On Second Thoughts — Supraja

Imagine walking into your new job. Everyone is speaking confidently. Throwing around terms you’ve never heard before. Solving problems like it’s nothing. And you’re just there… Trying to understand what’s even going on. At first, you tell yourself it’s fine. “It’s just day one.” “I’ll figure it out.” But then something slowly creeps in. Not excitement. Not motivation. FOMO. Not the usual kind—the one where you feel like you’re missing out on experiences. This one is different. This is the kind where you feel like you’re missing out on being enough . You start noticing things. How easily others speak. How quickly they understand. How naturally they seem to fit in. And without realizing it, you start comparing. “What if I can’t catch up?” “What if I underperform?” “What if I don’t belong here?” That’s when the real panic begins. You don’t say it out loud. Instead, you adjust. - >  You stay quiet in meetings, even when you have doubts. - >  You nod along, pretending you und...

  First Day: Between Fear, Learning, and a Quiet Confidence I didn’t expect my first day to feel like this. A new job was already overwhelming. But a new city and a completely unfamiliar language made it even more intense. Everything felt new—too new. The roads, the people, the conversations… even the smallest things felt unfamiliar. And then came the bigger realization. Starting From Scratch This wasn’t just a new job. It was a completely new environment with processes I had never worked with before. On top of that, my academic background didn’t exactly align with what I was stepping into. Which meant one thing—I had a lot to learn, and I had to learn fast. That’s where the fear really started. Not the kind that stops you, but the kind that keeps asking: “Will I be able to catch up?” “Am I already behind?” The First Day Reality Walking into the office didn’t feel like a proud moment. It felt like stepping into the unknown. New faces. New expectations. New s...

Is it really just bad service? Ordering food on a train sounds simple. You select your station, place the order, and expect it to be delivered to your seat as planned. The idea feels convenient, and most of the time, the delivery itself is on time. But even when the timing works, something else doesn’t.  And that’s where the experience starts to feel unreliable. What I experienced repeatedly I’ve ordered food on trains multiple times.  And something consistent kept happening. Out of two items: one would be correct the other would be wrong Not once. Not twice. But almost every time. At that point, it stopped feeling like a one-time mistake.  It started feeling like a pattern. One situation that explains it clearly In one of my recent orders: I had ordered: 1 classic corn – ₹119 1 cheese garlic bread – ₹169 Total (after discount): ₹291 But what I actually received: 1 classic corn – ₹119 1 classic bread stix – ₹119 Revised value: ₹231 That’s a ...

Do we move through things too quickly? I think most of us move through things a little too quickly. Something works, something doesn’t, and we accept the first explanation that makes sense. It’s easy, and most of the time, it feels enough. But I’ve started realizing that it usually isn’t. There’s almost always something more going on — something we don’t immediately notice, but that quietly shapes how things actually turn out. Where did this start for me? I didn’t start with the intention of analyzing everything. It just came from small moments. Situations where things felt slightly off — not wrong, just… not fully explained. Like when a simple process becomes unnecessarily frustrating, or when the same kind of problem keeps showing up in different places. Or even how people react strongly to things they don’t completely understand. I found myself pausing in those moments instead of moving on. What did I start noticing over time? Over time, I noticed a pattern. Different sit...