gaayapadda hrudayam.. bokka padda boat laantidi...
prematho iodine vesi poodchaale gaani..
dvesham tho acid poyyakudadu....!!
prematho iodine vesi poodchaale gaani..
dvesham tho acid poyyakudadu....!!
Gaayam
Nee andam tho padagottav...
Maatalatho muripinchaav...
Amayakatvam tho aakattukunnaav...
Vaalu jada tho valapu kuripinchav...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nee katina manasutho...
Naa hrudayaanni pade pade gaaya parchaku priyaa..!!!
Idi naa SwtHrt ki ankitham..!!
Maatalatho muripinchaav...
Amayakatvam tho aakattukunnaav...
Vaalu jada tho valapu kuripinchav...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nee katina manasutho...
Naa hrudayaanni pade pade gaaya parchaku priyaa..!!!
Idi naa SwtHrt ki ankitham..!!
Khwahish..
This was my first hindi movie watched in theater. Watched this along with my friends John, Jak and Naresh when I was in diploma first year. I didn't know the meaning of it until we came out of theater..
You have shown me a blue film.. I was kidding with my friends. The movie was full of kisses.
You have shown me a blue film.. I was kidding with my friends. The movie was full of kisses.
Why Terrorism Takes Center Stage?
Whenever a terror attack happens, the few things that are observed over next few days are
1. What is the death toll.
2. Who is visiting the site.
3. What are the packages for the people who died and injured.
4. What is public reaction.
And if a train accident or a major road accident happens, what do we see? A five minute news coverage and after that everything is forgotten.
Nobody visits the site, packages will be small when compared to terrorist attack and no one comments on it.
But the number of people suffered by terrorism are far less than those suffered by accidents. But still we ignore the major problem and point finger at a small problem.
This happens because for accidents people are responsible and for terror attacks government security is responsible.
Chandassu
utpalamAla
bha ra na bha bha ra va
caMpakamAla
na ja bha ja ja ja ra
SArdUlaM
ma sa ja sa ta ta ga
mattEbhaM
sa bha ra na ma ya va
--
-GK
13 Life Lessons from Warren and Charlie: Reporting back from 2010 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder’s Meeting
Average Reading Time: 5 minutes
For one day each year, any and all of us get the chance to listen to 6.5 hours of live questions and answers with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (and even ask one of your own if you're lucky). This year almost 40,000 people took advantage of the opportunity. I was one of them. As I was last year and the two years prior to that. The weekend has become an annual highlight that words cannot describe. Despite the fact that it's important for our business in the investment partnership my partner and I run, this is one of the best weekends of the year for learning about life and personal improvement. I love it.
Life Lessons.
To most people's surprise, this is not simply another dry talk on investing and business. It's far from it. The great majority of the meeting revolves around lessons in life, relationships, education and career decisions. These guys have experienced over 160 combined years of amazing life experiences and seen success (and even some failure) on numerous fronts. They are brilliant and happen to be two of the best teachers I have come across in all my reading and learning. And the price of admission…free! Ideally you should be a shareholder but there are plenty of other ways to get into the meeting if you'd like. I have to share some of the most recent pearls with you all. I'll stick to broader life lessons, but feel free to send a note if you'd like more from the business and investing side.
13 Life Lessons from Warren and Charlie:
1. Lose money and I will forgive you, but lose even a shred of reputation and I will be ruthless [Warren]. This has been echoed across the business world for years and it applies to us all. Life is too short to cut corners to make an extra buck. Wealth can always be recreated but reputation takes a lifetime to build and often only a moment to destroy. As Warren says, "we will not trade reputation for money."
2. The best defense in a tough economy is to add the most you can to society. Your money can be inflated away but your knowledge and talent cannot [Warren]. No matter the external circumstances, you are always in control of your talent, learning and passion for life. "There will always be opportunities for talent" as Warren says.
3. We get worried when people start to agree with us [Warren]. The best fruit is found out on the limbs. The road less traveled makes all the difference. Make a rule to always stay on the side of the minority in your life's path and you will likely be greatly rewarded and you'll certainly experience a lot more excitement.
