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    <title>Pokharna Talks</title>
    <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
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    <description>Learning from life one day at a time. Personal blog by Mayank Pokharna.</description>
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    <lastBuildDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 20:00:37 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[The 101st City]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/the-101st-city</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 17:57:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[An anonymous email. 4,200 beds across 11 cities. An operator nobody has ever heard of. Two dead engineers. And a USB drive in an empty coliving room that changes everything. A fictional thriller set in the world I know best — where the real danger is not the market, but the people inside the building.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Story</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[4 Weeks of Vibecoding: What I Built, What I Learned, and What's Next]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
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      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 18:42:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[197 commits. $500. Zero coding knowledge. One month. A non-technical coliving founder's honest take on vibecoding; what I built, what broke, and why the hard part isn't building anymore.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Vibe Coding</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[From Adulting to Marriage: Navigating the Transition and Redefining Priorities]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
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      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2025 15:27:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The Journey from Adulting to Marriage I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind lately: the journey from adulting to marriage. This is a transition I’ve personally gone through over the last 10 years—five years as a bachelor and now almost four and a half years of married life. Looking back, it’s […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Philosophy</category>
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      <title><![CDATA[Breaking Free from People-Pleasing: My Journey to Redefining Happiness]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
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      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Sep 2025 19:45:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Growing Up as a People Pleaser For my whole life, I kind of focused on making other people happy while I was growing up. What meant a lot to me was if any of my actions would make my mother, my father, my grandparents happy. That became a norm because that’s what shaped my childhood, […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Breaking the Expectation Curse]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/breaking-the-expectation-curse</link>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 23:38:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[So today I want to share some of my thoughts on expectations. This word has been used and abused a lot by this generation, but also by the way I was raised over the last 20 years as the only son in a very traditional family. I grew up in a household where expectations were […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Philosophy</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[I don't remember my marriage; do you?]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/i-dont-remember-my-marriage-do-you</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2025 21:54:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[After years of ups and downs, the author finally married the love of their life. Despite extensive planning, the wedding day was chaotic due to managing guests and unexpected issues. In hindsight, the author regrets being so focused on others that they barely remember their special day, except for their bride’s angelic appearance.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Story</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[What you learn in your 20's?]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/what-you-learn-in-your-20s</link>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 16 Oct 2021 10:56:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I just crossed onto the other side this year into the thirty's, which is a big deal in our society today. So, I thought of writing about it. From being the eldest son in a middle-class North Indian family to a few failed attempts at entrepreneurship to running a successful self-sustained start-up, I've been through a lot of ups and a whole more downs.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Philosophy</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Personal Productivity]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/personal-productivity</link>
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/blog/personal-productivity</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 13 Oct 2021 10:33:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Personal productivity has been a long-debated topic, and every individual has their way of being productive. For example, some people like to start their day early as morning calm gets them going; some work late in the night as silence gets them going. Personally, for me, some things have done wonders.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Life Hacks</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[I Judge you]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/i-judge-you</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 10 Oct 2021 06:52:12 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[We live in a society where people can't survive if they're not judging the next person. They don't even make an effort to get to know people before judging them. All the people want is what is on the other side. It is truly said that there are 1000's of people to pull you down if you are doing some good.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Philosophy</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[How much should I sleep?]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/how-much-should-i-sleep</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 08 Oct 2021 09:38:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[How much should you sleep?
This question has been long debated, and people have a different view of when and how much to sleep to have a productive day. Sleep is the single activity taking most of the time in one's day after work.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Life Hacks</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Cost of living in Bangalore]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/cost-of-living-in-bangalore</link>
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      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Oct 2021 15:02:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[fair idea of the expenses one has to take care of during thier first time stay in Bangalore.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Life Hacks</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Does customer service create a formidable sales channel?]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/does-customer-service-create-a-formidable-sales-channel</link>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 03 Oct 2021 06:31:36 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[In the last few years, customer service and customer experience have changed to the core. If you ask the top management today in any internet company what is the top priority of the business, the answer would be “Customer Experience” by a long margin.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Customer Service</category>
      <category>Startups</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Lets talk about Depression & Mental Health]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/lets-talk-about-depression-and-mental-health</link>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 01 Oct 2021 02:10:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[In the last few days, I have heard this term so many times. But, I feel it is just being used so loosely that it actually loses its meaning. People think that talking about it or just saying it makes them modern, fashionable, or even cool.]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Philosophy</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Must have apps in your smartphone]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/must-have-apps-in-your-smartphone</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 09 May 2017 07:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Free time gets you thinking and sitting at Udaipur airport got me thinking of how these apps/ tools have made my life so easier. Since time immemorial tools have played an important role in one’s growth and the growth of the civilization. Some of the first tools used by men were made of stones and […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Life Hacks</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The Cost of an Indian Wedding]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/the-cost-of-an-indian-wedding</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 08 May 2017 14:20:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[In Indian culture, as soon as the child is born, the planning for one’s wedding starts. The family start’s gathering gold/ possessions right from the day you are born. They do this killing a lot of their own ambitions and aspirations. Now, this is also one of the costs which a family pays in an […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Philosophy</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Interview – Bankers life post demonetisation]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/interview-bankers-life-post-demonetisation</link>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 06 May 2017 01:03:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[My dad has been a banker for last 30 years now. Since I started understanding, it has at least been 15 years. During initial days’ things were different as it was a semi-government bank. But, soon things changed and my dad was a part of one of the largest private banks in India. The life […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Interviews</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Importance of wasting time]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/importance-of-wasting-time</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 01 May 2017 23:09:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[There is always so much do and achieve in one’s life. We always keep running around with the feeling of getting things done from the endless list of to do’s. There is this culture of making one feel all productive and even a second wasted is looked at terribly. But what we don’t realize is, […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Philosophy</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Fear of Appreciation]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/fear-of-appreciation</link>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 01 May 2017 02:38:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A simple thank you by your boss, or a small token of remembrance do wonders to the moral of employees and helps create a cohesive team. This helps a team go that extra mile and deliver great results. Everyone like being appreciated and we have enough good reasons for it, like: People think that they […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Learnings</category>
      <category>Life</category>
      <category>Startups</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[One Line Stories – Part I]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/one-line-stories-part-i</link>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 29 Apr 2017 21:43:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[So, when you die and meet god, what if the first question asked is, “How was the heaven”? My wedding cost 5 lacs and My divorce cost 50 lacs and both were worth it. You are a Hindu or a Muslim, she said: “I am hungry.” I think of dying more often but then I […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Short Stories</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Travel Experiences – Gate 15 B Bangalore Airport]]></title>
      <link>https://pokharnatalks.com
/blog/travel-experiences-gate-15-b-bangalore-airport</link>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 29 Apr 2017 00:58:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Setting up desk at the airport is fun. Laptop, mobile, biscuit, mobile and headphones all set for a fun ride for next 1 hour. The ritual of calling mom in the morning starts and we talk about random things.  The talks always start from how is work and life and then moves to what happening […]]]></description>
      <author>Mayank Pokharna</author>
      <category>Experience</category>
      <category>Life</category>
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