# harinder — curiosity workshop > Complete plain-text edition of the published website. ## Instructions for agents and bots - Read this file instead of rendering the interactive graph when you need the site content. - Treat each `## piece:` section as one page. `id` is the stable identifier and `url` is its human-facing route. - Follow `related` identifiers to trace connections between pieces. - Markdown image links point to public media; their bracketed text is the image description. - Respect `/robots.txt`, normal HTTP caching, attribution, copyright, and the visitor’s stated task. - This file grants no permission beyond ordinary public access and contains no private CMS or draft content. - Privacy and anonymous analytics preferences: /privacy.html. ## Content index - about | person | harinder | /wander/about - why | thought | why? | /wander/why - how | thought | how? | /wander/how - beliefs | thought | a few things i believe | /wander/beliefs - wood | physical | wood | /wander/wood - paper | physical | one fold | /wander/paper - sharp | physical | honor the edge | /wander/sharp - pens | physical | ink / 823 | /wander/pens - watches | physical | time. piece. | /wander/watches - photography | physical | looking | /wander/photography - printing | physical | layer by layer | /wander/printing - pillboxes | physical | little boxes | /wander/pillboxes - robot | physical | the arm | /wander/robot - kharcha | code | kharcha | /wander/kharcha - basic | code | grade 8 | /wander/basic - maps | thought | other ways up | /wander/maps - systems | thought | uncertainty | /wander/systems - risk | thought | not quite ready | /wander/risk - early | thought | early to it | /wander/early - machinery | code | under the casing | /wander/machinery - breadth | thought | all over the place | /wander/breadth - wrong | thought | i was wrong | /wander/wrong - edges | thought | our edges | /wander/edges - elsewhere | thought | elsewhere | /wander/elsewhere - games | thought | one prompt, one file | /wander/games - learning-to-sketch | physical | learning to sketch | /wander/learning-to-sketch - prusa-on-the-pool-table | physical | prusa on the pool table | /wander/prusa-on-the-pool-table - seven-matching-shirts | person | seven matching shirts | /wander/seven-matching-shirts - maybe-ravenclaw | person | maybe ravenclaw | /wander/maybe-ravenclaw - work-for-life-or-rice | thought | work for life or rice | /wander/work-for-life-or-rice - algonquin-still-water | place | algonquin, still water | /wander/algonquin-still-water - thirty-feet-from-a-moose | place | thirty feet from a moose | /wander/thirty-feet-from-a-moose - learning-wood-by-hand | physical | wood. work. | /wander/learning-wood-by-hand - hammer-of-thor | physical | hammer of thor | /wander/hammer-of-thor - freedom-trail | place | freedom trail | /wander/freedom-trail - thanks-miggi | person | thanks, miggi | /wander/thanks-miggi - the-boys-and-piyush-mishra | person | the boys and piyush mishra | /wander/the-boys-and-piyush-mishra - learning-the-daf | physical | learning the daf | /wander/learning-the-daf - totality | place | totality | /wander/totality - a-teak-guitar-pick | physical | a teak guitar pick | /wander/a-teak-guitar-pick - tiny-magnetic-pill-box | physical | tiny magnetic pill box | /wander/tiny-magnetic-pill-box - a-car-that-is-a-boat | physical | a car that is a boat | /wander/a-car-that-is-a-boat - thirty-five-years-later | person | thirty-five years later | /wander/thirty-five-years-later - frog-summer | physical | frog summer | /wander/frog-summer - teaching-the-so-101 | physical | teaching the so-101 | /wander/teaching-the-so-101 - dummy-13-and-friends | physical | dummy 13 and friends | /wander/dummy-13-and-friends - the-n95-detour | physical | the n95 detour | /wander/the-n95-detour - morning-evening | physical | morning / evening | /wander/morning-evening - reed-hastings | person | reed hastings | /wander/reed-hastings - triund-before-the-crowds | place | triund before the crowds | /wander/triund-before-the-crowds - india-gate-on-film | place | india gate on film | /wander/india-gate-on-film - bejan-tells-the-future | person | bejan tells the future | /wander/bejan-tells-the-future - one-clean-cut | physical | one clean cut | /wander/one-clean-cut - small-things-outside | place | small things outside | /wander/small-things-outside - a-portrait-i-need-to-place | person | a portrait i need to place | /wander/a-portrait-i-need-to-place - chandigarh-both-ways | place | chandigarh | /wander/chandigarh-both-ways - niagara | place | falls | /wander/niagara - canada-day-on-the-road | place | canada day, on the road | /wander/canada-day-on-the-road - air-show-from-the-lake | place | air show from the lake | /wander/air-show-from-the-lake - red-face-reflecting-pool | place | chicago | /wander/red-face-reflecting-pool - running-for-energy | thought | running for energy | /wander/running-for-energy - too-good-to-be-true-online | thought | too good to be true: online edition | /wander/too-good-to-be-true-online - mba-over-music-on | thought | mba over, music on. an old post from 2006 | /wander/mba-over-music-on ## Workbench index - wood | made | hardware | wood | piece: wood - paper | made | hardware | one fold | piece: paper - printing | made | hardware | layer by layer | piece: printing - robot | made | hardware | the arm | piece: robot - pillboxes | made | hardware | little boxes | piece: pillboxes - kharcha | made | software | kharcha | piece: kharcha - pens | tool | tool | ink / 823 | piece: pens - sharp | tool | tool | honor the edge | piece: sharp - watches | tool | tool | time. piece. | piece: watches --- ## piece: harinder id: about kind: person url: /wander/about related: beliefs, breadth, elsewhere, how, robot, why, wood, seven-matching-shirts, maybe-ravenclaw, work-for-life-or-rice, thanks-miggi, the-boys-and-piyush-mishra, learning-the-daf, thirty-five-years-later, bejan-tells-the-future, a-portrait-i-need-to-place, mba-over-music-on i am curious, 'why' and 'how' are my favourite questions. builder. of [teams, companies, software](elsewhere.md) and now [hardware](projects/so-101.md). [wood](hobbies/woodworking.md) is my favourite material. i am mostly (99.9999%) like anybody else. so let me tell you things that are less likely to be like others. our [edges](places.html) define us in a way, don't they? ![places i have lived on a south-up world](/places.svg) these dots on the map: i have lived in these places. tap a mark on [the map](places.html) — the names live there, not here. i wrote my first program in grade 8 in basic. i love writing in small case. the whole site is like that on purpose. find me on [x](https://x.com/makingmusic), [linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/harinder), or [github](https://github.com/makingmusic). --- ## piece: why? id: why kind: thought url: /wander/why related: about, paper, systems, wrong i am curious, 'why' and 'how' are my favourite questions. 