4. We celebrate wealth only when it's been fairly won and wisely used [Charlie]. The goal is not to make money at all costs. It's easy to forget that in a lot of industries and sub-cultures around the U.S. where everyone is in constant competition to keep up with the Joneses. Wealth is worthless if you've destroyed all your relationships to attain it. As Charlie says "take the high road. It's far less crowded." Sad but often true. Makes it pretty easy to stand out.
5. When you are exceptional you jump off the page. There really isn't that much competition there [Warren]. Be your own best competitive advantage. Then it doesn't make a difference what others are doing. You are in control.
6. Do what you're passionate about. If you do this, there will be few people competing or running faster than you [Warren]. The best way to be exceptional is with passion! As Tony Robbins says every day of his life, "Live with Passion!" And trust me, life is a lot more fun this way.
7. I think I developed courage when I learned I could deal with hardship. You need to get your feet wet and get some failure under your belt [Charlie]. Courage does not grow on its own. Just like a muscle, it must be constantly worked out and developed. Life begins outside your comfort zone and that is where your courage is developed. Most people don't succeed because they're afraid to fail. Failure isn't that bad anyway. It will make you tougher and more likely to win the next time around. No one has succeeded without going through their own failures at some point. To try and fail is much better than to never try. Why not get started early and get some of them out of the way! What's the worst that could happen anyway? As big wave surfer Laird Hamilton says "If you're not falling then you're not learning."
- Charlie Learning
8. There's no better way to be happier than getting your expectations down [Charlie]. Most unhappiness comes from misaligned and unrealistic expectations of life. Expect the world of yourself, but expect nothing of the world. Then you cannot help but live your life pleasantly surprised.
9. If I can be optimistic while I'm nearly dead, you can deal with a little inflation [Charlie]. This had the crowd laughing out loud. Life is what you make it. Don't let things get you down. It could always be worse.
10. If the only reason you find for doing something is because others are doing it then that's not good enough [Warren]. Enough said.
11. Bad behavior is contagious. That's how human nature works [Warren]. Watch out for this. It can catch you off guard.
12. We've done a lot of stupid things but we've avoided a small subset of stupidity and that subset is important. It's about avoiding the dumb things [Charlie]. They hammer this every year. Their success does not come from doing so many things right. It comes from avoiding the things that are terribly wrong. Some say this is two sides of the same coin. But it's not. It requires a fundamental shift in psychology. The stories are endless of people who did a few things right and were massively successful, but then did something stupid that took them back to zero. Before Charlie and Warren do anything, they "invert, always invert" as Charlie says. They list every way imaginable in which they could fail at a particular task and then take massive effort to avoid those failures. Do that and the success will come automatically.
13. Go to bed a little wiser than when you woke up [Charlie]. This covers the whole meeting in a word. Life is about learning. If you are always learning you can never lose. Keep this as your only rule for the day and the world will be yours for the taking.
Go to bed a little wiser than when you woke up.
-Charlie Munger
The lessons from Warren and Charlie are endless. We can all stand to learn and be better people from what they are willing to share. They don't charge any money or ask for anything in return. Except of course that we live a life with a burning desire to learn and do all we can to be valuable additions to society. Take these lessons to heart. There will likely not be another Warren and Charlie for a very long time. Take advantage of the education while you can. Do so and I have a feeling success and fulfillment will come naturally.
Thank you Warren and Charlie. We owe you a great deal.
How have the above points improved your life? What have you learned from Warren and Charlie that you'd like to share with us? Please let us know in the comments section below.
Financial planning for people in their 20s
Einstein calls it the 8th wonder of the world. It has power to create enormous wealth for people who persevere and hold on to it. This is compounding rate of return. Compounding return is nothing but earning returns over returns as well as principal.
The wealth created by compounding rate works in favour of those who have larger earning period remaining in their life. This article will focus on such people.
I will worry about it later, I am young and I will have fun for now.
