February 2025

There is a peculiar kind of freedom that comes from being robbed.

Not of wealth, not of possessions, but of illusions.

Kahlil Gibran, in The Madman, tells the story of a man whose masks are stolen. These were not ordinary masks but the many faces he wore for the world—the identities, expectations, and personas he had crafted. At first, he mourns their loss. But then, standing bare before the world, he realizes something profound: he is finally free.

“Blessed are the thieves who stole my masks.”

And then comes an even deeper revelation:

“And I have found both freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us.”

To be misunderstood is often painful. In our careers, in our ventures, in our personal journeys, we long to be recognized, to be validated. But there is a hidden cost to being understood too soon, too completely. When people “get” us, they box us in. They define us in ways that might feel comforting at first but quickly become cages. Expectations are set. Labels solidify. The freedom to evolve disappears.

In the early days of a career, of a startup, of a dream—we wear masks. The mask of certainty, of invincibility, of playing the game just right. And then, life does what life does.

We get robbed.

A bad partnership, a deal gone wrong, a business failure, a job loss. Maybe we trusted the wrong people. Maybe we miscalculated. Maybe we simply weren’t ready. It feels unfair. It feels like defeat.

But with time, we realize: the thieves did us a favor. They didn’t steal our essence. They only took the masks.

And without those masks, we are free.

Free to be what we actually are, rather than what we thought we should be. Free to build again, but this time from a place of wisdom, rather than illusion. Free to play the game on our own terms, rather than bending to fit inside someone else’s narrative.

To lose our masks is to lose the safety of being understood. And yet, in that very act, we gain something more precious—the space to redefine ourselves.

Many fear loss. Few recognize its gift.

For those who have been ‘robbed’ early in their journey—of a false sense of security, of blind optimism, of naïve trust—consider this: Maybe it was necessary. Maybe it was the only way to get here, to this place of clarity.

And so, as Kahlil Gibran wrote:

“Blessed are the thieves who stole my masks.”

Because in losing them, we found something better. Ourselves.

Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur—until they actually have to be one.

It starts with the dream. The idea that you’ll break free from the 9-to-5, build something of your own, and never have to take orders again. You hustle in the beginning, working nights and weekends, grinding through uncertainty, and making sacrifices while others live comfortably.

Then, a little success happens. Maybe a good investment, an exit, or just enough cash flow to breathe easy. And suddenly, the dream shifts.

The money that was supposed to fuel growth gets redirected—into a bigger house, a fancy car, nights out with new “friends” who are more impressed by your bank balance than your work ethic. Maybe even a relationship that demands stability, predictability, and less risk. You justify it: I’ve worked hard. I deserve this.

And you do. But comfort is a trap.

The hunger that drove you to build disappears. The urgency to hustle fades. Your time gets consumed by maintenance—of your lifestyle, your social circle, your new commitments. You become busy, but not in the way that built your success in the first place. Instead of creating, you’re maintaining. Instead of growing, you’re managing.

Entrepreneurship isn’t a moment. It’s a way of life.

The ones who actually win don’t see the hustle as a temporary phase. They don’t grind to escape the grind. They embrace it as a feature, not a bug. They build not just for financial success, but because they are wired to solve problems, chase opportunities, and push boundaries.

If you start a business just to buy comfort, you’ll trade your ambition for it. If you start a business because you love building, you’ll never stop.

That’s the difference between those who last and those who fade away.

Look around at the tech accessories you use daily. That USB hub? Probably Orico or UGREEN. Your external SSD enclosure? Likely Acasis or SSK. Your laptop dock, power bank, or GaN charger? Most likely Anker, Baseus, or Aukey. Even your phone case—whether it’s Spigen, Ringke, or ESR—probably originates from a non-Indian brand.

The truth is, China and a few other Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan, Japan) dominate the accessories and peripherals market, while India barely has a presence. This is a massive lost opportunity.

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China’s Domination in Tech Accessories & Peripherals

Chinese brands have built a monopoly in essential accessories due to several key reasons:

1. Unmatched Manufacturing Ecosystem

Shenzhen, often called the Silicon Valley of Hardware, has a massive supply chain, easy access to raw materials, and a skilled workforce that enables rapid prototyping and mass production.

