Welcome everyone who's joining us here today for this live talk on Capital Insider series. We are very privileged to have with us today Mr. Sudeep Sethi who's the founder and chairman of Chirate Ventures India and of course he's done brilliant work at Chirate Ventures in terms of building you know the fund which has today become I mean I think I have some numbers here with me and and so please connect me if I'm wrong but I think in the fourth fund that you raised you've done about 19 investments in on two IPOs 35 exits and four unicorns that's that's you know a really really envious number to have for a fund and was very privileged to have you here for this talk but I think what I what I really like about Mr. Sethi's philosophy is that you know he feels that the digital age has only just started so we've only actually touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to really exploring opportunities that digital India is today going to give us so digital India's push to start up India is today evident and this is what we're going to talk about while the pandemic has been extremely disruptive we've been sitting in our homes lockdowns six months now but I think if we'll go down and look at this pandemic in 2025 we'll probably also realize this was the most golden age and the most hitting moment for digital India to really take up in its full glory and the opportunity has just started so welcome Mr. Sidhir Sethi and I would love to hear from you what do you think today are the real opportunities that digital India holds today given the fact there's so much as a country we need to develop we also need to think a lot more intrinsic when it comes to platforms and technologies that we need so really I mean you know from your lenses what are the opportunities for digital India and for startups building or finding themselves building technology businesses. Ritu thank you very much for inviting me here it's a pleasure again and I hope all of you and all people watching are safe and sound first one small correction we've invested in 90 companies and all the numbers you mentioned in all our funds not just the fourth fund overall so you know I think it's important to look at the fact that India being digital is a phase which we are going through the internet is a highway like the road infrastructure in India I think it's also a bit patchy right now but the what the what the pandemic has done is of course you know taken anything and everything which you do in the physical world wherever it is possible to do in the digital world is now being pre-poned whether it is buying goods and services whether it is B2B whether it is B2C whether it is fitness whether it is health whether it is the whole space of agriculture finance you name it every part of our life as lives have been affected and I think while there is stress in the economy there is no doubt there are stress among people if we look at this as a business opportunity as an opportunity and a half a glass half full you will notice that there are many many green shoots which have already emerged in the market space you know there are challenges which the country faces and there are a billion plus people who don't have health care how do you read a billion plus people and how do you deliver health care in this day and age where we have not been able to deliver the number of doctors we don't have the number of nurses we don't have the number of clinics the number of CT scans I mean you just the list goes on and on so the conventional method of delivering health care to a billion people I think will not help at all so the question is how can you use the digital platform to deliver basic health at least first I can understand that emergency and health related to expertise which is required in in surgery or cancer or you know that's a physical process but there is no reason why basic health cannot be delivered okay basic health the if you deliver it in the conventional way we'll need another three four hundred thousand doctors but today it's possible to reach you know somebody in to and room or in siligree digitally and give that health care services from experts anywhere in the world okay not just India and and the is it possible to set up clinics is it possible to set up pathology labs in the country which follow the conventional method so effectively there are easier and more technology advanced ways by which you can be can deliver to a billion people health the same applies to education the same applies to SMEs who need capital for working capital the same applies to farmers there are hundreds of millions of farmers in the country who are struggling even today on average to two and a half acres worth of land which they own and crop productivity is still a big issue okay so I think if you look at it from that point of view the digital infrastructure of the company wherever it is on a scale of 10 can move us into a very different a much much larger scaled direction while it sits on top of the infrastructure which is already there and that's where the power of digital lies to solve problems which have not been solved before using technology and reached masses whether it is in consumers or farmers or businesses okay in a much more efficient manner and deliver results. Sure and what particular sectors you particularly see and of course you know I mean given the fact that we're also seeing you know the rift between Google and a lot of technology companies on the Play Store what what areas do you feel we need to build our technologies in order to be more self-sufficient as a country and we don't really all the time have to rely on you know international companies to help us or to enable us to reach out to our customers what what more we could doing and in what sectors we should be doing that. I think the answer to what sectors is every sector I mean look at it you know if the new sectors which I named every sector needs to scale up e-commerce companies when we invested in Minzra you know the number of active consumers who are buying and selling on the product on the net was 10 million today is maybe 100-120 million we're talking about 500 million 600-700 million people in the near future coming on the internet and and transacting commerce right in which of a way whether it is services or products I think those efficiencies have to come in supply chain okay it's in every sector supply chain from you know large companies to karyana stores it is very inefficient it goes through distributors and there is marginal loss there there is inefficiency there is delays in delivery so I think there's enough work to be done where digital infrastructure can play a very large role by building marketplaces by building you know technology platforms which enable see-through for large companies to go to the smaller retailers wherever retailers are not required at the end of the day consumers can be reached directly I think that's another platform so as I said every sector there is nothing called it can't digital infrastructure digital India cannot reach that it can you know so while this is one side where you say every sector needs more technology and more technology disruption to make it more efficient but you know I mean given the fact that making in India is the order of the day particularly for digital businesses so how can Indian startup founders what will be your advice to them to say that you know you can build products which are more efficient which have a great user experience and you know at the end of the day if an Indian customer feels that I'm much better off with an international technology how can he reduce that conflict this is one thing that I have been witnessing a lot where in you know we read apps we read reviews and we feel that this is something which is a backlash which is coming in today for a lot of Indian startup founders when their technologies are compared to the rest of the world so what what can they do to make their product better more at par with the rest of the world and of course not considering the fact that it's already been done outside and there is already an existing product outside and therefore you have to sort of now do it in a much faster time to be able to reach out to your customer so what what would be your advice to them I think it's very simple you're assuming it's not being done already so I think that's maybe if I can correct that in our active companies we have 55 active companies they've exited the rest 24 of our companies have a global footprint that means the entrepreneurs have developed products which are relevant valid and comparable to the best in the world and perhaps leaders okay there is no question about it so Indian entrepreneurs in the space of technology whether it is in mobility whether it is an AR VR whether it isn't robotics are building global companies and the reason why they are building global companies is because fundamentally the nature of the young entrepreneur is a global mindset the internet has given them access and to that extent software companies you know previously built global companies today Indian entrepreneurs and products are going to build global companies we've seen that already in a small way that will happen more and more again so I think I would disagree that Indian consumers are looking for international products I mean anywhere in the world people look for the best brand and the best products right in today lens card is selling in the US today first cry selling in the Middle East today a small company called emotix which is designed a consumer robotic companion robot for children is selling in 40 countries today a company like playshifu is selling AR VR educational toys on the on the global roadmap so I think today you will find that if you're solving a challenge which Indians are facing trust me that challenge will increase somewhere in the world correct the mind of the the mind of the entrepreneur is if you compare it to the India's open market so anybody can come in and the way the entrepreneur thinks is if anybody can come in why shouldn't I go out because that's offense is the best way of defense so we are finding young companies going international right today there's a company called in our portfolio called Aether and they have built one of the world's leading upper arm prosthetics which is a bionic arm no other company in the world has that we are talking about kb colors which is extracting color out of microbes okay by applying stress no other company in the world has that and the list goes on and on we are talking about cropping who's managing 7 million acres of land through satellite imagery okay and influencing crop productivity and this is in India and outside the country so I think this myth about Indian products and services in the technology space not being up to the mark in the global sense is not true because half our companies are already selling outside the country in 40 countries right will this increase now answer is yes this will increase because when Indian products are developed they are developed at a price point which Indians want they are developed at a quality which Indians in the globe want the price points are attractive and the quality has to be the best and that's a potent combination for building the global company totally agree mr saty on this but where I was coming from more was that you know about five years back when a new startup used to happen it used to be the only one doing what it was doing but today the competition is catching up very fast because of course there is a lot of opportunity and there is you know the capital is only going to be so much and you know while funds would want to put it across all startups and see all of them rising but you know eventually the best will have to win so how can we ensure that everybody in