Two stories

Have you ever seen people trying to get into a crowded bus in Mumbai? The people already in the bus will resist your trying to enter and once you are in, you will become the same. You will complain about other people trying to board an already full bus and reducing the space available to you.

SJ was a friend I had known for a long time. He carried a British passport because he had spent his youth in Aden and after the troubles there, had gone to the UK and gained the right of abode there. He had a good job here and used to visit the UK once in a while. Every time he returned, he used to complain that Indians were literally invading London and it was not livable there any more. His complaints grew in magnitude with every visit till he finally shifted residence there and we lost touch.

The other story is about a niche mall where we had opened shop. Since the mall was not fully occupied, people who had already taken up tenancy there would paint rosy pictures to prospective tenants. So that the mall may fill up and start doing better, eventually benefiting all tenants. We were also guilty of taking this approach.

So, the moral of those stories is that if it is good, you don't want to share it with others. But if it is bad, you want others in.