Stoked Smondays #6- Nullius in Verba 🧗🏻‍♂️

Here's the #6th edition of Stoked Smondays where I talk about greatness, the first-ever scholarship I received and some amazing content recommendations.

Jan 30, 2022

Sonu (age 6) and Monu (age 10) reside in a small village in India.

They are best friends - so much so, that they are always seen together - right from the start of the day till they are put to sleep at night.

One Sunday afternoon while playing in front of Sonu’s house, Monu says:

“Sonu, let’s go to Panchghar. I heard there’s a mela being organised in the evening with 15-20 different types of games. It’ll be fun!”

Panchghar is a village 5 km away from where they live. To reach there, one has to pass through a mile-length dense woodland.

Sonu, remembering his mother’s strict orders of not stepping into the woods at any cost, tells Monu that this is not a good idea and dismisses it.

Monu somehow convinces Sonu by promising to buy him some candies on arrival.

Both set forth for Panchghar, making sure no one notices them pacing out of the village boundaries.

Halfway into the woods, Sonu asks Monu to wait for a while as he is exhausted and can’t walk further. Monu, making fun of Sonu’s stamina keeps on walking.

A minute later - Sonu hears a splashing sound. The sound is loud enough to make him realise something bad just happened. On running towards the direction of the sound, he finds Monu in a huge well, hastily kicking legs, trying to stay afloat.

Sonu quickly scans his surrounding with the hopes of finding someone. He screams on top of his voice asking for help. No one arrives.

Perceiving there’s not much time left, he quickly grabs the bucket lying around, swings it into the well and asks Monu to grab the rope.

With all his might and vigour, Sonu pulls the rope, profusely sweating along the way.

After 5 minutes, Monu successfully ascends the well, hugging Sonu and at the same time feeling guilty for not listening to him.

They ditch the idea of going to Panchghar and make a u-turn to their village fearing how everyone would react when they’d find out what had happened.

Realising it’s better to disclose the truth than to hide it - they reach the village and narrate the incident to everyone.

On hearing this, villagers burst into laughter, thinking the boys are up to some prank.

No one believes them.

But Sonu and Monu innocently try to convince everyone that this is true and Monu indeed had fallen into the well.

Sensing how serious they were, villagers get puzzled thinking how is it possible that something like this could happen?

What’s puzzling is not that this incident took place.
It is the fact that how was Sonu - who’s just 6 and weighs 21 kilos - able to pull Monu out of the well?

Perplexed by the incident, everyone decides to pay a visit to the wisest man in the village and seek his opinion on the matter.

On carefully hearing the story, the man smiles and says “They are speaking the truth. I believe them.”

A villager asks how could this be possible?

“How can Sonu who’s not strong enough - pull this act all by himself? We all know for a fact Sonu can’t even carry a bucket full of water to the toilet! How can he pull Monu out of the well who’s 4 years elder and 10 kilos heavier than him?”

On hearing this, the old man replies:

“Why aren’t you believing them? Sonu is telling you how he did it. He swung the bucket into the well, asked Monu to grab the end of the rope and towed him out of the well with all his strength. What’s not to believe here?”

Everyone thinks the man is too innocent to be true and the boys have finally found someone to make a fool out of.

After a minute of silence, the old man says:

“The question is not how Sonu was able to pull Monu out of the well. The question is why was he able to do this?

The only explanation here is that when Sonu even thought of doing this, not a single person was present in the surrounding who could point to him and say:

Sonu, you’re a kid. Please stay away from the well. You cannot do this.

Not a single soul was present there to tell him he cannot do this.

And do you know the best part?

Sonu himself was not present. He himself couldn’t think of telling himself that he cannot do it.

What Sonu exhibited is nothing less than an act of greatness. His obsession with saving his friend was stupendous enough to negate a layman’s rational thinking of how can a 6-year-old achieve this feat.

Do you know what’s astounding about greatness?

It’s unknowable.

You cannot replicate it.

If you ask Sonu to go back to the same spot, this time instead throw a rock equal to Monu’s weight into the well and ask him to follow the exact steps - exactly mimicking himself to pull out the rock with all his strength - he wouldn’t be able to do it.

One, because he is not obsessed with saving the rock. Two, even if he tried, he would fail only because he is mimicking himself.

We are repeatedly told by society how systematic and process-oriented we should be. How we should think like great leaders. How we should train like great athletes. How we should equip ourselves with knowledge like great scholars.

But greatness doesn’t function like that.

Every self-help book that asks us to follow simple steps to be happy is false.

Every fitness coach that prescribes their diet to lose 10kgs of fat in 6 months is false.

They aren’t true.

They can be the best in the world, verified and vetted by experts & professionals. But they aren’t true. They can intrinsically be true for themselves. But not for you and me.