this ecosystem is able to sort of succeed instead of just some few because of the lack of funding how can the environment be much more collaborative while competition is good and it always helps everybody to I mean the best to grow and consumers to use the best but nevertheless you know the others are also building technologies which are fairly good so how I mean the end of the day how can less startups fail that is most important that is not the goal Ritu the right question is are companies being built are differentiating technologies being built are products being built I mean today just again I can only take proxy which is us right now in output folio 120 patents have been filed 28 have been granted in us yeah that is an indication you know early stage venture capital is a proxy for R&D capital okay and the innovation which is being done today by the way can it be better answer is yes but let's be very clear that at the end of the day I don't think government can come and say let's do things better and this is how there is no recipe and prescription here right intense competition is the only way to build better products and better services and I think we have that already and Indian entrepreneur in a small way have delivered I think the scale at which we have to deliver is much larger we are seeing that in fact the last five years if the gradient of companies growing successfully has been 20 degrees in the last five years the next five years I see that as something closer to 45 degrees there is an inflection point which is already reached in the market space where companies are growing larger and larger and I do not agree that capital in India is not there capital in India is there it's there at seed stage it's there at early stage it's there at maybe small gaps in B rounds or so but it's definitely there after that in late stage in fact post covid we have seen more companies in our portfolio getting late stage funding and B rounds upwards of funding we've seen more capital come in because the quality of the entrepreneur and the product and the service the revenue model and the business model and the technology and by the way it's not or its end situation has even further differentiated and put some companies not all of them to a higher pedestal and capital chases the best in quality yeah but where I was coming from was the data says that only about eight percent of startups in India are funded so there's a huge scope for more funding but important is that the startups should not be copycats of each other they need to be doing different work they they need to be solving a different problem in order to maximize there is there is there is there is space under the roof for exceptional disruptive global quality startups there is a place to deliver copycats there is you know it's the VC by the way is not the end of the world there are enough capital which fund boutique companies right why does a small boutique survive because it is meant to be small and by the way it's a profitable venture I think you have to change the definition that venture capital is the end of it all okay at the end of the day there are tens of millions of entrepreneurs who run Kiryana stores in the country and by the way they were the backbone of the country then pandemic happened where the large e-commerce players could not deliver right right 100% backbone for six months that is an amazing story to say so all I'm coming back and saying we know what's not there but I am very positive that the gradient is shooting up right now and there's enough venture capital which builds global companies and domestic leaders in the market space the digital push has enhanced the tailwind there is a big tailwind which is coming in right now which is already seeing companies and we are noticing that we are seeing more than half of our company is growing faster than they used to pre-code and this has been only says seven months and I'll give you a very simple example in our own portfolio because I know that the total revenue of all our companies put together in the month of March was approximately a billion dollars in the month of April it went to 350 million wow in the month of May it went back to 650 million and today we are almost back to a billion so a lot of economists are talking about you know whether the recovery is going to be u-shape, v-shape, w-shape and any shape you can think of but here is a classic example at an aggregate level there are some companies who are not doing well but many are doing well okay where the companies who the reason why this aggregate billion dollar to billion dollar in our portfolios happened in terms of revenue is because they followed fundamentally agility enormous innovation digital online and many of them have gone global again much much faster Lenskart went global post-covid into u-s they were already in Singapore so I think entrepreneurs have adapted preponed products they've hired more people in technology and many of them have filed more patents in this space the entrepreneur is a very unique person and this is a great time for them to try it because they know how to go digital they know how to go online and India has provided that tailwind with in the last six months now can they can they get more capital, capital is available in fact in spite of China funds not being there I don't think in the early stage there was Chinese funds anyway okay that capital is still there in fact you see the numbers it's gone up totally yeah I mean yeah even in the in the pandemic and lockdowns we've seen funding happening so which is I mean something to be said about you know how digital businesses can still manage to grow at a time when lots of other businesses non-digital businesses are unable to do it so you know I mean if I may add one thing digital business traditionally is thought of as consumer we must think of digital also between B2B we must think of marketplaces we must think of efficiencies in supply chain distribution chain and what I think the government is done in removing some regulatory issues to facilitate for instance the farmer to farm to consumer where the FPOs are going away and so on that's a massive regulatory change right enables middlemen to go away the fact that education you know education is a situation which is ripe for digital okay it's an opportunity in fact I would even go to the extent of you know suggesting to the government state levels and central levels do not force people to come to schools it's an opportunity right you can never build enough schools in the country to educate the people who have don't have access the manner in which if you leave it optional like many countries are doing you'll find that schools will become available for children who need to go the real challenge is the digital divide education today is is ripe for growth and already growing because it's digital so remove the regulatory framework okay can there be a digital school why does it happen for such a long time precisely so can we have a digital school like we can have a digital market can we have a digital school can we have digital universities can we have digital banks right why does a bank have to open up a branch there is no need for a bank to open a branch you will find that the digital push goes extremely better for people who can do this and it'll reach you know today the thinking like yesterday has been to read Siliguri I need a branch you don't because there are 10 people in Siliguri who can do digital stuff they will be the role model for another 1000 and those 1000 will become role model for the whole of Siliguri and to that extent you don't need branches it's time to change in a revolutionary manner rather than evolutionary manner and regulation must lead that effort regulation cannot come back and say you still need to put up branches you still need to put up schools but I think it's probably even for the government or even for the institution it still is that reaching out to the last mile customer who may not be literate enough to still be able to take digital services I think that is the bigger challenge but as you said that the middle person today needs to be educated enough to get him into or her into the system of digitization so that they're able to so I mean you know the typical example is the middle man in the agricultural system wherein the middle man himself can be the manufacturer of digitization and leads the farmer on otherwise it's there's going to be a big conflict between the middle man the farmer the government the the buying bodies so it's eventually the just like in education it was the teacher whose comfort was important for digitization to happen here the farmers comfort is very important for digitization eventually I think become 100% yeah I think what's very important is for regulation not to protect anybody okay it is important to note that if in the in the whole chain of supply or distribution if any element is not adding value that element the system should permit it to go away and system should permit it to bypass there's no reason to protect a distributor just because he's a distributor in the yesterday years there's no reason to farm produce organization just because they were there yesterday right if the farmer has the capability to sell through a marketplace at the best price to four consumers and 10 businesses so be it that is the only way where people and organization will be forced to prove that they are valuable into the system right I think we've just lost Mr. Sethi for a minute there as the system seems to be hung but I do see there are some more questions also coming from our audience we'll probably like to have Ankit George to be given the mic so that he can ask his question once Mr. Sethi comes back on live Ankit we just wait for a minute before we give it because Mr. Sethi we seem to have lost the connection with Mr. Sethi for a minute sure thing please keep your questions coming so that we can once Mr. Sethi is back online we can probably take all the questions at this point of time so if you have if the audience both would like to ask some questions from Mr. Sethi kindly post your questions now ask them now so that we can take them up well we've been in an interesting debate where Mr. Sethi has more or less told us that you know today what is important is that the person who is not able to take digitization or they are not able to understand how technology could be useful for them needs to get out of the system i think that's a that's a big statement and i think but perhaps the only way forward for the country to grow as we go digital he's back with us so Mr. Sethi we've actually now got a lot of questions also coming for you so we've got Ankit who wants to ask your question he's online Ankit go ahead please hi thank you for the opportunity to ask my question i just wanted to understand so the ASEAN region is somewhat similar to India in terms of GDP per capita it's not necessarily one single market because there are many sovereign countries and the like unlike India with you know one country over a billion people just wanted to understand your view on the evolution and the future trajectory of digital India versus say a digital ASEAN region so i think the the extent of digitization especially in the consumer side of it in the ASEAN region is obviously higher in terms of how much people spend time per day in countries in some countries you know screen time is as high as eight hours a day overall and India does not have that i think the the scale of opportunity which India presents in a shorter time frame is far far higher than ASEAN for the simple reason that the just the number of consumers and the number of businesses is far higher overall but i do believe that the interface between cross border commerce whether it is especially