Locomotoring

When we started, in 2006, world was inhabited by 7 billion people. We started with the tagline and during the 16 years, it continued to be “Seven continents, seven seas, seven billion people and seven thousand good eats …“. Many people think of the number seven as the lucky number. Did you know that seven is a mathematical Happy Number? In fact, it is the smallest Happy Number after the number 1.

Start with the square of the number:
7**2 = 49

Then take each digit of this number, square them and add them together:
4**2 + 9**2 = 16 + 81 = 97

and repeat:
9**2 + 7**2 = 81 + 49 = 130
1**2 + 3**2 + 0**2 = 1 + 9 = 10
1**2 + 0**2 = 1

The starting number that ends in 1 is a Happy Number. 

4 on the other hand is not a happy number (it is a Sad or an Unhappy number!): 
4**2 = 16
1**2 + 6**2 = 1 + 36 = 37
3**2 + 7**2 = 9 + 49 = 58
5**2+8**2 = 25 + 64 = 89
8**2 + 9**2 = 64 + 81 = 145
1**2 + 4**2 + 5**2 = 1+16 + 25 = 42
4**2 + 2**2 = 16 + 4 = 20
2**2+ 0**2 = 4

and so the process continues in an infinite cycle without ever reaching 1. 

So much has happened in last 16 years. The Webb telescope happened. The pandemic happened. The m-RNA vaccines and CRISPR gene editing are fast tracking eradication of some seriously nasty diseases. AirBnB changed how we travel. Podcasts and streaming videos gave us many new artists we now adore. Estimated world population hit 8 billion. The smart phones and social networks have made the world a cozier space.

We also grew a little wiser. We have started appreciating untethering, freeing the mind from strings, and boundaries. We have started appreciating the in-between ideas, the ones that are nebulous, and hard to decode. We have started appreciating the stillness, the lack of fidgets, and the silences. We started appreciating the art of kintsugi, the mindful repairs that embrace the damage. We started appreciating time, a dimension that operates non-linearly, and runs away faster than we notice.

We hope our new tagline reflects who we are today. “Spending our time untethering the mind, getting the fidgets out, exploring the in-between ideas, and learning kintsugi.”