The more I think about it and the more experiences I have in
life, I get that one thing my brother about Delhi Station is true about life in
general.
Delhi Station is a mad place. You get off and you are accosted
by touts of all types of slime and sleaze. Everyone wants to thug you and you can’t
get a decent conversation happening with anyone. In fact what conversation,
asking someone for directions itself can be very stressful and crazy. Many
years ago we landed at Delhi station and we were told to move to the rail yatri
nivas to stay. As a family we got down and started wondering where to go. A
tout just kept talking to my dad and then finally showed us a few hotel pics
and booked us a hotel to stay in. this was on the return leg of our journey.
Dad thought he was booking us a good hotel. Needless to say – the experience wasn’t that
great. We had booked two rooms and the AC from one was flowing to the other via
a duct made and other such weird stuff. Those days there was no internet and we
don’t hear about the Lonely Planet and there were defiantly no Trip advisor. So
choosing where to stay and where to go and what to do was one hell of a
nightmare. Before you go anywhere, you have to ask people where they went,
think of an itinery that was largely based on theirs and the hotel that they
went to. People would have records of hotels and rooms and the phone numbers of
the hotels they stayed in. this was very valuable information. The agents were essentially
people who could arbitrage on the knowledge of hotel names and numbers. That was
all. Things have moved up quite a bit. Now people know where to go and what to
see from searching the internet. Jasmine and I came up with our own formula…
Lonely Planet plus internet. Curation plus peer discovery! This has worked for
us. And GPS… the bets thing is that now you know exactly where you are. When I was
selling the Backberry concept to my brother in law – I showed him GPS. Now in a
train, you don’t need to look out of the window or ask someone where you were. You
simply opened your cellphone and you knew if your station is coming or is far
away. This is especially useful if you are waking up in the middle of the night
for your station and are wondering if the train is late or which station just
passed!
Cut to my brother’s experience – he once alighted at Delhi
station and refused to talk to the touts. He was making a beeline for the tourist office. On the way the tout
kept following him talking all the time. And then at one point the tout just
said ‘look, the office is shut’. My brother lifted his head and sure enough there
was a board of the tourist office and it was shut. I don’t know afterwards what really happened
but my brother then realized that the tout was pointing out to the wrong office
which had moved. That’s when told me – in Delhi station – you should not even
listen to the touts. Even listening is a crime.
I find this real in office as well. There are some real bad
ass guys. People who gossip and spread evil vile around them. Even talking to
them is a crime. They slowly make you believe that they are on your side, they gain
your trust and confidence and then pass on gossip to you…. and then, they
POISON your mind. Such people must be avoided no matter how sweet they sound or
how nice a company they are. They give you the juiciest gossip but at the same
time are the ones who will not hesitate
to use your name or you as a target of their gossip. Even listening to
them is a crime. Hanging around, talking or texting or anything with them will
only poison your mind. These guys are slow boa constrictors. These are available
all around you. I keep telling Jispa that in school or in class or at the pool,
these people must be avoided. After I have realized this and I preach it to all
I care about, I have been seeing more of this. Positive nice people fill your
mind with positivity. They help you think and take right calls and make better
decisions. The bad ones, they figure out a way to co-opt you in their plan.
They have sinister plans and then squeeze you in their plan. Without knowing so
you are involved and a part of their support group and boom – there goes your
credibility.
I have learnt over a period of time to simply not listen,
avoid and if unavoidable – not encourage the conversation. And when they co opt
you, it takes effort but there is no shame in saying, Sorry yaar – I am part of
this. I disagree or nopes… I don’t care about this. At first it’s so difficult
for nice guys to do any of this, but if you value your credibility and your
sanity, you will disagree. Its then very easy to simply say no and weasel out.
Avoid them like plague.