in B2B is actually very high between ASEAN and India and especially of products technology products going into the market we ourselves have a few companies who are growing into that market space apart from the US so ASEAN in consumer has done is ahead of India right now there's no question in the digital infrastructure it is ahead India is behind India needs to catch up very very fast but in scale it will take over very fast sure yeah i think that that's that's really favorable for India particularly given the fact that you know the whole region is so large we also got Aman Deep Srivastava who wants to ask a question if we can just give him the mic please go ahead unmute yourself Aman and ask the question unmute go ahead please thank you ma'am thank you so much very good evening sir sir as i have heard that now the cv has invited the applications for the new cohort may i know what kind of startups you're looking at because we are an IoT and AI based company developing smart devices for in B2B segment for various companies so may please know that what kind of companies you're looking at this time now we are talking about our innovation program which we launched yesterday yes sir okay well we are looking at innovative companies in technology in all sectors whether it is agritech fintech you know any sector which you want to name and there's no definition of we are looking at only these technologies we have invested in a wide range of technologies and we believe that newer technologies will come in and older technologies will mature so there is no limitation and restriction and at what kind of states are actually the last year we were thinking to participate in that but we were at the very early stage but now we have some MVP so can we go for it now yes of course you can go for it just apply we look at seed companies we're looking at series A companies it's a combination okay thank you so much sir thank you so much thank you thank you amandip you know while amandip has asked and i was about to ask you the same question about the innovators program so you know how do you think the innovators program that you you know i think this is the fifth edition that you are doing for the innovators program and as a fund chirate is actually investing in the early stage startup companies also and also goes on right to series A series B funding so with this broad spectrum and also inviting a lot of young entrepreneurs like amandip to be part of the innovators program so how is it that you see that you know that you have the right balance set of companies in the portfolio and they're able to therefore maximize being part of chirate and you're also able to see a big growth at chirate with these companies so ritu number one it's the seventh cohort it's the longest running innovation program in the country you know if you look at our fund we've invested in 90 companies and seed early stage companies have been 50 and these seed companies have collectively raised 500 billion in capital and they're valued over a billion right now so i think our methodology in the market is to identify and work with entrepreneurs very very early this is a five week program we'll work with the entrepreneurs we'll look at go to market we'll look at advice we'll look at collecting two entrepreneurs together we'll we've got mukesh bansal of minthra coming in sorry mukesh bansal of cure fit who will also spend some time we've got supreme from first cry coming in and you know other in entrepreneurs who have confirmed that look in our portfolio they'll spend some time guiding some of the younger entrepreneurs and into product into go to market into business into anything which is there so for us it's not an imbalance it is a strategy by design to engage with entrepreneurs very early because that's where values build right at the early stage identifying companies which are solving real problems using technology which have not been solved before surely and i mean you know there is somebody who's asking an everyone who's saying that do you feel that content creation especially in sports for the digital audience stands as a big opportunity i mean now they're getting more particular about you know what what could be an opportunity today but i mean given the fact you know that ip l ran its course today in a different country where there was less pandemic situation and given the fact the fantasy gaming and different kind of gaming opportunities have seen such an uproar during this time i mean his question might just be too relevant that you know do we do you think we need more digital content around sports in the online space well i first and foremost i am disappointed ip l is being held outside the country if with those precautions ip l could be held in Dubai it should be held in your own store but that's that's a different story look at the end of the day ip l is being played as already digital and that that throws up enormous amount of opportunities in gaming and sports will it happen yes it will happen will it happen slowly or fast i don't know the answer to that but certainly the whole gaming space i mean there are already companies we have a company called place play simple right now doing extremely well in gaming in the market space so will gaming uh scale in india i think it will will esports scale in india it will will people spend eight hours a day like they do perhaps in philippines or other countries the answer is no i think indian habits on data consumption and on gaming are not going to be as high as that i think it will be lower because there's so much other things to do in the market space right from education to buying products online too you know but screen time is increasing let's be clear screen time for especially kids teenagers is shooting up right now so that's a market which will develop i'm sure by the way i hope it doesn't go to eight hours a day because that's a waste of time a bit too much for the eyes also then we need startups to fix okay so you know so this is one thing that i've been thinking about for some time that you know while the pandemic has sort of caught e-commerce and you know the various streams of e-commerce out there whether it was social commerce or whether it was you know fixing your hyperlocal commerce that sort of saw a big upsurge during this time but per se e-commerce did not attract a lot of funding as much as you know supply chain and logistic companies did particularly during the pandemic so do you feel the next step for e-commerce companies or probably even for d2c startups is to go the ipo route and do you think particularly for you mentioned about lens card um the first cry do you think now the next big you know growth for them for raising capital that they need to go overseas and to different markets might come from doing an ipo and should they be doing this in india or outside india so you asked me three questions one is not enough funding came into e-commerce and people went into supply chain well venture capital goes where there's a problem to fix okay and that becomes an opportunity so uh so so that is fine there's no problem at all the e-commerce companies you know took some time to set the house in order and deliver today they're doing very well by the way right now which means fundamentally there are two broad kinds of e-commerce companies in the market space one is horizontals which are basically two in the country which is amazon and flipkart and geo emerging uh overall i think india is large enough to accommodate three and i heard some news about the tata also consolidating so india is large enough to have three or four at least in the next five years so that's a great that's to me is a great thing to happen for the country uh second thing is there is the whole e-commerce market of verticals and you mentioned lens card and first strike you know verticals are high margin businesses verticals after certain time and people like lens card first strike your critical verticals in nature uh you know one in health and the other two in one and i wear the other and baby i think the opportunity for verticals like in the horizontals is actually very high and the reason for that is very simple the verticals have dominated the market right now and because they're high margin businesses they require less capital and to that extent verticals can grow internationally much faster why because those kind of verticals by the way in surrounding countries and maybe in some of the large developed countries do not exist i mean today i wear in volumes lens card is the second largest in the world right and please understand when such products go outside the country they make more money margins are higher when an international company comes into the country the margins are lower uh overall and i think for e-commerce verticals it's time to now scale the brand scale private label scale manufacturing in india okay because there's a big opportunity to scale manufacturing in india because the moment you do private label you have to back and integrate to manufacturing build the logistics introduce robotics into warehousing and you know there's a lot of stuff to be done uh and become some of them become global companies now by the way this can be funded by uh private capital and some of the large companies could go public public is a means to get capital into the system and also provide exits of some investors will will some companies go public i think the answer is yes and let me give you some statistics if you look at the number of companies which are funded private technology companies which are above 100 million valuation they're about 140 150 in the country right in the next 10 years to me another 50 60 companies will go public so why because they are large enough to go public and they want to remain independent okay the end of life of a fund sorry of a of a company is not to sell these companies want to go public because they want to build larger institutions over a period of time and they want to continue to be running for the next 20 25 years okay that's the reason why they go public and that market i think is emerging right so where so i mean e-commerce clearly is one place we're looking at where else do you see ipos happening no i mean we look at e-commerce surrounding e-commerce is delivery so some of the delivery companies could go public in the in the market space some of the health companies could go public in the market says we're large enough so i don't it's a sector issue i think you know we have a very large company in education by juice now it all depends on their board and what they want to do but is it right is it scaled enough for an ipo the answer is yes and i do hope they go public sure absolutely so this is so ipos probably for startups is something we have not seen so much uh so far but you know would you love to see you'll see definitely more yes so there's aditya gule who's asking what do you think is the future of educational content marketplaces in india post-covid um educational content is in for a revolution because traditional education content has been you know subscribed to books prescribed by somebody and so on and so forth but i think education content which is one is prescription based which is subscribed by courses and the other one is you know non-prescription based i think both are in for a big revolution because the consumption patterns of education content will become very different especially if regulations allow the option of online education you'll find content has to be delivered in a very different and much more efficient manner it can't be delivered you know you can't you can't take a book online and say this is all online it has to be different content uh it has to be consumed in a different way it has to have perhaps gaming in in scribe into it