While this is certainly something that all of us do in our young age, we have to also build a discipline to save a part of our income and invest to reap benefits in future. The discipline that we build now will keep us in good stead years later. Let me show the power of compounding.
It assumes a person starts investing Rs 1 per month at various stages of his life till he or she is 65. It means if you are 25 years old, your investment horizon is 40 years while the horizon is 30 years for 35 years old. The table also shows how your future wealth varies with the rate of return.
A 25 year old person who starts investing Rs 1 per month at 10 return till he reaches 65 years of age will have Rs 6324.08 while a 30 year old person will have only Rs 3796.64. At 14 per cent, you will have twice as much wealth than someone who started investing just 5 years later.
If you can start investing Rs 5,000 per month at the interest of 12 per cent from 25th year, you will accumulate 5,88,23,850.00 (5 crore, 28 lakhs, 8 hundred and 50) by the time you turn 65. Does it really look like 8th wonder? You bet.
Where to find money for investment?
Saving 5,000 is not a big deal if you are serious about it. Even if you are able to save 2,500, you will have close to 3 crore at the end of 65 years of age, assuming you are 25 years old. The important point is that you save something.
Some of the things you can use to save money and invest in appropriate funds are as follows:
1. Pay your credit card bills on time. No exception.
2. Make budget for your expenses. This may sound a tough job but do it for 2-3 months and you will have a fair idea of where the money is going. You may not need to do it after initial few months. Now curtail useless expenses. For example, going to expensive restaurant 3-4 times in a week. Cut it down to once or twice.
3. Pay yourself first: Resolve to save a specific amount every month. Put it in investment account. Take this money out of salary in the beginning of the month so that you don't touch it.
4. Buy a car or bike having resale value. If possible, buy a second hand car if you are too keen.
5. Stop splurging on sale and discount. You often end up buying things you never need.
Where to invest your money
Since you are in your 20s, you can invest major part of savings in equity or equity fund which will not only protect your principal but will provide a healthy return. You also need to put 3-6 times your monthly salary in bank to face any emergency.
Most importantly, you should have long term view of your investment. Remember that the 8th wonder works in long term. Let's see what options you have in investment space.
1. Equity & Equity Mutual Funds: Equity investment is known to give the highest returns. This includes individual stocks, diversified equity fund, sector equity fund, index funds etc. Over 20 year period between 1990 and 2010, Nifty has given an annualised return of more than 20 per cent. However the variability of returns is high which makes it riskiest of them all. The best idea is to find few blue chip firms or a well-diversified mutual fund and invest for a long term. A mutual fund is a fund that invests in a set of companies to diversify the risks (means if few companies go down, few others may go up to save your capital).
2. Bonds & Debt Funds: There are good quality bonds available from Government and Companies. These are fairly safe and returns can be between 8-12 per cent.
3. Safest Instruments: There are others which are very safe, such as PPF, PF, Bank Deposit but they have lesser returns. Your company anyway does the PF for you.
4. Others: Other options could be ULIP, Gold ETF, and Index funds.
As a general rule, young people should invest a big part of their savings in equity or equity mutual fund. There are generic rule such as subtract your age from 100 and you should invest that much percentage of your saving in equity & equity mutual fund. If you are 25 year old, you should invest 100-25 = 75 per cent of your saving in equity & equity mutual fund and rest 25 per cent in high grade bonds or bond funds.
The typical returns from different financial instruments are as follows:
But before you start investing in the market, you must have 3-6 months gross salary in your savings account for any emergency.
Here is a typical asset allocation for a 25 years old person (assuming you already have sufficient money in your savings account for emergency purpose)
Building a strong foundation for your future:
It is extremely important to plan for your financial future. Often, in case of finance, failing to plan is planning to fail.
Firstly, resolve to save a part of your salary every month and invest. If you cannot maintain the discipline, start a systematic investment plan (SIP) with a brokerage firm, such as ICICI direct, Kotak Securities, Angel Broking.
