can I get a show of hands how many of
you have ever helped a stranger across
the road okay that’s good
how many of you have ever done a favor
without expecting anything in return
great now think about how you felt after
doing those good deeds happy satisfied
content there’s actually one word that
encompasses all this it’s called you die
Monia I know it sounds like some strange
disease but it’s actually the purpose of
my life in an odd turn of events I in
fact discovered eudaimonia over a
chicken curry in Bolivia eudaimonia is
an ancient Greek word that went out of
fashion for a few centuries but it’s
making a comeback it can be broadly
defined as experiencing human
flourishing that moment of highest human
good it’s similar to the philosophies of
mindfulness where we are encouraged to
live in the moment a central tenet is
that if we could be our best self in
each and every moment we would be more
content satisfied and fulfilled with our
life that’s in contrast to constantly
reflecting about the past and worrying
about the future I first came across
eudaimonia when I was a cog in the
corporate wheel in America I went there
for engineering got a good job had a
house car the good quality of life but
something was missing that sense of
fulfillment I questioned why was I doing
what I was doing who said that I needed
a job a mortgage and a retirement plan
what was the purpose of my life
in my quest I came across a lecture
series called beyond belief and they had
a session on eudaimonia where modern
philosophers were espousing that human
flourishing should be the purpose of all
lives it’s quite a ball claim to state
that any one thing could be the purpose
of all lives but the more I learned
about it the more worthwhile a pursuit
of life it seemed but being our best
self in each and every moment was that
even possible perhaps in a utopian world
but in the real world were constantly
distracted by our anxieties was our
income secure are we healthy and even
the existential questions such as how is
climate change affecting our lives with
all this in our minds how could we focus
on just being our best self in each and
every moment at this point in my life in
my mid-20s I had discovered the joys of
motorcycle travel and pursued it in all
my free time from my base in Chicago I
explored the western US Mexico and even
Alaska on a motorcycle traveling with
lightweight camping gear and tools there
is a constant awareness about security
and safety
but traveling exposed on two wheels the
questions at the front of my mind every
day were simple where was their gonna
sleep tonight and did I have enough
petrol to reach the next filling station
there was no space in my mind for the
usual worries I loved this immediacy of
life it was allowing me to live in the
moment not at a level where I was
feeling you demonic but it was certainly
a precursor this was around the same
time as the financial crisis and when I
also had annoying longing to return to
India and with each and every motorcycle
trip I felt I was getting closer to some
realization about eudaimonia but I knew
I was not gonna find it being stuck in
the corporate world so I took a call and
quit my job sold my house car and most
other possessions besides what would fit
on my bike and planned to ride overland
from the u.s. to
India however long that took at the
outset I gave myself two years I
researched how feasible extended
duration journeys were and saw that some
people were actually not cut out for
long term travel and get bored within a
few months they would get homesick and
seek any connection to their home
culture in these foreign lands I knew
that I wasn’t easily gonna find
connections to Indian culture in the
places of the world that I was planning
to travel through namely Latin America
and Africa so I thought to myself if I
could carry a sense of what meant home
to me on this trip then perhaps I
wouldn’t get homesick in all the short
trips I’d made before leaving on this
big trip the only aspect of my home life
that I missed was strangely enough
cooking it slowly perfected this simple
and delicious chicken curry recipe over
the years and I had the urge to cook it
right away after coming home from Mexico
or Alaska and so I said if I could cook
this curry once in a while on the road I
wouldn’t get homesick the journey began
early March 2010 from Chicago and when I
crossed the first border into Mexico I
knew there was no turning back I sought
out stays with local hosts along the way
using various traveling networks and
this opened up a wonderful insight into
the places I was traveling through it
was allowing me a locals perspective on
things and as a way to show a gratitude
to my host I offered to cook them my
curry now this curry is prepared from
scratch there are no ready-made paste or
sauces it requires a lot of onions
tomatoes ginger and garlic and so I
would draft in whoever is cooking this
curry for to help out with the
preparation the first time I made this
curry on the road was up in the
mountains of San Cristobal in southern
Mexico where the eucalyptus trees grow
tall over a pitcher esque colonial town
word spread that this Indian guy was
cooking a chicken curry and soon there
were 30 people hungry for curry at Hosea
Lewis’s farmhouse
I had showed up as a polite guest and
now had taken over the kitchen directing
people to chop onions here and diced
tomatoes there the dinner party was a
resounding success and what I noticed
