Category: Luck

The Sleeping On Streets Story (in Title Case)

Of course you know that I am homeless. Will be till the 20th. And while it’s an amazing feeling to have and I loved the idea of it when I was staring at the homelessness, now that I am living through it, it sucks.

Like S. U. C. K. S.

Really.

I know this is not how I imagined homelessness to be. I had high hopes from the experience. Heck, I even romanticized it a few days ago (on this blogpost). And the romance was gorgeous af (need to up my vocabulary. To do that, need to read more. To do that, need to make more time. To do that… wait. Get back to writing).

But now that I am actually homeless, like I said, it sucks.

No I cant do anything that could change and get me a roof. I will have to slog it out for three more days.

But what I can do, is reflect on how and why this happened. And talk about the mistakes that I’ve made! And list all those other thoughts that are clouding my head. So, here’s a list.

A. I fucked up. 
At so many levels that I am questioning all those things (books, blogs, podcasts) that I consumed around decision making. I shouldve been wiser and shouldve taken a better decision. I mean I could have avoided this situation so easy that if someone else took the decision that I took, I would’ve castrated them!

I had a thousand options to choose from and I took the worst of them all.
The future landlord did offer me an alternate accommodation.
Dipanker suggested that I move to Delhi (and thus get some work done while am homeless).
Vivek gave me unrestricted access to his house, his car.
Ankit stuck with while I was on the road.

I had a thousand options. What did I choose? The American Dream!

B. Faith got reiterated in the fact that I am destiny’s child. 
When this entire house-hunting was happening, I needed some working capital to pay for the move. I could’ve taken it out from work but I did not want to touch the money that is meant for the business. And this is when Universe stepped in.

I got some unexpected work from a client that I hadnt spoken to in a while (that I think is Universe’s way of paying me when I am in need) and while it was a small ticket project, I made enough money to pay for the move, the fuel (since I lived in the car for a few days), the hotel (because I cant live at shady places) and all the coffee that I have consumed (because I am working from the likes of Starbucks et al).

C. Empathy for the ones that dont have a place 
This entire concept of not having a roof on my head was alien to me.

Since I can remember I had a decent enough place to live at. As I grew up and grew in life, my wants have grown and thankfully I have been able to grow my resources resources  available to me have grown to be able to afford the wants (well, almost. I have always been short by about 50%). So I dont know how it feels to not have a bed to go back to.

But what about the ones that don’t have a house, a roof?

I routinely see people sleeping on the streets. So many of those, at almost all cities in India that I have grown a blind spot to cover the homeless. I’ve dismissed their existence and justifying their misery by telling myself that if anyone is poor in this day and age, it is because of their respective shortcomings. The world is rife with opportunities and while you may not be able to make a billions dollars, you can make enough to have a decent place!

I think this needs to change. My thinking I mean. I need to have a little more empathy for people who are on the streets. No one wants to be on the streets.

I need to find ways to get them to rise. Get them gainful, meaningful and respectable employment. That gives them enough to have a bed to sleep on and a roof to give them shelter.

And how would I do it?
I dont know.
But I do know I have to work on this. Maybe if I can sort the education piece, I would have found a solution to a lot of other issues. Including homelessness. Lets see.

In the end,  
Finally, as I edit this, I realise that while I may not feel too good about who I am living right now, I have a lot going on for me.

I know that what keeps me occupied and busy and all that (house hunting, operational shite and all that) is far far apart from what my ambition, #lifeGoal is (make the world a better place by inspiring others and give them the shoulder that they need), I do have a lot. For example, I have enough (friends, money, capability et al – in that order) that despite not having a home, a house, I have slept well.

So yeah, thank you, Universe. I hope that the sunshine stay on me. Just that I need to make better decisions.

Till then, over and out.

Work and all that

@JinxedSnowflake not happy but not sad either. no i did not. got here by LOT of luck, some hustle, some grind and LOT of help.

— SG (@saurabh) September 12, 2016

C asked, “Hi hoomans who are happy with their profession/career path, did you always know what you wanted to do? How did you get here?”

