I Am A Stranger

Ask yourself, “When was the last time you felt like a stranger in an environment?”

- Guru Prasad Makam

It was an obscure remote foreign country and it was a global conference. I was representing our organisation, and in the dead of the night, music, which neither I could comprehend nor enjoy, was screaming from the deck. It was a dinner organised to welcome the delegates of the conference and I had not met any of the participants till that date.

My orange juice looked bright and cheerful and I sipped it gently for a couple of hours. Having travelled a few time zones, I was cautious in my choice of food. A few of the participants had a wholesome meal while I stuck to my known green friends, lettuce and cheese, in spite of a wide spread on the buffet table!

Next to me was a well suited smart looking person, who just shook hands and occasionally smiled at me. Neither he could understand my language, nor could I figure out which country he came from. A few others from the mid-west were present but I chose to interact with them, when they are little soberer! In all I felt like a stranger in that unfamiliar environment; cold, hungry and tired, yet I loved the settings.

Back home, I thought, dinner with friends and family has always been enjoyable with the warmth that years of association brings in and the familiar food cuisine adds to it! I realized that was my comfort zone! But as an entrepreneur, I should throw myself into uncomfortable zones and yet feel comfortable in them as quickly as possible… I need to be a stranger to begin with!