Book Review: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

Definitely one of the best books I have ever read about one of the greatest minds to have ever walked on the face of the earth, and hopefully Mars someday.

Reading this book made me think there's no way that Musk can be human - like you and me, he too has only 24 hours in a day; but unlike you and me, he's currently running 6 companies - SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, Twitter and X.AI.

And when Musk talks about running companies, it means he's actively and minutely involved in each & every process in each & every company. The guy knows pretty much everything about everything, is an avid reader, an addicted video games player, a memes lover, a doting father, passionate about wanting to save the world through his work be it electric cars, or providing Internet connectivity, implanting chips into human brains to assist the paralyzed, or send humans into space!

As the book details - Musk is a tough taskmaster. He's impatient, abrasive, sets impossible deadlines, has no sense of work life balance, expects people to work mostly all the time, doesn't tolerate fools, hates when people don't have ready answers to his questions. But he's also willing to listen to good ideas and is willing to change his mind when presented with hard facts.

The author asks whether Musk would be able to achieve all that he has - probably the only human in the world to do so at this point in time - if he weren't what he is. His childhood in South Africa has contributed to the way he grew up as an adult - willing to take risks, willing to fail but fail fast and recover and hit back at his detractors.

While most of his deadlines seemed crazy and unattainable when Musk uttered them, by pushing his team to achieve the impossible, he stood vindicated. His maxim is complacency will be the death of innovation and creativity. Keep hustling, keep trying seems to be his mantra.

Musk isn't without his dramas. In fact, as the author details throughout the book, Musk gets attracted to drama and a sense of urgency in his life. Without it, he feels listless. He needs stress to feel alive!

Reading this book while observing Musk's persona on Twitter has been fun - some of the times, his tweets make no sense or need someone to explain what he means; his rude responses to his former colleagues be it at OpenAI or Twitter are sometimes quite unnerving; his philosophical tweets about our civilization and life on Mars surely make one ponder.

I read this book almost breathlessly because I couldn't wait to find out what happens next. And now that I have finished the book, I feel a sense of emptiness - as if an enriching conversation with a very close friend has come to an end.

I heartily recommend this book to those who wish to find out what goes on in Musk's brain - what is he driven by; how does he manage to get up every single day and push his team to achieve the impossible!

International Women's Day: How the Modi Govt. is revolutionizing the lives of women

On the 8^th of March every year, one celebrates International Women’s Day. It is a day to appreciate and acknowledge women.

I thought it would be a good opportunity to list down 5 important schemes of the Narendra Modi Govt. ever since he took over as the Prime Minister (PM) in May’14.

In his first Independence Day speech as the PM, when Modi spoke about building toilets for women, it surprised quite a few and shocked a few others. However, what he spoke were not mere words. Since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission in Oct’14 till date, over 11 crore toilets have been built across all states/Union Territories.

That such a simple thing took so long to identify and build is something that most of struggle to even wrap our heads around. But that is exactly what Modi did. He looked at a few simple things and thought of ways to resolve them to ease the day-to-day lives of women. No wonder women are voting in higher numbers for Modi and the BJP.

Another scheme of the Modi Govt. is the Jal Jeevan Mission which was announced in Aug’19. As at date, ~75% of the rural households have been provided with tap water connections; 11 states & Union Territories have achieved 100% coverage in rural areas. Again such a simple thing – clean running water flowing from a tap in one’s home; something most of us take for granted. And yet it was not thought upon till Modi appeared on the scene.

One of the most important schemes in my opinion is the Ujjwala Yojana, launched in May’16, to provide LPG gas connections in rural households, which were hitherto using wood, coal, etc. to cook. Studies have shown how cooking with wood and coal leads to acute and chronic respiratory diseases, in addition to eye irritations. Till 2022, 9.49 crore LPG connections have been provided to the beneficiaries.

The Jan-Dhan Yojana – the flagship scheme for financial inclusion – was launched in Aug’14. Its aim is financial inclusion for all in the form of banking facilities. As at date, 56% of the bank accounts belong to women.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was launched in Jan’15 to address the declining gender ratio. The scheme’s success lies in the fact that the sex ratio at birth has improved by 15 points from 918 in 2014-15 to 933 in 2022-23 in India.

All the above schemes are to empower women and give them a sense of dignity. Before the toilets were built, women often had to travel long distances that too either before sunrise or late at night. In addition to safety, building toilets has also reduced the prevalence of diseases. Before tap water, women ended up having to spend a large part of their day travelling to water sources to fill up and store water. They no longer need to do that courtesy the Jal Jeevan Mission. The direct benefit of Ujjwala Yojana is the health benefits it provided to women, who are more likely to cook in a household. Having one’s own bank account gives one a sense of financial independence. Saving the girl child and valuing her is a huge societal improvement metric.