so i think there is there is enough technology intervention where education can be much more effective uh and especially content can be much more effective in the market space sure um you know we're coming almost to the end of the time but you know finally we'd love to know from you mr satie what what do you what are you what is your advice to startups who are today in very early stages of building a startup and they they're obviously facing some kind of you know and you cannot travel they cannot go out show and the products to the neither the venture capitalist nor the customer everything has to be done on the screen so obviously you know and they young on top of it you know they still don't have the tears of experience to run through it so what is what is your advice to them you know three pieces of advice that you can give to them to stay strong and to build the companies that they really want to number one don't give up i think this is this is a good time and so will be in the future number two uh i think the the uh the digital opportunity in content in communications in delivery of products and services both in b2b and b2c many of our companies are today are today correcting their sops on how to how to get new business where salespeople were required earlier so i think every challenge or every process which was there in building a company needs to be reviewed pre-covid to post-covid and see where digital intervention can take place you know where you have to hire sales people can you technology help where you have to have you know cure fit enhanced prepondits at home fitness products by six months and they're that's done very well they they're now testing the product in the u.s overall so i think the opportunity is very high just make sure you don't give up second fine tune the product in the service uh do a digital consumer and a digital consumption society um do look at options but also raise capital early there is nothing but a good company will get funded today whether it is through angels whether it is through vcs like us there is enough capital in the market go to families in the industrial families in the country they are looking for good opportunities to invest in okay and there are platforms available to do that so i think this is a great time but make sure you have adequate if not a little bit more capital than what you think okay don't worry about valuation beyond a point because if you have capital you can grow sure thank you very much that's very helpful mr satie and you know um the next time hopefully i'll decide this last time too but hopefully next time we meet in person and not on in the screen because you know i think i've everybody now six months down the line we've all missed meeting each other and great ideas and i think we've all sort of refreshed ourselves in certain ways uh when we have stayed at home and thought about our businesses uh by some procrastination there but at the end of the day some great ideas also coming out and new businesses looking to grow so thank you for joining us mr satie today and also thank you very much for the audience who joined us here today for this talk if you have more questions for mr satie or for charade ventures please keep on posting it at the link of facebook live so that we can ask somebody at charade to answer these questions for you and hopefully next time we meet in person and not in front of the screen as we get and down to building more businesses in digital india thank you once again mr satie thank you very much all the best and thank you to everybody bye-bye


Story one of The Magic Wand. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Gillian Henry. The Magic Wand by Tudor Jenks. The Magic Wand. While the King and the Magician were talking very earnestly together about a big giant who was reported to be coming from the seacoast, the telephone bell rang. Excuse me for one moment, remarked the King, getting up so quickly that he almost dropped his crown. But that is my ring. He stepped to the telephone and the Magician heard him say, yes the palace, yes I'm the King, the King, no not ring, King Monarch, yes the Magician, he is here yet. Then the King seemed to be listening intently and suddenly his face put on a scared expression. My goodness gracious me, he exclaimed, and turning to the Magician he said hurriedly, you are wanted at home and at once. Anything wrong, the Magician asked, wrong I should say so, the King replied, jumping up and down in his excitement.  Sick, no, nor dead, not yet. But don't wait, hurry, run, ride, no you're an enchanter, fly. For pity's sake, what is it? Demanded the Magician, trotting along the palace corridor with the King running along beside him. Why, it's your baby. What can it be? exclaimed the Magician, who was now actually running. What can't it be? groaned the King. The baby has got your magic wand and they can't get it away from him and there's no telling what he may do with it. He has already changed his old nurse into an elephant and but hurry man, hurry. And the Magician ran as if he wore roller skates. None knew so well as he what might happen before he could reach home. He ran so hard that he lost his breath and was forced to halt on top of a hill from which he could see the castle in which he lived. As he sank, panting beside the road, he saw one of the turrets of his castle go sailing up into the air and burst like a rocket. Too breathless to speak, the poor Magician rose to his feet and struggled on.  The words of the King came to the Magician's mind and he at once guessed this to be the nurse. As the nurse elephant met her master, she seized him with her trunk, lifted him to a comfortable seat behind her ears, wheeled sharply around and ran toward the castle. Is it very bad Hannah Maria? The Magician asked as soon as he could speak. But the poor elephant could only groan as she charged onward. When they reached the gate of the courtyard, the Magician could see for himself that it was very bad indeed. Near the middle of the great open space stood the Magician's son. He looked much as usual except that instead of being the right size for a boy of four and one-half years, about as high as a table, he was now about twenty feet high. The Magician learned afterward that his son had wished to be more than three times as big as Papa and having the magic wand in his hand, the wish had been granted. Reginald exclaimed the Magician, what does this mean?  Did you see what a splendid elephant Hannah Maria made? What would you like to be, Papa?  Give me the wand. Reginald wants it, said the baby frowning. Reginald likes the wand. It does such funny things. See the cows, Reginald can make them fly. Fly cows, fly. At once the cows in the meadow all sprouted out great wings and flapping them with a noise like a thousand pigeons, they flew up into the air and away they went. Reginald, said the Magician, you are doing very wrong. What will Mama say when she comes home?    Then the Magician had an idea. Can you make yourself small too? he asked. Of course I can, the baby answered. I can do whatever I like. Let Papa see you make yourself small like a mousey, said the Magician. All right, Reginald said the words. I wish I was small like a mousey, and at once his wish came true. The Magician lost sight of the baby now, for they had been standing far apart, but he went forward hoping to reach the child in time to take the wand from him. But just as he came near enough to find the little boy, the small creature disappeared entirely. The Magician stopped in dismay. Where are you my son? he called in a sweet tone. Here I am Papa. came the reply from over his head, and looking up he saw his son flying about in the form of a fairy. I thought I'd be a fairy. Don't you like me to be a fairy? The Magician didn't know what to do. So long as the baby was good-humoured, there was little danger of his doing any harm. But if the little fellow should lose his temper, there was no knowing what he might do. The best thing the father could think of was to keep the child amused and busy in the hope that he might be led to give up the wand or might forget it. Reginald, he said, Papa can't fly. I wish you would come down here where we can play together. No, said Reginald, shaking his head as he flew gently about. Reginald doesn't like to come down. But I'll tell you, Papa, what will be just splendid fun? You shall fly too, only not so fast as I can. The Magician tried in vain to say no, but in an instant he was fluttering in the air with his son, also turned into a fairy-like creature. Isn't this good fun? exclaimed Reginald. Come Papa, let's take a fly over the trees. Not daring to let the child out of his sight or to anger him by a refusal, the Magician was forced to go with him. Away both went through the air, until they had left the castle far behind them and were out in the open country. Reginald, said the Magician at last, Papa is tired. Don't you want to go home now? And Papa will tell you a nice story about choo-choo cars. And then you can go to sleep all nighty. But Reginald was not tempted. No, Papa. Reginald isn't sleepy. And said, Reginald can have real choo-choo right here. See? The child waved the wand, and behold, there were three railroads in the fields below them, along which locomotives went with a great puffing of steam and clanging of bells. Nice, said Reginald, smiling very joyously. Reginald likes Papa's magic stick. Now see, choo-choo's all go smash. Before the Magician could say a word, all the locomotives went crashing into one another, and their boilers blew up with a tremendous explosion. Reginald was so startled that he dropped the wand. The Magician made a dive for it, but not being able to fly so fast as Reginald, he did not succeed in securing the prize. Reginald laughed when the wand was once more in his hand. I'm tired of playing fairies, said he. I wish we were. Reginald shouted his father in an agony of fear. Do be careful, my son. I am Papa, he said. What do you like to be? Shall Reginald make Papa a real pretty ostrich? Goodness, no! Please don't, they exclaimed the Magician. And Reginald, we must go home. Papa is so tired of flying. Let us go home. All right, said Reginald. I wish we were home right now. And they were, so quickly that the Magician's breath left him again. They found themselves in Reginald's nursery, where his Noah's Ark animals were scattered over the floor. As soon as Reginald saw the wooden animals, he had a new idea. Oh, Papa, wouldn't it be nice if they were all alive? But Reginald, cried the poor Magician, what could we do with them all? Just think, there are lions and tigers and alligators. Well, I won't, said Reginald with a sigh. But I want to play something nice. But we can't play anything while we are so little, said the father. Won't you wish we are ourselves once more? I don't like to be a fairy. All right, Reginald answered. I wish we were just ourselves. It was much pleasanter to be themselves. And the Magician began to think he might recover his wand, now that Reginald was once more a little boy, and that he was a full-sized man. Reginald, said he, while you have Papa's magic stick, why don't you wish for something I'm using to play with? Wouldn't you like a drum? Drum makes a big noise, answered the baby. Does Papa want to be a drummer? No, no, said the Magician hastily. Papa doesn't care for drums. Papa would rather see Reginald's drum. You wish for a drum, and then while you play, Papa will hold the magic stick. No, said Reginald, frowning. Reginald wants this stick. Papa can't have it. Very well, answered the puzzled Magician. But please be very careful. Reginald will be careful, said the child, nodding his head. Where's Hannah Maria? You changed her into an elephant, said his father, and she can't cook your supper. I can change her back again, said Reginald, and I will. I wish she was changed back, and was here. Hannah Maria appeared in the room, about as angry as she could be. Without a word, she came rushing in at the door, descended upon the small boy, seized the wand, and threw it to the other side of the room. In an instant, the Magician had it in his hands, and once more felt safe. It took all the rest of the afternoon to restore things to their usual condition, and meanwhile Reginald, tired out by his busy day, had fallen fast asleep. He was too little to be punished for the mischief he had done, and so no more was said about it. But the magic wand was thereafter kept out of his reach. Reginald often begged for Papa's magic stick, but it was thought best not to let him have it. Altogether, it was a fortunate thing that Hannah Maria lost her temper just when she did. End of story one. Story two of The Magic Wand. