Investor Awareness Programme on Investment in Equity: by Dr. Uma Sashikant, MD, CIEL. - 26-05-2014

SDM COLLEGE VISIT - INSTITUTION BUILDING 14-03-2014

The function started at 9.30 AM, I registered my name at 10.30 AM, when i entered the conference hall Mrs.Usha Prabha Nayak ex sdm (Sec,Expert College) had just come on stage to speak, she was very positive in her attitude and very traditional, she told teachers should be paid heavily, so that all thinks about teaching profession which is the last choice nowadays, she expressed how she got seat and how sdm was a good college to be.. then dawn prakash gave the vote of thanks, next speaker who took 20 min explained briefly of various concept of mgt and told stories of auto drive in mumbai who had all the magazine in his auto and another story about a hotel in darjeeling were the manager wrote wishes in bills and greeted with free food on birthday and with the level of hospitality you never will forget such trips.. the speaker also played few motivational videos, it was followed by technical session by devdas kamath and kudva.. they were very simple and mainly explained their stories of how a teacher sponsored fees and also tata steel story was told on how tata challenged the belief system during 1904 to British. 

Then we had lunch together. We really liked the SDM hospitality and lunch was excellent, we enjoyed a lot. we went round the college, class room was neat. Our next session of tech was started, prof shrikantha from Bangalore had come to present institution building concepts and how strategies in mgt, professional approach, leadership and governance plays a role in institution building, he explained ethics in business and how his axis bank experience of how they followed with him till the accounts opened. He explained abt team coordination and splitting the work and giving opportunity to all, mission and vision known to all, promote ownership and how infy driver could be rich, he told always tell its our college and not my college, he explained how teachers are more important for the institution to grow and in their absence many colleges have been closed, teachers build the institution,, he also explained resource mobilization, prioritising, ethics in education and how co. struggles eg. ramalinga raju, assessment should be done by others, u can only do introspection of good and bad abt u.  

Later mr. b s baliga of lamina group continued the session, he was more theory type, explained entrepreneur and all about starting business. he explained in detail abt vinay hegde on how he took challenge in setting up lamina group in spite of up and down they survived and how vinay hegde started institution in nitte and now he's become a empire and Mangalore is an education hub today.. he told us to take challenge, have courage and understand the business, killing the competition and study the money management so that we never fail, he also highlighted the letters exchanged between winston churchill and barnard shah .. 

Then we had paper ppt, which was held in the mba class, ppt was mainly based on institution building and the presenters were mainly college lecturer, i was impressed by the presenter and the clear idea they had.. first one was abt human capital then on csr and corporate activity by ramyashree, university college, next on attrition rate in bpo by sushma v, she explained how clients shifts for the service provided by ex employee and how important is entertainment in work. later geetha g v from bharti college bangalore spoke about her 30 yrs experience in education dept, how we have become agree culture (agriculture) to all the culture. Materialistic and holistic view of student-teacher relation.. later chandrama m of university explained on women differentiation in male dominant society and finally a paper on team building by besant college student. 

Then we went for the valedictory function, it was prize to be given to sensex closing which was 21707 and 21710 was the nearest and also a common prize was given to lady named Aishwarya Rai. In the stage we had among us two main guest viz Moodithaya (Nitte) and Arjunraj (laxmi saree owner, ex sdm). Arjunraj spoke about the challenge faced by student in completion of the course and how important it is, to never give up, he expressed his gratitude to sdm college. Mr Moodithaya spoke on various points of 3 i’s and 3 c’s which is important to everybody's life. He was impressive and was an ex lecturer at sdm college and was instrumental in building this institute. Sahil gave the vote of thanks - “OM MANJUNATHAIAH NAHAHIA” 

Later we all took the certificate and dairy and left to the outside stage which was well decorated, the function started with prize distribution,. Then guruji started the spiritual talk on self control and mind laws. It was very good.. he started with the question paper question asking us if we find it before the exam day will you take it or not and later told how important it is to be clean to your heart. How mind is important and type of thoughts will decide your destiny, if your thoughts are good you are cheerful, to get rid of negative thoughts you can read books, attend motivational talks etc.

