Life can begin at 40, it is all in your hands! Many people feel unhappy, health-wise and security-wise, after 40 years of age, owing to the diminishing importance given to them and their opinions. But, it need not be so, if only we understand the basic principles of life and follow them scrupulously.

Here are ten mantras to age gracefully and make life after retirement pleasant.

1. Never say I am aged :

There are three ages, chronological, biological, and psychological. The first is calculated based on our date of birth; the second is determined by the health conditions; the third is how old we feel we are.

While we don't have control over the first, we can take care of our health with good diet, exercise and a cheerful attitude. A positive attitude and optimistic thinking can reverse the third age.

2. Health is wealth:

If you really love your kith and kin, taking care of your health should be your priority.

Thus, you will not be a burden to them. Have an annual health check-up and take the prescribed medicines regularly. Do take health insurance coverage.

3. Money is important:

Money is essential for meeting the basic necessities of life, keeping good health and earning family respect and security. Don't spend beyond your means even for your children. You have lived for them all through and it is time you enjoyed a harmonious life with your spouse. If your children are grateful and they take care of you, you are blessed. But, never take it for granted.

4. Relaxation and recreation:

The most relaxing and recreating forces are a healthy religious attitude, good sleep, music and laughter. Have faith in God, learn to sleep well, love good music and see the funny side of life.

5. Time is precious:

It is almost like holding a horses' reins. When they are in your hands, you can control them. Imagine that everyday you are born again.

Yesterday is a cancelled cheque.

Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is ready cash - use it profitably. Live this moment; live it fully, now, in the present time.

6. Change is the only permanent thing:

We should accept change - it is inevitable. The only way to make sense out of change is to join in the dance. Change has brought about many pleasant things. We should be happy that our children are blessed.

7. Enlightened selfishness:

All of us are basically selfish. Whatever we do, we expect something in return. We should definitely be grateful to those who stood by us. But, our focus should be on the internal satisfaction and the happiness we derive by doing good for others, without expecting anything in return. Perform a random act of kindness daily.

8. Forget and forgive:

Don't be bothered too much about others' mistakes. We are not spiritual enough to show our other cheek when we are slapped in one. But for the sake of our own health and happiness, let us forgive and forget them. Otherwise, we will be only increasing our blood pressure.

9. Everything has a purpose:

Take life as it comes. Accept yourself as you are and also accept others for what they are. Everybody is unique and is right in his own way.

10. Overcome the fear of death:

We all know that one day we have to leave this world. Still we are afraid of death. We think that our spouse and children will be unable to withstand our loss. But the truth is no one is going to die for you; they may be depressed for some time. Time heals everything and they will go on.

One person proved all these wrong just by her perseverance, hard work, spirit of never-die approach, self confidence, etc. She is none other than Mrs. Anil Jyothi Reddy. Her story is an apt example of rags-to-rich transformation.

You are the creator of your own destiny

Nothing can stop a human being from becoming what he/she wants to achieve in life.
This has been proved by Mrs. Jyothi Reddy with her spectacular travel from a field laborer to the CEO of an organization in the US. This is the true story of Ms. Jyothi Reddy who now owns a software company in the United States of America and who has a great vision to change many lives of women in rural India.

Early Struggle

Jyothi was born in 1970 and she was the youngest among the five girl children in a poor family in India. Due to her family’s financial situation, she was admitted into a welfare orphanage. To get the admission, she had to become a motherless child. It was a heart breaking situation for Jyothi as she could not see her mother during the days when she was in the orphanage. There was nobody to share her happiness and sorrow. Instead of getting down with the situation, Jyothi developed a strong will to make her future bright. She promised herself to work towards creating a better life for her. She learned the way of dealing with life in a hard and practical manner. The hardship taught her the value of life and made her think beyond the situation.

She attended a government school while at the orphanage and she also took vocational course while residing in the superintendent's house. Jyothi used to help her superintendent with their household work. She realized that to lead a beautiful life, she should get a decent job first. She started thinking for the ways to get into a job.

