I do not usually read motivational fiction. But there was a reason I took this one up. It had more to do with the timing actually…I wrote Common Admission Test for the IIMs this year. And I scored 99.53 percentile overall. But I didn’t get any calls because I flunked in DI with an 80. Obviously, I was dejected. In fact, I was stunned. Because, after all, I had still performed well. And more so because I didn’t have the plan number 2 ready. I had put a lot of effort into this single thing.
After that, there was a long period of stillness and of introspection. I was suddenly in the middle of nowhere. Finally after a good amount of introspection, I decided to start my second phase of self construction.
Just when it started, I heard one of my friends suggesting ‘The Alchemist’ to another saying that it was a book that taught something new each time it was read and, as I said, because of the timing of that conversation, I, too, decided to take it up for reading. Of course I was not expecting this book to teach me how to make gold out of lead (as in how to convert this rejection of mine into something like a blessing in disguise). But my repeated shortfalls on my own expectations were forcing me to introspect if I was really on the right track. So, just the way a drowning man would cling to even a floating leaf, I thought why not to see what the world renowned motivator, the Crystal Award winner (from the world economic forum) and Frances Legion d’Honneur has to teach. And whereas this book didn’t teach me anything that I didn’t believe in already, it did bring me a new hope. It did bring a smile on my face. It did tell me that there is a storyteller with the power to inspire nations, who believes in the power of dreams, who is trying to tell the people around the world to wake up and take that arduous journey in pursuit of their dreams.
This tale of a boy, by Paulo Coelho, who takes an arduous and uncertain journey in the pursuit of his dreams and who loses everything he has, twice, but still keeps his faith in himself and the guiding omens, seems to go far from reality at times. There are things and situations in it that would convince a reader of the second kind to take it for a grandma’s tale of fiction and ‘emerge’ out of this inspirational tale ‘unscathed’.
Let me first mention the two kinds that I just classified the readers into:
1. One who have the dreams and ambitions and have the motivation and will to try to achieve them
2. And the other who may or may not have dreams but certainly lack the motivation and will to shape their destiny.
I felt that the people of the second kind would, in all probability, miss the inspiration in this tale. It’s because they never believe in the will power of a man. It’s because they are convinced that there are things that only the people destined and directed by the divine have to take up. It’s because they believe in their limitations and give it the name of practicality. It’s because they don’t realize that good omens come from nowhere but the outcomes of previous efforts of the self.
But the people of the first kind would benefit from this book in the way that it would embolden their confidence to take risks, their faith in themselves and strengthen their desire to pursue their dreams against all odds. This tale would provide them with numourous examples to relate with situations in their own journey towards the realization of their dreams. Most such people, over the period of time, learn to trust their instincts. This tale would strengthen their trust in their instincts which are nothing but kind of omens for those who wish to believe in the single soul of the world (the single guiding force).
The same is ‘maktub’ for all…but the difference is…some realize it and most miss it…
Friday, February 16, 2007
The Alchemist…
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The Google Story…
President Clinton had remarked, "My country has been enriched by the contributions of more than a million Indian Americans.”
Microsoft is immensely indebted to the contributions from Indians.
People even go this far as to say the US economy would collapse if all the NRIs quit the US.
...Still, India never rolled out anything like the Windows, the Yahoo or the Google…
This saga of dramatic rise of Google in the international corridors of corporate power has invigorated my desire to dream the impossible and chase my goals against all odds. Certainly one of the most motivating tales of our times, The Google Story, in my opinion, is a must read for anybody dreaming of venturing into something of his own, sometime in his life.
Larry Page with a net worth of 12.8 billion dollars at an age of 33 and Sergey Mihailovich Brin with a net worth of 12.9 billion dollars at a mere age of 32 rank 27 and 26, respectively, on the Forbes 2006 list of world’s 400 richest people. If you look closely at the list you would find that these two are also the youngest ever people to achieve this position.
While reading this book, I tried to figure out what led Larry Page and Sergey Brin to this dramatic rise to the forefront of technology business. I concluded that it was more related to their desire to make a positive contribution to the society than make the money. I also tried to compare their life with the life we live at the top technical institutes of our country to find out what really is stopping us Indians from contributing to the society in the same big way.
1. To a certain extent the foundation of Larry and Sergey’s future was laid by their cultural and societal predispositions and the kind of atmosphere that they were brought up in.
2. Being the sons of distinguished professors of their times and with their gifted intellectual abilities, they had that intellectually stimulating environment at home.
3. And the exposure to computers at home in the early 80s was a luxury, again, predisposing them to a future different from that of their counterparts.
