Ranjay Gulati

I skipped the conciliatory conversation to say, I don't want to, this is not gonna happen.

He was adamant, I am taking your signature today.

I will not leave this room without your signing this paper.

You know, I asked her, I asked afterwards, well, you know, the thing is, Mike, you have to understand the cultural context of India in the 70s, a bit lawless, you know, where this is a thug.

He's a fixer sent by a real estate guy.

This is a pretty lawless thuggy system where the guy is pulling out and showing a gun and he's saying, I'm gonna get your signature today whether you want to or not.

and she had to do something.

I mean, I was home as her son.

My sister was at home, and the guard was outside, and he knew he had the upper hand.

So we can debate the situation and say she could de-escalate.

I've skipped a lot of details.

She tried very hard to conciliate with the guy, and he said, I am taking that signature of yours today.

And he got belligerent from being very polite and conciliatory to belligerent.

And he was a six feet three big guy.

And I think the point to take is, we can debate the story and the merits of the story.

I think the point I wanna take from this is that, we all experience fear in uncertain situations.

And some of us, most of us will freeze up.

And sometimes you have to do something drastic.

To understand that, you have to understand that where does fear originate?

Fear is a primal survival instinct.