Rohan Monteiro

  I have one fabulous review from Prashant Srivastav (Author of The Spice gate ) that precisely sums up the lead character in a single sentence. Here's the Amazon link for those who are convinced :-)

 I truly believe our role as authors , artists and content creators in this digital age is to push the boundaries of what is and isn't culturally acceptable. To shape narratives and promote new ideas because that's the only way a society can grow. Whether you are a stand up comedian using satire or a debut author with the social media footprint of a gnat, your role is to stand up and question. To be the voice of dissent. Because some things are worth standing up for. I have articulated this in multiple conversations (usually with Internet trolls) but maybe I should write this here as well. A list of unpopular opinions Thoughts on Israel : They have committed genocide Thoughts on Modi : He needs to spend less time orgasming about Nehru, Aurangzeb and temples and actually get shit done. Thoughts on religion :The world would probably be better off without it. Thoughts on the Orange Pumpkin : he is definitely in the Epstein files Thoughts on LGBTQ rights : Support them fully. Too m...

 

Original answer I encountered on Quora can be found here   In the movie Pixels, there is a scene where Tetris blocks suddenly fall from the sky, arrange themselves on buildings in the real world and thus destroy them. Remember this image, for it’ll be your guide towards razor-sharp focus. Vladimir Pokhilko wanted to stay at a friend’s house in Tokyo for a week. There was only one problem: They had a brand new Game Boy. And Tetris. At night, geometric shapes fell in the darkness as I lay on loaned tatami floor space. Days, I sat on a lavender suede sofa and played Tetris furiously. During rare jaunts from the house, I visually fit cars and trees and people together. Dubiously hunting a job and a house, I was still there two months later, still jobless, still playing. What Vladimir Pokhilko learned in those two months changed how we view video games forever. Being a clinical psychologist, he became obsessed with the idea that Tetris must have an impact on our neural system. Some kind...

 Every time  I read a non-fiction book that I like, I make a few notes. Sentences, the occasional turn of phrase, bits that resonated with me.  I decided to start publishing some of them here so that the zero followers I have could also appreciate them.   The following excerpt is taken from 'Quit -the Power of Knowing when to walk away by Anne Duke. We view grit and quit as opposing forces. After all, you either persevere or you abandon course. You can’t do both at the same time, and in the battle between the two, quitting has clearly lost. While grit is a virtue, quitting is a vice. The advice of legendarily successful people is often boiled down to the same message: Stick to things and you will succeed. By definition, anybody who has succeeded at something has stuck with it. That’s a statement of fact, always true in hindsight. But that doesn’t mean that the inverse is true, that if you stick to something, you will succeed at it. Prospectively, it’s neither true n...

 Everytime I read a non-fiction book that I like, I make a few notes. I decided to start publishing them here so that the zero followers I have could also appreciate them. The following excerpt is taken from ' Paper -Paging through History by Mark Kurlansky'. Studying the history of paper exposes a number of historical misconceptions, the most important of which is this technological fallacy: the idea that technology changes society. It is exactly the reverse. Society develops technology to address the changes that are taking place within it. To use a simple example, in China in 250 BCE, Meng Tian invented a paintbrush made from camel hair. His invention did not suddenly inspire the Chinese people to start writing and painting, or to develop calligraphy. Rather, Chinese society had already established a system of writing but had a growing urge for more written documents and more elaborate calligraphy. Their previous tool—a stick dipped in ink—could not meet the rising demand. M...

 Went to a board gaming event at the Asian Civilization Museum - It was a really fun evening and I ended up meeting a group of board gamers here in Singapore.   I also played 4 games - 3 of which I had never played before - Chai Garam , a worker placement mechanic where you are running a tea stall to collect reviews; Century Golem where you build a gem collection engine - similar to Splendor but different mechanics & Secret Hitler which is a social deduction game. It was only the next day that wifey pointed out something I didn't notice at all - I didn't play any games exclusively with my daughter. Girl z is 8 and Boy Z is 10 - I tend to play games with him more often because he instinctively picks up and understands more complex games. Except, she still needs my attention. And I need to get better at recognizing it. Boy Z is cautious, careful, diligent, loves to read. Girl Z is a happy skipping lark who likes shiny objects. Boy Z takes time to open up. Girl Z will...