Circa 2014 I had started a smalltime consulting business with 2 acquaintances. Started off as “let me design a website for your saree and bed sheets shop”, and then one fine day we were a critical part of entire APAC retail banking of a major overseas bank “digitally transforming” some of their core processes and workforce management. Somewhere between those two days, was my 4-week mini-sabbatical. A friend was building a large guest house in Ranikhet and called me because the “weather was nice and he had supplies (iykyk)”. Those 4 weeks, he insisted that I participate in his day to day work, and I humoured him. We woke up before sunrise every day, lugged lumber, chaffed, chopped, melded, load-tested, sampled wood, the whole shebang of carpentry. I realized what it takes to build a GOOD table, a really good one, which looks unremarkable, but lasts generations. I’d like to believe I came off the mountains as a better builder of digital products as well.