Recently, I've found myself grappling with a peculiar inner turmoil, and despite my best efforts, its origin remains elusive. Strangely, there seems to be no tangible cause for this emotional struggle, no apparent reason for the persistent unease that clings to my days. In response to this nebulous disquiet, I've composed a series of affirmations, a self-prescribed remedy to be recited daily. Among them: "It is not my job to care about everyone," "People get what they vote for," and "You have to navigate life, not push against everything." While these mantras provide a semblance of solace, I must confess, none have proven as efficacious as the respite your podcast affords me. There exists a certain enchantment in the camaraderie of two old friends engaged in conversation, where I, akin to a silent observer, am granted access to this intimate exchange. It's a sentiment reminiscent of reading books while aboard a train on a rainy day-a subtle romance that transcends the ordinary. Your podcast, much like the rhythmic cadence of raindrops on a train window, possesses an inexplicable ability to lift the weight off my shoulders and envelop me in a comforting embrace. In the midst of life's complexities, your conversations become a haven, a source of genuine warmth that transcends the limitations of mere affirmations. Thank you for creating a space where I, along with many others, can find solace.
Can we please do a show on Ajay's tech product recommendations - assuming his wealth of experience of going through lots of them might be helpful to all gentle readers.
Legendary Casio watches -- www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00HFPIIOI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (old and cool) and www.amazon.in/gp/product/B000V7ERW4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (more modern, and better).
Unpredictability is needed in life as routine become monotonous, just like listening music on Spotify with Playlist but that is predictable as I know all songs are my favorite. But on FM, not all songs are of my choice, but when any song comes which I like, it feel better than as compared to if it had came in Playlist. Messyness is also needed
24:31 Amit: "There is one thing that was in abundance in 91 but has become very scarce now." Ajay: "Mangoes." Amit: "The days of our youth." Ajay: *looks at the camera and rolls eyes* Gold! 😂😂😂
I am a huge fan of your work. Somehow I was unaware of your work these days. I found a " Khajana" now, I am also happy that a Bengali is thinking like this to bring up this kind of content. And Ajay Shah is brilliant mind; I can hear him for hours; Though I don't agree with him in lot of topics. But he is way ahead ; so are you
The episode was about decluttering. But it drove home something deeper and more fundamental: detaching from notions of how things should be to embrace the way things are.
24:37 That expression! Frame that and make it your thumbnail 😅 42:27 Legendary conversation snippet! 50:47 Eric From? Lol This episode is reaction and expression-gold ! 😂
The themes discussed here reminded me of the book I read last year that is of relevance here. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkman. It also brought into my consciousness this fascinating word “Finitude”
Josh& Ryan have / had a netflix docu too.. 😊 and i agree on the paradox of decluttering, what makes sense. for someone whos been plagued with wanting to subtract, along with needing multiple things for multiple circumstances that keep changing, and conditioning of, dont waste, its a lifelong affair. ❤
Excellent as always. I expected Mr. Ajay Shah to take this decluttering to a more philosophical level. His thoughts on prioritizing projects while narrowing down to the specifics are illuminating. Students and young professionals should take a cue from his practice. Recently I completed reading a book titled "minimalism" By Gwyneth Snow. I drafted a review and posted it on Goodreads. The first para of the review is presented below. Just thought of sharing it with you! "No prizes for guessing what this book is all about! While all of us have generous doses of the virtues of simple living from our upbringing, minimalism promotes it as a philosophy. At its core, minimalism seeks to rid life of its excess. While what is “excess” is always a matter of subjective interpretation, we intuitively know the essence of minimalism. It doesn’t advocate obsessive austerity but encourages being decluttered and contented with life appreciating everything that it has to offer. This book, however, is not for the poor nor for retired people surviving on annuities. For them, minimalism is not a choice but a necessity! Neither this book prescribes renunciation for the well-to-do. In a way, it presents minimalism as an attitude and intends it to be a matter of choice. It should not be misunderstood as living in poverty. A minimalist is not poor, has all the things he requires, and is well nourished. However, he is not crazy after collecting material goods for their own sake or as a matter of personal vanity. He realizes that consumerism beyond a point leads to a sense of inadequacy and boredom. He consciously chooses a minimalist way of living by keeping his personal requirements to a minimum preferring decluttered living spaces leading to stress stress-free life. He is relatively indifferent to the standards that society expects him to maintain and doesn’t look around for validation."
