Logistics is a real deal!

I recently came back from my solo trip across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

During this trip, there’s one aspect of life I’ve come to appreciate a lot: the logistics and supply chain of everything around us.

If there is something I have enjoyed the most on the trip, it is asking every random vendor and shopkeeper:

From where did you source this coconut? How did it get here?

How about the coffee? How about the chocolates?…

For many of us living in cities, our understanding of logistics begins and ends with the 10-minute grocery delivery or the convenience of the shop around the corner.

But there is so much more to the journey of every little thing in your home.

For example, every piece of fruit at every shop had its own unique story and journey.

Some had a very simple journey: “Oh, there is a local farm here; a truck goes there and collects it from the farm. We purchase it from the truck driver.”

While others required a complex nexus of 7-8 touchpoints across different states before finally reaching the shop, which just fascinated me.

I planned my trip in such a way that every week brought me a new ‘environmental shock’.

From a few days in a metro city, I would immediately move to a remote village, then to a smaller urban city, and finally to a town or hill station.

Apart from the differences in weather and pace of life, there was a very clear difference in the logistics of each place.

In cities, you pretty much get everything at every corner.

However, as you move towards a village, you realize there are very specific centers for everything.

There will be one market around which everything happens.

There are probably only a few trucks supplying the resources from other places.

If there is a delay or any issue, you immediately sense the chaos because the entire village depends on those few vehicles.

It’s just crazy to think about how many factors affect this seemingly simple system.