Beyond Words with Fazil Khan

Let’s be honest. Every month starts with the same energy that this time, we’ll save. We open our banking app, maybe set up a spreadsheet, and feel like financial geniuses. Then one fine day, there’s a Swiggy notification, a weekend plan, or a “limited time” offer, and the budget quietly leaves the WhatsApp group. Saving money sounds logical. But logic disappears the moment food, offers, or emotions enter the chat. And our brain? It’s that one friend who says, “Arre, we’ll start saving from next month for sure.” 1. The Instant Gratification Trap We love immediate happiness. That’s why buying something online feels so good. The order confirmation, the delivery updates, the unboxing, all of it gives us a high. But saving money? No thrill, no excitement. Just a silent number in an account that doesn’t clap for us. Our brain would rather choose a plate of momos today than a bigger bank balance next month. And honestly, who can blame it? 2. The Emotional Math of Money Money and emotio...

In my last post, I shared the first 8 techniques from Leil Lowndes’ book How to Talk to Anyone . Those were mostly about first impressions, posture, and body language. This time, we’re moving a little deeper into how to blend into conversations, make people feel comfortable, and avoid awkward starts. As always, I’ll remind you, I am not perfect at this. I am a learner. Sometimes I try these techniques and end up doing them half-right, but that’s still progress. Sharing them here helps me remember, and maybe it will help you too.                                                            9. Watch the Scene Before You Make the Scene Picture this. You open a door, stride into a room, and boom, you are instantly louder than everyone else. The conversation freezes, all eyes on you, and you realize you just walked in...

A year ago, I was lying on a hospital bed with my eyes wide open, bright lights above me, and a surgeon’s steady voice guiding me through PRK. I still remember that ride home. It was a mix of excitement, hope, and honestly, a bit of fear. Would I really wake up one day and see clearly without glasses? Or had I just signed up for months of regret? Today, it has been one full year since that moment. I think this is the perfect time to look back and share how life has changed. Life Before Surgery For context, I had a power of -5 in both eyes . Which meant I could barely recognize my own reflection in the mirror without glasses. Watching TV without them was like listening to a radio. You knew something was happening, but you had no clue what. Glasses with that high power brought their own struggles. They slid down my nose every two minutes, fogged up in the rain, and left me squinting under helmets. Waking up at night and fumbling for them just to check the time was my daily routine. ...

We have all been in that awkward situation. You meet someone new, you want to make a good impression, but suddenly your brain forgets how to function. Your smile feels fake, your hands do weird things, and you wonder if you are blinking too much. Leil Lowndes, in her book How to Talk to Anyone , shares 92 little tricks that make conversations easier. Let me walk you through the first 8, with my own take on them. On a personal note, I recently started reading this book and have managed to cover these first 8 techniques so far. I am also trying to implement them in my own life, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. Although I am nowhere close to perfect in using these techniques, I remind myself that I am still a learner, and every little attempt counts. Since I found them useful (and honestly, fun to practice), I thought I should share them here with you too. 1. The Flooding Smile Most of us have a “camera smile,” the one that appears instantly and disappears even faster. T...

Have you ever caught yourself unlocking your phone, without any real reason, just to “check something”? Do you ever open Instagram, YouTube, or Netflix telling yourself “just for 5 minutes” , only to realize hours have flown by? And the most uncomfortable question: When was the last time you created something meaningful… instead of just consuming what others created?                                                     We are living in a loop. Scroll. Tap. Laugh. Swipe. Repeat. It feels harmless, but here’s the truth. Every like, every notification, every binge-worthy video is hijacking your brain’s dopamine system. It rewards you instantly, but leaves you emptier over time. This is why people talk about a “dopamine detox”. Not because dopamine is bad, it is essential. But too much cheap dopamine is stealing your focus, your crea...

Author’s note Bhaiyasaheb Chaudhari is a close friend from our college days, the kind you share meals and milestones with. His GATE 2025 score is 72.34, with an All India Rank of 403, and he has recently joined IIT Kanpur. For him, the method mattered more than the medal, but the medal feels good too. How I know Bhaiyasaheb We first met through a mutual friend, Krushnal, and the connection stuck because our study rhythms and goals lined up. We were in different colleges on the same campus—same grounds, same canteen lines, same exam seasons. We played Kushti  ( video link ) together on the college ground, the kind of sport that teaches patience, leverage, and timing. But honestly we played just for fun. We ate together at his flat because we had hired a maid to cook; those simple dinners became our routine check-ins—what worked today, what’s next tomorrow. We also sat for a bunch of exams in the same seasons—NPTEL tests, GATE attempts, and regular college assessments—often...

Sab nahi kar sakte, na kar sakenge nasha shayari ka, Ye to wo jaam hai doston, jo ehsason ke nawab peete hain. There are days when poetry finds you without warning, in the pause between conversations, in the weight of unspoken goodbyes, in the quiet lessons life forces you to learn. This post is a gathering of such moments. Not just my words, but the voices of fellow wanderers of thought. Each piece is a fragment of someone’s heart, laid bare for anyone who dares to feel.  So take a moment, slow down, and let each verse settle where it wishes to in your heart. Every line carries a piece of the writer’s world, all you have to do is step inside. These lines are the beautiful responses I’ve received after asking people to send me their shayaris and poems. If you’d like yours to be included too, share it with me—we can add it to this post anytime. Enjoy the read. Ek arsa guftagu chalti rahi, ab na rahi Woh kab ghayab hua, humein khabar na rahi Us ke intezar ko ek muddat hui ab W...