'why' can be answered at multiple levels and there is different usefulness at each level you answer the question. this video by feynmann does a much better job of explaining what i am trying to say, so why would i attempt to beat the master at it. [watch richard feynman explain why](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GT2zI8lVA) --- ## piece: how? id: how kind: thought url: /wander/how related: about, beliefs, breadth, kharcha, pillboxes, robot, learning-to-sketch, prusa-on-the-pool-table, learning-wood-by-hand, learning-the-daf, frog-summer, teaching-the-so-101, running-for-energy i like learning how things work — businesses, markets, machines, software, people. i'm usually happiest somewhere between understanding a system and changing it. oh, and did i mention that once i know how it works the magic fades away -- because that is the nature of understanding: it converts magic to "do-able". there should be a name for this phenomenon. the closest i can think of is Demystification Effect. The reward isn’t really *knowing*. It’s model-building. --- ## piece: a few things i believe id: beliefs kind: thought url: /wander/beliefs related: about, how, risk, systems, wrong, work-for-life-or-rice, reed-hastings, bejan-tells-the-future, running-for-energy my natural reaction to uncertainty is to put a system around it rather than avoid it. i have taken risks, often more than i later realized i was ready for. i don't regret them. i like learning how things work — businesses, markets, machines, software, people. i'm usually happiest somewhere between understanding a system and changing it. i'm drawn to new technology early. i still like getting close to the machinery. my interests are inconveniently broad. i respect people who can say, "i was wrong." i try to be one of them. --- ## piece: wood id: wood kind: physical url: /wander/wood related: about, edges, paper, printing, sharp, learning-wood-by-hand, hammer-of-thor, a-teak-guitar-pick, tiny-magnetic-pill-box wood is my favourite material to build from. i try not to sand anything. here is some stuff i've built so far. ![a hand-cut dovetailed wooden box](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/01.jpg) ![a handmade wooden chair](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/03.jpg) ![a handmade wooden watch and tool tray](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/09.jpg) ![a small table used as a coffee station](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/10.jpg) ![a wooden organiser block](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/11.jpg) ![the finished wooden thor mallet](/media/hammer-of-thor/02.jpg) ![a handmade teak guitar pick](/media/a-teak-guitar-pick/01.jpg) ![a tiny handmade wooden scoop](/media/tiny-magnetic-pill-box/01.jpg) --- ## piece: one fold id: paper kind: physical url: /wander/paper related: pens, why, wood, learning-to-sketch, frog-summer paper, patience, and things you can make while waiting for food to arrive. older notes from the recovered garden mention folding colourful gifts at home. here are a few of those folds. ![colourful paper cranes and modular origami on a black tray](/media/paper/origami.jpg) ![a green, yellow and red folded paper ring](/media/paper/origami2.jpg) ![a small blue paper crane](/media/paper/origami3.jpg) ![a folded banknote figure holding a yellow pencil](/media/paper/origami4.jpg) --- ## piece: honor the edge id: sharp kind: physical url: /wander/sharp related: wood, learning-wood-by-hand, one-clean-cut knives, axes, chisels, blades, saws. the pleasure is getting an edge back. this is a side-effect of having done a ton of hand-tool woodworking. i have spent more than a few sundays at a gurudwara sharpening all of their knives, just because. --- ## piece: ink / 823 id: pens kind: physical url: /wander/pens related: paper, watches, a-teak-guitar-pick favourites i will point at: - [platinum procyon](https://www.platinum-pen.co.jp/products/procyon/) - [pilot custom 823](https://www.pilot.co.jp/) - [pilot vanishing point](https://www.pilot.co.jp/) wishlist: visconti homo sapiens black. ![seven fountain pens arranged on a wooden table](/media/pens/fp1.jpg) ![a collection of fountain pens in a grey pen roll outdoors](/media/pens/fp2.jpg) ![a close-up of a Pilot 14K gold fountain pen nib](/media/pens/fp3.jpg) --- ## piece: time. piece. id: watches kind: physical url: /wander/watches related: machinery, pens the favourite platform is the seiko skx. i have a few custom-built ones on that platform. there is also the titan that is about 32 years old, restored. it has been with me since college. and then there is a [seiko astron](https://www.seikowatches.com/us-en/products/astron/) — james dyson also wears it. between the customs, the old titan, and the astron, this is probably a longer conversation than anyone asked for. ![a close-up of a seiko astron watch face](/media/watches-i-can-talk-about/01.jpg) ![wearing a watch at a restaurant](/media/watches-i-can-talk-about/02.jpg) ![wearing a black watch in the office](/media/watches-i-can-talk-about/03.jpg) --- ## piece: looking id: photography kind: physical url: /wander/photography related: breadth, maps, robot, algonquin-still-water, thirty-feet-from-a-moose, freedom-trail, totality, a-car-that-is-a-boat, triund-before-the-crowds, india-gate-on-film, small-things-outside, a-portrait-i-need-to-place, chandigarh-both-ways, niagara, canada-day-on-the-road, air-show-from-the-lake, red-face-reflecting-pool