Secondly, have a long term view of your investment. If you look at any stock price or NAV of mutual fund, the prices go up and down in short term but generally go up in long term for good stocks and mutual funds. And lastly, learn about investment, planning, and don't hesitate in taking professional help. You work hard in your youth; it is natural but to lead a comfortable life when you retire. You deserve it.
Coding Contests
Not every programmer wishes to test his programming skills in a contest but occasionally I get a new challenge to stretch me. So here is a list of programming contests. Most are annual but some are continuous and you can enter at any time.
The experience of stepping outside your programming "comfort zone" is entirely beneficial. Even if you don't win a prize, you'll have thought in new ways and be inspired to have another go. Studying how others solved the problem can also be educational.
There are many more contests than I have listed here but I've winnowed these down to ten that anyone can enter. Most important of all you can use C, C++ or C# in these.
Annual Contests
- International Conference on Functional Programming (ICFP). This has been running for a decade and happens in June or July each year. Though it's based in Germany, anyone can enter using any programming language, from any location. It's free to enter and your team isn't limited by size. In 2010 it's from June 18-21
- The BME International is an intense free to enter contest that takes place in Europe once a year for teams of three, and you have to bring your own computers and software. This year, the 7th took place in Budapest. This has had some interesting challenges in the past- how about driving a car over a virtual terrain? Other past tasks included controlling an oil-company, driving an assembly line robot and programming for secret communication. All programs were written in one 24 hour intense period!
- International Collegiate Programming Contest. One of the longest running- this started in 1970 at Texas A&M and has been run by the ACM since 1989 and has IBM's involvement since 1997. One of the bigger contests it has thousands of teams from universities and colleges competing locally, regionally and ultimately in the a world final. The contest pits teams of three university students against eight or more complex, real-world problems, with a gruelling five-hour deadline.
- The Obfuscated C contest has been running for nearly 20 years. This is done on the internet, with email submissions. All you have to do is write the most obscure or obfuscated Ansi C program in under 4096 characters length according to the rules. The 19th contest took place back in January/February 2007.
- The Loebner Prize is not a general programming contest but an AI challenge to enter a computer program that can do the Turing test, ie talk to a human sufficiently well to make the judges believe they are talking to a human. The Judge program, written in Perl will ask questions like "What time is it?", or "What is a hammer?" as well as comparisons and memory. The prize for the best entrant is $2,000 and a Gold Medal.
- Similar to the Loebner Prize is the Chatterbox Challenge. This is to write the best chatter bot- a web based (or downloadable) application written in any language that can carry on text conversations. If it has an animated display that syncs with text then that is even better- you get more points!
- International Problem Solving Contest (IPSC). This is more for fun, with teams of three entering via the web. There are 6 programming problems over a 5 hour period. Any programming language is allowed.
- The Rad Race - Competitors in teams of two have to complete a working business program using any language over two days. This is another contest where you have to bring along equipment, including a router, computer(s), cables, a printer etc. The next one will be in Hasselt, Belgium in October 2007.
- The ImagineCup - Students at school or college compete by writing software applicable to the set theme which for 2008 is "Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment." Entries started August 25th 2007.
- ORTS Competition. ORTS (open real time strategy game) is a programming environment for studying real-time AI problems such as path-finding, dealing with imperfect information, scheduling, and planning in the domain of RTS games. These games are fast-paced and very popular. Using the ORTS software once every year there is a series of battles to see whose AI is best.
- Innovation Challenge. A new challenge that lets you create innovative apps on any platform ( e.g. client application, web-based application, Java application, Facebook App, iPhone App, Android etc in any programming language.
Google AI Contest 2010. You can enter a C++ or C# Bot to play in a two-player Snake, where your objective is to box in your opponent and make him crash into a wall or his own tail before you do! It's based on the film Tron from the 1980s.
Continuous or Ongoing Contests
- Project Euler. This is an ongoing series of challenging mathematical/computer programming problems that will require more than just mathematical insights to solve. computationally the problems should be solvable in less than a minute. A typical problem is "Find the first ten digits of the sum of one-hundred 50-digit numbers."
