Simple joys, big dreams, and thoughts that refuse to stay quiet
Tonight, Chukki is back on the Flying Moon.
No alarms.
No KPIs.
No “Where do you see yourself in five years?” energy.
Just legs dangling, space flowers floating around like they’re also avoiding responsibility, and thoughts popping in uninvited.
This moon is Chukki’s safe space.
Where memories show up without PowerPoint decks.
And as always, they start from the beginning.
When the world suddenly felt… different.
Dating back to June 2012, walking into National College for the first time, everything felt unfamiliar—the streets were louder, the pace was faster, and Jayanagar & Gandhi Bazaar were almost like another universe compared to Indiranagar.
I still remember standing there and thinking, “God… where have I landed?” Not fear, just surprise. And then came the quiet lessons: students travelling three to four hours every single day, crowded buses, early mornings, heavy bags—no drama, no complaining, just discipline.
Watching that slowly changed something inside me. That’s where contentment quietly entered, not as a philosophy but as an observation – that life didn’t need polish to have dignity, and hard work didn’t ask for applause. That understanding stayed; still evolving, still unfinished, but deeply rooted.
Graduation Life 2014-2017—A Very Typical Chukki Response
College was full.
Classes to attend. Oh, at 6:30 am—the very first hour!
Rotaract meetings to run.
Audits are happening alongside everything else.
Around the campus & at work, most conversations revolved around CA.
It was the obvious path. The expected one.
And then someone casually said, “What do you know? CA is so hard. Not everyone can do it.”
That sentence didn’t discourage. It dared.
So the younger version did what felt natural, took it as a challenge. Not because becoming a CA was the dream. Not because there was a long-term plan.
Just to prove one thing:
👉 If something is decided, it can be done. Working, theater, Rotaract Encatus, and studying happened alongside college.
CA Inter was cleared — with ranks. And then… it stopped.
Not dramatically. Not bitterly. Simply because the truth was already clear.
One qualification was never going to be the destination.
What felt exciting was breadth.
Problem-solving.
Strategy- even if the road to it wasn’t visible yet.
Choosing a nonlinear path came with pressure.
So the response was simple:
work harder than required,
prepare more than necessary,
deliver consistently.
That made things sharp.
It also made them intense.
From holding hands of transgender woman to become independent. Life changed for more than 600+ women. Story of self belief!
(Core team – Encatus)
More than a designation a lifetime memory
10+ plus 2 good years = Projects across women empowerment, Water & Cancer.
Impact = 10.63 Cr & 800+ Individuals on ground
Sharp Skills, Sharper Intensity
Choosing a non-linear path came with pressure. So the response was predictable: work harder, prepare extra, and deliver consistently.
That made things sharp. It also made things… intense.
Which brings us to – McDonald’s, Fries, and Unexpected Happiness 🍟
Cue another Flying Moon memory. Working at McDonald’s.
2–3 hours a day, and of course, parents are unaware (independence era).
Serving food.
Standing for hours.
Watching people eat fries like it solved their problems.
And honestly? Loved every bit of it. No hierarchy.
No ego. Just honest work and tired legs.
Private tuitions with a couple of friends quietly happened inside the college. (Yeah, 😀 only 100 Rs an hour, not more (only for students from other departments). Audits continued. Made lifetime friends.
Life felt full, not busy busy! Turns out joy doesn’t need job titles.
The feedback that slapped (gently)
Sweaty palms. A racing heart. The sudden, burning urge to interrupt and prove someone wrong. 😤
We have all felt the physical grip of pressure during a high-stakes negotiation or a critical business meeting. The air gets thin, and adrenaline threatens to hijack rational thought.
Developing this “iceman” mentality is a never-ending journey. On this, like a story. Around 2019 and first full-time job at Amazon India(photo of around the same time for relatability): “Prakruthi, you’re one of the best talents in the team and are trending on the highest rating. You are extremely passionate, and are technically sound.
(Firsts = Always special)
But there is one big problem: you’re overcompetitive, and your peers find it very hard (or refuse) to work with you on the project.
Unless you change yourself, your success will be short-lived.” 💬 This was my manager’s year-1 feedback in my very first job. Tough. Direct. Uncomfortable.
⏩ Fast forward to today, I’m thriving in a complex matrix org where I played dual roles as a Chief of Staff for SVP 🤝 and an individual managed ma big portfolio 🚀.