I responded, “not happy but not sad either. no i did not. got here by LOT of luck, some hustle, some grind and LOT of help.”

She asked me to elaborate. I thought 140 chars is too less. And thus, here is a longish explanation.

So, am I happy with my profession / career path? 
Sort of. I am very happy at the place I am at. I run two small businesses. One I know will become big – I have someone partnering me on it and giving me direction. The other, I am not sure. There’s just me and a few friends that help as and when they get time. None of them is a well-oiled cash-churning machinery – I need to constantly work on them, think on them, invest time and resources and money and all that to be able to make ends meet. But then, I work for myself. And that makes me happy.

Can I make more money if I worked in a job? Of course.
Can I be happier? Of course.
Can I do better? Of course.
Could I’ve had a better career path? Of course.
Do I have regrets about what I do? No way!
Will I achieve my #lifeGoals? I believe I would. I am actually on my way!

Next, did I always know that I’d end up here? And how did I get here? 
Let me club the two questions.

No I did not.

How requires the long answer. So, I did computer science before I did my MBA (from MDI, Gurgaon). And my first job post MBA was with GE Money where I was supposed to sell credit cards. I did it for three months (after a 11-month “training”) and I quit. In fact I knew in the first month itself that I had to quit. And I did. Back then, I was still fresh out of b-school and I still believed that I could change the world. I was still hopeful. I was dreamy. And I knew I loved advertisements. And thus I decided that I had to join an advertising agency. With no portfolio to speak of (I did not even know what a portfolio meant), I approached a recruiter and asked her to find me openings. [grind]. She told me that I could be a brand planner at best and none of the bigger agencies would hire me and I would have to take a pay cut. So I interviewed with two “startups”, both accepted me and the person who offered me more money, I joined him. And it was the best damn move of my life. [luck].

For the next two years I worked with Raj at CLA. I saw Vikram and Raj build up a team and a body of work that was / is enviable. I learnt the business, met some amazing folks (some are friends till date) and most importantly, realised that I wasn’t good enough. So, a time came when I had to move on. Plus Raj had shown me that my world is not limited to my batchmates and peers and all that.

Quit CLA to start something with a friend. I did not work out. Joined an events agency (not that I knew what events management was – I trusted the guy (Suvi at Gravity) and took a leap of faith. [luck]. It was the second best move ever. Next three years I worked really hard [grind], travelled the world, learnt how “real” businesses are managed and grew a lot as a person. I also realised that I am an adrenaline junkie. Well, not a junkie per se but I love on-the-spur decision. I love live entertainment. I love action. I love travel. I love to make people happy. And most importantly, I learnt that I am cut out for the business of events.

Quit Gravity to startup yet again. This time with another set of friends. Each day at 5times5 was a battle. We tried a lot of things, most failed and yet we kept at it. [grind] It was the toughest thing that I’ve ever done in my life. Could’ve done more. Could’ve hustled more. But I could not. I still believe I could’ve done it better. Anyhow, while we sustained business for almost 18 months (purely because of the hardwork that my partners put in, we never broke even, leave alone getting profitable), it got reaffirmed in my head that I need freedom and independence in how I work. We eventually shut the business, moved on and I was lucky to find a job fairly fast. With a social media agency. [luck]. This time, the guys who hired me took a leap of faith, by hiring someone like me who was new to this whole social media thing. But I think I did ok. But it got stifling pretty fast and I wasnt good enough for them to bend the rules for me. And I had learnt the importance of time by then. So, quit them in about 6 months.

Started freelancing – thanks to (Sanjay at SWL), they offered me the first gig. And from there on, I hustled really hard. I told everyone I knew that I am in the market and I can work on brand planning, social media and / or events. People couldn’t fathom how could one guy do all three (and they still dont get it). I was ridiculed (I still get ridiculed). I kept at it. [hustle]. I got a few projects that helped me pay my bills and survive in Mumbai. Oh, I was lucky that I did not have to send money back home. [luck].