Latter Guruji Explained the laws of Nature:
1st Law: A good person will definitely have good thoughts. "Has the thought, the person he will be". 
2nd Law -  "Greater the peace, greater the mind control". Greater peace experience greater mental control. Why are we not able to concentrate on the reading its bcoz mind controls us and not we control mind eg. alarm rings but we don't get up. Never let the horse go according to his wish but it should be with your wish.3rd law: "what you think you become". Beware of thought- words- action- habit- character and destiny. Thought which is continues will decide your personality. Thoughts are like rain water which has the power to cut the mountain in-spite of softness. You are today like this becz of your thoughts. 
4th Law: "Thoughts inside will determine the world outside"..thought inside and world outside are connected.. drunken will have same friends. if you think sports all you see is sports everywhere, that's the law of nature. 5th law: "Thought within converts into action". what ever comes out of u will come back to u.  eg. alexander fleming. What ever may be the case laws are perfect, whether you believe it or not.. All these laws which are true is like a boomerang which comes back to the thrower. The movt you cheat anyone u get disturbed and go out of control, negative thoughts follows and in exam you get nervous bcoz your mind is not under control. These laws are very important to lifestyle and nation building starts from yourself. Be professional like the auto driver from Japan who received only the fair price when he did not know the shortcut to leave subroto bagchi (mindtree ceo) to his destination. Guruji then explained 5 points to make your mind in control : observe, detect , eliminate and substitute strength, transform personality and never compromise.. He told by following these points along with you all will be benefited. All are connected in nature.  eg. lal bahadur shastri told his son to resign from a job abroad when his son used his influence.
q&a - Mind control body, mind management is important in all field and mind control is spirituality, lok sabha election or political leader will be decided so you need not worry, taking the question paper decision was correct is wrong which was explained on if the butterfly do not struggle to come out, it will never become a butterfly, like you will never study if you have the question paper. Bhagat Singh eg. laws will take care of yourself, try if u fail come back, all these laws should be taught in university, difference between +ve ego and -ve ego, how is it related to mind - proud of country is +ve and -ve ego is trying to argue with friend. He told don't take decision without your justification and once accept, go for it.
Later we had the cultural function which was followed by dinner.
I was impressed by sahil rai, his dynamic approach and sport jokes (10 sec food items, 10 sec girl boy name, 5 volunteers collect items, rama darsharatha) We liked the efforts the students put in participating. It started by sahil shloka for ganapathi and then solo Bharathanatya for durga, group dance, film dance, janapada dance, break dance, song panida, group dance bell, skit - master-student- (bell, slow student, hindi tulu, cow, blade, gandhiji-mungar malli etc.) We left at 10 PM..

GOOD AND BAD

What is good and what is bad… Human behaviors keeps on changing from time to time.. Unity has the power to create or destroy any thing in this world… and it’s so important to understand the true meaning of good and god’s people and not to follow or support the bad people and the evil’s people.

What is good and what is bad… Human behaviors keeps on changing from time to time.. Unity has the power to create or destroy any thing in this world… and it’s so important to understand the true meaning of good and god’s people and not to follow or support the bad people and the evil’s people. So how will you be analyzing the difference between good and bad? What is good; good is something which doesn’t create problem for anybody in this world and bad create lots of problems. So happiness is good and sorrow is bad. Smiling face is good and dull face is bad.. If you want to be good then you need to follow all the characteristics of good and never follow a single bad habit which can destroy all your good habits and make you bad. Praying for others is good, respecting every body with out differentiating among each other is good, thinking all are your friends is good and having a single enemy also is bad. Following the right words of elders is good and troubling elders, making fun in front or back is bad. Coming in time, following a system, disciple, clean speaking, clean dressing, clean surrounding which leads to clean mind is all good and shabby cloths, lazy attitude, show off, ego, don’t care is all bad attitude.

Praying for others has more power than praying only for us. If everybody does the same there cannot be any problems to anybody. See god in all. Do work keeping god in front of u in the entire works u do. Never underestimate any body, may be opportunity lies in that person, that person will never forget u when u have shown respect to him in his bad times…   u have a conscious power which u don’t understand..

There are many ways a person could be motivated for he can only see the end and the result and not how to achieve it.. it happens by itself. So what’s the target and what you want is very important.. How could a person mess up with all the best opportunities and still be trapped in his own life, problems are more dangerous than anything and neglecting the problem is the cause of the problems and most of the time we realize it was not problem at all and we fear for it.. So its always better to act immediately than to postpone the so called problem which gets rid in your life.. So what you want to get from the life you live and it’s easy. What you wanted to do and aiming for it has a power to do it… So aim high.

