Stoa Digest #58: Find your revolution 🧨

For it wont be televised to anyone but yourself

Jul 25, 2022

Hey everyone,

A spectacled lil child found a piece of writing somewhere on the web musing through her Wattpad stories, and years later, it is still etched in her journals.

What it read was - Create what causes a revolution in your heart.

I never understood what it meant back then, and I don't think I still do.

This essay is a heart pour.

History has witnessed several revolutions - some failed, some victorious, and some worth narrating over and over. A revolution is one where we experience change across various economic, social, political, and technological sectors. And this isn't easy.

There is a restlessness that you need to harness to your advantage. You need to convince people, dare to resist the systems, and each time you see the movement not proceeding the way you want, you need to be able to believe that this will gain momentum.

A revolution isn't won overnight.

And this applies to what we create with our hearts.

In Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, there is a poignant poem that is loosely translated to (If you think I butchered the lines by translation, check out the original here )

If you are walking, taking your restlessness in your hearts, Then you are truly alive. If you are walking, carrying in your gaze, the lightning of your dreams Then you are truly alive.

And it is this restlessness that we carry. The yearning to make meaning from our hands. We often mistake it for impending doom. We do a disservice each time we do not honour the restlessness brewing within us.

But, it doesn't end here.

Via Grant Draws

Do we have the courage to face what makes us feel this way? The courage to tell people what you believe as you tell yourselves the story over and over again.

And if the momentum is lost, do you have the courage to pick up the fallen pieces and try again?

Creating is painful. Almost as painful as falling in love. Montaigne once declared, ‘In love, there is nothing but a frantic desire for what flees from us.'

To expose yourself to such vulnerabilities, and look inward, is indeed one of the most challenging things to do. And we must be ready to accept the change it would cause us across the various aspects of our life.

Revolutions take years, if not ages.

And so, each time we attempt to create something that stirs something within us, we put ourselves forward to face the tyranny of life.

Over and over again.

For, if you do not chase the restlessness that wants to stir a revolution in your heart, then what are you living for?

- Parvathi, Team Stoa

📣 Announcements 📣

About the book: Startup Compass offers advice on starting and growing a company, shared in a lecture series at IIM Ahmedabad and over extensive interviews by fifteen iconic Indian entrepreneurs. These include Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Naukri), Deep Kalra (MakeMyTrip), Sachin Bansal (Flipkart), Falguni Nayar (Nykaa), Kunal Shah (CRED), Sahil Barua (Delhivery) and Raghunandan G (TaxiForSure), among others. The advice they give is invaluable and covers all the stages in the life of a startup, from idea, team and product, to eventual exit.

🍩 Community Drop 🍩

No-Code MVP Bootcamp | 40% Scholarship for Stoans 🧑‍💻

The No-Code MVP Bootcamp by 100DaysOfNoCode is a program that will teach you the fundamentals of no-code and help you build + launch your MVP in 30 days.

They are offering an exclusive 40% off scholarship for Stoa members and have limited seats.

Simply apply here and mention 'Stoa' at the interview to unlock this scholarship. If you have any questions, drop Max, the program director, an email on: maxhaining@100daysofnocode.com

🐝 Community Buzz 🐝

If there’s one more thing you read this week, it should be Anshul’s journey & lessons as a founder, building Felicity

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Meetups!

A lot of laughs, wins and losses at Board game night this past Sunday, amazingly organised by Shreya Jalavadia & Amatya, from C6, for maximum fun and thwarting Hitler’s plans 😝