What changed? I took the feedback seriously and worked on myself. Here are 3 things that made the real difference. 👇
🏆 Your win is your team’s win. You can’t succeed if your peers fail. If you’ve delivered but see others struggling, invest your bandwidth to help them succeed.
🤲. Your peers looking up to you will help you grow faster in your career.
🔕 Pro tip: Don’t advertise it. Silence signals maturity. Talking about it feels like showdown behavior.
🔄 Actively seek peer feedback. Every 6 months, ask peers, especially where friction exists, ✅ 2–3 things they value about you. ⚠️ 1–2 things you should change: Listen. Don’t justify. Ask for examples. Build a 30-60-90 day plan 📋. Result? Growth + trust + allies who want you to win 💪
🤐 No gossip. Zero. Information travels faster than you think 🌍. After earning trust through hard work, don’t lose it casually. Instead, talk to people, not about people ❤️. Get curious about their stories, not their flaws. ✨ Early feedback can sting, but if you act on it, it can completely change your leadership trajectory.
Pause. Reset. Teach.
2019 hit pause. Tutoring followed.
Some kids learned effortlessly. Some needed creativity, patience, and unlearning.
Lesson learned: Learning has little to do with intelligence
and everything to do with connection.
Then came PGDM/MBA. Hostel life. Midnight talks. The most genuine friendships.
Hostels teach what no syllabus ever will.
Most beautiful & important chapter of life 🙂
Fast forward post-MBA, more mature, still learning and growing!
Leadership isn’t just about reaching the light yourself; it’s about making sure your team gets there without carrying the same scars you do.
💡 Look closely. The older mouse—battered, tattered, leaning on a cane—has survived the field of traps. 🩸🚧 Its tail bears the marks of past mistakes. But notice what it’s doing? It’s tightly holding the hand of the younger, inexperienced mouse, guiding it safely through the danger zone toward the light. 🤝✨
When we scale large teams, we often talk about “strategy” and “efficiency.” But the real secret sauce is Synchronization through Shared Wisdom. 🧠🚀 Here is how we can translate this image into our daily ways of working:
Tenets are just “documented scars.” 📜🩹 – When you manage a small team, you can personally warn everyone about a mistake. When you scale to 50, 100, or 500+, you can’t be everywhere. 🗣️❌ • The Trap: Ambiguity and repeating past failures. • The Fix: Create strong tenets and ways of working.
These shouldn’t be boring rules; they should be the codified lessons of your past battles. They act as the “map” that tells the new generation where the traps are, so they don’t have to step on them to learn. 🗺️✅
Mentorship is Active Navigation, not just advice. 🧭⚓ – The older mouse isn’t standing at the finish line shouting instructions. It is walking IN the field with the younger one. • To scale leadership, my boss always mentored the next line of leaders by walking through the problems with them initially. Show them why you stepped left instead of right. That is how you build instinct. Once they know the path, they can lead the next group. 🔗📈
Staying in Sync requires vulnerability. 🔓❤️ – Notice the older mouse isn’t hiding its injuries? • To keep a large organization moving in sync, leaders must be honest about their past failures (“Look at my tail; I got caught here once”). • This builds trust. When the team trusts that your guidance comes from experience and that you have their safety at heart, they will follow your lead with confidence. 🏃♂️🏃♀️💨 The bottom line: True legacy isn’t just about survival or hitting the target. It’s about how many people you helped navigate the maze safely because you were brave enough to show them the way. 🌱🏆
Where Things Stand (Floating, Still)
Now at 2026 🙋🏻♀️ t
Complex organizations.
Great leadership teams.
Mentors who taught balance.
Lessons that stuck:
- Stay humble
- Know self-worth
- Learn to unlearn
Yes, Chukki still talks a lot.
But now it’s to transfer learning, not prove intelligence.
And there’s reflection:
Is this useful?
Sometimes right.
Sometimes not.
Always honest.
The Flying Moon Concluding..
Space flowers drift closer.
And one thought settles gently:
Simple living and big ambitions can go together. When the visible game is dropped, proving fades and staying power quietly take over.
Life once felt lighter, not because ambition was missing, but because presence was abundant. That’s still the goal.
Chukki smiles.
The Flying Moon keeps floating.
Still dreaming big.
Still laughing at life.
Still becoming. ✨
Could you relate? If yes smile even if not smile 🙂
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