Dattatray Dagale

The Data Skills That Actually Matter in 2025 (And Why Most Analysts Get It Wrong)

It was 6:47 AM on a Tuesday morning, and I was standing on the Central Line between Kalyan and Dadar, sandwiched between a guy eating a vada pav and a woman listening to a podcast at full volume. My manager had just forwarded me a rejection email from a candidate we'd interviewed the day before—a sharp kid from Pune, decent portfolio, but we weren't m…

Are You Still Working the Same Way You Did Two Years Ago?

Dear friend, I'm writing this on the Central Line between Kalyan and Dadar, watching someone next to me use ChatGPT to draft an email on their phone. Five years ago, that same person would've spent 20 minutes crafting something in their head or scribbling notes. Now? Two minutes. Done. And honestly, it's better written. This is the shift I want t…

5 Money Mistakes I Made Before Understanding the 50-30-20 Rule

Dear younger me, I'm writing this from my desk at Morningstar in Bandra, looking at my calendar that shows another Tuesday. In about four hours, I'll pack up, take the local train back to Kalyan, and spend 90 minutes thinking about money while watching Mumbai blur past the window. Most days, I think about how little I understood about my own salary w…

What the RBI Really Does to Your Salary, Savings, and EMI

Dear younger me (and you, if you're still figuring out why your mom keeps asking about repo rates), Let me start with something I wish someone had told me when I first moved to Mumbai five years ago: the Reserve Bank of India isn't some distant institution that only matters during budget season on the news. It's literally making decisions every …

5 Credit Score Myths I Believed (Until They Cost Me)

Three years ago, I didn't check my credit score. Not once. Not because I was irresponsible—I paid my bills on time, I thought I was fine. But "fine" and "actually fine" are two very different things in India's financial system, and I learned that lesson the hard way when I applied for a home loan. The bank rejected me. Not becaus…

Do You Really Need 6 Months of Expenses Sitting in a Savings Account?

Last November, my car needed ₹47,000 worth of repairs. Not planned. Not budgeted. Just happened on a Tuesday morning when the transmission started making sounds that made me genuinely uncomfortable. I paid it from my savings account without breaking a sweat. No loan. No borrowed money. No awkward family conversation. Just moved the amount, got it fixed, and …