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Gillian Henry. The Magic Wand by Tudor Jenks. The Sultan's Verses In a land so far to the east, that it is very warm when the sun rises, and quite chilly at sunset, a great sultan died. His successor happened to be a nephew who lived at some distance, so far away even from that distant land, that he wasn't a tall intimate with the late Sultan. In fact, they had met only half a dozen times at Thanksgiving dinners or similar occasions, and consequently the new Sultan shed no tears to quench his joy upon coming to the throne. He decided to rule wisely and justly, and therefore was eager to choose the most trustworthy advisors. When he arrived at his capital, he was conducted at once to the palace, and spent the first day or two in resting from his journey, and making the acquaintance of his courtiers, and buying becoming clothes. Among these courtiers was the vizier of the late Sultan, a very gentlemanly old fellow, whose turban and beard were never more impressive than on first meeting. When the Sultan arose late on the third day, he had decided to begin his reign, so he sent for the old vizier to have a private conversation with him in the throne room. Both sat down cross-legged in an attitude that would give American citizens the cramps, and the Sultan opened the little powwow thus. So that been riffraff. I think it is high time that we began our reign. Wisdom is heard, replied riffraff, with the ease and indifference of an old courtier. And it strikes me, as the Sultan went on, that it is an excellent opportunity for me to have our own way about several little matters that have long been in my mind. Your will is the people's law, was riffraff's safe answer, as he bowed like a china image. So I understand, the Sultan assented. Of course, we shall for a while carry on business upon the usual lines, so far as public affairs are concerned, but it is not to public business that we are referring just now. Why, indeed, remarked riffraff a little vaguely, as the Sultan paused, for he was thinking of something else, but so was the young Sultan. So I say, the Sultan replied. Now, so far as my own private affairs are concerned, I mean to have my own way about them. Yes, yes, for instance, I have long desired to be a poet, said the Sultan, looking aimlessly at the ceiling. The vizier started so abruptly that his turban fell off, and then he, too, looked at the ceiling, until the Sultan should choose to go on. It was a very embarrassing situation. In all the vizier's experience, nothing just like this had ever presented itself. The old Sultan had been a very sensible man, according to the vizier's opinion, and had considered poetry, well, he hadn't considered it at all. There was a silence that lasted until the bull-bull in the blue room had finished a long ditty. Then the vizier saw it was his move, so to speak, and he took refuge in a proverb, the first that occurred to him, cheerful as is perfectly consistent with piety, he said, shaking his head thoughtfully. So we think, said the Sultan, and we shall therefore allow you to conduct the realm about, as usual, for a short time, while we devote ourselves to poetry. Yuck, exclaimed the vizier, for he couldn't help it. Excuse me, said the Sultan, inquiringly. Every condition sits well upon a wise man, remarked Rifrath, who was fond of proverbs, especially when he didn't care to commit himself. But though that is all plain sailing, the Sultan went on again, after trying a moment in vain, to see what the proverb had to do with the subject. There is yet some difficulty, that is, to find a competent critic who will show me my faults and point out any little errors that may creep into my hasty lines. Now, if you yourself, Ben Rifrath, should prefer to undertake this responsible post, you can do so. My sovereign master, said Rifrath hastily, I am an old man. Let me care for the realm, for that trade I have long studied. I would prefer that another should become your critic and poetical advisor, a younger man. So be it, answered the young Sultan, but let me at least read to you one set of verses, which I happen to find in my kaftan. I would like your judgement upon these lines, before you but take yourself to your proper duties. Shall it be so? The vizier saw, by the look in the Sultan's eye, that the request was a command, and he replied an oriental phrase, that he was most honoured by the Sultan's condescension. So the young Sultan drew out a roll of manuscript, and read as follows. Youth is the season for hope. Hope befitteth the young. Youth has the vigor to cope with the woes that the singers have sung. Youth has the sparkle of mirth, laughter delighteth the soul. Spring is the youth of the earth. Merrily let carols roll. The Sultan rolled up his manuscript, and looked expectably at Ben Riffraff. What do you think of that? asked the Sultan. Give me your candid opinion, as one private gentleman might to another. Now the vizier thought the lines were very poor indeed, but he had often heard that poets were sensitive, and he therefore believed he was doing a very wise thing when he replied, Oh, your Highness, what thought, what music? How exquisite your rhymes. Soul and roll, why, it's a perfect rhyme. I think you have chosen wisely indeed, if I may be permitted to praise without the suspicion of flattery. Really like the little lines? asked the Sultan with a smile, a peculiar smile. Like them, why? They should be embroidered with gold thread on silken scarfs.  Let me attend to the petty business of governing, and you can give yourself entirely to the sublime art of composition. So be it, said the Sultan, until I notify you to the contrary, I will leave the reins in your hands. Now as you will have plenty to attend to, will you kindly summon the chief treasurer as you go out? Thank you, good morning. The vizier salamed and vanished through the curtain doorway, and the page on duty outside noticed that the old vizier wore a broad grin as he walked down the arched corridor. In a few minutes the Sultan heard the jingling of the golden curtain rings, and beheld the face of the chief treasurer, a sedate and dignified man of middle age. Enter at him, El Shekels, said the Sultan kindly, and be seated. I would confer with you. My Lord, the treasurer is well supplied, and the account's straight. No doubt, interrupted the Sultan. But I have more important matters. More important, the treasurer began, so amazed that he forgot his manners. Verily, said the Sultan, overlooking the little breach of etiquette. As the vizier has no doubt informed you, I intend to devote my own time for the present to poetry. He told you so, did he not? Something of the sort, Your Highness, replied El Shekels uneasily, hoping that the Sultan wouldn't ask him to repeat the vizier's joking remarks. In fact, the vizier had hinted that the young Sultan thought himself a genius. I suspected as much, said the Sultan, and you were surprised, perhaps. Your Highness is the ruler, responded the treasurer politely. But I was surprised, I admit, and to tell the truth, if you will pardon me for saying so, I must say that, as a rule, there isn't much money to be made in poetry. I speak simply as a treasurer, Your Highness, not as a critic. But I wish your opinion as a critic, the Sultan answered. The question of providing funds I leave to you, for the present, unless I should appoint you to the new office I mean to create, that of chief critic and poetical advisor. The face of El Shekels had brightened when the new office was mentioned, but the brightness faded as the sentence ended. Your Highness is most gracious, but if it be your will, I prefer to remain treasurer. As you please, the Sultan replied, but meanwhile I happen to have in my kaftan a copy of verses that I have just completed. If you can spare the time, we shall be glad to have your opinion of them. Most certainly gracious sovereign, was the answer of El Shekels, while his face assumed a weary expression, and he began to do sums in mental arithmetic. So drawing forth the precious manuscript, the Sultan began, Youth is the season for hope, and on he went, reading in a fine, declamatory voice, as if trying to bring out the best points in the verses. When he concluded, he looked at the chief treasurer. Your Highness, the lines are above praise, said the treasurer. I hardly know which part to praise most. And that was true, for he hadn't paid very close attention. But I am sure your wisdom had led you aright. Your talents are far beyond my poor criticism. Let another be your chief critic. I am content to remain treasurer. Which shall be, as you say, the Sultan agreed, at least for the present.  What officer comes next to you in rank? The Minister of Justice answered the treasurer. Yes, I will say that he comes at once. Well remarked the page at the door. The new Sultan certainly makes the officers happy. How they do grew in when they come back. Later in the afternoon, the page had reason to repeat this remark with added emphasis. For meanwhile, he had admitted the greatest officers of the realm, and all, as they came from their interview with the young sovereign, were adorned by the same self-satisfied grimace. Stronger and stronger became the page's curiosity to know what it was that made all the courtiers so well satisfied with themselves. For after the first two or three had explained to the rest that the young Sultan thinks he's a genius in the poetry line, and all you've got to do is to praise his verses, and you're sure to keep your place. It was as easy as rolling off a log to go in, hear the verses, and express your raptures, and come out in clover. But no one told the page about all this, and his curiosity about the interviews became very keen. He thought there must be something worth seeing in the throne room, for not long after each great official entered, he could hear a murmur of voices, and then such expressions as exquisite, beautiful, or perfect couldn't be better. Well, well, I never did. Never was anything like it. Strangely enough, the page's curiosity was gratified most unexpectedly. It was getting late, and the Sultan had seen all the prominent officials off the palace. At length he came to the doorway, and found the page sitting in attendance on rather a thin and hard cushion. Why, my boy, said the Sultan kindly. He must be worn out.  