Let me get back to my childhood. We used to stay in a small place called Etawah. I am talking about late seventies here. We used to celebrate 3 festivals. Holi, Diwali and Eid. The schedule on Diwali and Eid was pretty much the same. Go around the town with dad and eat to your heart’s content. It was an occasion to connect up and ask haal–chaal. And then there were occasions of marriage in town and I always saw my dad manage the kitchen and those days were different in terms of how marriages were organized. It was not outsourced like it is nowadays. And then when someone died anywhere in town, my dad was always there to lend his shoulder to the departed soul. The principle of networking was simple, be there in happiness and be there in sadness.
And let us turn the clock ahead by thirty years. Things have changed. Festivals have evolved and so have the people. Principles of networking have also evolved. People are taught networking in colleges. People signup for things ranging from golf to NGOs just to network. It has almost become like a sales exercise. Networking has turned out to be an extremely selfish exercise.
What if we could follow rather simple rules for networking. I mean just try to help people and hope some goodness comes back to you. I know this is a bit idealistic, but give it a shot, and let me know if worked for you.