Fabrice’s Story I met Janita for the first time on the screen. The Mayor was there, but he said he was not there. He said it was only his ghost. Of course, he was still there, because The Mayor is never completely not there. He also said I could use a joker card, like in…
On a sunny afternoon, somewhere between school stress and weekend excitement, Sarah logs into her meeting a little late—but glowing. “I’m really happy,” she says, proudly sharing her English test result: 15 out of 20. It’s a small moment, but it sets the tone for something bigger. Beneath the laughter, the corrections, and the casual…
In a cozy corner of Germany, Babette logs into her weekly English meeting with Janita, her cheerful facilitator dialing in from sunny South Africa. What unfolds isn’t just grammar practice—it’s a lively exchange of real life, full of school struggles, sweet desserts, and the beautifully messy business of motherhood. From the very first “hello,” it’s…
It begins, as many good Lunch meetings do, slightly off-balance. Frank is talking about invoices. Natalie is planning temple stays and apartment moves across continents. Janita is trying to keep an agenda afloat. And somewhere in between, Rosie arrives—half-smiling, half-suffering, carrying a migraine like an uninvited guest she couldn’t quite leave at home. And yet,…
The Discipline of Avoidance There is a moment—very small, almost invisible—when a conversation stops being about “health” and starts being about us. It usually begins with a harmless question. What is one healthy habit you fully believe in… but actively avoid? At first, we think we can answer politely. Drink more water. Sleep earlier. Walk…
It began, quite unexpectedly, with a joke about an “energy tree.” Three men, sitting across three continents, imagined a place where you could simply pluck energy like fruit and eat it. Ritesh smiled at that image. In India, there is always some connection between nature and life — trees, rivers, seasons — but at the…
He didn’t look like someone who had made a mistake. That was the strange part. Alexander sat there calmly, almost thoughtfully, describing the moment that had taken him off the pitch. A red card. Two games suspended. The kind of thing that, from the outside, looks impulsive. Emotional. Maybe even reckless. But the way he…
It is Monday morning, and I sit there with my coffee, thinking how strange it is that something as simple as food can change everything between people. I always liked good food. Not just eating—no, the whole thing. The smell, the place, the people sitting together. For me, that is where business really starts. Not…
Why rest is not the opposite of progress—but its foundation There is a moment most of us recognize. You are sitting at your desk, looking at the same sentence for the third time. Or standing in your kitchen, unsure why you walked in. Or answering a message you don’t really have the energy to answer….
Some Lunch meetings arrive politely, take a seat, and unfold in an orderly fashion. This was not one of them. This one clattered in wearing muddy shoes, carrying a giant water bottle, muttering about life choices, and shouting “Doodle Horse!” like it had just discovered the meaning of existence in a stationery cupboard. And somehow,…
