First sip

I'm not sure when it hit me.

It must have been at one of those soulless office parties where the high point was the gossip.

Don't pinch me. I wish I could sleep through this.

Seriously. What was I even doing there? There's got to be more to life and work than this.

You know those conversations you have with people that stir your imagination and make you believe that anything is possible? Exchanges that leave you energized instead of deflated. A lot of them happen over a coffee, or a chai, or a beer.

There is this Bangalore concept of By Two Coffee where two people share a cup of coffee. It's more for the conversation and the company, the coffee just working as a lubricant.

There is no shortage of inspiration around us, just that we don't choose to see or acknowledge it.

You open the newspaper and read about a motley bunch of people that are creating a super cool app or are experimenting with an idea instead of just talking about it. Or a corporate slave who exchanged their pay cheque for organic farming.

You hear about a friend or colleague who has gone ahead and actually created something instead of expending all of their energies on shallow water-cooler conversation or gossip sessions that end with a bruising headache and you ask yourself - 

"How did they get the courage to do that."

"I wish I could pick their brains a little."

"Do they have access to a secret code that I don't?"

That's precisely why I started this podcast.

To have conversations with these people I read about in newspapers. And from friends. 

What are the odds of you randomly asking someone you find interesting - "hey, can I pick your brains" and them replying"sure".

But I found a magic bullet. Sort of.

"Hey, would you like to be on my podcast?"

That shifts conversation.

"Podcast. That sounds interesting. Tell me more."

They say you're the average of the five people that you surround yourself with. It's true. The whole term crab mentality comes from the behavior of crabs when they are placed in a bucket. Any crab that tries to escape is immediately brought back down by the others.

I thought a podcast would be a great way to meet people who inspired me in some way, people I could learn from. 

When something doesn't turn out the way we want it to, we have a list of excuses.

"The client didn't buy it."

"The boss scuttled my idea."

"Not enough money." 

But this podcast is fully handled by me - the editing and the writing. I get to say - "here, I made this." It's all on me. 

The preparing, recording, and editing takes time. But I also get to create something from scratch.   I write about my guests, because, well, I am a writer.

Not being a rich industrialist's kid who has all the resources in the world to make a crappy album doesn't bother me.

So stop by when you have a little time.

Or when you need a different perspective.

When you need an escape from mind-numbing conversation.

Welcome to Coffee By Two, a place where interesting conversations happen over a podcast.