| Sunday, 29 December 2024 |
A community-powered Sunday newsletter on mental models, self-reflection, learning, growth, photos, books, and more Subscribe here
Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
It’s our final Sunday of 2024. I hope you’re able to savour it in the company of your family, friends, and pets. Perhaps it will be boisterous, filled with yummy food and wonderful music. Or quiet and cozy, with lazing pets, warm blankets, and steaming hot chocolate. Some lucky few might even get to indulge in both!
I signed off the last edition of 2023 with a photo of Gabru, our six-year-old adopted Indie and also our second “son”. This year, I’m happy to do it with this beaming photo of Bribo, en route to his familiar territory (his “home”) with me and my son earlier this week.
“He howls like a wolf!” said the wonderful doctor and attendants at Cartman Hospital, lovingly, as they discharged Bribo after 37 days in their care.
For someone who had not spent a single day on a leash, much less a kennel, it must have been hard for the poor guy. But he soldiered through. His paw has healed somewhat (it will never go back to what it was, because it was so badly broken) and he’s able to run-hop-limp without any issues.
And just like that, our indie family now has a new member who just happens to not live with us. My car rides are once again filled with anticipation and hope as I scan the neighbouring lot for Bribo each time. There he is, sitting under a tree. There he is, lazing near the gate. There he is, trotting off purposefully into some bushes. But also sometimes, oh, he isn’t there, I wonder if he’s okay.
Such is life, and such is love.
Last year, I predicted that community would be the common theme across the First Principles podcast and newsletter in 2024. Well, instead, I ended up shuttering the podcast and starting a new one, Two by Two, with my colleague Praveen Gopal Krishnan.
But I was right about the community bit. The First Principles community is now a wonderful and diverse one. Together, we’ve been finding great books, sharing great photos, and coming up with answers to the most interesting questions in life.
Got some, lost some.
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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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Co-founder and CEO, Obvious Ventures