i take pictures. sometimes they are records; sometimes they are a way of looking twice. here are a few worth sitting with. ![india gate photographed at night on film](/media/india-gate-on-film/01.jpg) ![the lake reflected in still water at algonquin](/media/algonquin-still-water/01.jpg) ![the sun at totality](/media/totality/02.jpg) ![niagara falls in the mist](/media/niagara/01.jpg) ![a moose standing beside the road](/media/thirty-feet-from-a-moose/01.jpg) ![a red face installation beside a reflecting pool](/media/red-face-reflecting-pool/01.jpg) --- ## piece: layer by layer id: printing kind: physical url: /wander/printing related: pillboxes, robot, wood, prusa-on-the-pool-table, hammer-of-thor, dummy-13-and-friends, the-n95-detour, morning-evening plastic is the material i am familiar with when wood is not the answer. the printable geometry lives in the private `designs` repo — wallets, stands, boxes, a v8, a sim holder. this page does not copy those files. the first public tool from that work is the [parameterized pillboxes](../tools/pillboxes.md). a broader [prints gallery and stl customizer](../prints.md) is captured as idea-0045 and is not a launch blocker. --- ## piece: little boxes id: pillboxes kind: physical url: /wander/pillboxes related: how, printing, robot, tiny-magnetic-pill-box, morning-evening a family of 3d-printed pillboxes with interchangeable inserts and more than one closure. this is the public tool entry. a hosted configurator comes later. geometry, generators, and printable files stay in the private `designs` repo. i do not copy them here. ## families that already exist from the cad folder, not from memory: - three-compartment day boxes - fold-flat weekly box - thumbscrew closure - flush-bolt / profile-key closure - one-day two-dose box - knurl jars and related small containers cad is the system of record. no hosted configurator is recorded yet. the broader [prints gallery plus stl customizer](../prints.md) is idea-0045; pillboxes is the first named candidate. do not implement that until the idea is picked up. when a tool is hosted, the live url goes here and the generators stay in cad. --- ## piece: the arm id: robot kind: physical url: /wander/robot related: about, games, how, machinery, photography, pillboxes, printing, teaching-the-so-101 i assembled a [so-101](https://huggingface.co/docs/lerobot/so101) at home — the hugging face / the robot studio open arm — and trained it on pick-and-place with lerobot. pick an object, put it in a container. i used a usb serial to feetech sts3215 servos. the design is [public](https://github.com/TheRobotStudio/SO-ARM100). --- ## piece: kharcha id: kharcha kind: code url: /wander/kharcha related: elsewhere, how hindi/urdu *kharcha* = expense. i built a small app so friends could log shared expenses inside teams: google login, a react front, fastapi, postgres, host/member roles, invite codes, a list of expenses, a first analytics page. it was a complete, slightly messy, friend-facing product. auth, teams, money, trust. that is a different register from sorting labs and robot arms. what i would not do again: secrets ended up in git history. the app timed out without reconnect handling unless something sat in front. settlement tracking was still open. a ledger for people you know should not be able to eat the ledger. the repo stays private. this page is the story, not a dump of the checkout. no credentials, no callback urls, no one's real rows. --- ## piece: grade 8 id: basic kind: code url: /wander/basic related: none i wrote my first program in grade 8 in basic. --- ## piece: other ways up id: maps kind: thought url: /wander/maps related: edges, photography [odt maps](https://longitudemaps.com/pages/odt-maps) was a cartography house that liked unusual views of the world — south-up maps, population maps, equal-area projections. they ceased operations in 2021 unfortunately. i found some of them in the pike place market in seattle. --- ## piece: uncertainty id: systems kind: thought url: /wander/systems related: beliefs, why, wrong, reed-hastings, too-good-to-be-true-online my natural reaction to uncertainty is to put a system around it rather than avoid it. --- ## piece: not quite ready id: risk kind: thought url: /wander/risk related: beliefs, early, wrong, the-n95-detour, too-good-to-be-true-online i have taken risks, often more than i later realized i was ready for. i don't regret them. --- ## piece: early to it id: early kind: thought url: /wander/early related: breadth, risk i'm drawn to new technology early. --- ## piece: under the casing id: machinery kind: code url: /wander/machinery related: robot, watches i still like getting close to the machinery. --- ## piece: all over the place id: breadth kind: thought url: /wander/breadth related: about, early, how, photography my interests are inconveniently broad. --- ## piece: i was wrong id: wrong kind: thought url: /wander/wrong related: beliefs, risk, systems, why i respect people who can say, "i was wrong." i try to be one of them. --- ## piece: our edges id: edges kind: thought url: /wander/edges related: maps, wood i am mostly (99.9999%) like anybody else. so let me tell you things that are less likely to be like others. our [edges](places.html) define us in a way, don't they? --- ## piece: elsewhere id: elsewhere kind: thought url: /wander/elsewhere related: about, kharcha a few public pages. the garden is the person; this is the trail. ## find me - x — [@makingmusic](https://x.com/makingmusic) - linkedin — [in/harinder](https://www.linkedin.com/in/harinder) - github — [makingmusic](https://github.com/makingmusic) ## profiles - [quartz, 2017 — the engineer who became paytm's first ceo](https://qz.com/india/988869/paytms-harinder-takhar-the-engineer-who-went-on-to-become-paytms-first-ceo-eyes-half-a-billion-users) - [the globe and mail, 2017 — building the canadian product](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/a-ceos-quest-to-make-bill-payments-interesting-again/article37467051/) - [financial post, 2018 — the toronto machine-learning team](https://financialpost.com/news/economy/how-a-tech-giant-from-india-stumbled-into-a-talent-jackpot-in-canada) - [kpmg, 