Comfort Zone

How comfortable could you get before it starts bothering you? Before the very comfort ends up becoming a source of unease, if not discomfort?

For me, this would happen fairly quickly. I'm pretty used to change. New schools, new cantonments, new friends - things were great growing up as a fauji kid. So 5 years in 1 city, in 1 company were a little too much for me when I started work. Sure, I travelled a lot, but I kept coming back to the same city. At least for the first couple of years, I switched houses about 4 times. Then even that gave out. And little by little, I started getting trapped. In my comfort zone.

And it's a nice thing, while it's happening, but you don't realize it. It just creeps up on you all of a sudden. There you are, enjoying all the little things that slowly become a part of your life, becoming a regular at the gym, same time everyday, the same music everyday, the same people everyday, coffee breaks with the boys everyday, in your designated nook, becoming a regular at the friday evening happy hours at Firangi Paani, becoming a regular at sunday lunch-time at the biryani joint.

Then one day, you think of moving, of switching jobs, or some such thing, but quickly discard that thought - I'm too comfortable here!  That is when you know,  time's up. I'm too comfortable for my own comfort...

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Homecoming

Back in Delhi !

It feels good..
good to be back where I belong,
good to be where I wanted to move to during all those years in Hyderabad,
good to be where the food is great and the people boisterous.
Yeah, it's a good feeling !

Ever since I bought the T-bird, I'd always dreamt of riding around the Rashtrapati Bhavan, North Block - South Block and India Gate - wide open avenues, beautiful old buildings from the raj, and fresh air!
I did just that a couple of weeks ago, and then topped it off with a childhood favourite, an orange-bar, at the roadside.
The simple pleasures of life !

I've just finished reading 'The Last Mughal', and next on the list is 'The City of Djinns', both by William Dalrymple. I'm totally motivated to go and see the historic places in Delhi, try out the delicacies special to each place - chaat at UPSC, parathas at parathe vali gali, biryani at Kareem's, chicken at Anmol Chicken, and some places for rajma and mutton.

So my motto is one place to see, one treat to eat, one person to visit !

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Why didn't I think of this?

Now that the MBA is over, I think one of the things that'll remain with me (hopefully) is something that Prof. Pablo Martin de Holan said at Segovia to the effect that an entrepreneur is basically a person who is always looking for opportunities, anywhere and everywhere.

With this in mind, I see so many new businesses that are just so simple and obvious, you wonder why didn't I think of this?

Here's one I came across recently:-



We've all seen people addicted to their games. That makes a game a great place for an advertisement to sneak in, as long as it's non-intrusive, and doesn't piss off the gamer.

On one hand, Kiip is a great and oh-so-obvious way for developers to monetize a game, and on the other hand, it's a cool way for a company to advertise themselves (by offering one of their products, as a real reward for clearing a level or breaking a high-score).

My team - we guys thought long and hard about giving reward programs a 'smartphone' twist, but we never came close to anything this elegant.

Really, why didn't I think of this?

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