A question (might be off-topic, sorry): There have been instances where Amazon has removed / deleted books from kindle. In that sense, some of these might become books which fall into the 'digital / PDF not available / out-of-print' category (since kindle is effectively an e-book monopoly). There can be valid reasons behind such a move: contractual compulsions, laws of the land, or copyrights; the end result is something which otherwise cannot practically happen with a physical copy of the book. While a first reaction to this might be anger or indignation, I don't know how to think about this from a solution perspective. Can you please share your thoughts? The more episodes of EIE that go by, the more fun and enjoyable they become. Great work, much appreciated! Only when I try to recommend the show to someone, do I realize that it is very difficult to describe why I am recommending it! So I end up describing it as a conversation and leave it at that!
Here's a little question. How do we know, what art to consume? Consuming new forms of art, like I am trying with Ghazals, is essentially a time taking experiment. Each song is different and you can't decide whether you like the form or just listening to one. Think of books and movies, some require enormous amounts of time to come to fruition and in some cases, unfortunately, there is no fruition. Things just don't work. Example, I read China Mieville's The City and The City, which by the end of it massively underwhelmed me. The same week I read Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami, one short story every morning, immensely gratifying. How do we arrive at a conclusions that yes, this art works for me and I shall invest more in it. Branching off from that, can consuming art (any form) be that one activity we engage in, beyond which everything is a bonus? In my view, over time, given the stigma around what is productive and what is not, this whole karyakram of consuming art, is seen as a lesser productive activity, especially when compared to creating art. Can it not be the other way around sometimes? Where does consuming art fit in, when thinking of decluttering and being productive? Apologies for rambling, I just wanted to present my thoughts as they are. As if we were conversing.
Blood is essential for living, but that's not what life is about. In similar fashion, productivity is a means to an end. Most people find meaning and purpose in truth, beauty and people. Everything else is creating the possibility to climb these hills.
Engaging discussion as always. Love the ebb and flow of topics and all the recommendations. Just a suggestion, cant the channel be named the same as the show, sometimes its hard to find the new episode(yes I know about the bell icon, but I have decluttered my phone with notifications from almost all apps), one has to always remember that its under the channel called amitvarma.
I have a tech recommendation for Ajay - DAC + IEM, "dark side of the moon" in FLAC format! For the other gentle readers, DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter, IEM is an In-ear-monitor which is essentially an earphone, and when you combine these 2, along with a higher resolution audio format like FLAC, all your music goes up to a quality that you've never experienced before.
I remember reading this somewhere - if you own something and you didn't use it in a period of 6 months.. then you really didn't need it in the first place.
I remember my Casio F91-W very fondly in the early 90s. Paradoxically, that watch is timeless. I can totally understand Ajay's love for his Casio. A trade down can be far more invaluable than a trade up.
The Seen and the Unseen. No, but seriously, Hardcore History, Econtalk, Lex Fridman, Huberman Lab. Pretty standard fare. Those guys are popular for a reason.
Felt, there are some topics which Ajay doesn't know and he was talking from his personal experience. No great insight but good conversation. New background is great.
I think Amit is being so hard on himself. He is doing such a great work! I would like to read his book though. But cheer up. You are awesome and we cannot imagine our Mondays and Fridays without you ❤
Amit you talking about things left behind by your father but not having much meaning for you (as I guess will be the same for most of us) reminded me of this beautiful poem by Donald Hall - The Things When I walk in my house I see pictures, bought long ago, framed and hanging -de Kooning, Arp, Laurencin, Henry Moore- that I've cherished and stared at for years, yet my eyes keep returning to the masters of the trivial-a white stone perfectly round, tiny lead models of baseball players, a cowbell, a broken great-grandmother's rocker, a dead dog's toy-valueless, unforgettable detritus that my children will throw away as I did my mother's souvenirs of trips with my dead father, Kodaks of kittens, and bundles of cards from her mother Kate.
