Shashwat Sikka

Travelling Salesman

[Neha Singhal Trader @nsinghal211]

Manoj Madhusudhanan took a ₹1.86 crore home loan from ICICI Bank.

As collateral, he handed over his original property documents. Every homebuyer does this. You have no choice.

ICICI Bank sent those documents to their storage facility in Hyderabad via courier. Somewhere on that journey — Bangalore to Hyderabad — the documents vanished.

Gone. Originals. Irreplaceable.

When Manoj found out, ICICI Bank had one answer: it was the courier company's fault. Not ours.

He went to the Banking Ombudsman. They told ICICI to publish a public notice about the loss and pay him ₹25,000 for the trouble.

Twenty-five thousand rupees. For losing the original documents to a ₹1.86 crore property.

Manoj sent a legal notice. ICICI denied any mistake.

He went to the NCDRC.

The apex consumer court looked at the facts. The bank had taken custody of the documents. The bank had chosen the courier. The bank could not hand that liability to a third party and walk away.

ICICI Bank — India's second-largest private bank, ₹9 lakh crore in assets — was held liable. Ordered to obtain reconstructed certified copies, issue an indemnity bond, and pay ₹25 lakh in compensation.

One loan. One lost file. One bank that blamed the courier.

Save this — if your bank loses your original property documents, they cannot blame their courier agent. The documents were in their custody. The liability is theirs. File at your district consumer forum. The law is on your side.

(Source: Manoj Madhusudhanan vs. ICICI Bank Ltd. | NCDRC | LiveLaw, September 2023)

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

@amithpr @madversity Hi Amith, can you ask her to share her resume with me at shashwat at https://t.co/fwSO57q6HJ

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

@ku1deep @mukherji_arnab Hi @ku1deep, I am also in Barsha free after 8:30. Would love to catchup.

Founder of a SaaS startup. Been building for 8 years. $4 million in ARR. Bootstrapped India SaaS. Building MENA ans SEA now. Let me know!

[Naval @naval]

On Scott Adams.

A man finds, to his astonishment, that he exists. After the elation of childhood wears off, he asks, who am I, why am I here, how does this work? These are hard questions, so after a brief struggle, he selects a readymade answer and goes about the motions of life.

Scott Adams was not such a man. He was a live player, ever curious, intent on figuring out this simulation that he found himself in. From first principles, Scott unraveled, understood, and ultimately controlled his own reality. He hacked himself with affirmations, others with persuasion, the world with simultaneous sips. He explained people as moist robots, two movies happening on one screen, his world as Gods’ debris. He carved a personal mission to “be useful,” and made us all better writers, public speakers, and persuaders. He preached the footwear theory of motivation, the Adams Law of slow-moving disasters, the skill stack, systems over goals, and of course, the Dilbert Principle.

Besides cartooning, philosophizing, and teaching, Scott rose to the occasion and displayed, “the one virtue that cannot be faked” - courage. Scott had the courage to speak honestly as he saw it - about Trump, about his nation, and about his time, even though it cost him friends, audience, money, and his ticket to polite society. Scott had true courage, the kind that makes you unpopular, the kind that is always and everywhere in short supply,

At the end, as any hacker of reality, Scott covered all of his bases - he left as a Buddhist, a Christian, and a player in the Simulation.

Scott, we didn’t get enough time with you, but you were a mentor and a marvel. You were useful and you were courageous. You were incompressible and indivisible. One of a kind, and generous with your drawing, writing, and speaking. Unlike your squealing critics in the chattering class, you will be read generations from now.

On this earth there are many long-lived hells but no lasting heaven. Each heaven must be created and nurtured, ex-nihilo, from mind and from mud. Scott, you created a small heaven for us all, and to a larger heaven you go.

A man finds, to his astonishment, that he no longer exists. He asks why, what it was for, and how will the new reality work? When the rest of us get there, we’ll find Scott, ever useful, ready to explain, having figured it all out.

Notes:
• First line paraphrasing Schopenhauer.
• Courage quote via Taleb.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees.

$30 per seat per month.

$1.4 million annually.

I called it "digital transformation."

The board loved that phrase.

They approved it in eleven minutes.

No one asked what it would actually do.

Including me.

I told everyone it would "10x productivity."

That's not a real number.

But it sounds like one.

HR asked how we'd measure the 10x.

I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards."

They stopped asking.

Three months later I checked the usage reports.

47 people had opened it.

12 had used it more than once.

One of them was me.

I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds.

It took 45 seconds.

Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations.

But I called it a "pilot success."

Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail.

The CFO asked about ROI.

I showed him a graph.

The graph went up and to the right.

It measured "AI enablement."

I made that metric up.

He nodded approvingly.

We're "AI-enabled" now.

