18 Comments

Was this the post we talked about on the first day we met at the online gym? 🥹 time flies

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Yes! It was nice to revisit and tag everyone here on Substack for the 3 essays :)

Time is flying. I'm going to blink and find myself in 2026..

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Yeah, The idea of skill building services for graduates sounds good! I'm sure there's a market for it, especially among the current work force. However, charging employers for it is a concept that hasn't made its way into the mainstream in India but is definitely a win-win for both parties.

I fully agree with your point about universities being run by bureaucrats and not willing to adapt. I recently came accross a piece that highlighted the current scenario of education especially for yound children very well. I really liked it- https://open.substack.com/pub/simonsarris/p/school-is-not-enough?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1d3zrp

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Another beautiful piece ved! Really resonated with me. I recently came accross a statistic published by the indian govt that roughly 50% of graduates in India are unemployable. To me this conveys the deep disconnect between our education system and what's valuable to the economy. Education is not complete without invoking critical thinking and practicality in the students. Let's be honest, there's probably only a handful of people that would require the use of deep mathematical concepts in their professional lives, it's extremely puzzling then, why even today the education system forces and grades students on their ability to memorise these concepts. I think there's an urgent need for the education system to adapt, after all we are living in the age of exponential change and our ability to keep up with it is going to define our trajectory in the long term.

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Hey! Thanks for reading :)

Yup, especially when we manufacture engineers in mass for Core engineering jobs that don't exist. And then the cycle continues to get an MBA. Employment's another topic I want to dig into for another piece as well.

Agreed, although systems like education are decade long initiatives. I like the idea of skill building services for graduates (e.g. bootcamps) although it puts another financial burden on students (don't know any that charge employers instead)

Universities are run by bureaucrats - nimbleness and adaptation aren't in their handbooks.

This interview with Gautam Tambay is quite interesting from a 'you can't beat universities but you can help them' POV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHpBwTxHfkc&t=123s

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Inspiring stuff Ved! Thank you for helping me discover CGP Grey - I am looking forward to indulging in all the rabbit holes. I am in an experimentation phase, this piece is a good reminder to experiment with intention. Keep it up!

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That's awesome - congrats with publishing your piece btw!

Oh very nice, CGP is awesome. You might like this one about the business behind pirate ships:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0fAznO1wA8&t=118s

What kind of experiments are you trying?

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Writing is the big one at the moment!

I will check this video out!

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As someone who has struggled with a learning disability in school and had to use comics to learn how to read. Learning does need a healthy dose of both curiosity and self-direction.

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Thanks for sharing! I'm now trying to read manga in french as an experiment.

Was your school able to address the learning disability early on or did you learn this later as an adult?

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I resolved it myself almost without knowing I did. Wrote an essay about it at https://subbaorg.substack.com/p/comic-books-will-rot-your-brain

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That's a great story - love the image the staring into the devil's eyes and braving through it. It's never easy for a child to fight a teacher

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I had the same experience with French, can totally relate. Took it for 8 years but never learned how to be fluent. As an adult I’ve found taking the most meandering path to learning and sticking with it to satisfaction has led to a lot of new skills, but it was only with this lack of structure that I fell like I really learned to think properly.

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It's a statistic. Most schools teach French like it's Math.

Oh interesting, meandering how?

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You always leave us wanting more Ved. Like the Russian doll exercise I'd love for it to be a 2000 word essay. It just kept giving and I didn't wanna stop reading.

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That's a great compliment :')

Thanks for reading!

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Lovely essay Ved. I think this really hit home for me as I see the limitations of structured education playing out in different ways for my two sons.

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Thank you Ashwin! I can imagine - the system hasn't exactly changed from it's roots.

How have you been managing as a parent?

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