Day 55: Googling in China, midnight joy, and reading Ruskin Bond

light smartphone macbook mockup
Are the search results censored?

Today, I worked on the term paper outline for our International Business Strategy Course. We had the option to choose from multiple topics. We went for the one that asked us to analyze the entry strategy of a US or Europe based MNC that has entered both India and China.  We chose Google. In an earlier case, we had read about Google’s mishaps in China. We thought it would a be a good fit here to analyze the contrasting outcomes in two emerging markets.

As I read more about Google’s entry into China, I found the topic to have rich potential that can be covered from multiple aspects. Corporate ethics, cultural aspects, the impact of the political system on international business strategy are only some of them. While this project does not excite me as much I’d like it to, I, nevertheless, hope to gain at least a few things from the exercise.

.  .  .

The rest of the Sunday was spent on doing some equity research on and off, sending out some emails, charting out ambitious plans for making this blog into a book, and then some YouTube videos.

At midnight, as I went down to grab a bowl of noodles, the campus was vibrant at midnight with music and conversation. While it may tire me to be a part of this crowd, I always felt that a vibrant atmosphere such as this fills me with great spirit when I observe from the outside.

.  .  .

Reading Ruskin Bond. Quite unusually, during a pensive moment at this Sunday night, I opened the Kindle App on my phone and picked out Potpourri by Ruskin Bond. I had bought the ebook more than a month ago but never got around to reading it until today. The first time I had read a substantial amount of Ruskin Bond was at the magnificent Anna Centenary Library, my spiritual home, in Chennai, more than a year ago. His writing was captivating and the imagery vivid. It was surprising how easily, within a few sentences, I formed a close association with the author. It was no different this night. Incidentally, both the books I’ve read of his are non-fiction. One almost gets the feeling of sitting with him, listening to his stories.

This is what I’m going to do now. To listen to his stories. Are there better ways to end a day?

Day 10: A Day at the Library and buying books

row of books in shelf
Spent my day at the library

Today, I did not have any classes on my schedule. I was at the library catching up on some readings from ethics in the investment industry and some economics. Libraries are wonderful places.

In one of my planned micro-distractions, I visited for some e-retail therapy. I came across a good collection Kindle books being sold for Rs. 9 per book. I bought the following books:

  1. The Autobiography of a Sex Worker by Nalini Jameela
  2. Potpourri by Ruskin Bond
  3. Chai Chai by Biswanath Ghosh
  4. Parrots of Desire by Amrita Narayanan
  5. A Walk Through Barygaza: The Ancient Greek Port Town of India by Zac Oyeah
  6. Tiffin: Memories and Recipes of Indian Vegetarian Food by Rukmani Srinivas

Six interesting books I’d love to have in my library for 54 rupees.

I declared to a friend next to me that I was happy.

*  *  *

The last sentence of the article is the first one I wrote.

After dinner, it was time to work on my 300-word writing assignment.

“Will the Amazon physical stores be successful?”

This was my writing topic.

I constructed the pyramid, and but it was difficult to fill the boxes there.

After a few articles from The New York Times, McKinsey Insights, and a research paper, I started to pen down my thoughts.

Initially, I thought hard about my beginning sentence and the main content. I did not progress much. After a good thirty minutes, I was still thinking and reading.

Then I wrote my last sentence. Once I did that and knew my conclusion, the rest of the content flowed. This was an interesting writing task. I had some new learnings on approaching writing.

I had to rush to complete the task before the library was shut for the day. I submitted it five minutes before midnight. There is always a zen feeling after a completing a writing task.

Though this task was to test and improve my effectiveness in written communication, I felt I lacked proper hold on the subject to write something substantial. And unless I had something substantial to say, how would I know I’m saying it effectively!

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