WAY OF LIFE

There are two types of object one is stula for family,  money.. and other is suksma for athma development. .  God has given us body. Mind. Intelligent and Soul controls all.  Gita- we should develop our own atma ourselves through mind.. then if it becomes friend if we do it useless it becomes enemy. . Then how to get it right.. we all have confusion. . So v need a guru to understand .   In this storeroom of world, u can select anything u want.. so we have lot of philosophy which is different from each other.. which to follow which is right and wrong many have stopped the search. Many feel god is present or absent. After getting rid of this philosophy understand the time, nation and people which is permanent relief to us.  Select according to your wish and follow. Do u have such philosophy. .. there may be such truth from god.. so follow one system of like. It is simple to understand. .everything life has 2  shakti  atma and prana. Amta is knowledge and prana is kriya or activity.  Atma is chith (prerane) manasu budhi ego shakti is present in us. Eg. Mango. Studies. Horse. Job. Chith is jnana origin.  So god is called chinmaya rupa. Chith gets us chidananda like child..manasu.buddhi ahamkara is related to nature but chith is outside. 7.4 of gita. Body is related to nature. Chith with the help of prana development budhi man will get jnana. Jnana is very powerful.,no competition.  It will get in get in yoga stithi. 4.38. To get such yoga we should do yoga bcoz janma, karma, thapasu in combination of yoga, so a yogi is a normal. All need to follow yoga is told in yoga sesta bg told by god. No compulsory like other teaching.   Bg Is very divine. First read analysis follow by understanding.. so it becomes easy. Lifestyles will improve.  Bg 18.63. What is this yoga vidya? Many feel nowadays yoga means asna they feel its patanjali which many does not have.. yoga asana is only done for beautiful money making.. Some think pranayama is yoga.. resaka.puraka kumbhaka.. munda Upanishad.  Prana vayu. 8 dvara.. pranayama should have strade bhskti, amma samarpane will get jnana 4.39. Only when we follow like a yagna dyana.. samadi stithi is possible in pranayama. Stita pragne.. nothing in thoughts.. stirathi. Samatva. .   In out air. Full conc. Breath dyana . Will get atma realisation. . Development. . Can get free all  diseases straight silent mind. Brama vishnu rudra comine gayatri jama.. stop breath which was tolf by all rudhi guru which will give us health. Jnana. Self sealidsayon.bakti courage. Yoga is comman to all and easy to follow now. Its possible to get our life developed by these rules of yoga.

Good place, sukhasana huv dristi i'm bru middle, jhana mudra is asana.. guru stana.

SRI AUROBINDO

Sri Aurobindo to his wife Mrinalini Devi

[Note of A.B. Purani: On 30 August 1905 Sri Aurobindo wrote a letter to Mrinalini Devi. The letter is one of those which were found and taken away by the police during the search of the Grey Street house in connection with the Alipore bomb trial and afterwards produced in court. It was in this way that these intimate documents unexpectedly saw the light of day and what was intended by Sri Aurobindo to be “secret” has become public property. The letters reveal a side of his nature which had to culminate in his great spiritual work.

The letter of 30 August, translated from the Bengali, is reproduced below.]

