Why you should speak to strangers | Praveen Wadalkar | TEDxIESMCRC

0:19 I think there is something common between your mom and my mom I remember as a child whenever I used to go out alone my mom used to call me Praveen come here listen carefully you are traveling alone make sure son you don't speak to strangers don't trust them I would have died with this believed until I decided to become a solo traveler not just because I've traveled solo that doesn't mean that I don't work in my life around IT company I founded this company six years ago but then I realized even if you are doing the world's most creative job but if you are doing it again and again every day it is

1:04 still monotonous and why not any kills so to kill the monotony in my life I decided to become a solo traveler but my solo travel is interesting are some simple rules for my solo travel example if I'm traveling in India I spend only 300 rupees per day which includes my straight travel food everything so I'm hungry I sit down neck if I'm tired I just lie down and whenever I'm ready to move there is always someone to pick me up absolutely free or to me this is absolute comfort but there is something else I do to make my solo trip more interesting more special I play a game

1:52 with strangers because in this kind of solo trips you meet strangers I have given name to this game and the name of the game is game of trust because in solo trips sometimes we meet some strangers and when you meet them your heart your body your soul with screen the words of your mother don't trust this stranger but in this game I have to do exactly opposite I have to trust I played this game 24 times in my life let me share three episodes with you today let me take you to Shawn Tina Kate eastern part of India I was going there from Kolkata to portray and I was sitting in the train enjoying my tea and suddenly someone came from behind tapped my shoulder hey where are you going

2:39 I said I'm going to shunt indicator he said don't go - Anthony get and go to Sri indicating I said I never heard this place he said there's some festival going on there I said okay I will see and then he disappeared I raised the station I was outside the station and I noticed some shouting excuse me I'm going to shrink it and will you come with me now in my solo trip anything offered free gets automatic precedence or everything I decided to set with him then we exchanged some views on thoughts and then we reached Shree negate them and I know this is extremely remote area and he said Praveen where are you staying tonight I said I have no idea I'm a solo

3:24 traveler and then he said I'd have married and for a moment I thought is this a follow-up question or a connected or standalone question then he started pitching his tent and then instead probably I don't mind sharing my tent with you and I was standing there like a fool I said Praveen come on he has fooled you right from the Train he has misguided you you have a bag we have gadgets you have laptop what if he does something wrong with that oh wait a minute what if we do something wrong with me is that the reason he asked me I remarried or not Merritt and my heart my body my soul started this screaming the words of my mother don't trust this stranger and very next moment I decided to trust because I was being a trust came I decided to stay with him so what

4:10 happened next I will tell you wait let me take you to another place gokon near goa beautiful place it was around 10 p.m. raining very heavily too dark now is struggling for the stay wherever I was going they were saying are you traveling alone we don't give stay to those people who travel alone surprisingly beyond my understanding I'm traveling alone not with a girl come on and then I reached one guesthouse four rooms on the top all four were locked one uncle was sitting down wearing white color shirt I assume he's the owner of the guesthouse and before he say no to me I said uncle why they are not giving stair to those who are travelling alone and he said

4:56 just few days ago person like you checked in in one guesthouse and committed suicide police came and the cancel the license of that guesthouse I said sad but why the cancel the light of that guesthouse he said police is suspecting murder during this conversation I could able to convince him for the room and then I was just going up using staircase all lady shouted from behind excuse me when I turned back what scared ladies pardon my language but that lady was not looking beautiful that day and she said this is your water bottle there's no water in the room I noticed there's no water in my bag also I was sitting in the room and when you have just listened the

5:42 words like murder society police it is enough to increase the adrenaline level in your body to make you feel now wasn't skeptical about everything in the world and I started feeling praveen you are at the wrong place at the wrong time and maybe the wrong thing in your hand that water bottle maybe they've added something in this what if they have added something wait a minute is do the same guest house where murder happened or is the same room and my heart my body my soul started screaming the words of my mother pravin don't trust this stranger don't drink this water a very next moment I decided to drink that water because I was playing a trust game and I have to

6:28 trust so what happened next I will tell you wait let me take you to call animal Asia Australian Metro and suddenly my eyes got locked on one beautiful stranger now you travel anywhere in the world this is the easiest way to start conversation with any stranger just do this you got a smile vibe start the conversation and god I got smiled back and during the conversation she asked so where are we going Praveen I said I am going to a station called cyber Jaya and from there I might go to one University she said but that university is far away from the station I said and she said how you will go I said have a manager my solo travel I will take a lift and she

7:13 said don't worry prevent my husband is coming to pick me up we will drop you there because we are going that side of me I was pleasantly surprised husband came I opened the car i sat inside the car and then we had good discussion with the husband reactions viewers reaction stories reactions are movin lumbers and the university came they dropped me and whenever just moving husband said wait where are you eating tonight I said I have no ideas I will see ok what time you are closing your work here I said around 10 o'clock ok do one thing give me a call around 10 o'clock I will pick you from here I was so happy I went to the University enjoy the after a long tour I came back and I reached her Here

8:00 I am at the same place and I thought let me try the mobile number of my new Malaysian friend I danced a number but it went on samalisha an automated system I thought maybe he is busy so again after 10 to 15 mins again I dialed the number it was again on automated Malaysian systems I give it to someone else and he said hey sir someone is giving give me the wrong number this number doesn't exist it was 10:30 oh wait a minute he has my number so he will call me 10:45 11 o'clock and then I said no my heart my body my soul again started screaming the words of my mother Praveen come on don't be a fool just out of curiosity someone asked you

8:46 for the food doesn't mean you stop here like it in a 1 o'clock don't trust that stranger he's not going to come back but when he next moment I decided to trust because I was playing a trust game so what happened next what happened next in all these episodes ladies and gentlemen that day enshrining eaten in that tent I met a friend a friend of my lifetime he's a soulful singer and whole night we were just singing and dancing the same lady was not looking beautiful in the night knocked the door in the morning I opened the door and she said son will you take tea or coffee around 11 o'clock

9:32 she called me my new friend from Malaysia I said hey Robin I was still working you're waiting for your car I saved his number incorrectly and that day Oh stranger from Malaysia invited a stranger from India at his home for dinner and stay I played this game twenty four times ladies and gentleman and 22 times I won but what what does a win means to me or what this win means to be all it means that if I had not changed my belief towards strangers my approach towards strangers I would have not trusted more than 96% people in my life who are trustworthy I mean I don't trust people who don't make

10:19 relationship it means I would have lost opportunity to build a relationship with more than 96% what a big loss for an individual the simple innovation in my belief helping me to build relationship with strangers wait a minute when I said strangers I'm not talking about some strange people I meet on the road the strangers everywhere the strangers in the class that strange in the office speak to them trust and make relationship that strangers near home maybe your neighborhood maybe they're strangers inside your home speak to them trust them make relationship I know few

11:08 of you might be thinking come on Praveen be practical there hasn't bad people on this planet of course there are they are so bad as if they don't belong to this planet they belong to some dark dirty planet that's so bad but can I ask you a question when was the last time you met the bad person in your life how many of you know a murderer personally or a rapist personally or even a pickpocket or personally there are bad people but they are very less and just because of the these few bad people that's not the whole world suffer because world is full of people like you good people that's why when I send my son to mountains he loves mountains last for

11:55 years every every year almost for 10 to 15 days he goes to Himalayan mountain without parents but when he was going last year I said son come here listen very carefully you are travelling alone make sure you speak to strangers trust them make relationships thank you [Applause] you