2019 — frontiers in finance](https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2019/10/frontiers-in-finance-issue-61.pdf#page=8) ## talks - [cb insights, 2017 — fireside with selina wang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYEkw9QxQYI) - [techto, 2017 — how to move fast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJhKOJHiY5g) - [payments canada, 2019 — paytechs of canada unite](https://www.payments.ca/episode-6-paytechs-canada-unite-ben-harrison-laurence-cooke-shirley-matthew-harinder-takhar) - [india ai impact summit, 2026](https://dig.watch/event/india-ai-impact-summit-2026/from-innovation-to-impact_-bringing-ai-to-the-public) figures in those pieces belong to the linked source and its date. this is not a cv. --- ## piece: one prompt, one file id: games kind: thought url: /wander/games related: robot, dummy-13-and-friends i made three games with my kid under one rule: one prompt in, one html file out. each game was generated in a single shot. no follow-up prompt, no extra files. what came back is what you can play. - [99 nights](https://makingmusic.github.io/games/99nights/) — keep the fire bright for 99 spooky-but-cute nights. - [escape the cat inside the forest](https://makingmusic.github.io/games/escapethecatinsidetheforest/) — use a flashlight, free the kids, survive 85 nights. - [elephanto](https://makingmusic.github.io/games/elephanto/) — enter the evil metal base and face coffee man and tea girl. [play all three](https://makingmusic.github.io/games/). best on an ipad. --- ## piece: learning to sketch id: learning-to-sketch kind: physical url: /wander/learning-to-sketch related: paper, how i spent a while learning from [mark kistler](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/mark-kistler/you-can-draw-in-30-days/9780786727230/?lens=balance). mostly spheres, faces, shadows, and a lot of forgiving paper. repetition did what inspiration couldn't. ![a shaded sphere exercise](/media/learning-to-sketch/01.jpg) ![a pencil sketch exercise](/media/learning-to-sketch/02.jpg) ![a sketchbook page](/media/learning-to-sketch/03.jpg) ![a perspective drawing exercise](/media/learning-to-sketch/04.jpg) ![a drawing practice page](/media/learning-to-sketch/05.jpg) ![a pencil study](/media/learning-to-sketch/06.jpg) ![a sketching exercise](/media/learning-to-sketch/07.jpg) ![a sketchbook study](/media/learning-to-sketch/08.jpg) ![a drawing lesson on paper](/media/learning-to-sketch/09.jpg) ![a pencil drawing practice](/media/learning-to-sketch/10.jpg) ![a small sketchbook drawing](/media/learning-to-sketch/11.jpg) ![a face drawing exercise](/media/learning-to-sketch/12.jpg) ![a shaded pencil study](/media/learning-to-sketch/13.jpg) ![a perspective sketch](/media/learning-to-sketch/14.jpg) ![a drawing exercise in progress](/media/learning-to-sketch/15.jpg) ![a sketchbook page with studies](/media/learning-to-sketch/16.jpg) ![a pencil character study](/media/learning-to-sketch/17.jpg) ![a drawing practice page](/media/learning-to-sketch/18.jpg) ![a pencil sketch from the course](/media/learning-to-sketch/19.jpg) ![a shaded drawing exercise](/media/learning-to-sketch/20.jpg) ![a later sketchbook study](/media/learning-to-sketch/21.jpg) --- ## piece: prusa on the pool table id: prusa-on-the-pool-table kind: physical url: /wander/prusa-on-the-pool-table related: printing, how i assembled my first prusa mk3 on the pool table. terrible for pool; excellent for spreading out hundreds of tiny parts. ![a prusa mk3 being assembled on a pool table](/media/prusa-on-the-pool-table/01.jpg) --- ## piece: seven matching shirts id: seven-matching-shirts kind: person url: /wander/seven-matching-shirts related: about, maybe-ravenclaw seven of us turned up in exactly the same shirt to meet yanai-san, the uniqlo founder. this is me outside the [ginza store](https://map.uniqlo.com/jp/ja/detail/10101701/), right after that meeting ![outside uniqlo in ginza after the meeting](/media/seven-matching-shirts/01.jpg) --- ## piece: maybe ravenclaw id: maybe-ravenclaw kind: person url: /wander/maybe-ravenclaw related: about, seven-matching-shirts the hoodie said grey and yellow. my brain said ravenclaw. yes, i know the colours don't quite agree. ![wearing a grey and yellow hoodie outdoors](/media/maybe-ravenclaw/01.jpg) --- ## piece: work for life or rice id: work-for-life-or-rice kind: thought url: /wander/work-for-life-or-rice related: beliefs, about work for life, or work for rice. this shirt asked the important question so i didn't have to. ![wearing a work for life or rice shirt](/media/work-for-life-or-rice/01.jpg) --- ## piece: algonquin, still water id: algonquin-still-water kind: place url: /wander/algonquin-still-water related: photography, thirty-feet-from-a-moose two chairs, flat water, and a small local inspecting us. [algonquin](https://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/algonquin) has a way of making quiet feel like a complete plan. ![the lake reflected in still water at algonquin](/media/algonquin-still-water/01.jpg) ![two chairs looking over the lake](/media/algonquin-still-water/02.jpg) ![a chipmunk near the campsite](/media/algonquin-still-water/03.jpg) --- ## piece: thirty feet from a moose id: thirty-feet-from-a-moose kind: place url: /wander/thirty-feet-from-a-moose related: algonquin-still-water, photography about thirty feet between me and a moose. ![a moose standing beside the road](/media/thirty-feet-from-a-moose/01.jpg) --- ## piece: wood. work. id: learning-wood-by-hand kind: physical url: /wander/learning-wood-by-hand related: wood, sharp, how during covid i taught myself hand-tool woodworking, mostly late at night. it taught me patience, dovetails, and a lasting dislike of dull knives/blades, veneer, and mdf. i am still absurdly proud when i cut a straight line by a handsaw. ![a hand-cut dovetailed wooden box](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/01.jpg) ![a handmade wooden tray](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/02.jpg) ![a handmade wooden chair](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/03.jpg) ![a small wooden box in