By Suraj Chaudhary The human touch Read on my website Dear Reader, Suraj here – Chef Young is a regular at a nearby cafe. I always see him there with a book, and there's always just one drink that he gets: his hot oat latte. Although, as a fine dining chef who works in Manhattan, he could easily afford to get even better tasting beans and a fancier espresso machine and make his drink at home, he chooses to come to this nearby cafe. "Why does he do that?" I always wondered every time I'd see...
12 days ago • 2 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary 2025 review — A year of search Read on my website Dear Reader, This is a yearly review, which I started in 2023. The point of this is to reflect, and not to simply let life pass by without appreciating all that has happened. So, here goes: 2025 was a year of some clarity, some losses, and some growth. This was the year when I went from chasing exponential growth at any cost to pursuing stability. Clarity I almost didn’t want to write this review because from the outside,...
19 days ago • 5 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary On breaks Read on my website DearReader, My spring semester just ended a few days ago, and before the next semester begins, I have about a month. Although the break has just started, I’ve realized that a break invites honesty. This would only be applicable if I’m not mindlessly binging some movie or series or scrolling. When I’m present and have time, a break allows me to see what I’m really up to. Cal Newport might call it a deep break. During the semester, I didn’t really...
26 days ago • 1 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary The journey Read on my website Dear Reader – Earlier today, as I was cleaning my windows, I was watching a video about how to get better at reading. One of the things that stood out was how often we like to “have read” rather than “reading” itself. When the text gets difficult or slow, we get frustrated and give up. It happens because we are in it not for the process of reading, but for the end result, which is having read. I think this is relevant on a larger scale: in...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary How my life goals have changed Read on my website Hey Reader, Suraj here – When I was a high schooler, I wanted to achieve what society normally regards as success. In fact, I wanted to go beyond that. I wanted to create an impact at scale; I wanted to change people’s lives, give them jobs, build schools, and factories. I guess many of us might have had similar goals. But as I’ve grown up, my life goals have evolved. My goals might still continue to evolve, but this is...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary On writing on the internet Read on my website Hey Reader, Suraj here – A couple of days ago, I was going through a friend’s blog. Until then, I had no idea he had a website and that he, too, wrote into the void of the internet. What got me even more interested was the authenticity with which he writes, his writing style. There’s this flow to his words, sentences, and to each paragraph. That’s something that I’ve aimed for myself. For me, however, reaching that flow has only...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary How to be taken seriously Read on my website Dear Reader, Suraj here – For the longest time, my elder brother has told me to mind how I carry myself. "Others will treat you based on how you present yourself," he has said. This is something that I've struggled to get myself to understand. One implication of this is that if I don't have and share a preference/opinion on things, soon enough, people will stop asking for my input because they will assume that, as always, I...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary On accountability Read on my website Dear Reader, I have been writing this newsletter for over two years now. During the same time, there have been other things that I’ve taken up and then given up on. I enjoy the feeling of having written, but, more importantly, what has helped me remain so consistent with this newsletter is because of accountability. This newsletter started with me occasionally sharing ideas in the void of the internet (which nobody read). But then,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
By Suraj Chaudhary On options Read on my website Hey Reader, Suraj here – Is having options a good or a bad thing? Any sensible person would say that it is a good thing because you get to compare and pick the better one. But is it really that simple? Most definitely not. Studies have shown that having too many options often leads to a person not picking any at all, and also that fewer choices result in more satisfaction. But this issue of Figuring Things Out is not about the difference...
2 months ago • 2 min read