomes the delusion of knowledge through practice and application rather than performance, as it constantly unleashes its abilities, ensuing genuine expression in all walks of life, and realises its true independent nature.

Education should morally be free, but knowledge should be amoral and equally accessible to all without restricting access through moral filters. While access to basic education is still a challenge to many, it must be offered without filters, beliefs, or ideologies.

While imparting morals is essential, the morals should ensue from knowledge. It is the way of wisdom. Realising this difference is the virtue of a seeker.

The morality I’ve come to realise, is to stand up for what one knows to be right through lived experiences from genuine learning, beyond collective beliefs. 

On a professional front, working with several alumni members across disciplines of technology, finance, science, etc, from various years of cohorts, regardless of the support or opportunities I offered, many of them fell short on having the requisite applicable knowledge and accountability of work deliverables. When responsibilities weren’t fulfilled, irrelevant excuses and moral standards were used as defence, lacking professional etiquette. Ironically, many drawing from the performative ideology seek credits and associations without making any tangible or valuable contribution, merely to maintain appearances within the collective identity.

Extending the moral spine of trust did not bring out the necessary result. Instead, it was met with deflected and shifted accountability, alongside excessive condemnation and the undermining of effort in collusion with others. I faced several setbacks leading to predicaments to overcome. Every situation could have been avoided if knowledge took precedence over ill-informed values.

Ignorance is a heavy cost where morals fall silent. Ethics of work speaks volumes. Wisdom knocks on the doors of doers and knocks down the doors of pretence to reveal its light.

An education system that emphasises moral standards over a student’s originality leaves a significant gap in the pursuit of knowledge. Knowledge through genuine learning is an essential need today, over and above morals based ideologies. The work we do is primarily affected by knowledge of relevant topics and an understanding of our economic and social dynamics. It directly resolves the challenges we face today, regardless of identities and labels. Lack of relevant knowledge, is the reason systems are handicapped.

However, as we observe in our economic, social, and political scenarios, morals, ethics, and empathy are often questioned even when the requisite knowledge is present. What truly needs to be considered is how we apply that knowledge. The application or execution of any task is rooted in our holistic awareness of context and consequences. This determines the intention, which clearly reflects in the work we do. This is achieved primarily through processing and implementing essential and integrated knowledge, in the absence of which, any moral acts come to be questioned and many immoral acts come to be.

Foundation of every education system is competence through essential and integrated knowledge, upon which ethics are built. No one can make us wise by teaching or being taught. Only our deeds make us.

Creating a value-based education system must be aligned to the universal truth without the influence of external authorities and identities, in which case, their interpretations and practices take precedence over eternal values. More often, beliefs are misconstrued as true knowledge where the mind is moulded to uphold the values focused on identities, rather than practicing a discipline genuinely.

Education must liberate the mind. Conditioning the mind to conform to a specific character, identity or ideology, leaves no room to realise our true potential. Instead, it only builds facades over the genuine self, where we live in shadows rather than our own light.

Time and again, the idea that ‘end of education is character’ is reiterated. However, when education begins by predicating character building on conformity to an ideology, it marks the end of education for the mind.

Education is an endless pursuit with a goal to develop a mind of one’s own. A mind incapable of thinking for itself projects a weak character incapable of living an authentic life. Integrity is the sign of a mind independent of identities and associations, honest to its true self and untouched by ideologies.

Throughout my formative education, I often felt deeply constrained with my curiosity and creativity. It was a struggle to express my true self as opposed to expressing a character I was conditioned to uphold. It took me long to realise that I was forcing myself to fit into a system that did not reflect my quest for authenticity and my very being. The choices I made were not aligned with my true abilities, but made with either limited awareness or wasn’t permitted to undertake with innumerable restrictions. There was no room to develop an inscape character.

Although the values are deeply inspiring and rooted in humanity, it was offered through moral wraps of ideologies and caped with identities, when the mind should have been focused on genuine learning and embracing our true identity.

Leaving my family’s care, upbringing, and a hometown renowned for its quality education, for an ideology with a worldwide holy reverence, was the single most irrevocable experience no child should endure.

Hence, my curiosity getting the better of me and realising the gap in my education, I pursued advanced and specialised professional courses focused on applicable and relevant knowledge. I spent a lifetime learning diverse disciplines with depth and genuine cultural experiences. I sought to engage with various cross-disciplinary experts, industry pioneers, liberal thinkers, and with inclusive communities advocating for equitable ethnicities and authentic individuality, thereby building a professional and personal caliber. This led me to be at my creative best while uncovering my deeper authentic self.

Skill is not a measure of what we are capable of doing, rather what we are capable of learning with a resilience of unlearning.

Being a interdisciplinarian wasn’t a choice. It was an outcome of my curious and creative journeys. I became aware of my unique approach to learning and understanding of disciplines, which I constantly applied to all the domains I was genuinely interested in without asserting any limitations.

Educational institutions and training programs are a means for attaining qualifications for various economic positions and careers. Over the years, academic credentials have developed a divergent stance in status, authority, and reliability. Several professions demand strict qualifications and recognised certifications such as medicine, law, and finance while requiring continuous upskilling in accordance with economic regulations. Conversely, in fields like computer science, college dropouts particularly from Ivy League and similar institutions often command an adoration reserved for geniuses. Meanwhile, professions in research and PhD programs have raised the standards for contributions towards knowledge, academic progress and economic insights.