All day, Your Majesty? The page replied respectfully. And since Your Majesty asks me, I am a little tired. Come in, said the Sultan, holding aside the curtain. You shall rest a while. What? With Your Majesty in the throne room? The boy exclaimed in amazement. Certainly. No one need no, answered the Sultan kindly. Are you afraid of me? No, Your Majesty, said the page, for the Sultan smiled very cordially, and the page entered the throne room. Be seated, said the Sultan. I command it, he added, as the boy hesitated. So the page sat down upon a soft silk cushion. I have been writing some verses, said the Sultan, as he bad the boy help himself to the delicious fruits and ices. And while you refresh yourself, I should like to read them to you. Your Majesty is very kind, said the page. But suppose someone should come? No one will come, said the Sultan decidedly. And he clapped his hands, summoned a slave, and about him stands sentinel to keep out all intruders. So, while the boy enjoyed the fruits and ices, the Sultan, for the twentieth time at least, read aloud his precious lines on youth. When he had finished, he turned to the page, saying, No, I should like your opinion of the poem. But, Your Highness, I am too young to criticise your verses, replied the page uneasily. All nonsense, answered the Sultan, but pleasantly enough. I see you have an opinion. I desire you to express it freely. Nay, more than that, I command you to do so. I must obey, then, said the page, looking very serious. But if I should incur Your Majesty's displeasure, may I beg that you will visit your wrath upon me alone? I have a mother and sister who are dependent upon me. They shall be cared for, said the Sultan, in a solemn tone, if the need arises.  On your own head be it, Commander of the Faithful, exclaimed the unhappy page. By the Prophet, as I promised my mother that I would tell truth, the lines are the various bosh and nonsense. They mean nothing. They do not even sound sensible. They are as unmusical as the braying of a lost donkey. There I have said the truth. A man dies but once. Remember, then, your words. Allah be praised, cried the Sultan. I have found a pearl. And all the men of my court declared the lines perfect, beyond praise. Now have I found the honest man I sought. But Your Majesty! stammered the astonished page. I am no more than a boy. Enough, said the Sultan. The years will find you wisdom as well as age. But honesty comes not even with long ages if the seed be not already planted. Say not a word. The Sultan clapped his hands, directed all the courtiers to be summoned, and in their presence appointed the page chief counsellor and grand high vizier of the realm for life, at the same time investing him with the order of the golden sunburst of the east, and a whole row of smaller decorations of different colours. When this ceremony was over, Silla bin Rifraff prostrated himself before the throne. Speak, Ben Rifraff, said the Sultan. With Your Majesty, Dane, to inform his humble slaves, what has caused the merited elevation of his favourite? Ben Rifraff inquired. Most willingly, responded the Sultan. I read my verses to this youth, and he has given upon them the wisest judgment of you all. But words cannot say more than we said, Ben Rifraff ventured to say. Did we not praise your highness's genius? Of a truth you did, replied the Sultan, yet were the verses the various trash, as you well knew. Most true, O Sultan, came the chorus from the whole court, for they saw the tide had turned. And courage to tell this truth was found only in my page, whom I have made chief counsellor. Enough. The audience is at an end. Then, just before the band struck up an inspiring march, the voice of Ben Rifraff was heard reciting a well-known proverb, which, in its original Arabic, looks like a procession of earthworms, but which means, in plain English, after wit is everybody's wit. End of Story 2. Story 3. Of the Magic Wand. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Gillian Henry. The Magic Wand by Tudor Jenks. The Boy and Dragon It was by the nearest accident that I happened to read that copy of The Daily Electriser. A small boy was flying a kite, and it caught in the telephone wire that ran by my window. In trying to disentangle it, I noticed an advertisement headed, Wanted a young man of noble lineage to release a distressed princess, who is now held captive by a medium-sized but ferocious dragon. Johnny, I called to the small boy. My name isn't Johnny, he replied, and I don't want to be called Johnny, Mr. His hair was red, and he seemed to have a quick temper. I am not a mister, I answered in kindly but dignified tones, and I don't like the title. What is your name, my rosy-sculpt friend? He looked around for a stone to throw, but the street was paved with Belgian blocks, each weighing about ten pounds, and he made up his mind to be civil. My name's Roderick Adolphus Peterson Stubbs Jr. He answered, putting on his cap and pulling it down hard. Now what's yours? I am the disinherited Duke of Marable, Count of Macintosh, I said. He whistled, your name is as bad as mine. Your name is not that bad, I said soothingly. Oh, isn't it? He returned, with an up-and-down stairs inflection. The boys call me Roddy, ready and raps. What do they call you? They don't call me anything, I replied affably. But what I wanted, Roderick, was to inquire whether I may cut an advertisement out of this newspaper. What's it about, rare stamps? No, about a princess and a dragon. All right then, cut it out and paste on another piece. But what are you going to do with it? I thought I would rescue the princess from the dragon, and maybe marry her, if she is beautiful, good, economical and rich, inquired Roderick. Oh, that doesn't matter, I said. I have enough for both. Say, remarked Roderick after a short pause. Lend me a quarter, will you? What for? Juice to our club, he answered. I am the treasurer, you know, and I keep the cash, and there was a circus in town last week. Did you see it? And I am a quarter short. You're very welcome, I answered.  I found, on reading the notice, that the princess had been carried away some three months before, and that she was held in captivity in a cavern upon a lofty mountain peak. I made up my mind that it was a worthy case of genuine distress, well suited to a modern night errands enterprise. I consulted a timetable, and found that a train left for her native land at 745. I had just about time to pack my valise before the train started. Upon my way to the station, I met Roderick AP Stubbs Jr., who was also carrying a small satchel. Hello, he said. Why, Roderick, where are you going? I asked. I've run away from home, he said, with a mournful grin. What for? I asked in astonishment. Because nobody loves me, he replied, in a tone of settled despair. How do you know that? I inquired. They sent me away from the table at dinner today. He answered angrily. I saw that it was useless to argue with him in his present frame of mind, and so I asked, where are you going? As far as sixty-seven cents will take me, he answered, and from there I'll walk until I wear out my Sunday shoes. This, Roderick, is all wrong, I said seriously. Let me persuade you to give up this foolish idea. Come with me instead. I will telegraph to your family that you are safe, and he'll be back in two weeks. Then you can come with me and help me to slay this dragon. He seemed moved by my appeal. How do you know, he inquired, that we will be back in two weeks? That is the ordinary time, I replied, for a medium-sized dragon. In fact, I have slain them in less. How do you do it? Roderick asked with curiosity. Come with me and you shall see, I suggested smiling. It is all right for you, said Roderick after a moment's reflection. For you will get the princess and the reward. But what good will that do me? Very true, I replied. You will deserve some reward also. How would you like a gold-plated bicycle? With a bell and a lantern, he asked eagerly. Certainly, I answered, with all the modern improvements. I'll do it, he said. We walked along together, and when I came to a telegraph office, I sent a dispatch to Mr and Mrs Stubbs, informing them that Roderick had agreed to spend two weeks with me on a dragon hunt. Roderick seemed relieved when the message had gone. We caught the train, and after a pleasant journey, arrived in the land of the captive princess. We went boldly up the front steps of the palace and rang the bell. To the attendant who answered the summons, I explained my errand. He asked me to come in and sit down in the reception room. After a few moments, the king came in. I'm sorry to keep you waiting, he said pleasantly. But I am just back from the funeral of the last dragon-fighter. He was a twelfth, so you are the thirteenth. Don't mention it, I said politely. We waited only a moment. Your Majesty, let me introduce my assistant, Mr Stubbs, Rodolfo's Adderick Peterson Stubbs. Well, you have made a mix of it, said Roderick, with indignation. Never mind, said his Majesty. I am happy to meet you, Mr Stubbs. I hope you will succeed in your work. Thank you, sir, said Roderick. Won't you have some refreshment? was His Majesty's next remark. How is the ice cream today? Roderick asked with an ease that surprised me. The vanilla is good, answered the king, but the chocolate is a little flat. The vanilla will do very well, said Roderick graciously. So the king rang the bell, ordered a quart and a pint of vanilla plain, and we discussed the terms of our bargain over the luncheon. Soon we were agreed. It was arranged that I was to slay the dragon in two weeks, or be banished for forty years to a desert island. If I slew him, I was to marry the princess. Roderick was, in case of success, to have his bicycle, in case of failure, to learn by heart all the pieces of verse in the fourth reader. There, said the king, I'm glad it's settled. The princess Amelia Ann is greatly missed at home, and the dragon is a public nuisance. He feeds on rocks, flies over the city at night rattling his scales, and wakes all the children, turns all the milk-sour with his roaring. Eats the pet swans in the public parks, and altogether makes himself as unpleasant as he can. Why hasn't he been killed? I asked. The dozen who tried it have all failed, his majesty answered with a sigh. He spouts fire, has quills of pure steel like a porcupine, flies like an express train, strikes like a pile driver, has armour of solid iron, a foot thick, and is difficult to talk to as he understands only Arabic. Does he ever fly by day? I asked. Sometimes, but very rarely. Here he comes now, suddenly shrieked the king, getting under the sofa. There was a clatter like that made by a truckload of steel rails being carried over a cobblestone pavement, a dark object whisked by the window, and the noise died away in the distance. He's gone down to the station to get his mail, said the king, as he crawled out and dusted his robes. Does he get letters? Roderick asked in amazement. Oh no, the king answered, smiling politely at the boy's mistake. I mean his coat of mail. He makes it out of steel rails. He chews them up, melts them in his fiery jaws, and adds a new coating every week or two. You must excuse me, he went on. I have business to attend to. Farewell, I trust you will succeed. We bowed ourselves out, and I went and secured the use of a modest set of apartments during our stay, and also leased a boiler factory for two weeks. There is no use in disguising the fact, I said to my assistant, Mr Stubbs, that this is rather a difficult dragon to overcome. It is my first experience with a steel-clad dragon, and I have been told that they are not easy to manage. Still, I think I see my way clear in this case. What are you going to do? asked Roderick. I thought I would make a knight out of iron, put a photograph in him, set him up somewhere near the cavern where the princess is, make him defy the dragon, have him loaded up with dynamite, and then, when the dragon comes down on him, there will be an explosion, and away will go knight, dynamite, and all. What do you think of my plan? It's too much trouble and costs too much, said Roderick promptly. I was hurt. The boy was too forward. Do you think you can do any better? I asked irritably. Why, of course I can, said Roderick, and I'll tell you what I'll do. You help me the first week, and if I don't succeed, I'll help you the second week. Really, the boy's self-confidence was amazing.  