I don't know what that means.

But it's in our investor deck.

A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT.

I said we needed "enterprise-grade security."

He asked what that meant.

I said "compliance."

He asked which compliance.

I said "all of them."

He looked skeptical.

I scheduled him for a "career development conversation."

He stopped asking questions.

Microsoft sent a case study team.

They wanted to feature us as a success story.

I told them we "saved 40,000 hours."

I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up.

They didn't verify it.

They never do.

Now we're on Microsoft's website.

"Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot."

The CEO shared it on LinkedIn.

He got 3,000 likes.

He's never used Copilot.

None of the executives have.

We have an exemption.

"Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction."

I wrote that policy.

The licenses renew next month.

I'm requesting an expansion.

5,000 more seats.

We haven't used the first 4,000.

But this time we'll "drive adoption."

Adoption means mandatory training.

Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches.

But completion will be tracked.

Completion is a metric.

Metrics go in dashboards.

Dashboards go in board presentations.

Board presentations get me promoted.

I'll be SVP by Q3.

I still don't know what Copilot does.

But I know what it's for.

It's for showing we're "investing in AI."

Investment means spending.

Spending means commitment.

Commitment means we're serious about the future.

The future is whatever I say it is.

As long as the graph goes up and to the right.

[Kanika @DalRotiForLife]

Caught in the IndiGo flight mess? We're taking legal action (PIL) regarding these systemic failures.

We need 250+ passengers to join before Dec 10. Let's raise our voices together for better rights.

Support the case here: https://t.co/r0M1jlDQfW

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

@desimojito Have you ever spoken to someone getting the benefit. The process is so broken and red tape driven that most Startups give up trying. Till date less than 10% of applications filed have been approved by the babus. Most companies just give up. Empty talks, no impact.

[WINTRACK INC @wintrackinc]

From October 1, 2025, our company will cease import/export activities in India.

For the past 45 days, Chennai Customs officials have relentlessly harassed us.

After exposing their bribery practices twice this year, they retaliated, effectively crippling our operations and destroying our business in India.

We deeply thank everyone who has supported us during these difficult times.

#wintrackinc #imports #exports #chennaicustoms #chennaicustom #airportcustoms #seaportcustoms

[Shiv Aroor @ShivAroor]

Bengaluru, one of India’s most beautiful cities, scarred for years by urban decay, broken infrastructure, dying roads & death by traffic.

Time to make more noise than ever before. We are zooming into every neighbourhood, every street, every corner.

Join us. #OurCityOurFight

[Amit Paranjape @aparanjape]

Doctors Could Hack the Nervous System With Ultrasound

https://t.co/fw89RSIuiL

[Nikhilesh Ghushe @nghushe]

@ShivAroor 1. Issue an unambiguous list of regulatory & tax oligations, specific to every individual company, at the beginning of each financial year, with an indemnity that no action can be taken against that company, by any government employee, if the stated obligations are fulfilled.

+

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

@sm31121993 Hi Sougat, Just got the confirmation from the team that your issue is rectified. Do let me know if that is not the case. Thanks for your patience.

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

@sm31121993 Hi Sougat, apologies for this. I have forwarded this to my team. They will look into this on priority.

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

@ankitnagori27 You forgot Bumrah!

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

Nothing better than customer love! @_SinghShivam 🙏

[Shivam Singh @_SinghShivam]

God bless the creators of @provakil

Makes life so much easier for litigators!

#LawTwitter

[Shashwat Sikka @shashwat88]

@mihir_patki @bharatbetpf Hi, can you please ask him to share his details with me at [email protected]. We are looking for a data entry role in Mumbai

[Provakil @provakil]

The blueprint of our nation's strength. 💪🇮🇳
We wish you all a Happy Independence Day!

#IndependenceDay #IndependenceDay2024 #Independence #Freedom #India #JaiHind #Bharat #Provakil #LegalTech #IndependenceDayIndia #IndependenceDay🇮🇳

[Provakil @provakil]

Lawyers, here's a brief you can't refuse! 📄💼
Provakil invites you to the Gujarat High Court to learn about our AI-powered software and exciting offers. See you at the court!

#Provakil #LegalTech #GujaratHC #CaseManagement #LitigationManagement #CaseAlerts #Causelists #Courts

[MrBeast @MrBeast]

I’m gonna give 10 random people that repost this and follow me $25,000 for fun (the $250,000 my X video made)

I’ll pick the winners in 72 hours

[Provakil @provakil]

Festive duties unfold! 🎅 Here's to a Christmas filled with warmth, peace, and the joy of cherished moments. ⭐

#Christmas #MerryChristmas #XMas #JingleBells #Christmas2023 #Provakil #Law #Legal #LegalTech #LegalOps #Merry