4. But the first important step in their success was their recognition of an opportunity, of making something that mattered as a contribution to the society, out of a very small problem they were facing in their studies at the Stanford and the realization that a Ph.D. would not matter more than an opportunity to make serious contribution to the lives of people of the world.
I think that’s where we Indians lack mainly. Students at even the top technical institutes of our country lack the desire, motivation, support and courage to take the helm in their hands. Just as at Stanford, the learning and academic environment at any technical institute of higher learning, in our country too, provides enough opportunities to its students to recognize the gaps, the niche and the area where they can work independently and purposefully, make a difference in the quality of life surrounding them and make their learning purposeful. But most of the times, the historical and cultural predispositions, that have shaped us to seek the appreciation of our master by our work, come in the way and even the most competent of us are content with just securing a respected job by the norms of society and getting the appreciation from our employers by working overtime and on public holidays too. In contrast, the origin and the history of Americans, that has shaped them to break the shackles of dependency and outshine their masters by being a trailblazer in everything they do, inspires them to follow their interests and make their learning purposeful. This was very well epitomized by the Google guys when they decided that a Ph.D. on paper could not be more meaningful than making something out of their research that would bring the vast pool of knowledge at one’s fingertips at a single click of the mouse and hence transform the way people do things. I wonder how many research papers from our country’s top technical institutes could have transformed our society in the similar way had they been backed by men of similar will and passion for their work.
5. Then the kind of support that Stanford and other institutes in the US have always extended to their students, in terms of monetary assistance for research and patents, has nurtured the innovation out of academics. Google and Yahoo both, for example, are the products of the research at Stanford. This kind of support is lacking at even the government funded top technical institutes of India.
I faced this problem several times while starting any ambitious project at my institute where we were asked to either invest our own money (which we didn’t have) before the department could sanction us the funds or we were simply refused the assistance because of the huge cost involved or the low chances of success. There was a time when we could not work on an artificial intelligence project because of the unavailability of the kind of cameras and sensors to us that the students at the MIT were using. The Stanford repeatedly bore the $100000 expense each time the Google search engine crawled the web when it was in its initial phase. The absence of this kind of encouragement and support has played a major role in burying many innovations at our top technical institutes.
The cited reasons for this indifference are many. The need of money for social issues in a developing country like India takes priority over the huge risky investment in innovations at the institutes of higher learning. Whereas the social issues of a developing country ARE important, the backseat that innovation is taking due to this negligence is having serious implications on the economic development of India.
6. The next factor in the amazing success of Google has to do with the strong work ethics of the Google guys.
7. The Google guys have never sold their search results to any advertiser. This honesty has won them the trust of billions of internet users across the globe.
8. The Google guys had such tremendous faith in their innovation that they never advertised their own products. Still they created the best known brand of the internet.
9. The kind of work culture they have created at Google has won them some of the brightest scientists of the world and the innovation continues at Google.
Throughout my reading of the book, I thought, researched and analyzed…I thought how I have failed in my struggle against the predispositions of my background so far. I tried to think how I could gain from the success story of Google. And I reached a conclusion.
Whatever happened...happened. The college years are gone. I lost some of my productive years due to some predispositions I could do nothing about, despite my efforts, may be because I was too young to fight against these. But what’s stopping me now !
I have ideas.
I can still see the gaps.
I can still find my niche.
I have few of the brightest brains of the country for friends to make partners with.
I have parents who support me in my efforts.
I am mature.
I can work something out and expect some venture capital if I am really onto something that matters.
Nothing has changed even after 2 years of graduation except that I am even more mature and more practical now.
By the night I finished reading ‘The Google Story’, I made up my mind. I am going to shape my destiny myself. I am going to take the helm in my hands. I am going to change the way people do things. I am going to make a difference. Luck factor is with the God...
The only thing to work out is….HOW I AM GONNA DO THIS !
Microsoft is immensely indebted to the contributions from Indians.
People even go this far as to say the US economy would collapse if all the NRIs quit the US.
...Still, India never rolled out anything like the Windows, the Yahoo or the Google…
This saga of dramatic rise of Google in the international corridors of corporate power has invigorated my desire to dream the impossible and chase my goals against all odds. Certainly one of the most motivating tales of our times, The Google Story, in my opinion, is a must read for anybody dreaming of venturing into something of his own, sometime in his life.
Larry Page with a net worth of 12.8 billion dollars at an age of 33 and Sergey Mihailovich Brin with a net worth of 12.9 billion dollars at a mere age of 32 rank 27 and 26, respectively, on the Forbes 2006 list of world’s 400 richest people. If you look closely at the list you would find that these two are also the youngest ever people to achieve this position.
