<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Mahendra_Rathod]]></title><description><![CDATA[This blog is my personal notebook. I am going to write my thoughts on books, organisations, personal development to help my readers.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 02:36:58 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.rathodm.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage — Book Review]]></title><description><![CDATA[Twenty-eight men, no radio, no rescue for nearly two years — and every one of them survived. Alfred Lansing's Endurance tells the true story of Shackleton's failed Antarctic expedition, and the leadership that turned total failure into one of history's great survival stories. A book review, with the map to prove the distances.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/endurance-shackleton-s-incredible-voyage-book-review</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a759ee7dc26a7fc1f89fff2</guid><category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 09:19:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_205884da21934a2cbe1d93a1ed2d4980~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Understanding Suffering: Is It the Only Guarantee of Success?]]></title><description><![CDATA[A quote attributed to Musk sent me down a rabbit hole on suffering. What I found: it's necessary, but never a guarantee of success. Often unequal from birth, and always judged by its ending. A personal bet, a 2x2 matrix, and the graveyard of people it didn't work out for.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/understanding-suffering-is-it-the-only-guarantee-of-success</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a70672c2aa0dd3fa16ad1ea</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Longevity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 10:49:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_8b4417ea449946fd96e473260d1e1b71~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Cobra Effect : What 150 Years of Bad Incentives Teach Us About AI Token Pricing]]></title><description><![CDATA[Companies fired people, bought AI, and expected the maths to work. It mostly hasn't. The reason traces back to a 150-year-old lesson about bad incentives — and a hard look at what AI token pricing actually costs, who it subsidises, and whether a better model exists.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/ai-token-pricing-cobra-effect</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4c69000e6d4656949fb879</guid><category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category><category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 08:36:19 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_53d39c73f144414a99dd5749d942a6d2~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Guns, Germs, and Steel: A Book Review]]></title><description><![CDATA[Guns Germs and Steel Book Review: One Question, 13,000 Years of Answer So this happened in May 2026. I was in Gujarat, headed to a friend's office. The temperature was around 42 degrees. Walking from the parking lot to his office — just a few floors — left me completely drenched in sweat. I got inside, switched on the AC, and started working. Meanwhile, social media was full of bright red temperature maps from Windy, everyone making their worst predictions for the summer. People who didn't...]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/guns-germs-and-steel-a-book-review</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a44c39e3c06bdad542b9055</guid><pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:49:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_cc34776503b34b3a9d61355ceb95d06c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[AI Impact on Small Businesses in India: What AI Actually Does]]></title><description><![CDATA[India has 7.34 crore small businesses — restaurants, foundries, CA firms, kirana stores, dry fruit shops in Kashmir. AI is hitting all of them. But not equally, and not always in the way the headlines say.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/ai-impact-small-businesses-india-msme</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a351f69bfacb36e353e2c19</guid><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category><category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 04:36:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_beda96b449dc43a1853e133307edaadc~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[I Audited 20 Years of My Career Against AI. Here's What I Found. AI's Impact on Jobs in India]]></title><description><![CDATA[I graduated from IIMB, worked across six industries for 20 years, and recently audited every role I have held against AI. Some results were uncomfortable. All of them were clarifying.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/ai-impact-on-jobs-india-career-audit</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3271fc73364b8eee6beea3</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:09:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_bbf1d44a117243eb85035930284d65d8~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself — Book Review]]></title><description><![CDATA[Chronic stress doesn't just exhaust you — it rewires your brain and becomes your personality. Dr. Joe Dispenza explains exactly how. A personal, honest review with no fluff.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/breaking-the-habit-of-being-yourself-book-review</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a2f96a5ab4b5d93d8ca5f9e</guid><category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Longevity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2026 06:37:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_717c9df3411d4a7ab0eecceef006a00e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_941,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Longest Mandate: What 12 Years of Modiji Actually Built]]></title><description><![CDATA[PM Modiji's 12 years. India went from 10th to 4th largest economy, 171 million lifted from poverty, highways up 60%, UPI at 172 billion transactions. Here's the full report card.