- Sphere Online Judge. Run at Gdansk University of Technology in Poland, they have regular programming contests - with over 125 completed. Solutions are submitted to an automatic online judge that can deal with C, C++ and C# 1.0 and many other languages.
- Intel's Threading Programming Problems. Running from September 2007 until the end of September 2008 Intel have their own Programming Challenge with 12 programming tasks, one per month that can be solved by threading. You get awarded points for solving a problem, coding elegance, code execution timing, use of the Intel Threading Building Blocks and bonus points for posting in their problem set discussion forum. Any language but C++ is probably the preferred language.
- Codechef is India's first, non-commercial, multi-platform online coding competition, with monthly contests in more than 35 different programming languages including C, C++ and C#. Winners of each contest get prizes, peer recognition and an invitation to compete at the CodeChef Cup, an annual live event.
A LETTER FROM A GIRL TO JRD TATA IN 1974
THE GIRL WRITING AS HERSELF....
It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US... I had not thought of taking up a job in India.
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors)... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need not apply.' I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.
Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers... Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful?
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco
I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote. 'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.'
I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.
It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.
To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.
There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business.
'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.
Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.'
They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.
Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.
I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.
I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.'
Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.
It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him. I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.
She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).
Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?'
'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.
One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.
'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.
I'll wait with you till your husband comes.'
I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.
I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.'
Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.
Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me.) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.'
'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.'
'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.'
'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me 'Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.'
Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.
Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.'
I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.
Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence. (Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)
It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US... I had not thought of taking up a job in India.
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors)... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need not apply.' I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.
Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers... Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful?
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco
I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote. 'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.'
I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.
It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.
To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.
There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business.
'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.
Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.'
They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.
Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.
I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.
I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.'
Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.
It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him. I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.
She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).
Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?'
'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.
One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.
'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.
I'll wait with you till your husband comes.'
I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.
I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.'
Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.
Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me.) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.'
'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.'
'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.'
'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me 'Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.'
Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.
Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.'
I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.
Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence. (Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)
Bommarillu dialogue...
In his meeting with his Project Leader after a long time, Siddhu explodes like this......
Antha meerey cheesaru... Motham meerey cheesaru....
Chalu Sir... vachinnapadinunchi meeru naa cheta cheyinchindi chalu, nenu kolpoindi chalu, inka oddu please....
Sir asks what did you lost ???
Inka ardam kaaleda meeku. Ee COMPANY ki ochhinappudu naa deggara emundo, velipoyetappudu emiledho adey Sir nenu kolpoindi- Programming skills.
Chinna chinna skills kuda kolpoyanu Sir meevalla.
Meeru yeppudu mee team cheta goppa project cheyinchali, R&D work cheyinchalani alochistharu. Kaani nakem vachoo, nenemi cheyyagalanoo meeru thelusukooru.
Then Sir tells that he thinks 1000 times before giving any work !!!
Avunu.... 1000 saarlu client requirements satisfy ayyaya ani alochisthaare tappa, oka saari ayina nenu adi chayyagalanaa ani alochinchhara.
cheyyagaligina danikanna ekkuva work ivvadamlo satisfaction meeku telusu, kaani ichina work avvakapothe andhulo unde baadha meeku thelidu- naaku thelusu.
Asalu naatho maatladithega theliseedi nenemi chestunnanoo. Edaina problem unte team lo vunna migilina vaallani pilichi maatlaaduthaaru. Naatho maatladandi Sir. Na work choosi cheppandi Sir. Friendly ga undandi Sir.
Then Sir tells that he is the one who usually tells to be friendly
Chepputhaaru , kani undaru. Endukante antha meeku nachhinatte jaragalikada.
Cheyyalsina Language meere select chesthaaru, meere super antaru, kani adi work out avutundoo ledoo kooda choodakundane meeru nanne convince chesesthaaru.
Naku ela untundo telusa- idi raadu... nenu cheyyalenu ani aravalani anipistundi.
