It was a small dinner with a transporter last night. As I sat there enjoying the Kashmiri delicacies – Ristae, Rogan Josh, Gushtaab, Sheekh Kabab and Mirch-wangan korma (Ya I ate all that!!), two things struck me.
One was the Similarities in Diversity. Sanchit, after his trip to Srinagar had remarked that he didn’t understand the language in the markets of Chennai. But he didn’t expect the same in North India(Kashmir) as well. But yesterday, I observed the Similarities. As I started eating Spoon, Fork, Knife etc, it was recommended to use hands. So rice was mixed with the Ristae like it is mixed with Sambhar and eaten in the same ‘andaaz‘ as till now I had seen only South Indians eat.
I found it quite amusing.
The second thing which struck me was the extent to which an entrepreneur has to keep his senses open to happenings around him to survive, compete and grow. The guy treating us was a transporter – with a fleet of trucks which carry oil from the IOC facilities to various retail outlets, army, air bases etc. He was interested to know the effect of China skirmishes in Ladakh region to his potential growth. The link is quite simple but it has to be observed. Due to the China factor, there has been an increased movement of army towards the Ladakh region. The area experiences extreme weather conditions hence to meet the fuel demand in the winters, something called Advanced Winter Stocking or AWS is done during summer months. Now with increased army presence and the potential longevity of the issue at hand, the demand – both current and for winters is going to be high. This means many more numbers of trucks required to carry the fuels from here – more so because it takes much more time for them to supply and return than say a trip to Srinagar or Kargil. Hence, with increased requirement means he has to take a decision to invest capital to buy more trucks (and eventually increase his profits – somebody has to take it!!).
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