All this serene greenery and thoughtful talks aside, doesn't Ajay and Amit look like Shifu and Po respectively?!!
Had to Google that!
@@amitvarma What!! Man who know almost everything don't know of Kungfu Panda! Shame Shame!!😂
Come on Amit, you gotta watch the Kungfu Panda franchise!
Recently, I've found myself grappling with a peculiar inner turmoil, and despite my best efforts, its origin remains elusive. Strangely, there seems to be no tangible cause for this emotional struggle, no apparent reason for the persistent unease that clings to my days.
In response to this nebulous disquiet, I've composed a series of affirmations, a self-prescribed remedy to be recited daily. Among them: "It is not my job to care about everyone," "People get what they vote for," and "You have to navigate life, not push against everything." While these mantras provide a semblance of solace, I must confess, none have proven as efficacious as the respite your podcast affords me.
There exists a certain enchantment in the camaraderie of two old friends engaged in conversation, where I, akin to a silent observer, am granted access to this intimate exchange. It's a sentiment reminiscent of reading books while aboard a train on a rainy day-a subtle romance that transcends the ordinary.
Your podcast, much like the rhythmic cadence of raindrops on a train window, possesses an inexplicable ability to lift the weight off my shoulders and envelop me in a comforting embrace. In the midst of life's complexities, your conversations become a haven, a source of genuine warmth that transcends the limitations of mere affirmations.
Thank you for creating a space where I, along with many others, can find solace.
Thank you! Glad and touched that the show can mean this to you. 🙂🫂
Can we please do a show on Ajay's tech product recommendations - assuming his wealth of experience of going through lots of them might be helpful to all gentle readers.
Legendary Casio watches --
www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00HFPIIOI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (old and cool)
and www.amazon.in/gp/product/B000V7ERW4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (more modern, and better).
Unpredictability is needed in life as routine become monotonous, just like listening music on Spotify with Playlist but that is predictable as I know all songs are my favorite. But on FM, not all songs are of my choice, but when any song comes which I like, it feel better than as compared to if it had came in Playlist.
Messyness is also needed
24:31 Amit: "There is one thing that was in abundance in 91 but has become very scarce now."
Ajay: "Mangoes."
Amit: "The days of our youth."
Ajay: *looks at the camera and rolls eyes*
Gold! 😂😂😂
I am a huge fan of your work. Somehow I was unaware of your work these days. I found a " Khajana" now, I am also happy that a Bengali is thinking like this to bring up this kind of content. And Ajay Shah is brilliant mind; I can hear him for hours; Though I don't agree with him in lot of topics. But he is way ahead ; so are you
Need an episode on shower gels...
An immersive experience would not be suitable for family audiences.
Would love to hear why Ajay loves his watch?
The episode was about decluttering. But it drove home something deeper and more fundamental: detaching from notions of how things should be to embrace the way things are.
Grateful to partake in conversations albeit from an observer's POV, effectively gaining access to circles I would ordinarily not have been part of.
24:37 That expression! Frame that and make it your thumbnail 😅
42:27 Legendary conversation snippet!
50:47 Eric From? Lol
This episode is reaction and expression-gold ! 😂
I think this is the reason we all want Everything is everything to be a video podcast, Just for this Greenery and calm view.Thanks Mr Amit and Shah!
Add to that Ajay’s shirts. Share links please
I love this show! *Reminder to myself*
Ajay Sir should curate life hack book…
Amit - Suggest some good Shower gels & exact model of Ajay's watch
The themes discussed here reminded me of the book I read last year that is of relevance here. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkman.
It also brought into my consciousness this fascinating word “Finitude”
You forgot to link Ajay's Casio Watch's e-commerce link in the show notes. Need that! :D
That watch is out of stock 😢
i know it's a crime to ask this to both of you. please do a house tour
Ajay , can you talk about hiking please ? When did you start ? Do you continue ? Is it ever too late to start ?
It's a great subject!
Just like the design classics like Casio basic digital watch, please do an episode on other such favourite possessions of urs!
There are recommendations in many episodes.
