Awarded the
“Rodinstar” Post
of the week!!
Celebrate the small everyday win’s.
Let the win’s overshadow the losses and you will eventually get to a point where the journey will itself be the biggest win!
Here is a short story about what it means for me to be an entrepreneur…
— A true story — happened to me yesterday —
My startup is powering AutoExpo 2014 in Delhi by making it an RFID enabled experience for all visitors and delegates. This is NOT a story about AutoExpo. Heck, it is not even about RFID.
This is a story of what it means to have an entrepreneurial mindset 100% of the time.
So I left home for the airport with 1:30 hours to spare.
Technically, I should have got there in 45 minutes. And I have, for the last 3 trips since the 4 new flyovers opened on Bangalore’s new airport road – it has gotten to be a shorter trip.
Today, however, the BBMP decided that the Hebbal flyover (it’s busy, like Dhaula Kuan in Delhi!) needs a new layer of tar in the middle of a work-day (yup, 12 noon). This lead a massive traffic jam and non-moving traffic.
Waiting in traffic got to a point where I was sure I am going to miss this flight and maybe get shouted at by the organisers of AutoExpo (my customers) for being late, etc, etc.
But then it hit me, I’ve not really worked hard to make this happen. I’ve not tried hard!
I’m just sitting and feeling sorry for myself.
There is no “doer” from the “Thinkers. Doers” in just sitting and feeling sorry for myself.
Why should success come to me for just sitting in an A/C car and being driven around town by someone else?
So I did what I had to do to make a potential negative into a positive …
I decided that I am NOT going to let any outside force (fate, the govt, anything) decide this for me.
1) Got out of the car with my two bags.
2) Started jogging. (between the cars! There is no foot-path on the Hebbal flyover!)
3) Jogged for about a kilometer till I saw some bikers who were out of the traffic jam.
4) Flagged down a few of them. One of them understood my dilemma and let me hitch-hike a ride on his bike.
5) This kind gentleman dropped me off at Yelahanka where I saw a cab parked by the roadside.
6) The cab driver was still having chai, and did not seemed motivated enough.
So I did what anyone does in a negotiation where you “want” something.
From the movie The Godfather, I made “An offer you cannot refuse”!
I offered him a flat 1000 bucks to get me to the airport. This is 3x the normal fare from Yelahanka.
7) Got to the airport fully-well knowing I was too late.
Instead of reaching 45 minutes before departure time. I’ve reached maybe 10-15 minutes late!
8) Even the security guard was like “whats the use of going in? counter bandh ho gaya”
The entrepreneur in me thinks “I’ve not come all this way for nothing. Try to karna padega”
9) Walk up to the lady behind the check-in counter and say “handbags only, can you still let me check-in?”.
She smiles back and says “you just made it with few seconds left. I am just starting to log-off”.
And then she points at the board that says “counter closes 30 minutes prior to flight departure time”.
30 minutes.
Not 45.
30 minutes.
— end of story —
I am typing this after an on-time arrival at Delhi airport and on the way to Pragati Maidan for the AutoExpo setup.
It’s going to be a great RFID enabled event and I hope I can meet some Dilli-walla Rodinhooders here!
_____________________________________
PS: Indigo allows checkin upto 30 minutes prior to boarding time. I only found this out today.
I believed I knew the fact that the cut-off is 45 minutes. How many of you knew this?
But imagine if I had not done even a single thing right…
1) Waited in the car instead of getting out in the middle of a flyover = Not wanting to think outside the box.
2) Walked instead of jogged on the flyover (it was sunny and I had 2 bags).
3) Spent few minutes negotiating with the cab driver (I’m a Marwari too!)
4) Listened to the negative attitude of the security guard (There will always be people who tell you that you cannot do this or you will not be successful in that)
5) I thought I knew everything. I “knew” the counter closes at 45 minutes cut-off. I was wrong.
The one thing NOT to learn from my story: Do not start going late to the airport assuming 30 minutes is the new cut-off time for all airlines. LOL.