Some housekeeping

TL;DR: I am an tech idiot.

First of all, I want to give a warm welcome to the new subscribers to the Weekly TIB. For the old heads, you might have noticed that some of the links in the old newsletters are broken. That is because I am a tech wizard and didn’t realize that changing the name and url for the website would wreak havoc on the old links (I told you there would be hiccups). Anyways, if you want to access any of the old posts, you just have to visit the new website found here (https://the-weekly-tib.beehiiv.com/). Going forward, the newsletters will properly link to the website so it shouldn’t be an issue anymore. And now, on to your regularly scheduled programming.

TIB6: Lessons from purposeful life

TL;DR: Life is short. “You can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.” - Jim Carrey

When you grow up in the Indian community, you are surrounded by a lot of “Aunties” and “Uncles” (shoutout to all my fellow brown people in the TIB community). Every older person in your life is an Aunty or Uncle. It made describing who people are in my life to my non-Indian friends a bit challenging. “So this is your Uncle? But not a real uncle? He’s like your mom’s best friend’s husband? But you still call him Uncle? Even though he’s not related to you? And you still call her Aunty, even though she’s also not related to you?” Yes, all of it.

So, when I say I recently lost one of my Uncles to a heart attack, it doesn’t mean that I lost an actual family member, but to me the passing of Aditya “Dicky” Singh (Dicky Uncle to me) hurts just as much as if he had been family. My mom grew up with his wife (my “Aunt”), and every December we would visit Poonam Aunty and Dicky Uncle in India.

I want to share Dicky Uncle’s story with all of you today, because he embodied the belief that you only have one life to live. Live it the way you want to. He was the most fulfilled man I have ever met, because he lived such an intentional and purposeful life.

His secret? He identified what he loved and made it his life’s work.

Dicky’s Life Path

After graduating from BMS College of Engineering in Bengaluru with a degree in Civil Engineering, Dicky Uncle got into the Central Secretariat Services and got a prestigious job in the Government of India’s Ministry of Communications. In his own words, he says that he tried his best to make it work but he hated it. He just couldn’t stand it. The thought of being at a desk for the rest of his life terrified him. He told himself, “There has to be more to life than this” and he was right. Dicky Uncle loved two things: wildlife and photography. Though he had no formal training or qualifications in either industry, he was determined to make it his life.

To the shock of everyone around him, he unceremoniously quit his job and worked as a construction contractor for two years to make ends meet. With Poonam Aunty they saved enough money to leave the big city (New Delhi) and move to Ranthambhore in 1998, hoping to reconnect with Ranthambhore’s natural beauty. For those of you who don’t know, Ranthambhore is India’s city of tigers. Tourist come from all over the world and take safaris hoping to spot a tiger in its natural habitat.

Together, Poonam Aunty and Dicky Uncle started a hotel and lodge in Ranthambhore where they hosted guests who were anxious to see some tigers, and he started his wildlife photography journey while taking guests out on these safaris. In addition to his love for photography and wildlife, Dicky Uncle was a committed conservationist. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Poonam Aunty and Dicky Uncle began buying land on the border of the national park in Ranthambore and decided to “re-wild” it. Two decades later, this piece of land is an oasis in an area that is otherwise plagued by illegal mining and woodcutting. Consistent with everything else in their lives, Poonam Aunty and Dicky Uncle turned down lucrative offers for the land, deciding that re-wilding this piece of land was more important to them than the money they could have received in exchange for selling it.

Over the course of the next 25 years, Dicky Uncle would receive the Carl Zeiss Award for Conservation in 2012 and the Sanctuary Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2011. These are incredibly prestigious awards, but as far as I am concerned, his most notable achievement was how fulfilled he was day-to-day. We all used to joke that he was the only person we knew who didn’t stress about anything. “What is there to stress about? I wake up every day and go out on safari, take pictures, then drink a few beers. Pretty chill life.”

Lessons learned

This is not an obituary, so instead of dwelling on his untimely death, let’s celebrate his life and see what lessons we can learn from his incredible life.