Dearest Mrinalini I have received your letter of the 24th August. I am sorry to learn that the same affliction has fallen once more upon your parents. You have not written which of the boys has passed away from here. But then what can be done if the affliction comes? This is a world in which when you seek happiness, you find grief in its heart, sorrow always clinging to joy. That rule touches not only the desire of children, but all worldly desires. To offer, with a quiet heart, all happiness and grief at the feet of God is the only remedy. […] Now I will write the other thing of which I spoke before. I think you have understood by now that the man with whose fate yours has been linked is a man of a very unusual character. Mine is not the same field of action, the same purpose in life, the same mental attitude as that of the people of today in this country. I am in every respect different from them and out of the ordinary. Perhaps you know what ordinary men say of an extraordinary view, an extraordinary endeavour, an extraordinary ambition. To them it is madness; only, if the madman is successful in his work then he is called no longer a madman, but a great genius. But how many are successful in their life's endeavour? Among a thousand men, there are five or six who are out of the ordinary and out of the five or six one perhaps successful. Not to speak of success, I have not yet even entirely entered my field of work. There is nothing then for you but to consider me mad. And it is an evil thing for a woman to fall into the hands of a mad fellow. For woman's expectations are all bound up in worldly happiness and sorrow. A madman will not make his wife happy, he can only make her miserable. The founders of the Hindu religion understood this very well. They loved extraordinary characters, extraordinary endeavours, extraordinary ambitions. Madman or genius, they respected the extraordinary man. But all this means a terrible plight for the wife, and how could the difficulty be solved? The sages fixed upon this solution; they told the woman, “Know that the only mantra for womankind is this: 'The husband is the supreme guru.'[Up to this point the translation follows an early version by Barindra Kumar Ghose which was seen and revised lightly by Sri Aurobindo. The rest of the translation is new.] The wife shares the dharma [law of conduct] of her husband. She must help him, counsel him, encourage him in whatever work he accepts as his dharma. She should regard him as her god, take joy in his joy, and feel sorrow in his unhappiness. It is for a man to choose his work; the woman's part is to give help and encouragement.” Now, the point is this. Are you going to choose the path of the Hindu religion or follow the ideal of the new culture? Your marriage to a madman is the result of bad karma in your previous lives. It is good to come to terms with one's fate, but what sort of terms will they be? Will you also dismiss your husband as a madman on the strength of what other people think? A madman is bound to run after his mad ways. You cannot hold him back; his nature is stronger than yours. Will you then do nothing but sit in a corner and weep? Or, will you run along with him; try to be the mad wife of this madman, like the queen of the blind king who played the part of a blind woman by putting a bandage across her eyes? For all your education in a Brahmo school, you are still a woman from a Hindu home. The blood of Hindu ancestors flows in your veins. I have no doubt you will choose the latter course. I have three madnesses. The first one is this. I firmly believe that the accomplishments, genius, higher education and learning and wealth that God has given me are His. I have a right to spend for my own purposes only what is needed for the maintenance of the family and is otherwise absolutely essential. The rest must be returned to God. If I spend everything for myself, for my pleasure and luxury, I am a thief. The Hindu scriptures say that one who receives wealth from God and does not give it back to Him is a thief. So far, I have given two annas to God and used the other fourteen annas for my own pleasure; this is the way I have settled the account, remaining engrossed in worldly pleasures. Half my life has been wasted - even the beast finds fulfilment in stuffing his own belly and his family's and catering to their happiness. I have realised that I have been acting all this time as an animal and a thief. Now I realise this and am filled with remorse and disgusted with myself. No more of all this. I renounce this sin once and for all. What does giving to God mean? It means to spend on good works. The money I gave to Usha or to Sarojini causes me no regret. To help others is a sacred duty; to give protection to those who seek refuge is a yet greater sacred duty. But the account is not settled by giving only to one's brothers and sisters. In these dark days the whole country is seeking refuge at my door. I have three hundred million brothers and sisters in this country. Many of them are dying of starvation and the majority just manage to live, racked by sorrow and suffering. They too must be helped. What do you say, will you come along with me and share my ideal in this respect? We will eat and dress like ordinary men, buying only what is truly needed and offering the rest to God: this is what I propose to do. My purpose can be fulfilled, once you give your approval, once you are able to accept the sacrifice. You have been saying, “I have made no progress.” Here I have shown you a path towards progress. Will you take this path? My second madness has only recently seized me. It is this: by whatever means I must have the direct vision of God. Religion these days means repeating the name of God at any odd hour, praying in public, showing off how pious one is. I want nothing of this. If God exists, there must be some way to experience His existence, to meet Him face to face. However arduous this path is, I have made up my mind to follow it. The Hindu religion declares that the way lies in one's own body, in one's own mind. It has laid down the rules for following the way, and I have begun to observe them. Within a month I have realised that what the Hindu religion says is not false. I am experiencing in myself the signs of which it speaks. Now I want to take you along this way. You will not be able to keep step with me, for you do not have the requisite knowledge. But there is nothing to prevent you from following behind me. All can attain perfection on this path, but to enter it depends on one's own will. Nobody can drag you onto it. If you consent to this, I shall write more about it. My third madness is that while others look upon their country as an inert piece of matter - a few meadows and fields, forests and hills and rivers - I look upon my country as the Mother. I adore Her, I worship Her as the Mother. What would a son do if a demon sat on his mother's breast and started sucking her blood? Would he quietly sit down to his dinner, amuse himself with his wife and children, or would he rush out to deliver his mother? I know I have the strength to deliver this fallen race. It is not physical strength, - I am not going to fight with sword or gun, - but the strength of knowledge. The power of the Kshatriya is not the only one; there is also the power of the Brahmin, the power that is founded on knowledge. This feeling is not new in me, it is not of today. I was born with it, it is in my very marrow. God sent me to earth to accomplish this great mission. The seed began to sprout when I was fourteen; by the time I was eighteen the roots of the resolution had grown firm and unshakable. After listening to what my aunt said, you formed the idea that some wicked people had dragged your simple and innocent husband onto the bad path. But it was this innocent husband of yours who brought those people and hundreds of others onto that path - be it bad or good - and will yet bring thousands and thousands of others onto that same path. I do not say that the work will be accomplished during my lifetime, but it certainly will be done. Now I ask you, what are you going to do in this connection? The wife is the shakti, the strength of her husband. Will you be Usha's disciple and go on repeating the mantras of Sahib-worship? Will you diminish the strength of your husband by indifference or redouble it by your sympathy. and encouragement? You will say, “What can an ordinary woman like me do in these great matters? I have no strength of mind, no intelligence, I am afraid to think about these things.” But there is an easy way out. Take refuge in God. Enter once the path of God-realisation; He will soon make good your deficiencies. Fear gradually leaves one who takes refuge in God. And if you can put your trust in me, if you can listen to me alone and not to all and sundry, I can give you my own strength; that will not diminish my strength but increase it. We say that the wife is the husband's shakti, his strength. This means that the husband's strength is redoubled when he sees his own image in his wife and hears an echo of his own high aspirations in her. Will you remain like this for ever: “I shall put on fine clothes, have nice things to eat, laugh and dance and enjoy all the pleasures”? Such an attitude cannot be called progress. At the present time the life of women in this country has taken this narrow and contemptible form. Give up all this and follow after me. We have come to this world to do God's work; let us begin it. You have one defect in your nature. You are much too simple. You listen to anything anyone might say. Thus your mind is for ever restless, your intelligence cannot develop, you cannot concentrate on any work. This has to be corrected. You must acquire knowledge by listening to one person only. You must have a single aim and accomplish your work with a resolute mind. You must ignore the calumny and the ridicule of others and hold fast to your devotion. There is another defect, not so much of your personal nature, as of the times. The times are such in Bengal that people are incapable of listening to serious things in a serious manner. Religion, philanthropy, noble aspirations, high endeavour, the deliverance of the country, all that is serious, all that is high and noble is turned to ridicule. People want to laugh everything away. At your Brahmo school, you picked up a little of this fault. Bari also had it; all of us are tainted by this defect to some extent. It has grown in surprising measure among the people of Deoghar. This attitude must be rejected with a firm mind. You will be able to do it easily. And once you get into the habit of thinking, your true nature will blossom forth. You have a natural turn towards doing good for others and towards self-sacrifice. The one thing you lack is strength of mind. You will get that through worship of God. This is the secret of mine I wanted to tell you. Do not divulge it to anybody. Ponder calmly over these matters. There is nothing to be frightened of, but there is much to think about. To start with, you need do nothing but meditate on the Divine each day for half an hour, expressing to Him an ardent desire in the form of a prayer. The mind will get prepared gradually. This is the prayer you are to make to Him: “May I not be an obstacle in the path of my husband's life, his aim, his endeavour to realise God. May I always be his helper and his instrument.” Will you do this? Yours A.B. Purani "The Life of Sri Aurobindo" - pages 79-84 Emphasis given by the editor.