2. Category-Wise Dominance

Chinese companies don’t just specialize in one type of product—they own entire accessory categories:

• PC & Laptop Peripherals
  • USB Hubs, Docking Stations – Orico, UGREEN, Anker, Baseus
  • SSD Enclosures – Acasis, SSK, QGeeM
  • Keyboards & Mice – Redragon, Ajazz, Royal Kludge (RK), Dareu
  • Laptop Cooling Pads – Havit, Klim
  • Webcams & Capture Cards – AVerMedia, Elgato (Corsair)
• Phone Accessories
  • Phone Cases – Spigen (Korean), Ringke (Korean), ESR, Nillkin, Torras, Supcase, Poetic, Mous
  • Screen Protectors – Whitestone Dome (Korean), Belkin, Nilkin, amFilm
  • Power Banks – Anker, Baseus, ROMOSS, UGREEN, Xiaomi
  • Chargers & Cables – Anker, Baseus, UGREEN, Aukey, Mcdodo
• Smart Home & IoT Peripherals
  • Smart Plugs – TP-Link (Chinese), Meross
  • Smart Cameras – Xiaomi, TP-Link, Imou
  • Mesh Wi-Fi Systems – Tenda, TP-Link, Xiaomi, HUAWEI

3. Rapid Innovation & Cost Advantage

• These companies quickly adopt new technologies, whether it’s USB4, Thunderbolt Docks, GaN chargers, Networking Devices, MagSafe, high-speed SSD.
• They manufacture at scale, keeping prices competitive.

4. Brand Proliferation & Global Reach

• Chinese brands dominate Amazon, AliExpress, and retail stores worldwide.
• They also act as OEMs for Western brands, meaning even non-Chinese brands often rely on Chinese factories.

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Where is India in This Market?

Despite being a huge consumer of accessories, India has almost no global presence in this space.

Existing Indian Brands (But Limited Impact)

A few Indian brands exist, but they lack innovation and global scale:

• Foxin – Keyboards, mice, cables (mostly budget-focused).
• Zebronics – PC accessories and audio products, but lacks high-end peripherals.
• Ambrane – Power banks and chargers, but not a premium player.
• iBall – Once a strong brand, now fading.
• Stuffcool – Focused on mobile accessories like cases and chargers, but not at Anker/UGREEN level.
• Portronics – Decent in the budget accessories space but lacks premium innovation.

These brands mostly cater to the entry-level market in India and struggle to compete with the likes of Spigen, Anker, or Orico internationally.

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The Massive Loss for India

By not building strong Indian brands in peripherals and accessories, we’re losing in multiple ways:

1. Dependence on Imports

Almost all high-quality accessories are imported, leading to a trade deficit.

2. Missed Job Creation

If India built its own accessory ecosystem, it could create thousands of jobs in R&D, manufacturing, and retail.

3. Ignoring ‘Make in India’ Potential

Despite government support for local manufacturing, no major push has been made for accessories and peripherals.

4. No Global Recognition

China’s brands have become household names globally, while India doesn’t have even one globally known accessory brand.

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The Value Chain That India Is Missing Out On

The biggest loss isn’t just in selling accessories—it’s in the entire value chain of technological advancement. Many top accessory brands started with simple products and then moved up the ladder to premium and complex electronics.

Case Study: Anker (China)

• Started in 2011 with basic USB cables and chargers.
• Expanded into power banks, docking stations, and GaN chargers.
• Today, they make high-end audio gear (Soundcore), smart home devices (Eufy), and projectors (Nebula).
• Now, Anker is valued at over $1 billion and is a global leader in accessories.

Case Study: Spigen (South Korea)

• Began by making basic plastic phone cases.
• Later, introduced rugged and premium MagSafe-compatible cases.
• Now sells car chargers, wireless chargers, power banks, and screen protectors.
• Became a global leader in phone accessories.

Case Study: UGREEN (China)

• Started with simple USB hubs and cables.
• Expanded into SSD enclosures, docking stations, and power adapters.
• Now, they’re making MagSafe accessories and high-end Thunderbolt docks.

What Did These Brands Do Right?

• Focused on one category, built expertise, and then expanded.
• Kept an eye on trends like GaN charging, MagSafe, and Thunderbolt accessories.
• Became global brands through aggressive online sales and partnerships.

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Can India Catch Up?