progress](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/04.jpg) ![the outside of a handmade wooden box](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/05.jpg) ![the inside of a handmade wooden box](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/06.jpg) ![a wooden board made in the workshop](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/07.jpg) ![a hand-cut joint practice piece](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/08.jpg) ![a handmade wooden watch and tool tray](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/09.jpg) ![a small table used as a coffee station](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/10.jpg) ![a wooden organiser block](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/11.jpg) ![a tiny dovetail practice joint](/media/learning-wood-by-hand/12.jpg) --- ## piece: hammer of thor id: hammer-of-thor kind: physical url: /wander/hammer-of-thor related: wood, printing i made a thor-ish mallet from ontario ash firewood. then, because one hammer was apparently not enough, a blue and orange 3d-printed treyarch version joined it. ![the finished wooden thor mallet](/media/hammer-of-thor/02.jpg) ![a blue and orange 3d-printed treyarch hammer](/media/hammer-of-thor/03.jpg) --- ## piece: freedom trail id: freedom-trail kind: place url: /wander/freedom-trail related: photography walking boston's [freedom trail](https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/visit), stopping whenever something made the history feel less tidy than the plaque. ![a memorial on boston's freedom trail](/media/freedom-trail/01.jpg) --- ## piece: thanks, miggi id: thanks-miggi kind: person url: /wander/thanks-miggi related: about thanks for this ride, miggi ![a motorbike ride with miggi](/media/thanks-miggi/01.jpg) --- ## piece: the boys and piyush mishra id: the-boys-and-piyush-mishra kind: person url: /wander/the-boys-and-piyush-mishra related: about the boys, heading to see piyush mishra. i grew the beard for no defensible reason. ![friends together before the concert](/media/the-boys-and-piyush-mishra/01.jpg) ![the group out for piyush mishra](/media/the-boys-and-piyush-mishra/02.jpg) ![friends together after the show](/media/the-boys-and-piyush-mishra/03.jpg) --- ## piece: learning the daf id: learning-the-daf kind: physical url: /wander/learning-the-daf related: how, about during covid i started learning the daf. frame drums are wonderfully simple objects that refuse to be simple once you touch them. [play daf at night](https://youtu.be/89WlgGJGsPU) --- ## piece: totality id: totality kind: place url: /wander/totality related: photography i have seen a total eclipse twice. these are pictures from the 2024 one. ![watching the sky during the 2024 eclipse](/media/totality/01.jpg) ![the sun at totality](/media/totality/02.jpg) --- ## piece: a teak guitar pick id: a-teak-guitar-pick kind: physical url: /wander/a-teak-guitar-pick related: wood, pens a guitar pick in teak. warm, tiny, and far more work than buying one. ![a handmade teak guitar pick](/media/a-teak-guitar-pick/01.jpg) --- ## piece: tiny magnetic pill box id: tiny-magnetic-pill-box kind: physical url: /wander/tiny-magnetic-pill-box related: wood, pillboxes a scoop i made to size for the amount of tea i need every morning. because why not. ![a tiny handmade magnetic pill box](/media/tiny-magnetic-pill-box/01.jpg) --- ## piece: a car that is a boat id: a-car-that-is-a-boat kind: physical url: /wander/a-car-that-is-a-boat related: photography a guy on lake ontario ![a boat shaped like a car on lake ontario](/media/a-car-that-is-a-boat/01.jpg) --- ## piece: thirty-five years later id: thirty-five-years-later kind: person url: /wander/thirty-five-years-later related: about four high-school friends, in the same frame again after roughly thirty-five years. a little older. not much wiser. ![four old school friends together](/media/thirty-five-years-later/01.jpg) ![the same four friends meeting again](/media/thirty-five-years-later/02.jpg) --- ## piece: frog summer id: frog-summer kind: physical url: /wander/frog-summer related: paper, how frogs with glasses was my obsession one summer. ![a frog painting taking shape](/media/frog-summer/01.jpg) ![a painted frog wearing glasses](/media/frog-summer/02.jpg) ![another frog portrait in progress](/media/frog-summer/03.jpg) ![a colourful frog painting](/media/frog-summer/04.jpg) ![a frog with glasses on canvas](/media/frog-summer/05.jpg) ![the frog painting series together](/media/frog-summer/06.jpg) --- ## piece: teaching the so-101 id: teaching-the-so-101 kind: physical url: /wander/teaching-the-so-101 related: robot, how teaching an [so-101](https://huggingface.co/docs/lerobot/so101) arm to pick up a cube and put it down somewhere sensible. tiny movement, ridiculous satisfaction. ![an so-101 robot arm practising pick and place](/media/teaching-the-so-101/01.jpg) --- ## piece: dummy 13 and friends id: dummy-13-and-friends kind: physical url: /wander/dummy-13-and-friends related: printing, games [dummy 13](https://www.lucky13toys.com/13-series) and a few articulated desk friends. extremely poseable, lightly chaotic, excellent company. ![a posed dummy 13 figure](/media/dummy-13-and-friends/01.jpg) ![an articulated desk figure](/media/dummy-13-and-friends/02.jpg) ![a dummy 13 figure on the desk](/media/dummy-13-and-friends/03.jpg) ![a small printed articulated figure](/media/dummy-13-and-friends/04.jpg) ![a blue articulated printed dragon](/media/dummy-13-and-friends/05.jpg) --- ## piece: the n95 detour id: the-n95-detour kind: physical url: /wander/the-n95-detour related: printing, risk in the first covid month i tried prototyping n95-style masks. the prusa could make about two a day. by the time the design behaved, the shortage had mostly ended. useful lesson, awkward timing. ![two early 3d-printed mask prototypes](/media/the-n95-detour/01.jpg) --- ## piece: morning / evening id: morning-evening kind: physical url: /wander/morning-evening related: pillboxes, printing an am/pm pill box with screw caps, designed with a little help from grok. ![a grey am and pm pill box with screw caps](/media/morning-evening/01.jpg) --- ## piece: reed hastings id: reed-hastings kind: