TL;DR: This is the introductory post of my newsletter. I reflect on why I procrastinated for so long before finally writing this. The newsletter will (usually) be India-centric and focus on public policy, politics and society. I do not claim to be an ‘expert’ in any domain; I am here to learn, offer perspectives, and publicly document my intellectual journey. I am aiming for fortnightly frequency, but this is subject to change.
After procrastinating for a couple of months(yes!), I am finally doing this. I am starting my newsletter. For the introduction, I would like to introspect on why I kept procrastinating. In doing so, I am also setting the expectations for the readers of this newsletter.
First, I was afraid and embarrassed. What would everything think? How narcissistic of me to believe people would want to read my opinions? However, as the YouTuber Ali Abdal says, I have realised that people do not really think like that. If a friend of mine starts a newsletter, I would not think of him as a narcissist; why would others think of me as one? Besides, I need not care about those who make fun of other people’s intellectual endeavours. This is pretty obvious but takes time to internalise.
Second, I am not an ‘expert’ on anything. What have I done? I do not have years of experience in working on anything. How does it matter what I say? Should I even be saying anything? I take solace in Austin Kleon’s excellent advice in his book Show Your Work: “you don’t have to be a genius” to contribute something, and it is better to be an amateur than not contribute anything at all.
It is unclear at what point does one become an ‘expert’. The world is far too complex for anyone to be an all-knowing expert. Hence, rather than chasing such abstract ideals, I have decided to simply commit to learning — incrementally, in public. That is what this newsletter is all about. I will either say something right, in which case you will learn a new thing; or, I will say something incredibly stupid, in which case you will end up sharpening your own thinking by articulating why my take is foolish. A win-win proposition, you see?
Third, who will be the audience? Why put in effort for something which will be read by three people only? Now that I see this newsletter as a learning device for myself, I am not concerned about the readership. In his podcast The Seen and the Unseen (my favourite), Amit Varma often talks about the two-way relationship between thinking and writing. While it is obvious that clear thinking leads to clear writing, often clear writing can lead to clear thinking as well. While thinking inside our heads, our mind generously skips the gaps in our thinking; these gaps become apparent in writing. I have found this to be true in my case. Hence, this exercise remains valuable even without a single reader.
Please subscribe to this newsletter if you’d like to be a part of my intellectual journey. I work in the development sector, and my education has been in political science. This is broadly the domain on which I mostly read. Hence, the content will usually be India-centric, focusing on public policy, politics, and society. As of now, I am hoping to maintain a fortnightly frequency. This is subject to change based on how it turns out in terms of balancing my workload, personal growth and life in general.