ABOUT ME

Rana:
Is friendly, likes to talk to random people, makes friends curiously & easily, is loyal, is not a big fan of people who only talk of themselves (though he sometimes does!), will often choose the path less travelled, likes to stay out of the mainstream, hates posing for society pages, likes to think he's more patient than he is, is persistent, and so likes the phrase 'Keep Walking', is a huge fan of IF by Kipling, and Dr.Seuss's Oh the Places You'll Go. You will either really like him or not, since he is quite "full on" apparently! Oh and he loves morning progressive trance, but not regular Goa Psy trance!

PHILOSOPHY

If you really want something badly, the whole world conspires with you to get it.

Who dares wins. (The maxim of the SAS)

Be accepting. Be grateful. Be persistent.

Interests

ART: especially Abstract, or Nature, like Hiroshi Senju's Waterfall series. Also love- Several Circles by Vassily Kandinsky, Edward Hopper, Robert Rauschenberg's Bed, and maybe my all time favourite- Nocturne in Black and Gold by James Whistler.

BETTER MIND MANAGEMENT: I've been doing (attempting!) Vipasana Meditation for the last 5 years. Big fan of Mindfullness in Plain English by Gunaratna. A DIY book, available via free pdf online. Another good book, a bit technical, less DIY, Evolve your Brain by Joe Dispenza.

FREEDOM: As in trying to escape from the Rat Race and do my own thing, worrying, as it sometimes is. So i read a lot on Finance/ Investment, spiritual books, though not religeous, like A Guide to the Good Life (on Stoicism).

LEAN START UPs: How to be an entrepreneur in the digital age. I'm a big fan of The Lean Start Up by Eric Reis. And Guy Kawasaki's Art of the Start. And The Personal MBA.

READING/ ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE: As you no doubt figured from the above!

TRAVELLING & MEETING NEW PEOPLE: Obviously!

ADVERTISING CREATIVE / E-COMMERCE SEO.

• arts
• books
• diy
• meditation
• walking
• reading
• traveling
• entrepreneurship
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

V for Vendetta / Sunset Boulevard / Casablanca
Books by Paul Auster / Paul Auster / Zero to One

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Experiencing the kindness of strangers. Sick and alone in KL, I was adopted by a kind Malaysian family. They took me in for months, refused any remuneration, and were a pillar of strength through some very dark times. This changed the way i interact with strangers permanently.

One's enough for now, I'm sure we can talk about the others when we meet, somewhere on this plant, sometime real soon. Thank you for reading :-)

Teach, Learn, Share

1. Advertising Creativity/ How improve ideas- on any subject, as a result of my advertising training. I can help you refine them.

2. How to break from the rat race and become an entrepreneur. Especially for Start Up's. Though i'm new to this and learning...

3. How to be an expert expat. Tips on how and what to do to make your new home country home.

4. Finance- some basic strategies- how to live in a top class neighborhood for less. And some other investment strategies.

5. Meditation- Vipasana school, Hinayana Buddhist leanings.More psychological/ mental awareness, less religious.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Same as the above.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Poland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States