Running for Life, Not Just for Food: A Reflection on Purpose

Dear Friends,

This morning, as soon as I woke up, I received a message:

“In a race between a lion and a deer, many times the deer wins because the lion runs for food and the deer runs for its life — the purpose is more than the need.”

Hope you are all aware of these facts. A daily wage laborer from Bihar, Dashrath Manjhi, carved a 110-meter-long path through a mountain using just a hammer and chisel — over 22 years — to ensure no one else would suffer like his wife, who died due to lack of timely medical access. At age 29, Chhonzin Angmo from Himachal Pradesh became the first visually impaired woman to summit Everest on May 19. Losing sight at age eight, she defied medical uncertainty and societal barriers. Her ascent exemplifies how purpose lights the path through the darkest challenges.

Today, the purpose is fading. It should be part of education. Fifteen years ago, when I was part of the startup ideas jury, we used to get grounded ideas like how to improve agricultural productivity and profitability. In recent times, most of the ideas are on travel, how to make better reels, or just to run entertainment goals. The reason is that they are not fighting on Maslow’s Theory (from bottom to top) — Physiological Needs and Safety Needs. The people taking up entrepreneurship competitions are mostly middle-class, upper-middle-class, or rich. Hence, their focus is mostly on Belongingness and Love (relationships, social connection), Esteem (respect, recognition, status), and Self-Actualization (growth, fulfilment). This is the difference. If the bottom of the pyramid takes up entrepreneurship, it is mostly for survival — feeding the stomach for that day or week. They never pitch but simply act. However, many times, they cannot grow beyond a point, except for a few exceptions.

Social and Rural Immersion programs in educational settings are mere tour visits or credit-scoring visits for many of them. As parents, we should also keep a bar on how much we transfer our wealth to our children. We should not build assets for their future comforts. This process hampers their thought process. They cannot think below a certain point. We should provide good education, good food and medication, and, at most, a liveable place, if possible. In my view, beyond a point, if we provide too much, one generation is saved, but in the next two to three generations, they return to the normal stage, except for a few exceptions.

Of course, preaching is easy, but practicing is tough! Sometimes, our attachments and natural instincts do not cooperate. However, consciously, we need to keep this conversation alive at home; otherwise, we are providing a shell without substance. Recently, I was listening to a conversation. A boy got an IIT seat but was unable to pay the ₹1.5 lakh first-year fee. He went from pillar to post to get this ₹1.5 lakh and took a loan for the rest of the three years. His mother’s monthly income was less than ₹10,000. The same boy later qualified for the civil services.

When we don’t have something, we come to know its value in that absence. A few weeks ago, I was having pain in my leg. I was barely able to walk. At that time, I came to know the value of a single nerve connecting my ankle. Personally, I know a boy who is intelligent. Everything was going normally. However, his father suddenly passed away due to a heart attack. His whole educational plan became a big block. All the savings were utilized for medical bills. Now, the boy, on his own, at the age of 17, is trying to join a school, keeping the budget at the center. I am sure he will be most successful, as he is getting a life education, which is the foundation for any college education.

Did you hear any such inspiring stories?

Ravi Saripalle

Is Art of Living Limited to Art of Parenting in the Current Age?

Dear Friends,

When we were children, elders used to say, once you secure good marks in the 10th class, you are almost settled in education. During intermediate, once you get into Engineering or any professional degree, your life is settled. Once that is done, we need to struggle to secure a job that matches the degree. Once a job is secured, marriage takes priority. Once marriage is done, children follow. At this stage, we think we are done with the major achievements of life. However, we soon realize that our real problems start from here. The problems that occurred till that date were only pilot studies!!

Recently, one of my friends called me and expressed his distress over the incident that happened in Meghalaya with a newlywed couple. The internet was stormed with this news. Twenty or thirty years back, parents used to relax once their child's marriage was done, as their job was more or less complete. The role of parenting used to stop there. The rest of life was to relish the good and bad—if health permitted. Otherwise, the focus would shift to managing health-related issues.

Is it the case now? Absolutely not.

The problem starts when children are in the toddler stage. A recent study in India reveals that over 60% of toddlers spend excessive time on screens, exceeding WHO guidelines and potentially hindering brain development. The study found that screens are used to pacify children, free up parents’ time, and allow completion of household chores. Research says it affects mental health and behaviour.

Once they go to school, parents own the academic pressures, social dynamics, and personal struggles. Recently, a mother quit her job—I should say, sacrificed her job—to stay with her son in Kota for IIT coaching. She stayed with the child to support his dream. In our days, these situations were rare. Even if they existed, it was mostly to ensure educational continuity, and that too only if the father had a transferable job. However, today, these academic pressures are not limited to one city, but are present throughout the world. In fact, there has been a disturbing rise in student suicides over the years due to academic pressure.