Very well, I said, it shall be as you say. All right, said Roderick. The next day, by his direction, we bought hundreds of bales of cotton batting, and engaged a lot of men to make it up in the shape of swans. Below each swan was fastened a light board. About two dozen of these swans were set afloat each day for four or five days. Strange to say, they all disappeared during the night. Then a terrible roaring was heard from the distant mountain where the dragon dwelt. The next night, Roderick bought a great number of electric lights in glass bulbs, and after consultation with the court interpreter, went into the boiler factory and climbed up to its roof. He arranged the lights on the roof in a curious pattern, and then came home and slept soundly. During the next day, Roderick rigged himself up in a long robe, a high hat, a large pair of spectacles without glass, and a cotton batting wick and beard. And when evening came, he went to spend the night on the roof of the boiler factory. There was a terrible rattle and clatter and roar that night that woke all the children for miles around. Next morning, Roderick was nowhere to be found. I thought so, I said bitterly to myself. This comes of letting a foolish boy have his own way. Evidently, the dragon has made mincemeat of that unfortunate Roderick Adolphus Peterson Stubbs Junior with all his tomfool costumes. Then I sat down to compose a fitting telegram to the stubses. I had written as far as, Roderick missing, probably dragon has, when there was a sound of cheering in the street, and I ran to the window. I saw Roderick dressed in a magnificent court suit three sizes too large for him, being escorted to our lodgings by an enthusiastic crowd of citizens. They had taken the horses from the royal coach and were drawing him in triumph amid wild cries of Stubbs the dragon doctor, Stubbs forever, Stubbs the saver of princesses, and similar expressions. Soon he entered the room. Roderick, my dear boy, I asked, explain the scene, will you? It's easy enough to explain it, said Roderick. I rescued the princess. What? You r- I rescued the princess, he repeated. And how did you do it? The dragon ate the cotton batting swans. Yes, they made him sick. Yes. I put up a sign in electric lights on top of the factory. Yes. The court interpreter helped me, and I put it up in Arabic saying dragon doctor. Then when the dragon read it, I fixed myself up like an old doctor, and he carried me off to prescribe for him. And you prescribed? I prescribed an entire change of scene and air. I advised and ordered him to go to the North Pole. I offered to take care of the princess while he was away. He went early this morning, and I brought the princess home before dinner. You did wonderfully well, I said heartily, and was the princess beautiful? I have brought you her photograph. And Roderick drew the portrait from his pocket and handed it to me. I looked at it eagerly and turned to Roderick. Let us go home, I said. All right, he answered. Amelia Ann may be lovely in character, I observed, as we hurried toward the station, but I wonder the dragon ever survived the sight of her face. As we partied at the gate leading to Roderick's house, I said, farewell, you are young, but in time you'll do good work in dragon slaying. Farewell, said Roderick. Then you'll send the bicycle? I will, I said. Then as I grasped his hand in parting, I added, never mind that quarter, you can keep it. But when the dragon gets back from the North Pole, there's going to be trouble. End of Story 3. End of The Magic Wand.


Item number SCP-634 Object Class Euclid Special Containment Procedures SCP-634 is to be kept in a 37.85 liter or 10 gallon tank in the center of a 10 meter by 10 meter room. The tank shall include a filtration device, an aerator, a heater set to maintain a constant temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and an automatic feeder set to dispense 10 milliliters of standard goldfish food twice a day. Tank and walls of room will have posted message, do not put hands inside tank at regularly spaced intervals. A team of no fewer than 3D class personnel shall be assigned to weekly replace 50% of the tank's water and clean the tank as needed. Team will be provided with constant oral instructions over the intercom system. On alternating weeks, team will provide SCP-634 with 12 grams of uncooked meat. Description SCP-634 has the appearance of a male common goldfish, caracias oratus, of full maturity, approximately 7 centimeters in length. SCP-634 was discovered in 2000 in Connecticut. It was housed in a 2 gallon round glass tank, placed on the passenger seat of a car. SCP-634 came to the Foundation's attention when a waitress in a nearby diner noticed that the car had been parked with its emergency lights on for several hours, apparently out of gasoline, with a driver who attempted to start the car approximately once every 90 seconds. She also reported that the officer sent to investigate it had been repeating his walk from his police car to the disabled car and back for more than an hour. SCP-634 was removed from the scene by agents operating under constant prompting by a team leader, who maintained a minimum distance of 5 meters from the object at all times. Upon removal of SCP-634, behavior of the driver and officer returned to normal. Officer expressed confusion over what had happened, but otherwise was shown to have no lasting effects. Driver complained of burning sensation in right hand. He was treated for mild dehydration and loss of flesh on the first two carples of his right index and middle fingers. Due to the effects of SCP-634, driver and officer were released after being treated and given cover stories. SCP-634 was traced to a local pet store where the driver had left his wallet. The goldfish in said store were examined and determined to be no threat, but were terminated as a precautionary measure. Efforts to trace the origins of the shipment containing SCP-634 have thus far proven futile. SCP-634 affects the short-term memory and attention span of living creatures in close proximity to it. The strength of SCP-634's abilities appears to be inversely related to the squared distance from SCP-634, with negligible results after a radius of approximately 3.1 meters. The only noticeable anatomical difference between SCP-634 and a common goldfish is its small row of sharp teeth. SCP-634's bite has a coagulating effect, which minimizes blood loss. It also causes a burning sensation at the point of incision. SCP-634 does not appear to have any further ability to influence a person's mind, or otherwise influence him or her to initially put a hand in its tank. Its adaptation is generally suited for use in an area with predators, who would naturally be compelled to reach for it. Also note that SCP-634 does not influence a person's or animal's natural instincts or wants, only affecting their memory of the current context of a situation. Because of this, SCP-634 would be unlikely to stop a rampage of an SCP, which has a general inclination towards violence and a dislike of people, as those behaviors would continue regardless of context. SCP-634 may be effective in reducing the damage done by a sentient SCP who has been provoked. Addendum SCP-634-1 Experiment Log SCP-634 Experiment 634-A Subject D- Subject instructed to feed SCP-634 Zero hours, zero minutes, zero seconds Subject enters room and approaches SCP-634 24 seconds Subject reaches SCP-634 Subject appears momentarily confused Subject looks at fish food, nods head 53 seconds Subject gives SCP-634 one serving of fish food 1 minute 24 seconds SCP-634 finishes eating food 1 minute 33 seconds Subject expresses confusion over what he is supposed to be doing 1 minute 43 seconds Subject looks at fish food, nods head 1 minute 55 seconds Subject gives SCP-634 one serving of fish food 2 minutes 16 seconds SCP-634 finishes eating food 2 minutes 23 seconds Subject expresses confusion over what he is supposed to be doing 2 minutes 41 seconds Subject looks at fish food, nods head 2 minutes 58 seconds Subject gives SCP-634 one serving of fish food 3 minutes 36 seconds SCP-634 finishes eating food 3 minutes 42 seconds Subject expresses confusion over what he is supposed to be doing Pattern repeats approximately every 70 seconds for the next 22 minutes Experiment halted when deep ran out of fish food SCP-634 shows no signs of discomfort or injury due to the large amount of food eaten Subject showed no lasting effects of experiment Subject kept one month for psychological testing showing no other signs of memory loss or impairment Experiment 634b Subject Deep Subject instructed to place hand in SCP-634's tank 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds Subject enters room and approaches SCP-634 15 seconds Subject becomes mildly confused at a distance of 1.5 meters from SCP-634 pauses to check his pockets, shrugs, and continues to approach 32 seconds Subject reaches SCP-634 Confusion increases, asks what he was supposed to do Subject prompted to place hand into tank 1 minute 4 seconds Subject places right hand into tank 1 minute 45 seconds SCP-634 bites Subject's index finger Subject curses, removes hand from tank 2 minutes 12 seconds Subject complains of burning sensation in finger 2 minutes 30 seconds Subject places right hand into tank appears to feel a decrease in pain 2 minutes 55 seconds SCP-634 bites Subject's index finger Subject curses, removes hand from tank 3 minutes 23 seconds Subject complains of burning sensation in finger 3 minutes 48 seconds Subject places right hand into tank appears to feel a decrease in pain 4 minutes and 8 seconds SCP-634 bites Subject's index finger Subject curses, removes hand from tank Pattern repeats approximately every 90 seconds for the next 20 minutes 25 minutes Subject instructed to leave Subject walks towards door 25 minutes 16 seconds Subject reaches a distance of 2 meters from SCP-634 Pauses, audibly recalls that he was supposed to go do something to SCP-634 and turns to approach SCP-634 2532 Subject again prompted to leave Subject continues to be prompted until he reaches door Subject treated for injuries to hand Subject expresses confusion over why he would continue to repeatedly put hand in the tank when the fish kept biting him but otherwise showed no lasting effects Subject kept one month for psychological testing showing no other signs of memory loss or impairment Addendum SCP-634-2 Considering the average lifespan of the common goldfish and SCP-634's unique abilities it may be advisable to introduce a female goldfish for breeding purposes Lesson complete If you missed the previous orientation go watch SCP-633 Ghost in the Machine Right now Or for the complete course Watch this playlist


18 fires at American food processing facilities in the past six months. Is it an attack on our food supply? A conspiracy? Some people certainly seem to think so. Lots of social media users are suggesting that this is all part of a plot to starve Americans. The thing is about a half a million fires happen in the United States every year and the country has well over 36,000 food processing plants. So it's actually not that suspicious that less than two dozen might have problems over the course of several months. There are dozens of us. Dozens! What's more, some of these fires caused minimal damage and one was even at an abandoned facility. There's no reason to buy into conspiracies. The real reason food is becoming more expensive is not nearly so dramatic. It's a highly predictable result of bad policy. Months of mandatory business closures, USDA restrictions, an unprecedented expansion of the money supply and an explosion in government spending, that'll do it.