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/the-longest-mandate-modi-12-years-india-report-card</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a2bdab3418318a8f7e12ae0</guid><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category><category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:06:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_d072266b14c54c948d6e5b84dc1e0558~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_909,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Part 7: The Plate and the People - Indian Food and Nutrition: Your Body Doesn't Care About the Myth]]></title><description><![CDATA[53% of Indian women are anaemic. 67% of children under 5. Between 47 and 73% of Indians are Vitamin B12 deficient — a nutrient found almost exclusively in animal products. India leads the world in diabetes without leading the world in obesity. The body does not care about the vegetarian myth. It cares about protein, iron, and B12. This is the final chapter — and the most urgent one.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/indian-food-and-nutrition-body-myth-part-7</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0c20a98ba6aec9a8122e0c</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:48:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_922ae9bc7b5f4fb591c9e6c0220efd5e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Part 6: What India Really Eats: Pray, Pay, Eat | The Plate and the People]]></title><description><![CDATA[In India, the poor eat meat when they can afford it. The rich eat it freely, globally, without apology. The vegetarian middle class — aspirational, upwardly mobile, anxious about identity — adopted a minority food practice and convinced an entire country it was the national norm. What India really eats has always been more complicated than the story. Faith and income shape the plate. This is Part 6.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/what-india-really-eats-class-religion-part-6</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0c141012e79e1abbd288fd</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:27:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_930f5fe47ead472594be6d8205d26da6~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Part 5: The Plate and the People: How British Rule Changed Indian Food: India's Carb Addiction]]></title><description><![CDATA[Three famines. Thirty million dead. Grain exported while people starved. Millets — drought-resistant, nutritious, ancient — abandoned for rice and wheat because the empire found them harder to tax. A tea habit invented from scratch and marketed to a population that had never asked for it. This is how British rule changed Indian food. India is still eating the consequences — including 77 million diabetics and a carbohydrate dependency that predates independence by two centuries.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/how-british-rule-changed-indian-food-part-5</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0c22594e91908f614fcd42</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:36:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_8b722fb14fac4910b62f8ebc37913554~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Part 4: Non Vegetarian Population in India by State: 70% Eats Meat | The Plate and the People]]></title><description><![CDATA[Nagaland: 99% non-vegetarian. Tamil Nadu: 98%. West Bengal: 98%. Rajasthan: 22% — the lowest in the country, and the state whose food culture the world mistakes for India's. The NFHS-5 data maps a country that looks nothing like the vegetarian story it has been told about itself. Twenty-five of thirty-six states have a meat-eating majority. Here is the map India doesn't talk about.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/non-vegetarian-population-india-by-state-part-4</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0c226c614a7ecb2ec8d2c3</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:24:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_2250532982af4d9dae51229649b2fdad~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Part 3: History of Vegetarianism in India: It Was a PR Strategy | The Plate and the People]]></title><description><![CDATA[

The history of vegetarianism in India has nothing to do with ancient spiritual wisdom. It began as a competitive crisis. A threatened priesthood. A philosophical arms race between Brahmin priests and Buddhist monks that the Brahmins eventually won — by adopting their rivals' strongest argument and making it their own. Meanwhile, a Mughal emperor built history's greatest meat kitchen and went quietly vegetarian on the side. It's complicated.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/history-of-vegetarianism-in-india-part-3</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0c227fe8a70f9063406aa2</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 07:34:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_782202118e8d4e1cbbfecd64482690c5~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_941,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Part 2: The Plate and the People - Ancient India Food History and the Vedas]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Indus Valley was the largest Bronze Age civilisation on earth. Its cities had covered drains, standardised weights, and a writing system we still can't read. They also had cattle bones — cut-marked, burned, found at every major site. The Vedas described beef. The sacred cow was an economic decision. Ancient India's real food history has been hiding in plain sight. We went looking.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/ancient-india-food-history-part-2</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0c14318ba6aec9a8120fe8</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Longevity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2026 09:14:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_f9f40659965e4a0297a9ce1aef449e76~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_941,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Part 1: The Plate and the People: Food Habits in India History: Fire Built Us]]></title><description><![CDATA[I'm a Rathod — descended from Rajput warriors for whom the hunt was ritual, not recreation. My family settled in a Gujarat village where we cooked chicken quietly, windows half-shut, hoping the neighbours wouldn't notice. 