India already manufactures smartphones (Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi), but we lack an ecosystem for peripherals and accessories. Here’s how we can catch up:

• Government & Private Sector Push – Incentives for local R&D and accessory startups.
• Focus on Niche Accessories – Instead of trying to beat Anker overnight, Indian brands can start with MagSafe accessories, SSD enclosures, or GaN chargers.
• Leverage E-commerce – Indian brands should aim to become the next Spigen or Anker on Amazon, Flipkart, and international platforms.

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The Final Thought: Where is India’s Orico, Anker, or Spigen?

Tech accessories and peripherals are not just afterthoughts—they’re a multi-billion dollar industry. India is one of the largest consumers of these products, yet we’re nowhere in the global market.

Until we build our own ecosystem, we’ll remain dependent on China—for everything from USB hubs to phone cases, power banks to SSD enclosures.

And that’s a missed opportunity too big to ignore.

There was a time when silence was an option.

You could sit in a room, listen to a conversation, and decide—consciously or otherwise—not to have an opinion. It wasn’t required.

Now? Not having an opinion is the greatest sin of all.

The world has changed. Today, you are expected not just to have a take on everything, but to communicate that take—loudly, confidently, immediately. Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp groups, office Slack channels—every space is an arena for discourse. And every discourse is a battleground.

It started as empowerment. Everyone had a voice. More voices meant more perspectives. More perspectives meant richer conversations. But somewhere along the way, the algorithm got greased with outrage, and the nature of conversation changed.

The scope and channels for dialogue increased.

The tolerance for different dialogue decreased.

In the past, polite society had unspoken agreements: certain topics were off-limits unless spoken in hushed tones among the trusted. Politics, religion, sex—these were the fault lines best avoided at dinner tables and water coolers.

Now, those lines don’t exist. Everything is on the table. Every workplace, every friend group, every family gathering is a potential site of ideological warfare. Silence is decreed as Complicity by those who have made shouting their daily jobs.

The flip side of activism is exhaustion.

Righteousness fuels movements, but it also breeds fatigue. It creates trenches where there were once bridges. It demands that everyone pick a side—every time, on every issue. And what’s worse, it assumes that the side you picked last year is the side you must hold forever.

In this brave new world, changing your mind is weakness. Nuance is betrayal. Saying “I don’t know enough about this to comment” is an abdication of duty.

So we keep shouting.

We keep planting flags.

We keep losing patience.

And somewhere in the noise, an old way of thinking—one that valued reflection over reaction—fades into obscurity.

Because in this world, silence isn’t golden anymore. It’s just another battlefield.

In the last post, we talked about how we are decision-making machines. Every moment, every turn, every unexpected outcome—it’s all a result of choices made before it.

But here’s the thing: decisions aren’t just isolated events. They’re patterns.

Henry David Thoreau put it best:

“A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”

Every habit, every instinct, every default reaction—it’s just a path walked over and over again. The more we choose a thought, an action, or a belief, the deeper that path gets. And the deeper it gets, the harder it is to leave.

But here’s the part we often forget: paths can be broken.

Loki—the trickster, the god of stories—was always trapped in a loop. No matter the universe, no matter the version, failure was his fate. Every Loki was destined to lose.

Until one wasn’t.

In the Loki Season 2 finale, he did something no other version of him had done before—he broke the pattern. He rewrote his fate. He became something bigger than the story that had been written for him.

That’s the real power of understanding our own paths. They aren’t permanent. They aren’t destiny. They are just choices, stacked over time. And the moment we see them for what they are, we can change them.

A single step won’t do it. A single thought won’t rewrite the mind.

But if we walk a new path—again and again—eventually, it becomes the only road we know.

So, the question isn’t just which path are you walking?

It’s when are you going to break the old one and create something new?

Right now, you are here. Reading this.

But why?

Not in the cosmic, fate-driven sense. No, this is simpler. You’re here because of a long sequence of decisions—some small, some significant. You clicked a link, followed a thought, chose to engage. If you weren’t reading this, you’d be somewhere else, doing something else, because of a different set of choices.

Every moment is the output of decisions made before it.

The job you took. The city you live in. The person you texted back (or didn’t). The way you spend your mornings. The way you react to things. Every action creates a ripple that leads here—to this exact second.

Even me writing this. A decision.

It’s easy to forget that we are not just passengers in life but decision-making machines, constantly processing inputs, producing outputs, steering toward an uncertain future shaped entirely by what we choose.