Josh& Ryan have / had a netflix docu too.. 😊 and i agree on the paradox of decluttering, what makes sense. for someone whos been plagued with wanting to subtract, along with needing multiple things for multiple circumstances that keep changing, and conditioning of, dont waste, its a lifelong affair. ❤
Doing it outdoors was a great idea. This episode is really special. The backdrop combined with the insights from both of you 👍 Thank you !!
Excellent as always. I expected Mr. Ajay Shah to take this decluttering to a more philosophical level. His thoughts on prioritizing projects while narrowing down to the specifics are illuminating. Students and young professionals should take a cue from his practice.
Recently I completed reading a book titled "minimalism" By Gwyneth Snow. I drafted a review and posted it on Goodreads. The first para of the review is presented below. Just thought of sharing it with you!
"No prizes for guessing what this book is all about! While all of us have generous doses of the virtues of simple living from our upbringing, minimalism promotes it as a philosophy. At its core, minimalism seeks to rid life of its excess. While what is “excess” is always a matter of subjective interpretation, we intuitively know the essence of minimalism. It doesn’t advocate obsessive austerity but encourages being decluttered and contented with life appreciating everything that it has to offer. This book, however, is not for the poor nor for retired people surviving on annuities. For them, minimalism is not a choice but a necessity! Neither this book prescribes renunciation for the well-to-do. In a way, it presents minimalism as an attitude and intends it to be a matter of choice. It should not be misunderstood as living in poverty. A minimalist is not poor, has all the things he requires, and is well nourished. However, he is not crazy after collecting material goods for their own sake or as a matter of personal vanity. He realizes that consumerism beyond a point leads to a sense of inadequacy and boredom. He consciously chooses a minimalist way of living by keeping his personal requirements to a minimum preferring decluttered living spaces leading to stress stress-free life. He is relatively indifferent to the standards that society expects him to maintain and doesn’t look around for validation."
A question (might be off-topic, sorry): There have been instances where Amazon has removed / deleted books from kindle. In that sense, some of these might become books which fall into the 'digital / PDF not available / out-of-print' category (since kindle is effectively an e-book monopoly). There can be valid reasons behind such a move: contractual compulsions, laws of the land, or copyrights; the end result is something which otherwise cannot practically happen with a physical copy of the book. While a first reaction to this might be anger or indignation, I don't know how to think about this from a solution perspective. Can you please share your thoughts?
The more episodes of EIE that go by, the more fun and enjoyable they become. Great work, much appreciated!
Only when I try to recommend the show to someone, do I realize that it is very difficult to describe why I am recommending it! So I end up describing it as a conversation and leave it at that!
Here's a little question. How do we know, what art to consume? Consuming new forms of art, like I am trying with Ghazals, is essentially a time taking experiment. Each song is different and you can't decide whether you like the form or just listening to one. Think of books and movies, some require enormous amounts of time to come to fruition and in some cases, unfortunately, there is no fruition. Things just don't work. Example, I read China Mieville's The City and The City, which by the end of it massively underwhelmed me. The same week I read Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami, one short story every morning, immensely gratifying. How do we arrive at a conclusions that yes, this art works for me and I shall invest more in it. Branching off from that, can consuming art (any form) be that one activity we engage in, beyond which everything is a bonus? In my view, over time, given the stigma around what is productive and what is not, this whole karyakram of consuming art, is seen as a lesser productive activity, especially when compared to creating art. Can it not be the other way around sometimes? Where does consuming art fit in, when thinking of decluttering and being productive? Apologies for rambling, I just wanted to present my thoughts as they are. As if we were conversing.
Blood is essential for living, but that's not what life is about. In similar fashion, productivity is a means to an end. Most people find meaning and purpose in truth, beauty and people. Everything else is creating the possibility to climb these hills.
@@ajayshah5705 I read and re-read it a couple of times to make sure, I grasped it. Thank you sir.
Curious, isn't Ajay's watch the Casio W-800H-1AVCF?
One question: I buy a lot of books reads half of the book and move to next one what should be done??😅
What's the algorithm for books :
Buying
Starting
Stopping
Keeping
Given today's discourse about de-clutter, the significance of messiness was the highlight for me!
Watched this video after a hectic week and the video form helped a lot
How we live our day is how we love our life.. good day is a good life.... .
Engaging discussion as always. Love the ebb and flow of topics and all the recommendations.
