The gaps between perception and reality are stunning. A thread with some highlights
/1
What's the average household monthly income of the top 1% of the country? Most people think its ₹5L or more.
Reality: it is 85k.
88% of you are in the top 0.5% of the country, and almost none of you know this fact /2
The average monthly household income in India is 22k. For a family of 4.7 members.
People in metros don't realize this because, in the metros, we don’t really have the “rest of India”. 87% of all the people living in metros are from the top 40%. We never meet the bottom 60%. /3
Speaking of metros vs rest-of-India: In metros, 78% of households with loans have home-loans. For all of India, that number is just 18%
Agricultural loans are the #1 reason for loans in Bharat. The #2 reason is "log kya kahenge" (loans for weddings and other family functions) /4
What fraction of India uses firewood for cooking? Check out this graph. /5
Ever wondered why "sin" (of trigonometry) is called "sin"? Today, I decided to find out, and the history is fascinating. It comes from the Sanskrit word for bowstring which somehow got translated to the Latin word for the "pallu" of a toga.
Follow me down this rabbit hole 🧵
Let's start with this wonderful image I received from a friend on WhatsApp (source unknown). Here, you can clearly see why "tan" is called "tan". But what about "sin"?
If you think of the solid yellow arc as a bow, then the solid blue line (sine) is the bowstring 🧵
jīvá (जीवा) the Sanskrit word for bowstring is the name given to sin by Aryabhata the inventor¹ of the sine and cosine functions.
How do you get from there to a toga? A series of interesting accidents
Good HBR article (by @TylerCowen et al) on reducing wastage and useless bureaucratic overhead from your hiring process.
Quick overview: /1
Do not have more than 4 or 5 "rounds" of interviews/interactions with a candidate. A study (at Google) showed that the first 4 gave 86% of the value. After that, the value diminished rapidly. /2
For each role, have one person who is the primary decision-maker. Unnecessary democracy and consensus results in worse hires.
A committee will hire a camel when a horse is required. /3
Voluntary student participation in your classes is higher if you're known as a teacher who randomly picks students to answer questions even if their hands aren't raised.
Did you know that a lot of hotels in India refuse to let a couple rent a hotel room if they don't look married? (i.e. if last name on Aadhaar card doesn't match).
The problem appears to be widespread enough that a couple of hotel chains have made it their primary marketing pitch that they have no problems renting to unmarried couples. (Even OYO was using this line for a while)
Y'all follow me because I tweet important and relevant information like this, right?