| Sunday, 14 December 2025 |
A community-powered Sunday newsletter on mental models, self-reflection, learning, growth, photos, books, and more Subscribe here
Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
Do you fly kites?
My favourite activity, when I get home early from work, is to look at the sky and watch kites perform—both the paper kind and the birds. I used to think flying kites was something people did only during Makar Sankranti, but in this part of the town, kids have made it part of their everyday routine. Without fail, whether it’s raining or not, at least five or six kites grace the sky with their colourful patterns, often blending with their avian namesakes when they fly too high.
Their biggest nemesis? Electric poles and tall trees. Many kites have been strangled by the branches, leaving behind the broken hearts of little kids. Some can’t even be retrieved for a proper funeral; you can see them trapped in the lush green every day—forever captive and on display.
If I were to paint that scene, I would caption it “dead dreams”. It’s not as negative as it sounds, because as human beings, we have the potential to always dream new dreams or keep hoping for the old ones to be fulfilled. Either way, every day we dream. For little things, big things. For peace, for love. For our kites to escape when we tug at them.
Rohin will be back with his insightful introspections on mental models in the next edition, but for today, here’s what we have for you.
1. Something to be grateful for
2. Theme of the Month 📚
3. Tracing reflections 📸
4. To Santa’s rescue 🎁
1. Something to be grateful for
Hi! I’m Uddantika, the producer of First Principles. I’m dropping in today to share some wonderful news: First Principles has been named one of Apple Podcasts’ best shows of 2025!
This recognition is entirely yours. Every listen, each share, and all the love you’ve shown is what brought us here. Since May 2023, Rohin has poured his heart into the weekly newsletter and the monthly podcast. I only joined a month ago, but even in this short time, I’ve already felt the warmth of this community.
First Principles is a bit different from The Ken’s usual fare.
I enjoy reading The Ken because it is informative, the articles are well researched, well written, without the spin and bias. I admire The Ken team for their dedication to getting closer to the true picture.
Hari Buggana
Chairman and MD, InvAscent
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Harshil Mathur
CEO and Co-Founder, Razorpay
The Ken has proven naysayers wrong by successfully running a digital news publication on a pure-subscription business model in India. They have shown that discerning readers are willing to pay for well-researched, well-written, in-dept news articles.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Executive Chairperson, Biocon Limited
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Rahul Gonsalves
Co-founder and CEO, Obvious Ventures