While reading this book, I tried to figure out what led Larry Page and Sergey Brin to this dramatic rise to the forefront of technology business. I concluded that it was more related to their desire to make a positive contribution to the society than make the money. I also tried to compare their life with the life we live at the top technical institutes of our country to find out what really is stopping us Indians from contributing to the society in the same big way.
1. To a certain extent the foundation of Larry and Sergey’s future was laid by their cultural and societal predispositions and the kind of atmosphere that they were brought up in.
2. Being the sons of distinguished professors of their times and with their gifted intellectual abilities, they had that intellectually stimulating environment at home.
3. And the exposure to computers at home in the early 80s was a luxury, again, predisposing them to a future different from that of their counterparts.
4. But the first important step in their success was their recognition of an opportunity, of making something that mattered as a contribution to the society, out of a very small problem they were facing in their studies at the Stanford and the realization that a Ph.D. would not matter more than an opportunity to make serious contribution to the lives of people of the world.
I think that’s where we Indians lack mainly. Students at even the top technical institutes of our country lack the desire, motivation, support and courage to take the helm in their hands. Just as at Stanford, the learning and academic environment at any technical institute of higher learning, in our country too, provides enough opportunities to its students to recognize the gaps, the niche and the area where they can work independently and purposefully, make a difference in the quality of life surrounding them and make their learning purposeful. But most of the times, the historical and cultural predispositions, that have shaped us to seek the appreciation of our master by our work, come in the way and even the most competent of us are content with just securing a respected job by the norms of society and getting the appreciation from our employers by working overtime and on public holidays too. In contrast, the origin and the history of Americans, that has shaped them to break the shackles of dependency and outshine their masters by being a trailblazer in everything they do, inspires them to follow their interests and make their learning purposeful. This was very well epitomized by the Google guys when they decided that a Ph.D. on paper could not be more meaningful than making something out of their research that would bring the vast pool of knowledge at one’s fingertips at a single click of the mouse and hence transform the way people do things. I wonder how many research papers from our country’s top technical institutes could have transformed our society in the similar way had they been backed by men of similar will and passion for their work.
5. Then the kind of support that Stanford and other institutes in the US have always extended to their students, in terms of monetary assistance for research and patents, has nurtured the innovation out of academics. Google and Yahoo both, for example, are the products of the research at Stanford. This kind of support is lacking at even the government funded top technical institutes of India.
I faced this problem several times while starting any ambitious project at my institute where we were asked to either invest our own money (which we didn’t have) before the department could sanction us the funds or we were simply refused the assistance because of the huge cost involved or the low chances of success. There was a time when we could not work on an artificial intelligence project because of the unavailability of the kind of cameras and sensors to us that the students at the MIT were using. The Stanford repeatedly bore the $100000 expense each time the Google search engine crawled the web when it was in its initial phase. The absence of this kind of encouragement and support has played a major role in burying many innovations at our top technical institutes.
The cited reasons for this indifference are many. The need of money for social issues in a developing country like India takes priority over the huge risky investment in innovations at the institutes of higher learning. Whereas the social issues of a developing country ARE important, the backseat that innovation is taking due to this negligence is having serious implications on the economic development of India.
6. The next factor in the amazing success of Google has to do with the strong work ethics of the Google guys.
7. The Google guys have never sold their search results to any advertiser. This honesty has won them the trust of billions of internet users across the globe.
8. The Google guys had such tremendous faith in their innovation that they never advertised their own products. Still they created the best known brand of the internet.
9. The kind of work culture they have created at Google has won them some of the brightest scientists of the world and the innovation continues at Google.
Throughout my reading of the book, I thought, researched and analyzed…I thought how I have failed in my struggle against the predispositions of my background so far. I tried to think how I could gain from the success story of Google. And I reached a conclusion.
Whatever happened...happened. The college years are gone. I lost some of my productive years due to some predispositions I could do nothing about, despite my efforts, may be because I was too young to fight against these. But what’s stopping me now !
I have ideas.
I can still see the gaps.
I can still find my niche.
I have few of the brightest brains of the country for friends to make partners with.
I have parents who support me in my efforts.
I am mature.
I can work something out and expect some venture capital if I am really onto something that matters.
Nothing has changed even after 2 years of graduation except that I am even more mature and more practical now.
By the night I finished reading ‘The Google Story’, I made up my mind. I am going to shape my destiny myself. I am going to take the helm in my hands. I am going to change the way people do things. I am going to make a difference. Luck factor is with the God...
The only thing to work out is….HOW I AM GONNA DO THIS !
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