was how my relationship with Jose Luis
and the others around there changed over
the course of that single meal before I
was a friendly stranger but now that I
had cooked and fed them and by their
accounts a foreign delicacy a bond had
been extended and there was a strong
feeling of trust there the first few
times has happened I felt content in
that moment and just thought of it as
happy stomachs talking but the more I
cooked this curry the more I realized
that I could anticipate how my
relationship was going to change for the
better with any one person before the
curry and after the curry a few months
later in La Paz Bolivia Alphonso an avid
motorcyclist invited me to stay with him
and in due course I cooked the curry for
his family he was so impressed he told
his friend Gonzalo who a few days later
invited me to cook the curry for his
family I barged into the upscale flat
and went straight to the kitchen
Gonzales wife Carmina sceptical at this
bald Indian biker now cooking up a
sensory overload of a curry with chilies
and garlic stood looking over me
throughout complaining that the onions
were getting overcooked or perhaps there
was too much garlic
she finally relented but remained wary
of my strange culinary style until we
sat down for the meal she took one bite
of that curry and it melted away her
cold shoulder she was blown away at how
smooth and complex the flavors were and
I knew I had turned her with my curry
diplomacy
[Applause]
she was all smiles and frankly impressed
how a man on a motorbike could prepare
such a delicacy I felt I was at my
highest self in this moment experiencing
human flourishing eudaimonia I saw this
pattern over and over across cultures
and borders from Argentina to Egypt to
Kenya and even back here in India when I
finally arrived I began to ponder what
was happening over this curry that was
changing my relationship with people on
the road in between these curries I
mused on the idea that isn’t it a better
state of mind to be in where we are
around people whom we have deep
connections with isn’t this why most of
us enjoy being around our family and
friends rather than strangers this is a
good strategy as it helps us be aware of
those that could harm us and this is
what God our species this far thinking
ahead about our safety and security but
the downside is this makes for a cold
world I feel that most people’s default
mode is to be highly skeptical of each
other and this inhibits us from being
the highest versions of ourselves at
every moment was preparing this chicken
curry as simple as it sounds
fostering deep connections with recently
met strangers and allowing all of us to
be at the more desirable state of being
around people we trust
instead of being skeptical it might seem
a silly thought to arise from spending
days on end in the wilderness but it’s
not such a crazy idea when I see that
people have cooked this curry for just
once in some remote corner of the world
still remember that curry and we’ve
stayed in touch over the years as I
dwelled on the idea on how this curry
was creating eudaimonia I came across
another interpretation for the word it
said that eudaimonia can be found
the intersection of what’s true good and
beautiful now those are all subjective
terms but each one of us knows when
something is true good or beautiful as I
applied this to my curry I realized that
this was my actual recipe for eudaimonia
it was true as for me and the dinner
guests we prepared this curry from
scratch it was good as I don’t want to
brag but almost everybody who’s tasted
this curry says it’s really quite
delicious the secret is to caramelize
the onions and use lots of garlic and it
was beautiful as we prepared this
together in a participatory way that was
it
I was able to create eudaimonia in my
life and in those around me whenever
this chicken curry was prepared it
sounds so simple but the truth often is
as I shared stories about this curry
people following my journey asked for
the recipe as soon as it went online
friends and strangers reported that when
they had prepared this curry some
cooking for the very first time
they were able to experience this sense
of human flourishing among themselves
and those around them I had finally
found my purpose in life it was to share
true good and beautiful moments with
and that has brought me here today to
share that recipe with you some think
this motorcycle journey was a lifetime
achievement but for me I feel most
content in knowing that I had discovered
a recipe for eudaimonia and how I could
try and live at the highest version of
myself by seeking it out it’s hard to
attain consistently as currently running
a start-up in India takes up all my
day-to-day worries but having
experienced eudaimonia I know that
delivering the highest quality product
that is possible each and every day is
what will allow me to be content and
fulfilled in this challenging world of
entrepreneurship now how can you find
eudaimonia in your lives it’s actually
all around you you are surrounded by
things that are true good and beautiful
just know that when those three
ingredients are present you are
experiencing human flourishing and you
have attained a state of being that is
higher than simply being happy if you
can I would implore you to travel to
take a break from a current life path
and let eudaimonia come to you and you
could also seek it out with this recipe
now who wants to come over for chicken
curry
thank you
[Applause] [Music]