Stay hungry, stay foolish –Salaam Steve Jobs

Stay hungry, stay foolish –Salaam Steve Jobs

Dussehra morning! As Supriya woke up to the thoughts of revelries and happiness of the day, her face lit up. After the morning routines and rituals, she logged in to see  the emails.

Her daughter had written to her: Ma, did you see, Steve Jobs died? He's been one of my personal idols and I remember when I was extremely depressed, his speech helped me get through it. Ma his words, ‘Sometimes life is going to hit you with a brick. Don't lose faith.’ Still ring in my ears. Supriya  could sense the loss and the pain that her daughter felt in his passing away.

As Supriya read the email, her memory flashed that he was suffering from cancer, his commencement address - hugely circulated on emails as one of the most inspirational talks etc. etc but her daughter’s email surfaced another shade of his yeomen service to humanity – his words served like a salve to the wounded soul. A young girl struggling all alone away from the family to find a foothold in the great US of A found solace in her most distressing moments. Imagine how comforting it is to a mother’s heart.

When one looks at the chronology of events, the background, of a man who was dying, all of 56 - one is struck with awe and admiration. There were fair chances of Steve becoming another unknown unsung person but it was his philosophy and the 'never say die' spirit that made him what he was. In his own words: “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. 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.”

Irrespective of the product, whether the Lisa, Mac, iPod or iTunes, the common code was that he had the vision of knowing what the customer would want tomorrow rather than working on what the customer needs today.

Supriya’s thoughts drifted to her childhood – She remembered how  as a child, all of twelve or thirteen , she  had once asked her Dad as to what would be his message to her as a daughter…..He had then said : Be ready to die , any day, any moment. The child in her was flabbergasted then but as she grew up she realized the potency of those words.

Today we know that Apple’s iPhone, the brainchild of Steve Jobs (1955-2011) gained immense popularity since its launch in 2007 and remains the star performer among all Apple products. While Steve Jobs was at the helm, the company went from one success to another, always staying ahead of the competition and taking away a huge chunk of profits. The iPhone 4S was just released a day before he passed away – may be as a salute or a swan song of this great magician.

No doubt not only Apple but the world will miss this great leader who has steered the company to such great heights. Steve Jobs – you not only gave Apple and its amazing products to the world but you enriched the world itself by the power of your words.

The celebrated poet John Donne had written a  sonnet ‘Death be not proud!’ in which he ends up saying:Death you shall die.How aptly it applies to you, Steve.You continue to live in our hearts.

Amen!

Anagha Hunnurkar

8^th October,  2011

Dreamz unlimited

Dreamz unlimited

Generations of children have grown up reading and hearing bedtime stories, fables, parables and other pieces of fiction. Almost each one of these stories ends up with a moral. As one looks back at some of these stories, one wonders whether due thought was given to the lasting impression that would be made on the readers, who by and far are small children. No sooner did this realization dawn on me I was taken aback. Surely there would have been a thinking process, I thought to myself. 

Even while directing /producing a film, the filmmaker lays lot of emphasis on the ending because it leaves a lasting impression on the audience that can make or mar the success of the film.

While warding off this thought was the most immediate reaction, a deeper analysis made a startling revelation. Take the example of the most famous story of the rabbit and the tortoise. To start with, the stage is set for unfair competition only to demonstrate the ‘twist’ in the tale. While it seeks to glorify virtues of being slow and steady; it negates the qualities of the nimbler footed rabbit. The tortoise, on his part does not bother to wake up the rabbit and goes to win the race. Mind you, both were friends. If a friend does this to you in real life, will you like it?  A recent email forward rewrote the story wherein it brings to the fore the strength of each player. To start with, both tortoise and rabbit set a common goal. The story goes on to say that the rabbit carries the tortoise on his back and they  set for the journey. On the way, they come across a river and now it is the tortoise’s turn. The rabbit piggybacks on the tortoise, which swims to the other shore. Thus both manage to reach the goal by putting their respective strengths to work and set a concrete example of co-operation rather than cut-throat competition.

Similarly,  the story of the Sun and the Wind, where both argue as to who is stronger. Then they both set to prove each one’s might by using their powers on a human being who is passing by. The challenge is to make the human remove the shawl that he has wrapped around him. The Wind blows and blows. The result: The man clutches to his shawl all the more tightly than ever before. Then it is the turn of the Sun. The Sun scorches and scorches till the point comes when the human being can’t bear it any more and throws of the shawl. This signifies the victory of the Sun over the wind and a mute lesson on rivalry.

Take the story of the ‘milkmaid and her pail’ who wishes to make it big one day. On the way to the market as she is carrying her pail of milk on her head, she sets her thoughts to work a way to get rich. ‘I will sell this milk and save some of the money’ ‘A time will come when I can then buy more cows’ ‘With higher sales, I will set up a poultry’ …the story goes on and on and at one point the milkmaid thinks to herself ‘Then I will be invited to a grand party and I will wear a new dress’ At that moment the girl scornfully tosses her head in rejection at the thought of all the young men who woo her at the dance that she was to attend. With that she nods her head and the pail comes toppling down, crashing all her dreams. The moral: Don’t day dream. Think intently, is it the dream that brought the misfortune or is it the scorn that slowly came creeping in the mind?  All was well till the point that she was pursuing her commercial activities. It was only when negativity slithered in her psyche that things went wrong. Instead of planting fear about dreams per se in general, would it not be worthwhile to have the moral as: Dream Big in wakefulness.

When the children read these morals just before bedtime, imagine the impression on the sub conscious mind, which is said to be active and assimilating all the information while we are asleep. Today the world has bore the brunt of harmful competition be it real wars or brand wars. At the same time we know that it is only those who dared to dream big, made it Big.

Anagha Hunnurkar

1^st October 2011.