Lesson 1 – Take a chance on doing what you love.

I love this lesson from Jim Carrey, and Dicky Uncle definitely took this advice to heart. Instead of staying at the government job he hated, he took a chance on doing what he loved and was rewarded for it.

Lesson 2 – It might take a bit longer than you want it to.

Even after Dicky Uncle made the choice to leave his government job and do something else, he still spent two years working in construction to save enough money to build the life he wanted. There is nothing wrong with spending a few years planning and saving money so that you are financially able to take the risk you want with your life. This is why it is so important to make sure that your financial health allows you to take the risk that you want to take with your life.

Lesson 3 – Being a beginner is ok, everyone starts somewhere.

Don’t let being a beginner scare you away from pursuing a life you want. Dicky Uncle had no qualifications in either photography or wildlife conservationism. What he had was an obsessive love for both, and over time he became a celebrated photographer and wildlife conservationist. It sounds silly, but everyone does have to start from somewhere. So just start; see where it takes you.

Lesson 4 – Money is just a means to an end. You have to figure out what your “end” is.

We are taught that the accumulation of wealth is a never-ending goal. You can never have enough, so accumulate as much as you can, whenever you can. As we have explored in other newsletters, money is just a means to an end. If your only goal is the accumulation of more for the sake of accumulation, chances are you’re going to be unhappy with your life. Once you have identified your “end” or how much money you need to purchase your “happiness”, you’ve already won 99% of the battle. Dicky Uncle repeatedly turned down offers to sell the land he had spent years re-wilding, because he already had the wealth he needed to purchase his definition of “happiness.” He received more happiness from his re-wilding efforts than he could have from the money earned in a sale. Most importantly, he knew that about himself. He had found his “end”, and he didn’t need any more money to achieve it.

Final thoughts

I was lucky enough to have seen Dicky Uncle just a few months ago in India, and when I told him about my sabbatical, he sat up straight and said, “Good for you, that’s the smartest thing I have heard come out of your mouth in the years that I have known you.” Probably doesn’t say much about what was coming out of my mouth prior to that! Whether he knew it or not, that little comment gave me an immense boost of confidence. At least someone doesn’t think I’ve lost my marbles.

Even in death, Dicky Uncle taught us that life is short. It is still crazy to me that we were just chatting a few weeks ago about trips we were going to take with them next year, and now he is no longer here. Hug your loved ones and enjoy every minute of life with the people that matter. Everything else is just noise.

What to expect going forward

Up until now, my goal was to share with all of you my worldviews, who I am, and my perspectives on life, wealth and happiness. The reason that I am sharing this with you is because it forms the foundation for future conversations. I want to attract like-minded individuals who are struggling with things that I have struggled with in the past. My issue with mainstream personal finance advisors is that it feels very stale and cookie-cutter. Finances should not be the reason that you can’t live the life you want to live. Let’s take back control of our finances, so that we can live the life of our dreams.

What you can expect in the future:

• Sparknote versions of personal finance books, articles and podcasts (I do all the reading so you don’t have to) or, if you prefer consuming it yourself…

• Recommendations for books, podcasts and other newsletters

• Confidence building templates of less shitty budgeting tools, personal finance calculators and more

• Downloadable courses depending on your level of financial knowledge

• Ongoing newsletters to show that personal finance doesn’t have to be scary, isolating, or debilitating

• One-on-one conversations with those who are interested in doing a deeper dive with a friend who is obsessed with personal finance

Looking forward to going on this journey with you all!

^{Disclaimer: Nothing contained in this website and newsletter should be understood as investment or financial advice. All investment strategies and investments involve the risk of loss. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Everything written and expressed in this newsletter is only the writer's opinion and should not be considered investment advice. Before investing in anything, know your risk profile and if needed, consult a professional. Nothing on this site should ever be considered advice, research, or an invitation to buy or sell any securities. Rohan Muralidhar is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US Investment adviser or investment bank. This newsletter is not an offer to buy or sell, nor is it a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell or to participate in any advisory services or trading strategy.}