| Sunday, 18 January 2026 |
A community-powered Sunday newsletter on mental models, self-reflection, learning, growth, photos, books, and more Subscribe here
Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
Dear reader, welcome back after the week of harvest festivals. From Lohri to Sankranti to Pongal, much of India celebrated the end of Winter Solstice and the sun’s changing hemispheric journey from the south to the north. Hello longer and warmer days! In the age of AI, it feels nice to be reminded of concepts like harvests and seasons and the sun’s changing paths.
It felt nice to have a rare mid-week break though. It was a pleasant winter afternoon. I was sitting in our balcony, reading a book. Gabru was lying next to me, lazing in the sun. The next moment he saw Jimmy, a young Golden Retriever, walk by below.
This was the result.
How was your week? 🙂
And here’s everything we have for you in First Principles this week:
1. Reframing your reality
2. Darwinbox’s Rohit Chennamaneni 🎙️
3. Singing to life’s tunes 📚
4. First light, Last light 📸
1. Congruence
In the middle of watching Ricky Gervais’ latest Netflix special, Mortality, I was struck by one of the least controversial and most normal things he said.
You’re probably not going to believe me when I say that I immediately made a note of it. Because it was a very profound point.
What is our “favourite thing”? How many of us truly know it?
We’re taught in school to focus on studies and exams, because that determines our likelihood of getting into a good college. We spend our college years thinking about and optimising for the subjects and projects that will increase our likelihood of getting a good job. We spend much of our careers doing things that increase the likelihood of getting a promotion or salary hike.
We change ourselves to chase the outcomes we think are valuable. Along the way, we get used to that being the default. We tell ourselves that, one day, we’ll do what we really want. Our favourite activity. But we don’t realise that we’ve gradually lost the ability to even know what we want.
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
Transparent, Honest, Detailed. To me, The Ken has been this since the day I subscribed to them. The research that they put into each story and the way it is presented is thoroughly interesting. Personally, I’ve always had a great time interacting with the publication and reading the stories.
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
As a designer, it’s easy to get lost in the craft of building products. As a business owner however, keeping up with a rapidly changing landscape is key to saying relevant. The Ken doesn’t just help me stay on top of what’s happening in India(and beyond), but makes it fun to do so.
Rahul Gonsalves
Co-founder and CEO, Obvious Ventures