Regardless of the profession, it is a reminder that education isn’t time-bound. To continuously pursue learning is a necessity beyond status, positions, identities, ideologies, or accolades. It opens our minds to innumerable possibilities for economic advancements alongside deep insights into our lives. It also fulfils the need for a multifarious skill set, which can only be met by being an autodidact. This is no longer a choice.

Self-education is a unique play between learning, unlearning, relearning by ourselves, and simultaneously learning about our true selves through the process. It is essential, painful, exciting, and endless. Uncovering our independent self through self-discovery and inquiry, is when true education begins.

Amidst all my pursuits, my wanderings across nations to shores of history, monuments of marvels, museums of mystery, sculptures of mastery, musicals of glory, festivals of joy, tryst with traditions, and nights under the stippled stars… have filled me with an awe of human ingenuity and an undying quest for knowledge.

On the path of self-learning, everything around us becomes an interaction with knowledge. Our minds are capable of more. An infinite amount of more.

As we gather knowledge across disciplines, we arrive at a state of quantum thinking. Oftentimes in the process of comprehending our abilities, multitudes of self-concepts arise as we face several superpositions both contradicting and assuring. However confounding, curiosity is the key to unlock the mysteries. The more curious we are, the more knowledge we can process. A greater understanding reveals that all knowledge is interconnected, and in pursuit, we find the purpose of our existence.

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A REFLECTIVE

While this is a brief of my multipolar pursuits, it is a transformation of sorts. Over the course of my life, particularly the last few years from 2020 to 2024, I’ve spent considerable amount of time studying our economy, industries, markets, and technology, while building solutions and interacting with industry leaders and experts across disciplines. I stand at the crossroads observing several changes around us. Economically, technologically, and socially, we are accelerating at a breakneck pace, challenging us to deduce and disseminate relevant knowledge and develop a positive foresight for our posterity.

Our work dynamics demand a complex exchange of in-depth knowledge across disciplines beyond our formal qualifications such as data, science, technology, arts, culture, finance, policy, and law to forge collaborative and impactful solutions. From the relentless endeavours of the curious and the creative, various multipolar economies have emerged, namely the creator, gig, specialist, and startup ecosystems, giving rise to new professions thriving with adept and multifaceted individuals striving for progress.

As the need to support this transformation grows, my efforts are now focused on building knowledgeable, resourceful, and equitable solutions to benefit the emerging economies. While promising, the evolving dynamics of digital interactions are shifting social behaviours, economic practices, and policies, all of which must to be directed with awareness, knowledge, and right intention.

Although my experiences have been exciting, the rigour of every career path I pursued tested my limits, leaving me on the edge. Despite being surrounded by great teams and associates, I often found myself in solitary during the most critical moments with several forces against me. Yet, I persevered relentlessly while making several sacrifices and forbearing harsh circumstances. This endurance was a moment of truth that brought me face-to-face with my true self. Resilience was not an option, but a redirection towards a truth far greater I had known all along, awaiting to unfold.

As I continue, I’ve documented my journey in publications, compilations, and editorials with a creative vision to transform experiences into educative, visceral, and reflective wonders.

Between the endless pages, are folds of resilience.

AANND • Co //

As an echo of my life, learnings, and purpose, I’ve founded AANND, a collective of all my works, offered as a transformative experience of knowledge, wonder, and self-discovery, driven by a quest to think with a million minds to forge a mind of our own.

I’ve set up Aannd XYZ Labs as an ecosystem to uplift independents, interdisciplinarians, multipotentialites, students, professionals, and experts in the emerging economies. It provides access to knowledge resources through Theory of XYZ – a proprietary body of research conceptualised to foster an interdisciplinary mindset, cultivate interdependence, and become independent.

I’ve created Aannd Alchemy as a comprehensive editorial of my arts, creative experiences, literary compositions, and knowledge guides of XYZ. All books and publications can soon be purchased from Aannd Tomes, and exclusive access to creative and immersive wonders will be granted through Aannd Embers.

If not for wonder, what else?

AANND • ETYMOLOGY //

Aannd is a wordplay on my name Nanda. It rings a unique chime to the paronomasia of an extended pronunciation of ‘And’, referring to more: an Alchemy of a Million Minds, an additive philosophy and a linguistic bridge making room for limitless expansion to learn multiple disciplines with a collaborative spirit for collective progress.

In Tamil, the language of my home state, pronounced ‘Aand’, it marks ‘a long duration of time: a year’, conveying longevity and a lifelong practice of disciplines. It is also the root word for ‘Aanndavar’, meaning ‘the one who rules: God’ – a quest for every self.

God proclaimed, “Take one step towards me and I will take a hundred steps towards you”.

With all my faith, I took a hundred steps. Naively, I presumed he would take ten thousand.

He did not.

He revealed himself to me in a million steps.

And now, I have taken a million.

Alchemy of a million minds.

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The future belongs to the curious, the creative, and the resilient, embodied as a whole in every individual. Self-discovery begins when we transcend the idea of our individuality and open ourselves to our new unfolding: a sovereign state of being – interdisciplinary, interdependent, and independent – the pathway to awaken Human Ingenuity.

A self of light, a relic of night
An ode to life in spells and hues enchanting bright.

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