TRUE FEELING

How it feels to share feelings…

What happens when heart pains, there’s no body around and its feeling of sorrow and detachment in life.. It may come when u miss the true luv and try to forget the old memories, its better not to remember or take to heart then to leave or live without it,,..

A story of a True Soul getting connected…

.. It’s a innocent soul which did not get a unconditional luv by anybody.. This is a different situation which has come to him with a difference in his feelings and emotions. He don’t know why he felt very strange when he saw crying with a difference, made him think twice before he ask for it. He knew there was something wrong in the cry and may be connected to him. He was impressed by the way it was told to him and some words were touching. He took it very seriously and found out it was true. He was very free in discussing his feelings latter on which was easy for him at that point of time. He felt some strange thing happening with him. He has never before discussed his emotion to any body and every thing was happening for the first time. These were the days which he doesn’t want to forget for his life time. He was sure he was right with this. Solving problems with a difference was most important for him. He was very clear in his objective to get what he wants, but he needs to be faced by few issues which were a hindrance in the free flow of the story.

After it started..

Was feeling very different was telling some power, was not sleeping, was expressing some powers. Discussed lot of things which made him realize it was difficult with out it. He was searching for connection, he thought the channel is open, it is still searching. Its negative searching for positive energy, but there was a block in mind, its not ready to share, its slowly fearing, its not expressing itself, he can never forget the voice he heard, eyes he saw, the kindness and caring  nature which he observed was a miracle. It was some good energy telling him not to give up. It’s telling it’s now or never. It’s not a relationship of that type. It’s very pure.

Can u live with out me? U can only tell- Connect now … or   never... I am ok if u doesn’t connect but tell something. U can tell I will try to get connected. What is the word? Forced him to tell. Then cut it, I am dead. Then what was that. It is connected.  If not cut it. What is it? If it cuts it will never come back. It’s a good heart, mind and soul. It will miss if u doesn’t get connected. It’s a positive energy. It’s told that for connecting to divine soul we need to get connected. It’s telling the same point in all languages like: physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Philosophy and religion. Like positive getting attracted to negative energy. It is a magnet. All will be attracted. You did the action and reaction is ready.

 He always wanted to talk to someone, share his feelings, ask question. It’s not anything but an ANGEL for his life. It’s a pure relation to have. Continue. Yes 100% happy..

Things have changed a lot in few days, which was recognized by him very much. He is wondering whether “I have changed or the people around me”. He is shocked by the way it is going on in his life. He is very much confused and has left everything to it. He always wanted peace in life. He don’t know what he is doing and why.