USE CASES cheyyamantaru. Nenu chestanu. Kaani cheselope LLD ki marchestaru. Navvuthunnru Sir naa project choosi maa freinds.
Hey Balu...., sample program cheyyamantaru. Nenedoo code raastaanu.
Meermoo CODING STANDARDS follow avvu.... COMMENTS rayyi.....FUNCTIONS RAYATAM try cheyyi....
ani roju naa chutto tirugutoo arustoo vuntaru.
Nenelaa code rayaloo kooda meere decide chesesthe...nenu enduku Sir program raayadam....
Chivariki program elaa debug cheyyaaloo kooda meere cheppestunte... Complie kavatam ledu Sir.
Meeku teleedu. meeru cheppindi cheyyalekaa, naaku vachhindi cheppaleeka, narakam choosanu Sir... narakam.
Frustration, kopam, chiraaku. Evarimeedha choopinchaalo, ela choopinchaalo kooda theliyakapothe chivariki oka rooju Sruthi meeda kooda arichesaanu.
Daanitho Sruthi naatho matladatham manesindi....... Asalu nenendhuku ala unnano Sruthi ke ardam kakapothe inka meekela telustundi Sir.
Ippudu neenemi cheyali Sir. BUGS FIX cheyyali..anthe kadaa. Chestanu Sir.
Kaani ippatidaaka nenu chesinaa UI DESIGNING....PROGRAMMING .... evemi work out kaaledu Sir.
Kaani ippudu chestunna Singapore project kachitam gaa Reuslt ravali. kaani edo oka roju adi kooda raadu ani telisipotundi kadaa. Appudu naa project spoil ayyindi ani meere badhapadataru.
Inthavaraku meeroka guide gaa gelichaanu anukuntunaaru kadaa ???. Kaani mimmalni gelipinchadaaniki rendu yellaga neenu odipothoone unnanu.
ilaage oddipothu unthe, year ending lo entra naa project ani chooste andulo emi vundadu.
Innallu nenu project cheyyatledu sir, chestunnattu act chesanu, ika mundu kooda alage untanu.
Kaani naado request sir... nenu cheyyaleni work ichhesi nenedo cheseyyalani maathram korukovoddu sir, please...
Antha meerey cheesaru... Motham meerey cheesaru....
Chalu Sir... vachinnapadinunchi meeru naa cheta cheyinchindi chalu, nenu kolpoindi chalu, inka oddu please....
Sir asks what did you lost ???
Inka ardam kaaleda meeku. Ee COMPANY ki ochhinappudu naa deggara emundo, velipoyetappudu emiledho adey Sir nenu kolpoindi- Programming skills.
Chinna chinna skills kuda kolpoyanu Sir meevalla.
Meeru yeppudu mee team cheta goppa project cheyinchali, R&D work cheyinchalani alochistharu. Kaani nakem vachoo, nenemi cheyyagalanoo meeru thelusukooru.
Then Sir tells that he thinks 1000 times before giving any work !!!
Avunu.... 1000 saarlu client requirements satisfy ayyaya ani alochisthaare tappa, oka saari ayina nenu adi chayyagalanaa ani alochinchhara.
cheyyagaligina danikanna ekkuva work ivvadamlo satisfaction meeku telusu, kaani ichina work avvakapothe andhulo unde baadha meeku thelidu- naaku thelusu.
Asalu naatho maatladithega theliseedi nenemi chestunnanoo. Edaina problem unte team lo vunna migilina vaallani pilichi maatlaaduthaaru. Naatho maatladandi Sir. Na work choosi cheppandi Sir. Friendly ga undandi Sir.
Then Sir tells that he is the one who usually tells to be friendly
Chepputhaaru , kani undaru. Endukante antha meeku nachhinatte jaragalikada.
Cheyyalsina Language meere select chesthaaru, meere super antaru, kani adi work out avutundoo ledoo kooda choodakundane meeru nanne convince chesesthaaru.
Naku ela untundo telusa- idi raadu... nenu cheyyalenu ani aravalani anipistundi.
