rahulphukan.com

Life

The Longest Friendship of My Life

For my first friend, my oldest witness and my constant home. A personal essay on growing up with a sibling, growing apart,…
Time Moves Differently for Those We Love

I left home at six and grew up between visits. This is an essay about time: not the kind measured by clocks,…

Building a Business vs Building an Institution

Why institutions have to survive their founders. Lessons from building a team from scratch, and what Amul and Toyota get right about…
7 Lessons Retail Taught Me About Understanding People

Retail is more than products and pricing. Seven lessons from years of travelling across Indian cities, understanding customer behaviour, and learning why…

Why People Follow Some Leaders and Ignore Others

A personal take on the psychology of trust in leadership, drawing on Simon Sinek, Stephen M. R. Covey, Amy Edmondson, Peter Drucker…
As You Rise, Bend More

The greatest leadership lesson I ever learnt didn’t come from a business school. It came from my father, and one simple sentence:…

Property Due Diligence in India: 52 Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to 52 common legal, commercial, and practical questions on property due diligence, title verification, mortgages, and risk assessment in India.
Twenty Case Studies in Indian Property Due Diligence: Success and Failure

Twenty real-world case studies on failed and successful property due diligence in India, defective title, forged POAs, mortgages, encroachments, and more.

Why Do Indians Behave Differently Abroad? Thoughts on Travel Etiquette

Why does the same traveller who queues patiently at home sometimes behave differently abroad? A personal, non-judgmental look at travel etiquette, habits…
25 Travel Mistakes First-Time Travellers Make (And How to Avoid Them)

There’s something unforgettable about your first real trip. The excitement of booking flights, watching a dozen YouTube videos about your destination, making…

The Trouble With Always Looking for Meaning

A personal essay on chasing purpose, the hedonic treadmill, Camus’s absurd, Viktor Frankl and Nietzsche, and why meaning might be smaller and…
The Freedom of Being Disliked: A Personal Take on Adler

A personal essay on growing up between family tradition and boarding school discipline, and what Alfred Adler and Sam Harris taught me…