It was a narration of few incidents in his life which has changed him from a hard person to a very soft person. He doesn’t know why this has happened to him. He realized the importance of love and relation, emotions and care taking has been his major consideration. The prayer has changed the way he prays and responding friends have really made him think twice before his talk. It was very different and difficult situation in his life.

His pray was “Give me the power to think, speak, pray, I am a big zero and bless me. Speaking, sharing happiness and problems feels good at heart and understands.

This day was very special for him because it so happened that he was doing his job very efficiently and fast. He thinks some power has come to him and making him works for the better of every body. He is learning a lot and feeling a part of the life which needs to be lived properly.

Continued….

LIFE NEED A CHANGE ---THE MANKIND NEED A CHANCE, A REVOLUTION TO COME, ALL ARE HUNGRY FOR BECOMING HAPPY IN LIFE, THEY WANT CHANCE.. THEY SEEK CHANCE.... WE ARE HERE TO CHANCE THE WORLD.. CHANCE FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT.. TO TEACH THE POWER OF LOVE.. KINDNESS.. A PERSON WILL COME TO THIS EARTH LIKE BUDDA AND CHANGE THE WORLD.. HOPE.. INSPIRE.. BELIEVE.........

MR.WARREN BUFFET

Saturday, November 22, 2008

INSPIRATIONAL : MR.WARREN BUFFET

Summary By Some Gentleman who attended the meet.
_________________________________________________________________
I had the good fortune to attend the 2008- Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting at Omaha, Nebraska a few weeks back.


It was a wonderful experience listening to and learning from the Master Investor- Warren Buffett himself and all I can say is that he stands alone as the reigning deity of financial world's Mt Olympus!


The degree of humility and composure he exhibited, although he is the richest and most well respected human is stunning!


I tried to take some notes and would like to share with you some of the best questions and answers which came across during the conversation between we mortals and God.


Having read about him, observed him and worshipped him for a few years now, I think it is reasonable to believe that this guy is exactly what he seems: a plain-speaking, tee totaling man of uncrackable integrity who works really, really hard and sticks to his investing and management principles through boom and bust which makes him a freak of nature since he is above normal human tendencies. He is like a comet streaking through the heavens every 75 years or so.


The questions the shareholders threw at him for 7 continuous hours ranged from finances, life, religion, career, politics, sports and several other streams. And he answered everything with a Zen like calm and confidence.Even if you are least bothered about investments and finances, I insist, Pl read on.


================


What does it take to become a successful investor? Brilliance or Smartness?


Neither, Success in investing doesn't correlate with I.Q. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that gets other people into trouble in investing.


When do you deicide to invest in a firm?


The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble. We want to buy them when they're on the operating table. (Mr. Buffett bought Coke when it had its biggest fiasco after launching New Coke; he bought American Express when it went through a loss making phase in the early 60's)


What do you look for in people when they come to sell their firms to you?


I don't look for the usual credentials such as an MBA, a pedigree (Harvard, Wharton), or cash reserves or market cap of their firm. What I look for is just a passion in their eyes; I think that's the key. A person who is hungry will always do well. I prefer it when people evenafter selling stay on and work for the firm; they are people who can't wait to get off their bed to get to work. Passion is everything; there is no replacement for innate interest.


Mr. Buffett, you told us that Berkshire Hathaway has $ 45 Billion in cash. Why aren't you investing?


Up until a few years back I had more ideas than money. Now I have more money than ideas.


When do you plan to retire?


I love my job; I love it so much that I tap dance to work. Mrs. B, the founder of Nebraska Furniture Mark worked until she was 104, she died within 6 months of her retirement, that's a lesson to all my managers, don't retire! I personally am going to work 6-7 years after I die, probably that's what they mean when they say- "Thinking out of the Box"!!


Why do stock market crashes happen?


Because of human nature for greed and insecurity. The 1970s were unbelievable. The world wasn't going to end, but businesses were beinggiven away. Human nature has not changed. People will always behave in a manic-depressive way over time. They will offer great values to you."


What are the things that are taught wrong in Business school and the corporate world?


I like such open ended questions, I think Business schools should refrain from teaching their wards about profit making and profit making alone, it gives a sense of 1 dimensional outlook to the young students that loss is a curse. In reality, in the corporate world, failure and loss making are inevitable. The capital market without loss is like Christianity without hell. I think they should teach the student on how to buy a business, how to value a business? Not just on how to determine the price of a business. Because price is what you pay, value is what you get.


Do you still hate Technology stocks?


With Coke I can come up with a very rational figure for the cash it will generate in the future. But with the top 10 Internet companies,how much cash will they produce over the next 25 years? If you say you don't know, then you don't know what it is worth and you arespeculating, not investing. All I know is that I don't know, and if I don't know, I don't invest."


