Ashish Jaiswal - Fluid: The Approach Applied by Geniuses Over Centuries

Fluid has the power to transform the entire thinking and learning landscape with a single stroke.

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Global conversation platform of business leaders and thinkers

I think one of the misfortunes of Indian education is that it is not rooted in our own traditions. There are many scientific texts from ancient India, which have not been studied by us. Even the arts were studied by our ancestors through a mathematical and scientific perspective. An example of a perfect partnership of the arts and sciences. Ashish has taken an important step in addressing the problem of the lack of knowledge of our ancient texts through his book Fluid , based on knowledge gleaned from Vishnudharmottaram Puranam. His book is a must-read.

Amish Tripathi

Celebrated Indian author

Fluid is a smart and well-researched book that easily crosses disciplines, in the search for a new understanding of learning and the mind. Rich in narrative detail and storytelling, it brings the reader forward and back in history in a way that inspires, instructs and delights. This book should be of great interest to anyone interested in developing a more fluid style.

Rebecca Givens Rolland

Tutor at Harvard Graduate School of Education

A must-read before you set on the path of creating disrupting start-ups, path-breaking discoveries and next age inventions.

Gaurav Jain

Co-founder and managing partner, Afore Capital and
Harvard Business School alumnus

A stimulating introduction to another and different-and exciting-world of thinking and learning.

David Palfreyman

OBE, Fellow, New College, University of Oxford

In a world witnessing disrupting business models everyday , Ashish argues very effectively that new managers need to be cultivated differently. Fluid describes this very aptly. A must-read!

Nitish Jain

President, SP Jain School of Global Management

Fluid truly holds the key to a path-breaking mind currently locked behind the iron doors of formula education.

Aman Iqbal

Founder and managing partner, IQGEN and
a PhD (Chemistry) from University of Oxford

As a scientist in pursuit of solutions for sustainability and well-being of people and our planet, I recognise the immense need to work fluidly across disciplines by breaching traditional disciplinary boundaries. A powerful book and must-read for both specialists and specialists-in-making.

Alark Saxena

Director, Yale Himalaya Initiative and Research Scientist,
Yale University

Fluid thinkers and an education system that encourages fluidity is the need of the day. This book written in a fluid style with fluid illustrations is a great read to convince you of the need for a multidisciplinary approach to every aspect of life.

Jeemol Unni

Professor of Economics, Ahmedabad University

The world we know is rapidly changing with technologies like AI, crypto and others. Its about time we relook at our century-old way of education and this book does exactly that.

Vivek Jain

Founder, CAclubindia.com and LAWyersclubindia.com

Adopting a fluid narration, Fluid brings to light the importance of flexibility, as opposed to rigidness, in ones approach towards success in any sphere of life. On a more direct perspective, being a professor in science and engineering myself, I totally agree that to do good, one needs to combine excellence in scientific concepts, fluid thinking in any direction beyond the concepts and a lot of artistic ideas.

Amartya Mukhopadhyay

Professor, IIT Bombay

Every once in a while one reads a book that makes you think, question, and introspect. That book becomes a life-changing book. Fluid is a book like that. Fluid reminds us why success doesnt always come from following rules; sometimes we need to break and make new rules. If you liked Malcolm Gladwells Outliers , you will absolutely love Ashish Jaiswals Fluid . Exploring the themes of what it will take to succeed in the age of AI, Fluid is a must-read for every millennial (and non-millennial).

Sulzhan Bali

International development and global health specialist

A breath of fresh air for every student, every parent, every trier, every risk-takereveryone wanting to carve his own path.

Jay Motwani

CMD, TSD Corp

I found Fluid to be a wonderful book with many visionary thoughts. Fluid explains very beautifully with examples how a flexible and open-minded person can do better in their personal and professional life and shape the society. The book touches many aspects including science, medicine, education, literature, artificial intelligence, relation between human and nature in a holistic manner. I believe this is the first book of this kind and is going to be most popular among our young minds.

Ram Sagar Misra

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry,
Banaras Hindu University

Like jazz, where its composition borrows from a variety of musical genres to combine into a unique art form, Fluid proves that moving to the syncopation of life instead of the usual downbeat rhythms of expected career trajectories has produced innovations songbook for each generation.

Applying the examples of da Vinci, Goethe, Jobs and others, as interdisciplinary masters, Jaiswal paints a portrait of genius much broader than the myopic confines of traditional definition. Readable, credulous, piquant and affirming to those who have found themselves tossed in a shifting marketplace, this title shows us that rare is the world-changer that is not also the skilled improvisor. Play to both your passions and strengths showcasing the aesthetic harmony of you is a strong message in this book. Jaiswals must-read, transformative work will rouse you to applause and have you cheering, Heres to survival of the fluid-ist!

Melvita Chisholm

Global communicator and management strategist, Washington DC

Fluid is a very forward-thinking book. It supports the idea that the boundaries we impose on knowledge are not pertinent anymore and builds on the many examples of fluid thinkers of the past.

Mehdi Lazar

Head of School, Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, California

A harbinger of a new commencement for millions of young Indians who find themselves unhappily straitjacketed into vocations chosen for them by society, family and peers. It is time you broke free!

Harssh A Poddar

IPS Officer and alumnus of University of Oxford

Author

First published 2018

Reprinted 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisewithout the prior permission of the author and the publisher.

The author has made every effort to ensure that due credit is given through proper citation of the journals/articles/other text referenced and the images used. While expressing any factual instance or data, the author has done his best to rely on credible and documented sources. Yet, there is a possibility of an error due to human endeavour. In case any such error is spotted, please email the author at wisdomtreebooks@gmail.com and it will be duly and promptly corrected in the further editions of the book.

ISBN 978-81-8328-527-8

Published by

Wisdom Tree

4779/23, Ansari Road

Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110 002

Ph.: 011-23247966/67/68

wisdomtreebooks@gmail.com

Printed in India

Inspired by the fluid worlds of my beautiful daughters,
Navyasara and Nayantara

Contents

Anti-fluid

The Dangers Of Entering Machine Age
With An Anti-fluid Mind

But, I Am A Specialist, My Friend