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How to Be Happy and Get Rich

April 21, 2018 by Vishal Khandelwal Leave a Comment

If I were to rank the books that changed my life, Poor Charlie’s Almanack would be right up there. Even after reading the book a few times, every time I turn its pages, I can feel a sense of wonder and amazement at the immense wisdom these pages carry.

Unlike what many people think, this book is not a ready reckoner on how to become a successful investor. In fact, it’s much more than that.

It’s a book on how to live a happy, sensible and rich life and in the process become a better thinker and investor. As you read through the book, some of Charlie Munger’s ideas will inspire you, and some will make you uncomfortable. But all will challenge you to think outside the box.

The third chapter of Poor Charlie’s Almanack captures “Mungerisms”, where Munger dispels hundreds of ideas on subjects ranging from life, investing, academia, financial engineering, accounting, money management business, and managements.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

Triple Filter Test

November 5, 2016 by Vishal Khandelwal 1 Comment

Here is a philosophy you must keep in mind the next time you either hear some gossip, or are about to spread a rumour.

Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes (another Greek philosopher)?”

“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied, “Before you tell me, I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”

“Triple filter?” asked the acquaintance.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

Let Us Teach Our Kids to Dance:
Swara Patel

September 17, 2016 by Vishal Khandelwal 2 Comments

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

Swara PatelIn the first of our new series of interviews with people who’ve pursued their passion and taken up in their lives things they love, we interview Swara Patel.

Swara is an MBA from MET, Mumbai, a passionate dancer, entrepreneur, dance educationist, member of international dance council and now a dance therapist certified by CDI France and CMTAI. She was inspired to start her current venture, Rhythmus HappyFeet Dance Academy (RHF), in 2011 along with her friend and now co-founder Deepika Ravindran.

RHF specializes in teaching children dance with a unique approach of developmentally appropriate music and syllabus. RHF also provides a certified Ballet curriculum in affiliation with Ballet Manila, the Philippines.

Swara also has been conducting training workshops for school teachers with an objective to give children an active learning environment and has reached a milestone in introducing Agile Kids – a dance and creative movement program specially designed for schools bringing in kinesthetic teaching and learning

In this interview with The Life School, Swara speaks about her passion for dance and teaching this art to kids, and what keeps her inspired in doing so. Let’s start right away.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog, Interviews

Notes to Inspire – 94

October 27, 2015 by Anshul Khare Leave a Comment

Being an entrepreneur is not about taking risk, it’s about eliminating all risks. 

However, most of us have a distorted notion about risk.

A steady pay cheque isn’t necessarily risk free. It could prove to be the most risky option for your long term future. 

Just like a steady return from a back fixed deposit looks safe but the moment you take the inflation into account, the safe deposit becomes a sure shot way to lose money over long term.

So risk doesn’t mean absence of volatility. 

Working on something, even for few hours a week, that you love, that you find meaningful is the first step toward reducing the risk of ending up with an unfulfilled life.

Filed Under: Blog

What is The “Right” Kind of Education?

September 4, 2014 by Vishal Khandelwal 1 Comment

To me, education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil’s soul. To Miss Mackay it is a putting in of something that is not there, and that is not what I call education. I call it intrusion. ~ Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

It is now accepted that existing models of education, with their emphasis on acquisition of technical skills, the pursuit of bookish knowledge and the focus on examinations and grades – all acts of “putting in what is not there”- have only helped create a pool of skilled labour.

Is this why we educate our children?

Is education, as popular perceptions go, merely a means to a career and a “successful” life?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

The Paradox of Our Time

August 25, 2014 by Vishal Khandelwal 1 Comment

I recently found this inspiring message on the Internet. It is sometimes attributed to George Carlin, Jeff Dickson, the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Bob Moorehead.

Whoever the author is, what you’re going to read below is a wonderful message that I am sure will inspire you to live a wonderful life ahead.

The paradox of our time in history is that
we have taller buildings but shorter tempers;
wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less;
we buy more but enjoy less

We have bigger houses and smaller families,
more conveniences, but less time;
we have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgement;
more experts, yet more problems,
more medicine, but less wellness.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

Our World Needs More Starfish Throwers – A Case for Holistic Education

June 3, 2014 by Vishal Khandelwal Leave a Comment

Our vision of the ideal world can best be described as “Vasudheiva Kutumbakam”, the world as one family, a world inhabited by human beings with inherent goodness, living together in harmony with their fellow human beings and other living and non-living things that inhabit our planet.

This is far removed from the state of the world today – no illusions about that.

Centuries of conditioning and the pursuit of materialism in the name of progress have reduced man to a greedy, self-serving, calculative, manipulative being.

The world itself is full of conflict, and our response – religions, political systems, educational systems – are all means of escape from the suffering arising out of this conflict.

We have surrendered the capability to think and act for ourselves, and are ever willing to submit to authority in any form – social, political, religious, spiritual.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

Why Real Education & Right Action Matter More than Knowledge

May 9, 2014 by Vishal Khandelwal 2 Comments

No books, no scriptures, no science can ever imagine the glory of the Self that appears as man, the most glorious God that ever was, the only God that ever existed, exists, or ever will exist. I am to worship, therefore, none but myself. I worship my Self. ~ Swami Vivekananda.

If only our policymakers and educationalists knew the real meaning of these words, the world would have been different.

The fact that every country, every institution and every organization is focusing so hard to use the information-gathering brain of the humans just to profit from it rather than harnessing the energy and intellect of individuals to change the world for better, is hurting the overall rhythm and balance of our planet.

Real education focuses not on information, knowledge or exams but on overall development of the self – the real thinker and doer.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

How Schools Kill Creativity…and
What to Do About It

April 8, 2014 by Vishal Khandelwal 2 Comments

“We are students of words: we are shut up in schools, and colleges, and recitation-rooms, for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do not know a thing.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Education as learning stemmed from our natural curiosity and desire to know the world around us.

Acquiring knowledge will never be out-of-fashion because it is the very essence of education, and “a good unto itself.”

However, sadly enough, today’s schools are driven by curriculum serving other purposes, mistaking rigour for vigour, killing curiosity and creativity, and robbing kids off the enjoyment that learning can provide.


In fact, what has gotten in the way of education in India or at most places around the world is a theory of social engineering that says there is just ONE RIGHT WAY to proceed with growing up.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

An Education Beyond Textbooks

March 30, 2014 by Vishal Khandelwal 2 Comments

“I have never let schooling interfere with my education.” – Mark Twain

You could laugh it off as a humorous quote, but if you pause and reflect, it is a profound observation – that, rather than facilitating, schooling is an impediment to education.

Everyone has an opinion about what is wrong with the existing education system. However, the emphasis continues to be on skill development, learning by rote and the dependence on examinations to assess intelligence.

Everyone agrees that the machinery needs to be repaired, nay overhauled. However, the repairs – changing syllabi, pumping in more funds to make better classrooms or score more in examinations – only perpetuate the problem.

Almost everyone agrees that the existing education does not deliver on expectations.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog

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