Stumbling but moving forward.

Once upon a time in 2013, I quit my job as a glorified developer in a startup to start up on my own. I assembled my dream team and created AlterSense. AlterSense taught me many things and is still teaching me new things everyday.

Building the nest.

The birds are finally finishing their nest. I don't think anybody is happier than I was to see them finally succeed. For me the end of their struggle meant something more, much more.

It was almost 9 days ago I saw them coming inside my home. It was easy for them to go in and out through the open-to-sky roof of my house. This was an ideal location for their nest, no predators and an easy escape from the weather.

As I lay in the bed lazily I watched them go in and out. Their timing wouldn't be any more perfect as here I was trying to build a nest of my own.

Thirty Hours

"Holy shit! 30 hours on a train."

This was my initial reaction to my trip to Odisha. All the negatives of the Indian Railway came to my mind. The shitty toilet, annoying hijdas and most of all the lack of security for the luggage you carry. But it all changed as I met a wonderful family who shared a little more than half of my journey with me.

Already feeling bored in a 1 and half hour late train's berth I asked the TTE when my neighboring seats would be filled.

Coimbatore.

It would take at least 4 hours to get there. As I had nothing to do I stay there impatiently for some company. At Coimbatore two Telugu guys traveling to Vijayawada and two females one old and one my age, maybe, enter as I prepare to sleep.

Closing Vijayawada I learned that the two women who boarded at Coimbatore were Tamil. As we bid good bye to the guys at Vijayawada station I summoned all my Tamil skills to befriend them.

To my surprise the older woman, the mother, is a malayalee and was married to Coimbatore. The most amazing thing happened when I came to know that they lived close to my brother's in laws' place.

It took us no time to become friendly and we didn't exchange names. Soon the berth was filled with laughs, giggles and sound of us sharing stories and events that we could both relate to.

When we reached Vishakapattanam where the duo had to get down, the mother asked me when we would meet again, with a blank smile I responded that we might not and waved them goodbye. A pair of beautiful smiles replied to my response before they faded into the crowd in Visakhapatnam station.