USE CASES cheyyamantaru. Nenu chestanu. Kaani cheselope LLD ki marchestaru. Navvuthunnru Sir naa project choosi maa freinds.
Hey Balu...., sample program cheyyamantaru. Nenedoo code raastaanu.
Meermoo CODING STANDARDS follow avvu.... COMMENTS rayyi.....FUNCTIONS RAYATAM try cheyyi....
ani roju naa chutto tirugutoo arustoo vuntaru.
Nenelaa code rayaloo kooda meere decide chesesthe...nenu enduku Sir program raayadam....
Chivariki program elaa debug cheyyaaloo kooda meere cheppestunte... Complie kavatam ledu Sir.
Meeku teleedu. meeru cheppindi cheyyalekaa, naaku vachhindi cheppaleeka, narakam choosanu Sir... narakam.
Frustration, kopam, chiraaku. Evarimeedha choopinchaalo, ela choopinchaalo kooda theliyakapothe chivariki oka rooju Sruthi meeda kooda arichesaanu.
Daanitho Sruthi naatho matladatham manesindi....... Asalu nenendhuku ala unnano Sruthi ke ardam kakapothe inka meekela telustundi Sir.
Ippudu neenemi cheyali Sir. BUGS FIX cheyyali..anthe kadaa. Chestanu Sir.
Kaani ippatidaaka nenu chesinaa UI DESIGNING....PROGRAMMING .... evemi work out kaaledu Sir.
Kaani ippudu chestunna Singapore project kachitam gaa Reuslt ravali. kaani edo oka roju adi kooda raadu ani telisipotundi kadaa. Appudu naa project spoil ayyindi ani meere badhapadataru.
Inthavaraku meeroka guide gaa gelichaanu anukuntunaaru kadaa ???. Kaani mimmalni gelipinchadaaniki rendu yellaga neenu odipothoone unnanu.
ilaage oddipothu unthe, year ending lo entra naa project ani chooste andulo emi vundadu.
Innallu nenu project cheyyatledu sir, chestunnattu act chesanu, ika mundu kooda alage untanu.
Kaani naado request sir... nenu cheyyaleni work ichhesi nenedo cheseyyalani maathram korukovoddu sir, please...
A LETTER FROM A GIRL TO JRD TATA IN 1974
THE GIRL WRITING AS HERSELF....
It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US... I had not thought of taking up a job in India.
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors)... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need not apply.' I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.
Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers... Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful?
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco
I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote. 'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.'
I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.
It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.
To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.
There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business.
'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.
Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.'
They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. <span> </span><span>The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them. </span>
Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.
I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.
I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.'
Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.
It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him. <span>I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.
She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).
Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?'
'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.
One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.
'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.
I'll wait with you till your husband comes.'
I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.
I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.'
Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.
Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me.) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.'
'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.'
'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.'
'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me </span><span>'Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.' </span><span>
Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.
Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.'
I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.
Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence. </span><span> </span><span>(Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)
--
-Giri
Keep trying..
"You keep trying and that is how you succeed. Once you have tasted success, you know how it feels and want more.
--
-GK
--
-GK
Lady luck arrived in my life...
I don't know whether luck arrived in my life or not but Lady for sure... :)
27th June
I would never like to forget this day...
27th June
I would never like to forget this day...
You've got to find what you love
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
-GK
Love Letter
(By a Programmer... )
Sweetheart ,
I`ve seen you yesterday while surfing on the local train platform and realized that you are the only site I was browsing for. For a long time I`ve been lonely; this has been the bug in my life and you can be a real debugger for me now.
My life is an uncompiled program without you, which never produces an executable code and hence is useless.
You are not only beautiful by face but all your ActiveX controls are attractive as well.
Your smile is so delightful; it encourages me and gives me power equal to thousands of mainframes processing power.
When you looked at me last evening, I felt like all my program modules are running smoothly and giving expected results. /*which I never experienced before.*/
With this letter, I just want to convey to you that if we are linked together, I¡¯ll provide you all objects & libraries necessary for a human being to live an error free life.