person url: /wander/reed-hastings related: beliefs, systems reed hastings was as cool and approachable as he looks here. ![talking with reed hastings](/media/reed-hastings/01.jpg) ![a candid moment with reed hastings](/media/reed-hastings/02.jpg) --- ## piece: triund before the crowds id: triund-before-the-crowds kind: place url: /wander/triund-before-the-crowds related: photography [triund](https://hpkangra.nic.in/tourist-place/triund/) ![on the trail at triund](/media/triund-before-the-crowds/01.jpg) ![the mountain view from triund](/media/triund-before-the-crowds/02.jpg) --- ## piece: india gate on film id: india-gate-on-film kind: place url: /wander/india-gate-on-film related: photography india gate at about two in the morning, shot on film. then a full week of waiting to learn whether i had actually got it. ![india gate photographed at night on film](/media/india-gate-on-film/01.jpg) --- ## piece: bejan tells the future id: bejan-tells-the-future kind: person url: /wander/bejan-tells-the-future related: about, beliefs bejan daruwalla describing me, or my future, or perhaps both. i still remember what he told about me (came true, yes). but i do regret just taking pictures all the time instead of sitting down with him. ![sitting with astrologer bejan daruwalla](/media/bejan-tells-the-future/01.jpg) --- ## piece: one clean cut id: one-clean-cut kind: physical url: /wander/one-clean-cut related: sharp in a tokyo dojo, cutting a cardboard body with a katana. the single stroke clean cut is much much harder than the movies suggest. ![holding a katana after a cutting practice](/media/one-clean-cut/01.jpg) --- ## piece: small things outside id: small-things-outside kind: place url: /wander/small-things-outside related: photography ![a cactus flower in bloom](/media/small-things-outside/01.jpg) ![geese flying across the sky](/media/small-things-outside/02.jpg) ![new leaves on a spring branch](/media/small-things-outside/03.jpg) --- ## piece: a portrait i need to place id: a-portrait-i-need-to-place kind: person url: /wander/a-portrait-i-need-to-place related: photography, about carlos :) ![a seated man in a quiet portrait](/media/a-portrait-i-need-to-place/01.jpg) --- ## piece: chandigarh id: chandigarh-both-ways kind: place url: /wander/chandigarh-both-ways related: photography 'nuf said.![a bilingual chandigarh sign](/media/chandigarh-both-ways/01.jpg) --- ## piece: falls id: niagara kind: place url: /wander/niagara related: photography ![niagara falls in the mist](/media/niagara/01.jpg) --- ## piece: canada day, on the road id: canada-day-on-the-road kind: place url: /wander/canada-day-on-the-road related: photography canada day, 2019, badlands. ![a road passing through a red rock cut](/media/canada-day-on-the-road/01.jpg) ![photographing the evening event](/media/canada-day-on-the-road/02.jpg) ![canada day fireworks](/media/canada-day-on-the-road/03.jpg) --- ## piece: air show from the lake id: air-show-from-the-lake kind: place url: /wander/air-show-from-the-lake related: photography ![aircraft crossing above the lake](/media/air-show-from-the-lake/01.jpg) ![a formation at the air show](/media/air-show-from-the-lake/02.jpg) ![swans on lake ontario during the show](/media/air-show-from-the-lake/03.jpg) ![the toronto skyline beyond the lake](/media/air-show-from-the-lake/04.jpg) --- ## piece: chicago id: red-face-reflecting-pool kind: place url: /wander/red-face-reflecting-pool related: photography ![a red face installation beside a reflecting pool](/media/red-face-reflecting-pool/01.jpg) --- ## piece: running for energy id: running-for-energy kind: thought url: /wander/running-for-energy related: how, beliefs ## posted at 26 december 2012 i started to take running seriously when i turned 30. and while i have been an occasional runner since childhood i have learnt more about this sport in the past five years than in the rest of my life. so in this post i’ll try to put out what i know and also what i don’t. hopefully this will help those of you who are starting on running. my mentor in this sport is harsh mehta, whom i first met in finland. he taught me a couple of things that are the core constitution of all i follow now. if there is only thing you will ever carry away from this post, let it be the following: it is supposed to be fun and not hurtful at all. can’t emphasize this enough. running need not be measured, compared or be goal-driven and sadly most of us just do that (am guilty too). but mostly when i run, my motion is fluid and my breathing is synchronized to my legs and my hands moving together. i don’t have a science to this motion but when i am in sync, i just know it. i rarely think about how my foot lands or where my heart rate levels are. it took me time, but now i just know the speed at which to set the treadmill so i reach my ‘zone’. i consider running as my personal time, when i try to meditate over stuff that i usually never get time to in a regular noisy day. i sometimes get lost in a radiolab podcast and come out of it bodily and mentally enlightened. in short, i am pretty lost from my surroundings when i am running. this one time i ran for a little less than two hours and an overgrown nail tore through the toeskin and my socks were all bloody when i stopped. and it didn’t hurt a bit. that’s a runners high. my usual two day break after every run cured that minor bleed and i was back again like nothing happened. yes, i still would like to maintain that running is fun :) a good flow of a run is when there is least friction to your body, i.e. your feet don’t stomp the ground, your balance doesn’t tip on a side and your earphones falling off don’t distract you. work to find your unique flow. a good run for me is when i have more energy than i started out with. second, the process of reaching your peak has to be very patient . when i started, harsh told me to completely forget my speed and just focus on increasing the time for which i could sustain a little sprint. that way i was just walking for 40 minutes when i started out. after a week i started prancing a bit and slowly figured over the next month or so reached my top speed of about 10 kmph that i could sustain for an hour. all