Just a suggestion, cant the channel be named the same as the show, sometimes its hard to find the new episode(yes I know about the bell icon, but I have decluttered my phone with notifications from almost all apps), one has to always remember that its under the channel called amitvarma.
We all smiled at that giggle
Ajay likes to convey his reasoning with algorithms and yet he glimmers in awe when talking about all things living.
If u both r in mumbai, where r u filming these videos... Gr8 venue!
Hi, please make an episode on environmental sustainability.
Added to watch later 😊. This is a pretty fundamentally important issue
I love how Ajay sees everything in terms of algorithms. I wonder if he's read the book "Algorithms to live by" by Brian Christian
Yes would like to know Ajay/Amit or both views on it. I am sure Ajay must have read it.
I have a tech recommendation for Ajay - DAC + IEM, "dark side of the moon" in FLAC format!
For the other gentle readers, DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter, IEM is an In-ear-monitor which is essentially an earphone, and when you combine these 2, along with a higher resolution audio format like FLAC, all your music goes up to a quality that you've never experienced before.
Can you please name some specific parts so we can google for them?
@@ajayshah5705 sure! I use the Shanling U1 plus DAC and Kiwiears Cadenza IEM. These 2 are great entry points into the world of hi res audio.
@shambhuneo Declutter means live from the state of no mind. Mind itself is the bigger clutter than anything else.
Wasted years! Those words have taken over my brain space for some time now :(
I remember reading this somewhere - if you own something and you didn't use it in a period of 6 months.. then you really didn't need it in the first place.
That’s what I follow, I throw away all my winter wear every September and buy new ones in November
Oh yes, especially your academic certificates.
Whenever I've had a hat, i lost it 22:20 profound indeed
Greenery and wisdom
Beautiful conversation. I am coming back to this....again
minimalism is about focus on what matters, cut the rest to be able to..
Anthonu dmello- the path to love..
www.sloww.co/way-to-love-anthony-de-mello/
Love this!
Marie Kondo to ghaas bhi bechdegi.
I share your interest in shower gels!
I remember my Casio F91-W very fondly in the early 90s. Paradoxically, that watch is timeless. I can totally understand Ajay's love for his Casio.
A trade down can be far more invaluable than a trade up.
Isn't it the Casio W-800H-1AVCF?
Don't know which one Ajay wears. I had the F91W.
My love for Casio is much higher post-40 than in my teens ❤
Would love to know some of the podcasts that Amit Verma sir listens. Any recommendations?
The Seen and the Unseen.
No, but seriously, Hardcore History, Econtalk, Lex Fridman, Huberman Lab. Pretty standard fare. Those guys are popular for a reason.
Felt, there are some topics which Ajay doesn't know and he was talking from his personal experience. No great insight but good conversation. New background is great.
Lovely setting and lovelier episode!
Inverted funnel
I think Amit is being so hard on himself. He is doing such a great work! I would like to read his book though. But cheer up. You are awesome and we cannot imagine our Mondays and Fridays without you ❤
😍😍😍
What do you buy from AliExpress??
That sniff Amit around 6:25 about dad living in half a room? I love you Amit. God be with you
Amit you talking about things left behind by your father but not having much meaning for you (as I guess will be the same for most of us) reminded me of this beautiful poem by Donald Hall - The Things
When I walk in my house I see pictures,
bought long ago, framed and hanging
-de Kooning, Arp, Laurencin, Henry Moore-
that I've cherished and stared at for years,
yet my eyes keep returning to the masters
of the trivial-a white stone perfectly round,
tiny lead models of baseball players, a cowbell,
a broken great-grandmother's rocker,
a dead dog's toy-valueless, unforgettable
detritus that my children will throw away
as I did my mother's souvenirs of trips
with my dead father, Kodaks of kittens,
and bundles of cards from her mother Kate.
Magnificent!
Just read the title story recommended by Amit and for some reason my eyes are red. What about you Ajay Shah?
Where to get the story pdf??
@@rajibhakta5001 static1.squarespace.com/static/5838a24729687f08e0321a15/t/5bf2bdfa562fa782871c6252/1542635003373/The-Paper-Menagerie+by+Ken+Liu.pdf