70% of Indians eat non-vegetarian food. Yet somehow, India convinced the world it was a vegetarian civilisation. This is the real story — 2 million years of it — peel by peel.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/food-habits-in-india-history-part-1</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a07f1f9df43effc8cde7fcd</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><category><![CDATA[Longevity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2026 07:49:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_d8203d4e66214ac6a5be41c604c32a50~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_941,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How Geography Shapes Civilization: The Quiet Force Behind Every Human Story]]></title><description><![CDATA[What if the Himalayan winds blew the other way? India would freeze in summer, the monsoon would die, and five thousand years of civilization would vanish. This essay explores how geography shapes civilization — quietly writing the script behind religion, economics, body types, food, language, war, and the rise and fall of empires. The land we live on is not just a stage. It is closer to the playwright.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/how-geography-shapes-civilization-the-quiet-force-behind-every-human-story</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0ef5b6a2438924d1099100</guid><category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2026 06:16:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_d09c55ec027b4a4fad7df457839bedba~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_941,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How Alcohol Helped Build Human Civilisation: A Toast to Our Complicated Past]]></title><description><![CDATA[Every civilisation. Every continent. Every century. Humans independently discovered alcohol and refused to give it up. Coincidence? Hardly. From pyramid workers paid in beer, to democracy debated over wine, to writing invented to count drink rations — alcohol didn't just survive civilisation. It may have built it. A fascinating, uncomfortable, and surprisingly scientific story. With a disclaimer. Obviously.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/alcohol-human-civilisation-evolution-history</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a055f3c68a3e7adcb17005a</guid><category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[Longevity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindset]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2026 06:29:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_3eab2fbc4297458bb7a094dfc17ab4de~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_941,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[PM Modiji's 7 Appeals: Why He Asked India to Skip foreign travel, Defer Gold, and Pedal to Work]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why did PM Modiji ask India to skip Dubai, defer gold, and pedal to work? It wasn't a sermon. It was a Prime Minister reading the country's balance sheet aloud — under Hormuz pressure, with the rupee at ₹95.6 and Brent above $100. Inside the $775 billion import bill, the 60-year tradition from Shastriji to Vajpayeeji, and an honest look at who actually pays the patriotic price.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/pm-modijis-7-appeals-hyderabad-explained</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a040a18e8ad7aab1e5e6d7e</guid><category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category><category><![CDATA[Public Policy]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2026 12:42:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/80f0fb_43b470c9e3354113b7a1270e32b7ec81~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[My 2025 Reading Wrap-Up: The Good, The Bad, and The Transformational]]></title><description><![CDATA[Twenty-two books shaped my thinking in 2025, from artificial intelligence and Indian history to longevity and mental resilience. Some challenged my worldview, others tested my patience, but each demanded time we can’t afford to waste. This pragmatic reading list helps busy professionals decide what’s worth a full read and what’s better left summarized, covering AI, health, politics, and the ideas shaping our future.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/my-year-in-books-2025-best-reading-list</link><guid isPermaLink="false">695f57fdce09b1c266149901</guid><category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[Knowledge]]></category><category><![CDATA[swimming]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category><category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category><category><![CDATA[Year Wrap]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2026 11:17:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0ad5b_71b2c653e9b24620ae44ce59c477e500~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Total Immersion Book Review: The Art of Swimming Without the Struggle]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most adults swim as if they’re fleeing a shark-thrashing hard yet going nowhere fast. Terry Laughlin’s Total Immersion dismantles this struggle-first mindset and replaces it with physics, balance, and efficiency. This review explores how reducing drag, improving body position, and slowing down to refine form can transform swimming from exhausting chaos into smooth, sustainable flow-for any adult swimmer willing to rethink effort.]]></description><link>https://www.rathodm.com/post/total-immersion-book-review-the-art-of-swimming-without-the-struggle</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6941b622b7595e8bf665b7a3</guid><category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fitness]]></category><category><![CDATA[swimming]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 05:17:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0ad5b_47747faed6f74d75a167c192205774a9~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_990,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Mahendra Rathod</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>