Loki, the god of stories, would understand this game well. In myth, he isn’t just a trickster; he’s a storyteller who nudges events, creates shifts, and plays with possibility. The mischief isn’t in causing chaos—it’s in reminding us that we are always making choices, whether we see it or not.

Every path, every turn, every unexpected moment—it all stems from choice.

And if you ever feel stuck, remember: you got here because of decisions. You can get somewhere else the same way. You are the storyteller, the trickster, the machine. Choose wisely.

Pop open a newsfeed in America and you’ll find another recall—Quaker Oats’ pancake mix (https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/quaker-oats-recall-updated-most-serious-category-fda-sounds-alarm-pancake-mix), the classic cereal, or maybe a fresh produce scare. Tune in to Europe, and it’s the horsemeat scandal or a string of E. coli alerts. For all the faults of Western food systems—the reliance on preservatives, synthetic additives, and industrial-scale farming—there’s at least a ritual of owning up. They find something contaminated, they label it a Class I recall, and they pull it from the shelves.

In India, we have a different tradition. When our spices get rejected overseas for containing dangerous chemicals, the story barely registers at home. When synthetic milk is caught in a rare police raid, it’s a local headline for a day—then vanishes. We go back to business as usual. No large-scale advisories, no immediate notifications, no consistent system to warn families what’s at stake.

And so we remain content, cooking our meals, telling ourselves that if it’s good enough for export, surely it’s good enough for domestic consumption. Yet quietly, behind closed doors, experts know the truth: we have a crisis on our hands. And no one is stepping up to ring the alarm bell.

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The Good, the Bad, and the American Recall

Take the recent Quaker Oats pancake mix incident. It’s not the first time Americans have faced a recall. They’ve had everything from romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli to peanut butter laced with salmonella. Yes, their food can be overly processed. Yes, questionable preservatives sneak into too many products. But at least the U.S. system attempts to inform consumers, with the FDA and CDC playing watchdog in real time.

And then there’s Europe. They survived the horsemeat scandal by conducting rigorous investigations and rolling out stricter supply-chain checks. They regulated, adapted, and tried to restore trust. Imperfect, sure. But not silent.

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Our So-Called “Silent Crisis”

Contrast this with India’s approach. Our wide-ranging traditions revolve around fresh, home-cooked meals, but adulteration is rampant behind the scenes. When a batch of spices is found to contain harmful chemicals, it’s seldom that everyday people get a heads-up. If they’re not safe for export, how safe are they for the rest of us?

During Diwali, every year, a murmur starts: “Watch out for adulterated sweets!” Yet, the fear mostly disappears when the festivities end. If there’s any crackdown, it’s limited, scattered, and often overshadowed by political theatrics. By the time the headlines fade, no real recall or public awareness campaign has taken shape.

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Remember Maggi?

The Maggi noodles controversy in 2015 was supposed to change everything. The product was briefly banned. The media exploded. We thought, maybe now, India will pay attention to the seriousness of food safety.

But the ban didn’t last long. In came a “Swadeshi” version from Patanjali, which had its own question marks. And in no time, Maggi itself was back on the shelves, claiming full compliance. Did the uproar lead to new regulations or a better recall process for other products? Hardly.

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Why This Matters

Food safety isn’t just about politics or corporate profit margins. It’s about what we feed ourselves and our children every single day. When the people tasked with protecting us remain silent, we become unwitting participants in a high-stakes game of trust.

We may not have the daily barrage of recalls, but that doesn’t mean our food is any safer. It might mean we’re ignoring dangers that others won’t tolerate.

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The Way Forward

In an ideal world, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) would be given enough teeth to enforce real regulations. We’d see transparent advisories, consistent testing, and the same kind of public accountability that the U.S. and Europe, for all their flaws, rely on to keep consumers informed.

What we need isn’t just another politically charged ban. It’s a systematic, methodical approach—sampling, testing, and, when necessary, recalling. Real consequences for non-compliance. Real data published for public scrutiny. Real faith built in the system.

Because if we continue down this path of quiet acceptance, the cost isn’t just an FDA alert or a lost export contract. It’s our well-being. It’s our trust in the food on our plate. And one day, it may just be our health.

We deserve better than silence. We deserve a system that looks at food safety not as an inconvenience, but as a fundamental promise to its people. Let’s hope we find the courage—and the will—to make that happen.