Interactions
Interaction with a Lyft driver, Ms. X, as soon as I got into the car and greeted her with big smile and a happy face.
X: Wow! you seem to be very happy.
Me: Yeah. It is a bright day… … (continued discussing about random topics for some time ) … X: You know, we don’t get to see a lot of happy faces in DC. People are always serious, sad or looking into phones.
Me: Sometimes, I feel the same too. Look at them (pointing to few pedestrians), All of them are serious.
Me: Maybe, I would have been like that too, if it wasn’t for that guy who was all cheerful and happy while giving my documents before (Went to Indian Embassy to pickup some documents).
I guess, happiness is contagious. I am pretty sure, your next customer will be happy seeing your face now.
X: They sure do. I guess it’s like the ripple thing, people keep talking about.
Interaction · Sep 19, 2017 · Permalink · 1min read
Interaction with an amazing professor of Philosophy, Ms. X, while waiting for pizza.
Me: So, I was reading this book from Simon Sinek, recently and was wondering how, from Napoleon Hill to Simon Sinek, everyone talks about the importance of Defining Your Purpose. Would Love to know your thoughts on it?
X: Yes. Defining your why is the most important step for anything. Relationships, career, organizations, life, …
For example, You can have the fastest car in the world. But if you don’t know where you want to go, you will just be drifting around, going nowhere.
On the other hand, if you know where exactly you want to go, you have a plenty of travel choices i.e. buses, trains and might not even need a car at all.
Me: Wow! That’s one of the finest examples I heard of.
X: Thanks. Many people knew this, in theory, i.e. the importance of knowing why, but often people get lost into the charm of such fast cars that they forget where they wanted to go.
Me (Silent, Took few seconds to process that statement): That’s deep.
Still thinking about it. How many destinations have we missed or forgotten, in the charm of cars? Postponed journeys waiting for that perfect vehicle or time.
Interaction · Sep 17, 2017 · Permalink · 1min read
Not exactly a stranger, A very good friend of mine - Mr. X, A young entrepreneur, own a digital marketing agency.
Me: How is life going?
X: Life has been very forgiving & really made the last few years easy. Expanding company across other cities.
Me: Cool! ‘Life has been forgiving and easy’, good to hear that line when most of us were complaining ‘it sucks! '
X: Probably MBA effect or really our talent - but really doing good compared to competition & many others of same age group. So, can’t complain. Just have to learn & keep growing.
Interaction · Sep 7, 2017 · Permalink · 1min read
Mr. X, A Developer, Guitarist, Writer, Photographer, Entrepreneur, Boxer, Stocks … (Not a beginner, Successful in all those fields)
Me : wow! , So how were you able to master all these skills?
X : I didn’t master all those skills, I master the basics and that too not all at once.
Me : oh! Could you be more specific? please.
X : Okay! let me explain.
Imagine you didn’t knew how to read english. I can tell you a 100 words and their spellings, Yet, for 101st word, you will not be able to read it.
Where as, if I teach you the 26 alphabets and how they sound. You will be able to read majority of the words, even sentences. Same applies to any skill, any task.
One must learn the basics and infact master them, in order to be good at any skill.
Me : [Silent!! looking at him. ]
X : And that’s one of the main reasons why many people can not get good at a something.
People want to learn Despacito lyrics, but they don’t want to know Spanish or how each word is pronounced. People wanna dance like Usher, but don’t wanna pop, lock or learn basics of hip-hop. Same applies everywhere. Any skill is mastered by constant practice of it’s basics.
A teenage girl X, heavy fan of Marvel universe.
Me : So what’s your favorite quote from the recent Spider Man?
X : It’s when Tony Stark says “Cap would have kicked your a** if he wanted to. "
Me : ??
X : Yeah! I Love Captain America.
Interaction · Jul 18, 2017 · Permalink · 1min read
A middle aged entreprenuer, X, who own a franchise restaurant in DC.
Me: How were you able to take such a risk ?
X : Let me ask you a question. How do you commute to work?
Me : I Drive.
X : You know that there is a 5% chance of you meeting with an accident and 55% if you were texting and driving.
Me : Yes. Whats up with that?
X : You drove to work. Didn’t sat at home, afraid of accidents. I’ve done the same. Drove my self to the destination.
We all take risks, whether we acknowledge it or not. Better risk for things we love.
Interaction · Jul 15, 2017 · Permalink · 1min read
Met a young person X, at a store, with a 2-3 month growing beard, and he, constantly rubbing his fingers at one area of the beard
Me : Don’t do that bro. In long run, it might form patches. If you want, use full hand/ four fingers together, rub it over top.
X : Growing beard isn’t as easy as you think buddy. Try to grow it, you will then understand.
Me, smiling (Almost laughing) : Good luck 😂
Casue this was me, a few days before this happened.
Conversation with a middle aged entrepreneur X (currently working in US), who had plans to set up a company in Vizag.
X : I should probably look for another city. Who would setup a company in a cyclone prone area? It’s dream of ‘IT hub’ will be a dream.
Me: Where else would you find people, whose spirits aren’t deterred even by such destruction?
where else would you find people that help everyone in the team, even if it’s not their job?
where else would you find people working, building their city back, even without power and with food, water shortages ?
where else would you find people that don’t keep complaining and move on irrespective of circumstances?
Now, just relate these to a project in your company. Trust me, you can never find a better place than Vizag.
*Spoken in relation to HudHud cyclone, that happened in Vizag, 2014.
Interaction · Aug 12, 2015 · Permalink · 1min read