Once this phase is over and children get a job, the actual problem starts during the marriage process. The ugly and informal “6-6-6 rule” (6 ft height, six-pack abs, 6-figure income) is driving the match-making process. It is not just about male or female; these rules are influencing everyone. Recently, I read about a parent who took an extreme step because they were unable to arrange a suitable match for their daughter.

But the game is not over.

Today, parents are constantly wary of whether marriages will stand the test of time or not. The 2–5 years post-marriage are considered critical; otherwise, the fear of divorce haunts them.

Once this phase is over, parents face financial and medical issues. Earlier, many used to receive pensions. Today, that is not the case. They are worried about their jobs, especially post-50, as they begin to lose productivity. They are expected to sustain themselves until 60 or 65, as responsibilities continue to grow.

Recently, an incident went viral where children sent their aged mother out of her own house. While life expectancy is increasing, various medical issues are impairing mobility in old age. Sometimes, the mental burden they carry is more painful than death itself.

When we sum up the entire life, what is the most difficult phase for an individual when considering both physical and mental burden? It is not during childhood, not during education, not while getting a job, but once you take on responsibilities as a spouse, as a parent, and also as a caregiver to your own parents. The phase of parenting is the most difficult stage of life—without much appreciation.

Which phase of your life is filled with complexity?

Ravi Saripalle

The Neurons Behind Neural Networks: The Human Factor in Meta’s AI Vision

Dear Friends,

Meta has assembled a "Superintelligence" AI team. This dream team is more than just a collection of coders—it’s a convergence of brilliant minds shaped by elite education, relentless curiosity, and psychological depth.

I'm curious about where they studied, what they did, and what kind of skills they possess. Many of them come from institutions like Stanford, Princeton, Tsinghua, and IIT. Their résumés boast stints at OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic. Many began their journeys with research assistant roles and internships at Adobe, Facebook, and Google Brain—developing meta-skills early in their careers.

If I had to summarize their cognitive archetypes, here’s how I would do it:
• The Researcher (e.g., Shengjia Zhao, Stanford PhD): Focused on theoretical purity and experimental control.
• The Builder (e.g., Shuchao Bi, YouTube Shorts co-founder): Driven by execution, systems thinking, and a strong product-to-research feedback loop.
• The Synthesizer (e.g., Huiwen Chang, Google Research + OpenAI): Excels in cross-modal creativity and possesses a design-thinking mindset.

These individuals work on complex topics like multi-agent systems, human-AI alignment, and interpretability—fields that require not just logic, but also empathy.

For example:
• Shuchao Bi transitioned from Zhejiang University to graduate work at UC Berkeley, blending mathematical depth with real-world impact at YouTube and OpenAI.
• Shengjia Zhao and Huiwen Chang, both Tsinghua alumni, pursued doctoral research at Stanford and Princeton, exemplifying the Yao Class tradition of academic brilliance.
• Jiahui Yu, a prodigy from USTC’s School of the Gifted Young, earned a PhD at UIUC, specializing in computer vision and generative models.
• Trapit Bansal, trained in India’s IIT system, sharpened his machine learning focus at UMass Amherst, balancing theoretical clarity with application.
• Shuyao Bi, who moved from Shanghai Jiao Tong University to Carnegie Mellon, showcases the practical backbone of real-time systems engineering.

You might be wondering, what’s the story for today?

About 4–5 years ago, in one of my talks, I mentioned that the world will eventually have only five types of jobs:
1. Entrepreneur
2. AI Trainer/Tuner
3. Prompt Engineer (including Agents and Agentic AI)
4. Design Thinker
5. AI General User (many existing jobs fall under this category—e.g., personalized content curation like reels)

It now seems that investments and talent are aligning in this direction.

If we map qualities and skills to these five types:
• Entrepreneur – Risk appetite and a problem-solving mindset through product or service innovation
• AI Trainer/Tuner – Mathematical and statistical intelligence, computational power, broad domain understanding, and mastery of algorithms
• Prompt Engineer – Use-case orientation and the ability to apply AI in real-world contexts
• Design Thinker – Empathy combined with experiential innovation (balancing business affordability, human desirability, and technical feasibility)
• AI User – Anyone who uses AI tools in daily life (e.g., customized content, virtual assistants, etc.)

Every student should reflect on their own strengths and align with one of these types during their UG/PG journey. Doing so can enhance both employability and sustainability in their career.

Which type are you?

Ravi Saripalle