Also don`t bother about the firewall which may be created by our parents as I¡¯ve strong hacking capabilities by which I`ll ultimately break their security passwords and make them agree for our marriage .
I anticipate that nobody has already logged in to your database so that my connect script will fail.
And its all but certain that if
this happened to me, my system will crash beyond recovery.
Kindly interpret this letter properly and grant me all privileges of your inbox. Error free...
Regards,
Software Pogrammer
Today This company
Tommorrow That Company
But always want u r company!
10 years journey in Hyd...
14 th June, 2000
The day I landed in Hyd with Masab Tank polytechnic college admission letter in my hand and hell of big dreams in mind….
I was able to make only few of those dreams true and a long way to go.. don't know how long.. Journey continues..
I was able to make only few of those dreams true and a long way to go.. don't know how long.. Journey continues..
3 years gone..!!
Its been three years I have started my career..
Nothing has changed in my life. The same old bike.. same office.. same road… same traffic.. come to office.. go home.. again come to office…
Its really boring..
The only change is I have become alone… Nobody is near to me now and I feel alone in Hyd….
In the first year we friends used to meet at our college once every weekend or two weeks.. The frequency shifted to once in a month in the second year….
In third year we met 3-4 times at most…. Now the only way is fone or skype… L missing you all….
I am about to turn 25 years…… I never wanted to be like this when I turn 25. Reason being I couldn’t switch gears at any point of time during these three years. I will always be the first one to hate for putting the reasons… But…. ????
I already lost 1 year in doing diploma and joining OU.. adding that one to these three.. Literally wasted 4 years in doing nothing.. Hopefully my next step will compensate for this wasted time..
-GK
Why there is no stopping Congress in Next Decade..!!
Its been more than a decade I closely watched state politics. In 1995 and 1999, I heard people from TDP with zero political experience beaten the established leaders of Congress... My social teacher used to speak
Whirlwind trip to my Village
Telkapally - The village where I was born and spent all my childhood time.
In 2000 I left my village and then after I can count the number of visits on fingers
I always want to be there but at the end of every visit I had tears in my eyes.
Almost after 2 years….
My friend Laxman called me and said he is getting married. I said I will surely come to your marriage reception.
On 27th, I woke up at 6 in the morning and I started on my bike at 7.30.
I was driving my bike all the way around at 90-120kmph.
On the way I saw a devastating accident where two lorry’s collided. I paused for few minutes and started again.
In couple of hours I reached my village. 120km in just two hours…
The moment I stopped my bike in front of the famous Karim’s hotel some other biker came fast from backside and collided with my bike and he fell down.
Thank god… nothing more than small scratch on my bike silencer.. otherwise this time I would be having tears in my eyes at the start of the visit itself..
I just thought for a moment, Telkapally is surely not the lucky place for me…
On two of my previous visits, I had two accidents with my car. One was because of my driving mistake and the other serious one because of a brainless auto driver. On each occasion no injuries to anybody but loss of money….
Once again began with a minor accident…
I went straight to my home to see my grandmother but she was not there.. L
Back to my friends home where the reception arrangements were going on.. I didnt find a single friend.. .. disappointment....
I met my friend and wished him.. chatted for an hour...
I came out and took my bike and went to see my old friends.. no body was there at home and I just their parents and came back..
This time I went back to my school Siddhartha Vidyalam.. where I studied from 1st class to 7th class..
I met Vijay and Srinivas guruji’s and chatted for sometime..
Went back to Naveen home and again spend sometime there..
Meanwhile all the arrangements for the reception completed at Laxman’s home and reception started..
My friends Sai, Bhasker, Raju and Naveen joined and we went together to wish the new Couple..
We had nice lunch there and everyone dispersed..
I came back to my home now my grandmother is there.. spent an hour there and returned for Hyderabad..
I started at 3pm and reached Hyderabad at 4.45.. this time 120 km in 105 mins..
It’s all again the same routine in Hyd......
-GK
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