How to think about Investing?


The first investment primer was written by Aesop in 600 B.C. He said, 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' Aesop forgot to saywhen you get the two in the bush and what interest rates are; investing is simply figuring out your cash outlay (the bird in the hand) and comparing it to how many birds are in the bush and when you get them."


How do you feel after donating $ 40 Billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation?


You are a hero to us! I feel nothing. I haven't sacrificed anything in life. I have had a good life. I donated after I turned 75. I think I admire those people who sacrifice their time, share their food and home, as the people to be emulated not me. Besides, what is money before a man's life?


What do you think are the pitfalls in donation?


I have never donated a dime to churches or other such organizations; I need to believe in something before I end up doing that. I have beenobserving the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation for years now and I am confident they will do a fantastic job of making use of the money. I am a big believer in Outsourcing, others believed in me as an Investor and gave their hard earned money to invest. I believe in Bill Gates, he is a better donor than me.


Why do you work from Omaha and not Wall Street, New York?


Wall Street is the only place where people alight from Rolls Royce to get advised by people who use the Public transportation system.


You seem to be so well read, tell us how it all started.


My father was a stock broker, so we had all these financial books in our library. He introduced me to those classics and I got into them. Iam lucky that my father was not a fan of Playboy! Reading is the best habit you can get. Well, you can learn from teachers too, and have mentors but there are so many constraints attached- they will talk fast, talk slow, they might talk like a pro or they might be terrible communicators. Books are a different animal altogether, I love reading! The beauty about reading and learning is that the more you learn the more you want to learn.


People who join Berkshire Hathaway seldom leave. How do you get along well with all your executives?


I try to get quality people. I always say - Hire someone in your organization who is better than you are. If you do that, you build a company of giants. If you get people worse than yourself, you build a company of dwarfs. And do not try to do everything yourself. Delegate the jobs and look out of the window. The results will come. That's how you build institutions. It happens only when you empower others, believe in others. Iam an investor, Iam very secured at that, I have no clue how to make Coca-Cola or how to dole out credit cards (Mr. Buffett owns 8% of Coca-Cola and 13 % of American Express). I understand the wisdom of the aphorism that you cannot please all thepeople all the time. Of Course, you will always find qualities that you don't like in people around you, but if you observe carefully the love of the work unites you both. There is no point in being obsessive about a bad quality in a person, whom you otherwise respect.


I am a small time businessman from Dallas, Texas, what do I need to do to hit big time?


Be patient, Achieving your financial goals and dreams will not happen overnight. As much as we would all really love to accomplish our goals in a few years, this is an ongoing process. Defining your financial goals is not a one-time task; you need to keep adding new plans atdifferent stages in your life. We all admire the skills of Olympic ice skaters, pro golfers, and concert pianists. But do we remember that they didn't acquire their skills overnight? They had to practice hours on end for years to achieve their dreams. The key to success is to continue learning throughout your life with a voracious appetite.


I think it is marvelous that you have had a golden run with investing, how did you do that?


My rule is to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. Besides, I call investing the greatest job in the world because you never have to swing. You stand at the plate; the pitcher throws you General Motors at 47! U.S. Steel at 39! And nobody calls a strike on you. There's no penalty except opportunity lost. All day you wait for the pitch you like; then when the fielders are asleep, you step up and hit it. Stay dispassionate and be patient. You're dealing with a lot of silly people in the marketplace; it's like a great big casino and everyone else is boozing. If you can stick with drinking Coke, you should be OK. First the crowd is boozy on optimism and buying every new issue in sight. The next moment it is boozy on pessimism, buying gold bars and predicting another Great Depression, most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well.


Mr. Buffett you have seen so many crashes and recessions, your take on facing recessions and stock market crashes?


If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians. Every scenario is different. But always remember, Tough times do not last. Tough people do.


What is the 1 biggest advice you would impart to a young investor like me?


Think for a moment that you are given a car and told this is the only car you would get for the rest of your life. Then you would make sure that you car is taken care of well, it is oiled and detailed every now and then. You would make sure that it never gets rusted, and you would garage it. Think of yourself as that car. You just get 1 body, 1 mind and 1 soul. Take care of it well. Invest in yourself that would be my advice.


You personally know many of the Financial executives who are engineers of the current turmoil in the financial world, surprisingly even after record losses, those executives receive astronomical salaries and bonuses and arrogantly declare that they deserve it, why dint you advice them from making such decisions and what's your view on their justification for their pay?