Item number SCP-615 Object Class Euclid Special Containment Procedures SCP-615 is to be kept in a secure enclosure constructed of inorganic materials. Under no circumstances is organic matter, especially plant matter, to be allowed within SCP-615's enclosure without the approval of a Level 4 researcher. For safety reasons, and because of SCP-615's aggressive and territorial nature, personnel are not allowed to enter the enclosure without a security detail armed with incendiary weaponry. In the event of a containment breach, all personnel in the area are to immediately evacuate and avoid SCP-615 at all costs. Containment teams armed with incendiary weaponry must be used to force SCP-615 back into its enclosure. In the event that such a tactic is impossible, security teams are authorized to terminate SCP-615.  Despite the lack of any organs, central nervous system, or any other system commonly associated with a fully functioning organic creature, SCP-615 is able to independently move, manipulate its surroundings, and perform instinctual behaviors. Analysis of SCP-615's composition reveal it to be a mixture of countless pieces of discarded and dead plant material, with the vast majority being small sticks and broken branches. Remote scanning revealed nothing extraordinary within SCP-615 itself. It is unknown how SCP-615 is able to keep the plant matter together into a single mass, nor is it known how it can manipulate its own mass to perform motor functions. All that is currently known is that SCP-615 is able to move by rolling itself along the ground. Testing has shown that it is able to traverse level terrain fairly quickly. Obstacles prove to slow it slightly, but the effect is minor, since SCP-615 merely splits around them to continue its movement. SCP-615 is also able to interpret its surroundings, even with its conspicuous lack of conventional sense organs. How this phenomenon is achieved is currently unknown. Observation of SCP-615 in the wild has shown that it feeds off of discarded and dead plant matter. As a result, SCP-615 tends to inhabit areas thickly populated with vegetation, such as forests and jungles. SCP-615 will roam its territory, absorbing discarded plant matter from the ground and adding it to its own mass. It also seems to act as a natural gardener, pruning and trimming existing trees of excess plant matter. This serves the dual purpose of feeding SCP-615 and increasing the lifespan of the plants around it. When deprived of plant matter, it has been observed that SCP-615 can indeed be starved. Extended periods of forced starvation have shown that the plant matter that constructs SCP-615 will eventually biodegrade, shrinking it, until the point of death. If overly fed, SCP-615 will reach a stage of critical mass where it grows too large to support itself. This provokes a reproductive response where SCP-615 will separate itself into multiple smaller entities, capable of acting independently from each other. In terms of behavior, SCP-615 is no different from any other territorial organism. It will commonly patrol a several square mile area and will aggressively attack anything that attempts to intrude into its territory. Though SCP-615 is quite easy to avoid and outrun, it displays devastating strength and savagery if it manages to catch its quarry. SCP-615 attacks by completely engulfing its target and contracting its mass, crushing or suffocating the target. Lab tests as well as eyewitness reports have shown it is easily capable of crushing large trucks if it is of sufficient size. Due to the nature of its composition, SCP-615 is extremely flammable, making incendiary weaponry the items of choice to combat it. SCP-615 is seemingly aware of this and shows a market aversion to open flames. It will attempt to avoid fire at all costs, making containment relatively simple. SCP-615 was found in the wild forest after it was caught disrupting logging operations there. Reports of missing loggers and destroyed logging equipment eventually tipped off the foundation that these incidents were more than mere animal attacks. A foundation's scouting expedition eventually encountered SCP-615, suffering several casualties in the process. A more specialized task force was sent in and managed to herd SCP-615 into containment with the use of flares and torches. Lesson complete. If you missed the previous orientation, go watch SCP-614. IP address 57.32.1 right now. Or for the complete course, watch this playlist.


This makes the narcissist come crawling back to you. The narcissist may have discarded you But they will often come back to you If you do this The narcissist may have moved on to other sources or supply people who validate their false self People who support the illusion, but when you don't give them attention They're going to focus on you because they need attention and validation They cannot live without it Every day they are seeking attention and validation especially from the opposite sex Because they're very insecure They have doubts and fears That maybe they're not as attractive or successful as they should be So they need people to constantly validate them They don't like to reflect on their insecurities So it comes out as arrogance and entitlement Where they expect to receive compliments and praise But when you're the one person who doesn't give that to them They're going to focus on you They're going to come crawling back to you because while they may have other sources of supply Validate their false self and support the illusion Deep down they know that they've manipulated them They know that under a spell So it doesn't really count Narcissists are always on social media Many of them have thousands of people liking their pictures It feeds their ego Until their ego inflates They do this for attention and validation To reduce their doubts and fears of them not being enough And if you don't validate the narcissist They're going to be confused They're going to be wondering if they're good enough Because narcissists look outside of themselves For validation While healthy people get it from within They validate themselves Based on their passions and accomplishments That's how healthy people get validation But narcissists will always look outside of themselves for approval They may have plenty of other people Who are viewing their social media and liking their pictures But when they discard you They post these pictures just so you can view it Because they want you to look at it Because they're very insecure And if you're not paying it any attention They will come crawling back to you Because they want your approval They may have discarded you They may have decided that they don't want to be with you anymore But then you move on They focus on your own life And then they hoover you They come crawling back It's always a cat and mouse game with narcissists They always seek approval from people who don't want them But as soon as you give them the approval they're looking for They will get bored And then they will move on to something else You may remember a time when the narcissist Popped up out of the blue Moved you But then as soon as you started talking to them And asking if they wanted to see you They said they're busy Or they said they had something else to do When they were the ones who came back to you And you had forgotten about them and moved on with your life It's like as soon as you start focusing on yourself The narcissist comes crawling back Because they're just looking for validation They want reassurance That even though they discarded you and disappeared for a few months You still want them But as soon as they know that you want them They no longer want you Because now they've already got what they were looking for They've already got your validation But if you don't give it to them They will come crawling back to you Because they desire validation They crave validation And they cannot live without it Thank you for watching I hope this video resonate with you Please like, comment, share and subscribe If you would like to donate My PayPal link is in the video description Coaching inquiries You can email me at Thank you for watching and I'll talk to you soon