Conversations give us a chance to refine ideas of which we previously had only a vague concept… We clarify ideas by putting them into words. When we pass ideas back and forth (in a conversation), we create a rhythm in which one remark stimulates another. An off-hand comment prompts a distant memory. Conversations divide and unite unrelated concepts into relevant thoughts. Dialogues become collaborations, a concert of thought, the creation of a common understanding.
[thro' innovationtools.com]
What If I don’t?
So as you daydream about starting your own company, you search for product ideas, and you discard all of the ones which would already have a known competitor. Eventually, you find an idea which is completely unique. Nobody is selling anything like it. Finally, the path before you is clear! So you proceed to build your killer app. Of course, you are terrified that somebody else will discover your amazing idea, so you keep everything a secret. You setup a small office in the corner of your basement and paint the windows black. You tell your wife you are downstairs looking at porn so she won’t get suspicious about what’s really going on. Not a single human being on earth gets a glimpse of your product until you are finally ready to unveil your 1.0 release. You emerge from stealth mode and wait for the world to overload your web storefront with traffic. But the orders don’t come in. Several months go by and eventually you realize the truth: The reason nobody else was selling this kind of product already is that nobody really needs it. If any substantial number of people were willing to pay for the solution you created, then somebody else would already be trying to relieve them of their money.
[thro' workhappy.net]
Update: There is a related post I wrote sometime earlier, it is Power of OpenIdeas.
Its surprising that Coimbatore is indicated as Koyampattur. Generally the long-distance buses to the city will have ‘Kovai’ on their route boards. Nowhere it is Koyampattur. Looks like it was documented with such a weird spelling considering the pronunciation. Update:
Koyampattur is Coimbatore on VirtualEarth (M$ answer to GoogleEarth)
With the discontent of not meeting even a single carnivore, we went back to our cottages. The next item was the screening of a Documentary on Nagarhole forests. The picture was put-up using an LCD projector. The speakers from Creative did the audible communication. Nagarhole has the highest density of Asiatic Tigers. Sure, it had been added to my expedition list.
The night was cold and breezy. There was fire lighted-up and we all sat around, close to it. We were not the only gang in that JungleLodge, there were other visitors as well, but all paired-ones. The surrounding was illuminated in a meagre brightness from the fireplace. The sky was dense with stars. There were sounds of people gaging and teasing. Damn! Would be perfect for a honeymoon vacation.
Ok. Then was food for the night. The dinner was perfect along with the gulab-jamoon. We all accumulated in one cottage to chit-chat. We mastigated and chewed a lot of things relating to the workplace. The time was 11:30pm. We halted to sleep for not having anything more to grind.
The wake-up call came at 6:00am, the next day. We prepared ourselves for the climb. It was a 2 and 1/2 hour trek. Initially, we walked through a plain and then the hilly region came in. We climbed quite fast and we were at the top of it. The wind was wet and had a considerable velocity. The forestman who took us through the way, had a double-barreled gun and was gazing the forest in a binocular. We sat there for quite sometime. The gunman, all of sudden pointed his fingers towards the forest. He had found a herd of Pachyderms, grazing down the hill. We all except Jon had a good glimpse of them. He couldn’t find them even using the binoculars. We had a hard time in helping him to spot them. The sun showed up hot and bright. We climbed down for the breakfast. We had to check-out at 11:00am. And we did that.
On the wasy back to B’lore, we stopped at Nanjankund. There is a Temple of Lord Shiva. He happened to be the Family God for Chandru, one of our accomplice. I had to pay some rupees to get the prasadham, which I didn’t do. Then from there it was Ranganathittu. It is a bird sanctuary on on the banks of the Cauvery River. We got to see a couple of fresh water crocodiles. The birds were mostly of stork genus.
We again stopped at CafeDay during our return journey. It was crowded again. I told you, it is at a strategic location. People refreshed and spent some time relaxing. Then we zoomed into B’lore. The heavy-n-noisy traffic welcomed us back in the city.
2nd & 3rd of July made us Jungle’e Boys. Yes! Have been to Bandhipur to mark our parting with Jon. We just wanted to spend the last hours of us with him together. Jon is leaving us to pursue his studies in Mechatronics. All the best, Dude.
Amith & Reddy had brought their cruisers. Myself, Gullu & Gones were in Reddy’s Zen while Chandru, Jon & Dutta came in Amith’s Indica. We started at about 6:00am from B’lore. Nothing stopped us except the early morning rituals. We were looking for a good place to *do* the dew. CafeDay came in our way.
CafeDay is located right in the middle of b’lore-mysore highway. Though their hoardings claim just a 10Km away, but they were actually far-off. The time was around 8:30am and I just couldn’t believe the amount crowd in that place. The salesmen were busy and brisky. The place had some awesome interiors. Glass walls till the Roof - Pretty Wallposters - Neat Showcases - Ample Seating. They had a nice large leather couch; we rested ourselves there. Each guy in our gang ordered for a distinctive drink. My order was something like *___ Irish ___* Phew! It tasted as if somebody had added huge amounts of complan (choco flavour) in water and served it after allowing it to boil for hours together. Obviously, I coudn’t relish mine.
We were actually headed towards a lodge owned by JungleLodges, a unit of Karnataka Government’s Tourism Department - currently managed by the State Forest Department officials. You should see their office in M.G Road. I’m really surprised. Every guy in that office has a flat-panel monitor in front of him. They are all Relations officers. Their phones rang uninterruptedly - atleast in the time I visited. They answered calls in a cordial-n-pleasant manner, checking the status of the venues on their PCs. They even suggest places considering the weather. Everybody talks in English man!! rare to notice in a Govt. office. Their interiors were woodish & themed in brown.
We reached the place at around 11:30am and checked in. Me and Gullu were put-up in a single cottage. The room was neat and clean. They had built it just a year back.
Our agenda was ThatDay: Enter -> Lunch -> Rest/Relax -> Tea -> Evening Safari -> A Documentary Film on Nagarhole -> CampFire with Barbeque/Drinks -> Dinner -> Rest/Relax/Sleep. Next Day: Early Morning Trek -> Breakfast -> Rest/Relax -> Exit
The Safari in the evening was thrilling. We were taken in an open-top HM-RTV Ranger. The weather was cool with slight drizzles. We spotted Spotted Deers, Sambar, Peafouls, Gaurs, Wild-Boar, Hare and some uncommon monkeys. We were unfortunate and missed the sighting of Tigers, Cheetahs and Bears. The encounter we had with a heard of Elephants was nerve-pricking. We blocked their way when they were about to cross the highway. We gave them the way when the Head of the Group - a gaint animal, grunted like the sound of a trumpet. It took the rest of the group to cross. Our cameras couldn’t capture such sights convincingly, owing to feeble lighting.