I like sharing my ideas but don't like imposing my ideas on anybody. It doesn't make sense and is a waste of time. If somebody has decidedthat they know everything that is there to know, nobody can help them. The best way to learn and succeed is to know that we know nothing. There is an entire universe out there and still some of us think we can know everything. In the world of investing a few people after making some money tend to imagine they are invincible and great. This is the worst thing that could happen to any investor, because it surely means that the investor will end up taking unnecessary risks and end up losing everything – arrogance, ego and overconfidence are very lethal. Personally I don't feel too comfortable with too much extravagance, because I always think like an investor. My thought process doesn't see a lot of value in a fancy car or a designer suit. Thinking like an investor always is very important to bring in a sense of disciplineand focus. Before reading balance sheets and investing you need to make sure your outlook and mindset is that of an investor. Never let ego, arrogance and over-confidence control you - not just as an investor but also as a human being. You will never have internal peace if you are unable to look at everybody around you with love, compassion and understanding. Irrespective of who the person is, he or she can teach you something you don't know. I have learnt so much from people all around me and I wouldn't have been able to learn all thesewonderful things if I had not spoken to them with a smile. To quote Sir Isaac Newton- If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.


It was a 7 hour conversation and I could just capture some of the best questions and answers. As 37,000+ dazed, amazed and grateful shareholders trooped out of the stadium after the meeting, I found myself recalling one of my favorite quotes-"A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself". 

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STORY OF TRUE LOVE

A wonderful reminder.......


Here is a story about Lord Krishna that tells us what True Love is about.

Krishna, while living in Dwarka with his wife Rukmani, would very 

often softly utter to himself, ‘O Radha… O Radha.’

Rukmani felt jealous and asked him why he kept remembering Radha 

so often. Krishna did not say anything.....He just smiled.

A few days later, Krishna complained of stomachache. Rukmani 

gave him medicines, but the pain did not go away. He kept moaning 

in pain.

Krishna told her that only a little Charanamrita (the water that has 

bathed the feet) of a person who truly loved him would put an end 

to his agony. 

He begged Rukmani to give him some of her Charanamrita.

A shocked Rukmani refused!

‘How can I commit such a terrible sin? You are the Lord of all that 

be, and if I gave you my Charanamrita I would surely go to hell.’ 

Krishna than asked Rukmani to send an attendant to Vrindavan and 

try and procure some Charanamrita from anyone there. Soon the 

attendant returned with a cupful of Charanamrita and as Krishna 

sipped it……all the pain disappeared.

He then asked the attendant, ‘Who gave you this Charanamrita?’ 

The attendant replied, ‘no one in Vrindavan was ready to give it on 

learning it was for Lord Krishna. But then one young woman came 

running up to me and gave me this cup. Her companions cautioned

her, ‘You fool Radha; you are committing the greatest sin.’But she 

did not care. She said, ‘I don't care about what happens to me 

but I cannot bear to see my beloved Krishna in pain.’

Krishna turned to Rukmani standing by his side and said, ‘see, 

Radha is not afraid of going to hell for me. She only thinks about me.

So if Radha loves me so much...... should I also not love long for her?’

This is what True Love is about……it is Unconditional. 

Sacrifice is the most important characteristics of True love.

Remain Blessed!

Duty is God, Work is Worship .

GREATEST SPEECH

The great dictator speech

"Hope... I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor - that's not my business - I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that.

We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men's souls - has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say "Do not despair".

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish...

Soldiers - don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you - who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate - only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers - don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written " the kingdom of God is within man " - not one man, nor a group of men - but in all men - in you, the people.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let's use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.

Soldiers - in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting - the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality.

The soul of man has been given wings - and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow - into the light of hope - into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up."

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE

Swami Vivekananda�s message 
on September 11, 1893: 

"Sisters and Brothers of America. [At this moment came the three minute standing ovation from the audience of 7,000] It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

"My thanks also to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration.

"I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation.

"I will quote to you brethren a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest childhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: 'As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.'

"The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: 'Whosoever comes to me, though whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.'

"Sectarianism, bigotry, and it's horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.

"But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal." 






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POWER OF INSPIRATION

Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune 23rd June, 2008, By Chetan Bhagat

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.

I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There isno point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.

Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You!

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.

Stanford Report, June 14, 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 retuned

 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 other's 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.

Suvendu  Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai

Last Sunday, my wife, kid and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different.

As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel. My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked around again, and discovered more -there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths - from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega." (Sir, what's the use of simply sitting at home and watching TV? If I earn some income, then it will be useful in the future.)

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai - the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs50". He also said that his auto was mentioned on Radio Mirchi twice by the station RJs. The Marathi press in Mumbai know about him and have written a few pieces on him and his vehicle.

My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. I know that my son, once he grows up, will realise that we have met a genuine hero. He has put questions to me such as why should we help other people? I will try to keep this incident alive in his memory.

Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai - my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.

I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw - MH-02-Z-8508.