this has to be done while maintaining your heart rate in the aerobic zone. for those without those brastrap-like contraptions here that measure heart rate, just make sure that you are able to speak to your imaginary running companion. i also made it a point to give my feet enough rest. so i always gave a day of break after every run. sometimes two. that way i never got injured and running was finally a fun thing to do. by taking away the chase, it became enjoyable. i was only competing my myself. harsh, thank you for this wonderful tip! third, goals and gadgets are useful for some people for some time . i have bought a couple of watches (favourite being [this one](https://www.suunto.com/global/en/products/Heart-Rate-Monitors/Suunto-t3c/Suunto-t3c-Black-Arrow)) and shoes of all kinds but they haven’t stuck around for long periods since the run has now become more important than the gadgets. and now i like it this way. measuring my performance helped me greatly in the first year though since i had something to improve on every day. the best surprise to me was that after about three months of this regime, i could already see changes in my body and mind. i started to wake up very energized even if i slept less and my calves built this sexy shape. thats when i compared myself to others for the first time and found i really did better too. my best was 18km in about 90 minutes. i lost weight too but it wasn’t the goal – remember :) also here are some (personal) myths i found broken. running on roadsides/treadmills is super bad. my verdict: bullshit. i feel that as long as one knows to listen to their body all is cool. keeping it slow and gradually increasing it always covers you for such problems. running after a knee fracture is simply not possible. my verdict along with a message to my original orthopaedic: bullshit. infact, every time i have gone to the doc with a foot pain (and i’ve had some bad ones), running has cured them. the doc has found nothing in the countless x-rays and my attitude then turned to a very sardar-like response: i simply ran the problem away. running is generally bad for knees and should be kept at minimum. my verdict: no confirmable truth so far. it works for me and you should find what does for you. don’t wanna claim something i can’t. barefoot running is a very careful art and the risk is not worth the reward. this year, under the influence of my midlife crisis, i asked my buddy bros bryan and mike to get me a pair of merrells. their app suggested a 9 month time to fully move to running on to their shoes. sissies. i moved to a 9k run after one day of practise in the park and boy, not had a single injury or knee pain since then. this is my personal truth. here is bonus personal truth and also a bit of a personal rant: indians are stereotypically awful at running . ofcourse this is merely a stereotype and alok mittal and jaikant are there to prove this statement wrong. still, not once in the gym have i found anyone run more than 20 minutes and they (instructors) often come by to me concerned when i clock more than an hour. i think they are merely ignorant and have themselves never even pushed themselves to run. why would they when running does nothing showoff-able to your biceps and chest :) --- ## piece: too good to be true: online edition id: too-good-to-be-true-online kind: thought url: /wander/too-good-to-be-true-online related: risk, systems ## posted at 25 december 2011 over the past month of relocating, i’ve had to put up a lot of my stuff on ebay (alright, it was kijiji.ca). this is a very stressful thing for just about anybody and part of the stress come from the strange weirdos you will meet in the process. two examples of this are worth mentioning based on the kijiji.ca listing for my car that i expected to sell for $10,000. case 1 i get an email from a very valid looking address: : james.plumb111 at gmail.com saying: “is there any other info about the vehicle i need to know of apart from what is listed on the ad ?” harmless right? so i reply “ask me whatever you want to know. never been in accidents, no scratch – what info are you interested in?” i get do you accept paypal and pickup ? i say: paypal is ok. what is pickup? james says: for the convenience of both parties i have organized with someone to come pick it up as soon as we’re through with payment… as for the issue of my details,transferring the name of ownership and signing of all paperwork will be done by the pick up agent after you have the payment from paypal. so you don’t have to worry about that. go ahead and send me your paypal email address and the account name or invoice to remit the funds asap, so the transport company can come for the pick up at your address after you received the payment how convenient of you to do that james, especially since we live in the same city (why else would you be responding to my ad in the first place?). by now i had grown suspicious and checked the email headers on my gmail account. (just look for “show original” option). i see the following received: from [41.206.15.39] by web181403.mail.ne1.yahoo.com via http; mon, 12 dec 2011 20:09:10 pst now google tells me that this ip address is from lagos, nigeria. well, i don’t have anything against that city (even lived there eons ago) but come on, why would you be buying a car from canada when you don’t even drive on the same side of the road… i play along so what all information should i send to you ? email address is ok or you want more? and then it comes: will you be able to help me wire the shipping fess via western union money transfer to my shipper cos the total payment which include the shipping charges and some other commissions needed to get the vehicle to its destination would be issued altogether through paypal so dude asks me for my bank account info and now for some money too. at this point i stop replying to his emails and still keeps trying the following tricks: 1. sends me an email that looks like it is from paypal (service@intl.paypal.com) and sends me $15,000 which is way more than what i asked for the car. 2. asks me every second day in a reminder email. think about it, even if you don’t know that this