Fueling Thoughts

A friend took his teenage son to the GNR concert in Mumbai. His neighbour asked him if he managed to get free tickets. I’ve never been much of a concert-goer—even in my younger days, the thought of thousands of crazed, doped, smelly minions crammed into a stadium still makes me gag. But I get asked a similar question whenever I’m invited to speak at an overseas conference: “So, you managed to bag yourself a free foreign trip, heh heh,” —always with a tinge of envy. When I tell them it’s an online event, or that I’m paying my own way, their expressions relax into a strange mix of relief and mockery. A few days ago, my morning began with me telling a wheeler-dealer friend to buzz off. He wanted intel on a niche tech—something I only have peripheral knowledge of—and was trying to coax me into researching and sourcing it. As usual, he was pitching the “huge opportunity” angle. I told him straight: no pay, no work. And reminded him why I gave up consulting in the first place— freeloade...