Lucky Jalandar
The universe somehow knows when you need something before you do. On one October evening in Amritsar, it sent us Lucky and made us lucky!
Hi, I'm Rishi. I help companies and individuals translate their ideas+imagination to tangible outcomes.
I live stories, build technology, write poetry and sing occasionally.
Forbes 30 Under 30 · Author · Intel Software Innovator · Head of User Research, Atlan
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Thoughts
On Serendipity (and how to find it)
Serendipity is one of my favorite words. If you simplify it, it translates to a beautiful accident. I first learnt
trauma.md
What if you kept an honest file of the patterns that get in your way? Not for AI, but for yourself.
On ChatGPT, mistakes and humanity
A story about buying a monitor on Facebook Marketplace, a ChatGPT mistake, and what it reveals about humanity's relationship with AI and critical thinking.
On action, agency & delulu
On how taking action builds agency, giving things a fighting chance, and choosing to operate from a place of delulu belief in the magic of the universe.
On lunchboxes
A reflection on growing up with packed food for travel, the shift from shame to gratitude, and the wisdom of a mother's love through lunchboxes.
On magic carpets
A vivid dream of a yellow-red carpet, unexpected invitations to Egypt and Morocco, and finding the dream carpet in a Marrakech bazaar. On Makhtub and magic.
On Byes
On emotional bankruptcy, the absence of people we love, saying goodbye, and the spaces left behind by those who have departed from our lives.
On fighting chances
A visit to an animal rescue centre in Bangalore and a conversation with Dr Roopa about giving things a fighting chance and letting the universe handle the rest.
I Choose Which Tapes to Play
On the metaphor of magnetic tapes in our minds, how recorded memories dictate our experience of time, and the power to choose which tapes to play.
Hope and its parts
An exploration of where hope comes from in the modern human condition, the search for connection, and faith in something beyond our limited imagination.
Reflections: Love shows up like its written
Reflections on love, an oddly shaped egg, the human condition, and how love shows up in unexpected ways when you least expect it.
A mental model to recover from perfectionism
A mental model to break free from perfectionism - why your best work may never see the light of day and how to move past the paralysis.
Learning about confidence
Personal learnings on building confidence, understanding where it comes from, and how it shows up differently in different areas of life.
Building a skill+mind for operation-heavy role - my learnings
Learnings on building the right mindset and skills for operation-heavy roles in startups and product companies.
Select Work
Empathy and Evals
A blog exploring AI evaluation, product thinking, and learning in public. Thinking out loud about how we build, test, and improve AI systems with empathy at the core.
Arduino For Kids
A book teaching kids science through storytelling, open-source hardware, and Arduino prototyping. Making electronics accessible and fun for young makers and curious minds.
Disaster Reporting System
Project Floating Camera: a low-cost device inspired by the Chennai floods that periodically captures and uploads ground-level images via a Wi-Fi mesh network, helping responders see what satellites cannot.
Live Still Life Art
A collaboration with Dutch artists Justus and Mingus, streaming a still life composition live using a Raspberry Pi camera and a custom Node.js server. Built at Workbench Projects, Bangalore.
Buzz for POLY
Concept + Lead Engineer - What if a plant can tell you it is thirsty?
Surge Send
A platform for storing and sharing large files up to 250GB with pause/resume uploads, 256-bit encryption, cross-device continuity, and torrent-powered delivery for speed.
Kaavadia
A tech platform leveraging voice and AI recognition to reconnect generations through storytelling in 10 Indian languages. Recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.