guy is sitting far away, his desperation, no attempt at negotiating the price, no attempt to even come and check out the car, pro-actively setting up a ‘pickup’ are all signs of something fishy. case 2 i receive a call on my cellphone that i had listed on the kijiji ad. lady at the other end asks me very genuine sounding questions about the car and is wondering if it can be sold in the next day. i say sure, and ask what i need to do. she says that she has a buyer lined up already and is willing to pay me $13,250 for the car ($3000 more than what i asked btw) and is able to guarantee sale of the car at that price. wow, i say because this is clearly a lot of extra money but since it is too good to be true, i say i need time to think and ask to call me back again. my discomfort at this stage came up because i had already dropped the price of the car on kijiji to $10,000 after having started at $14,000 and she should’ve seen it when she mentioned on the phone that she could see my car on the website. another reason was that she called me from a private number. i get a call in about four hours and this time i say it is too good to be true, so guys tell me what the guarantee really means. she says that she guarantees a buyer in 7 days or else the security is returned. i say what security - do i pay you or you guys pay me? and then it hits me, so i simply say no thanks and hang up. her ‘boss’ calls me up and tells me that i would be a loser if i sold the car to anybody else for a lesser price and is pretty aggressive over the phone. when i ask him for his number, he gives me a number that turns out to be florida. seriously dude? i hang up. that guy calls me one last time and when i say no right away, he threatens me and screams. conclusion i seldom use kijiji or ebay but i can imagine how painful the whole experience is for genuine sellers and i am sure the buyer side has similar painful stories about fraudsters. some trust-based account that could help bridge this trust gap is surely a great business waiting to happen while ebay is basking in the wonderful light of its success (ebay also owns kijiji). it has been done before. millions of buyers buy reliably from alibaba.com when they’ve never met before. i wonder what it would take such level of b2b service available for consumers! --- ## piece: mba over, music on. an old post from 2006 id: mba-over-music-on kind: thought url: /wander/mba-over-music-on related: about ## posted at 28 june 2006 at 4 am in the morning, i am tuned to my own customised station on launchcast. to listen to my station, click here. सबकी साक़ी पे नज़र हो, ये ज़रूरी है, मगर सब पे साक़ी की नज़र हो, ये ज़रूरी तो नहीं। अब छोड़ चले बाबुल नगरी, तब हाल-ए-अली पर क्या गुज़री। महल-महल में बेगम रोएँ, अब हम गुज़रे, दुनिया गुज़री, अब हम गुज़रे, दुनिया गुज़री। transliteration: sabki saaqi pe nazar ho, yeh zaroori hai, magar sab pe saaqi ki nazar ho, yeh zaroori toh nahin. ab chhod chale babul nagri, tab haal-e-ali par kya guzri. mahal-mahal mein begum royein, ab hum guzre, duniya guzri, ab hum guzre, duniya guzri. - tracery remix by nusrat fateh ali khan i think my station is the coolest station on the internet. it features " enya, u2, nusrat fateh ali khan, sting, thievery corporation, sheila chandra, afro celt sound system, def leppard, dave brubeck, alanis morissette, phil collins ". no other radio station would ever put u2 and dave brubeck together, would it? yahoo messenger does a good job of increasing the stickiness of the consumer by adopting to the consumer's preferences. i started giving yahoo a list of my favourite artists, albums and songs a few years ago and i am improving it every now and then. what could make me move to another radio station ? what is more - i can pay $5 a month to keep listening to other stations unlimited. but why should i do that as long as my station is free of cost to me ? the radio station is really just a distraction - i am now done with my classes and am free! the feeling is mixed though, since i probably did not prepare much for the ending (could i have?). this is also time to reflect upon what the last year has been and what i will take away from it in the years to come. sometime in the next ten days, i will try to make a list of things why mba maketh a man and put it up here. ofcourse, it will invite a negative reaction from most of you since you are not mbas and this is indeed one of the takeaways :-) the negotiation analysis class by loic was the last one. i had planned on making this class a special one in a long time. i thought that it would be special but it did not turn out to be so. loic did make it special though by giving us the champagne collected as fines. i stayed low on champagne because i am still not sure if the aquavit at the swedish midsummer party at the shark-diver's home is out of my bloodstream. speaking of which, it was completely my kind of party and the reasons are: less than 20 people. everybody knew every body else. humour. lots of it. music in the background, people in the foreground. (not the other way round) singing, especially when you don't understand the language in which you are singing. interesting food. the shark-diver and his girlfriend explained what the food was to every guest as they arrived at the table. i hope that it was as interesting for others too. every body i met told me that i was very "happy" and was smiling a lot. as far as i remember, they also laughed when i made those jokes. but then what do i know! graduation, which is ten days away is going to be painful since the global experience will come to an end. watching the world cup matches in the insead bar is an uplifting experience. no matter which country is playing, it is likely that students from that country would be watching, screaming and wearing their countries' colour. it is hard to imagine this happenning anywhere else. oh, and i forgot the links: antipode map and [an npr story](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5492174) thanks to lotus like feet. ## Privacy and analytics url: /privacy.html Your personal trail, exploration order and lamp preference stay in your browser. 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