And then, one fine day, I struck gold. A guy I worked for knew a guy who knew another guy who was looking for a brand planner for a project in Nigeria. [luck]. I knew nothing about Nigeria and the guy who was hiring me knew nothing about me. He offered for some reason and I needed the money, so I took the gig. Did pretty well with that project (I think) and starting getting more work from the guy. With each piece of work, we got comfortable with each other and started working on more things. Think of a positive feedback loop. So much so that today Rajesh (at Viscomm) and I have partnered to setup an events management business, C4E. And I spend bulk of my time working with him at Viscomm and C4E. And this is where I am.

And now that I am at it, lemme answer a few more questions that C did not ask.

Will I do this for rest of my life?
I dont know. I have never planned my life and I dont think I can plan. I take things as they come and then react. All I know is that each year, I need to build on what I did in the year before.

What is next?
Again, I dont know. One things for sure. For the next few years, I am going to build C4E and grow AWSL. I have a clear idea about how I want C4E to evolve (an entertainment conglomerate). And a vague idea about what I want AWSL to be (enabler for other businesses). Will explain what I mean by this and intend these to be, in subsequent posts. For the time being, I think I am enjoying where I am. Wish me luck!

Oh, one more thing. Apart from “work”, there are a few things that excite me and I want to explore further. I dont know how and when and where and why etc. but I will. These are:

  • Writing. I did write a book in 2014. And I am working (albeit very slowly) on the next. And I will probably write a few more before I die. So, writing is on the cards. 
  • Music. I want to play guitar. And I will learn it someday. 
  • Fitness. I really want to get fit. So I will probably spend a lot of time in the coming years on my fitness. I have made a promise to myself that I will scale Mt. Everest before 2025. So that. 
  • Compete. I want to compete in some sport at the international level. At 34, I am too old to be an athlete. So, I will probably pick up a sport like Pool, Snooker or Poker. So may be that. 
  • Teach. I dont know if I am wise enough to teach. But I have been in front of students and I love the feeling. I love being the enabler and I want to give teaching a sincere shot. 
That’s it I guess. Thank you C for helping me think on this. While I was writing this, I realised that I’ve been extremely lucky in life. I may not have a house and I may not earn as much as my peers do, but I have a lot to be thankful for. I just hope things work out and I do make the ding. And I do become the richest man in the world! After all somethings never change – even if its been 10 years since you passed out of MDI. You are a change master and you can and you will change the world! No?

P.S.: And, if you have time, you must read the story of Prof. Bakshi.



P.P.S.: Another epiphany. All these people that I have met, all the things that I have done, is because I went out and made tons of loose connections. Last few months I have stopped doing that. I need to re-start. 

The King of Rivers

I have always known that I want to play some sport professionally. But then at my age and my physical fitness level, I am not too sure if I can compete on physical games with younger, faster and nimbler people. So that rules out most of the sports that are recognize universally. Had to find something else. So right now, poker seems like a good option. I am not that good with it but I think its a game of skill and if you work on it, you can improve it. Why do I think its a game of skill? Because like all other games of skill, there are a few players who consistently do better than everyone else. They have been playing for ages and there has been a gradual improvement in their game, again a hallmark of all skill based games.

But no one can refute the role that luck plays in poker. After all you dont know what those 5 community cards would be and you definitely dont know what hole cards do your opponent have. Even while playing, when you have seen the flop, you never know what the turn or the river is going to be. You need to rely on probability theory and, unfortunately, luck! And ever since I have started playing, I dont think I have ever been this lucky. I am hitting the river so often that its not funny. Its as if the God is on my side and is dealing the exact cards that I want. Its as if I am the King of Rivers and I command the cards to flip my way. 
I wish I could remain this lucky for next few years when I up the ante and start playing in poker tournaments around the world. Ofcourse I am not too sure if I would ever do that but I have all the plans to give my lifelong dream a very serious shot. And no, I refuse to get in the debate about poker being a sport!