Republic Day preparation
Week 4: Republic Day
விநாயகர் துணையுடன், பகவதி அம்மன் காவலில், முருகன் தெளிவில், கிருஷ்ணன் தர்மத்தில்.
I start here. Always.
Today is January 26, 2026. Republic Day.
Today, CoLife 2026 begins.
India-Europe impact entrepreneurship program. Eight people. Jaipur kickoff. Simrita as coach. Learning to build ventures that create impact, not just profit.
Starting a global learning journey on the day India became a republic 76 years ago feels intentional.
The Question I'm Sitting With
This week, I started a new case study.
The question:
In large, diverse learning cohorts, how do we help participants truly understand each other's contexts, experiences, and motivations?
Most ice-breakers stay surface-level. We smile, introduce ourselves, move on. But we don't really see each other.
Real learning happens when you understand where someone is coming from. Their lived experience. Their constraints. Their why.
I don't have the answer yet. I'm learning to ask the question properly.
This is what "Direction before design. Clarity before action" looks like in practice.
404 Roomi's birthday
This Week's Pattern Shift
My digital footprint shows:
8 hours: Bricoleur group work (facilitation, holding space)
4 hours: Impact-focused entrepreneurship sessions
Multiple: Leadership coordination tasks
The pattern: More facilitation. Less solo work.
More time holding space for others. Less time writing alone.
I'm learning to lead by listening, not just doing.
Francis Zierer (Creator Spotlight, 400k subscribers) said something that connects to this:
"Be consistent but not predictable. Consistent in quality, not predictable in format."
Every Monday, you get a newsletter.
What's inside shifts based on what the week actually held.
This week held Republic Day. CoLife. Facilitation. A question about empathy.
Next week will hold something different.
What I'm Carrying Forward
From last week's jury presentation:
"I connect more slowly, more carefully, and with greater respect for what already exists."
This isn't a declaration. It's a practice.
This week, I practiced it by:
Not jumping to solutions in the case study
Holding space in group work sessions
Starting with Vinayagar before starting with strategy
Asking "How do we deepen understanding?" before asking "How do we scale?"
Precision and depth over scale. Every time.
What Launched This Week
MODM Episode 3 is live.
Musings on Development - my podcast exploring what it's really like to work in the development sector.
This episode: Sakshi Sharma, ISDM Batch 2 alumna. 33 minutes. Honest conversation about:
Can introverts thrive in social sector work?
Real skills needed beyond your degree
Managing career uncertainty with confidence
Self-care strategies for field workers
Sakshi returned to ISDM as a facilitator. She's living what I'm learning about now: how to show up authentically in development work.
One line that stayed with me: "Being an introvert isn't a barrier in social work. It's a different way of connecting."
One Thing You Should Know
I'm also working on AgentsFactory this week TextroAI, MelovoxAI, EyraAI. Building AI products for real business and society problems.
This is the "something" I've been building alongside my studies at ISDM.
This isn't separate from the newsletter or the podcast. It's all the same practice: Direction before design. Clarity before action.
Where to find me:
Annual Edition (2025 full record): Enter your details here
Note to Readers
This newsletter documents what actually happened, in real time. Not advice. Not lessons. Just presence and attention. Some questions remain open by design.
Thank you for reading.
—
Nami 🌊