If we try to mimic them and do the exact things they did in life to succeed - we’ll reach a certain point. Beyond that, it’s on us to figure it out.

Why?

Because greatness doesn’t arise from doing the things great people did. It arises from doing things that you don’t even know you did. It’s the small details and traits like obsession, sincerity and persistence deeply ingrained that separate the great from the rest.

These details and traits need a “why” to propel them to their maximum potential. Which is something you and I can only figure out. No one else can do it for us.

What villagers saw was Sonu’s physical strength being incapable to save Monu from drowning. What they failed to see was his drive and obsession to save Monu from drowning.

This forms the basis of the title of today’s topic: Nullius In Verba which translates to “take no one’s word for it.”

Figure it out for yourself.

Nullius in Verba – What I Believe — *Not mine. But someday -- for sure.*

For all the lovely people who messaged me last Sunday asking where the fuck is your newsletter - much thanks.

I had taken a vow 7 weeks back that I’d write weekly letters for 8 weeks straight. But I missed last week because of some unforeseeable situation — all thanks to Appu, my pet.

Long Story short, Appu had a session with a dog behaviourist last Sunday - which was going great for the first 20 mins until he fucked it up pretty bad.

*Look at him. He makes a mess during the day, not allowing me to focus and sleep like a baby at night.*

Welcome to the 6th edition of Stoked Smondays - a newsletter you can read on a lazy Sunday that actually preps you up for the much anticipated Monday. Not literally.

I’m Gopu and my life is as sick and twisted as yours. And in this cloud of shittyness, this weekly newsletter provides for me a safe outlet to drizzle off my steam.

Stoked Smondays is all about interesting content I come across over the week. But more importantly, this is my canvas that I use to think clearly.

No matter how garbage your thoughts are, writing helps you see it for what it is and refine it to your advantage.

Let’s goooooo! 👊🏻

🎙Personal Announcement

I got into Ship 30 for 30's March cohort. 🍾

Ship 30 for 30 is a thirty-day cohort-based course teaching the fundamentals of digital writing.

The course is designed by 2 prolific writers - Dickie Bush & Nicolas Cole - that delves into the basics of writing and creates an accountability framework where no matter what, you have to write 30 pieces of atomic essays for 30 days.

I’m super stoked to have gotten into the program with a scholarship. The fee isn’t a lot but I’m happy that I got selected for the scholarship - the first in my life. 🥲

📚 Book

Currently, I am reading 3 books.

#1. Do Epic Shit:

It’s been two weeks now that I have picked this book but I am taking it slow.

You can very well finish it within 3 hours but I’d suggest going through it leisurely and reading a few pages a day.

Although the thoughts mentioned in this book wouldn’t hammer a nail inside your brain, implementing them in your life can be a bit difficult.

Check out the book here.

#2. Buyology: How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy is Wrong

Have finished 1/4th of it. As recommended in the last newsletter, you ought to read it if you are curious about how consumers behave and why we buy what we buy.

Check out the book here.

#3. #Tatastories: 40 Timeless Tales to Inspire You

I had a subject in my second year of college called “Business Ethics.” I hated it.

I have never come across a subject that is so theoretical and a waste of time. And then there are simple books like these that teach you more about business ethics than any business degree can teach you.

The book by Harish Bhat illustrates the extraordinary journey of ordinary businessmen - The Tatas. These are not merely inspiring stories about a business empire but real-time case studies on humanity, altruism, passion, purpose, ethics, management and leadership.

Pick it up, I’m sure you’ll love it.

🎥 Video

#1. Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos - by FRONTLINE PBS

I have an idea for the next big product.

Ever looked at someone and be like

“Goddamn it! How can he/she be so diplomatic?”

It’s like you know they fucked it up - but when confronted, they justify their actions in a way that makes you go “yeah he is kinda right. He too has his own reasons.”

Introducing Diploflam - a diplomacy rich supplement pill.

This supplement is recommended by every politician, celebrity, CEO, criminal lawyer and liar.

Well, they don’t recommend it outrightly (coz diplomatic) but most of their answers hint towards a regular consumption of this pill.

Dosage: To be eaten with your breakfast. A “must” when you know you’re going to be questioned for your actions like cheating on your better half, missing a day at work without informing, skipping homework or something large-scale like not adhering to customer complaints or reformations you promised the public during elections.

You pop a pill and then It’s raining diplomacy baby!

Diplomacy is an art.

And I witnessed it at great lengths in this documentary.

Employees when questioned about their experience at Amazon, outrightly claimed to have had bad safety standards, lousy work policies, an insane amount of pressure and delivery expectations.

On the other hand, Employers (basically C-Level executives) when questioned what do they think about these claims - pop a Diploflam and go on a diplomacy spree.

But you know the saying