"Man proposes and God disposes" - Same happened to Jyothi as she had to marry at 16 to her cousin, instead of working on to make her dreams come true. After having 2 children, the situation became even worse as she had to work in the fields for a daily wage of Rs. 5 to take care of her children. These situations made her even stronger to stand and fight for life.

Gradual Growth with Perseverance

Then came an opportunity in the form of NYK (Nehru Yuva Kendra), a Central Government scheme which sought to create awareness among the youth. She took the opportunity and became a NYK Volunteer and later started teaching. But the money she was making was not sufficient to run the family. She used to stitch petticoats at night to make more money. She also learned typewriting. Apart from her bad financial situation, she also had to fight with family and society to do what she wanted to do. She studied and obtained a BA from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University in 1994 and studied for a postgraduate degree from the Kakatiya University on weekends and obtained it in 1997. This made her get a special teacher job for a salary of Rs. 398 per month. She used to travel for two hours to reach her school. She utilized this time to sell sarees to her co-passengers which gave her some extra income. Her struggle for life made her become conscious about the time and it showed her the ways to utilize the time available creatively.

Her job was regularized and she started making decent money. But she did not want to settle for anything, as her passion to reach a higher level always was haunting her to find the next best. A relative's visit from the US made her think about going to the land of dreams, United States. She studied computer courses to get the eligibility to work in the US. She went to US by leaving her two daughters in a missionary hostel.

Struggle to get Foothold

It was not an easy journey for her to settle in the US. She had to work in a gas station, work as a baby sitter, load/unload goods and work at a video shop for her survival. She then joined a company called CS America as a recruiter with an aid of a close relative. Later she got another offer from a different company, but it did not stay and she had to go back to babysitting and gas station for survival. That was the beginning of her entrepreneurial dreams. She wanted to start her own business and was looking for the suitable line of business to start.

Entry into Entrepreneurial World

When she visited Mexico for stamping, she realized that she could start a consulting company as she was familiar with the paperwork involved with the Visa Processing. With her savings of $40000, she opened an office in Phoenix in 2011. She has been successfully running her company KEYSS since then.

Her two daughters moved to US and completed their education in the American schools.

Social Responsibility

Her practical experiences with a struggling life made her think about doing her part in helping the people in need. Whenever she visits India, she goes to old age homes, orphanages and provides a helping hand to them. She also visits educational institutes to inspire and empower the future generations.

Self Motives and Tireless Effort

Today, her next dream to see that every Orphan in India to get his/her own Identity, recognition and enjoy equal opportunity. Towards reaching that goal, she has been interacting and sensitizing various Government agencies, policy makers, politicians as well as Non-Government Organizations.

In this direction, she had joined hands with other likeminded NGOs Prajadharana Welfare Society, MV Foundation and Child Rights Advocacy Forum (CRAF) and formed a Pressure Group Force for Orphan Rights and Community Empowerment (FORCE). She has already organized a National Seminar at Hyderabad during December 19 - 21, 2011 and submitted a memorandum to the Central Government. She is also organizing National Consultations for Orphans Rights with Parliament Members (MPs) and other Law Makers from 16 – 21, May 2012 at New Delhi.

Need-based Support to Orphans

Through such mission, she wants to help and make all young orphans between the age group of 18 - 35 to get financial independence. Using Vocational Training, she intends to train them and enable them become self confident and self-reliant and improve their employability.

She is also working on her vision which empowers the rural women with skills and makes them self-sufficient.

This is how a girl from a village created her own destiny and went to the top of the world and started helping many.

Some people are just born to dance. And dance they do, despite any personal setbacks or tragedies. One such amazing personality is a woman by the name of Sudha Chandran. Born to a family that were passionate lovers of art, and it came as no surprise that Sudha shared the same feelings. Exposed to a rich cultural heritage, she started dancing on her own at the age of three. Her zest and dedication was so great that her father decided to get her enrolled at a famous dance school in Mumbai at the age of five.Seeing such a small child, the principal initially refused to take her in, but decided to watch Sudha dance at the insistence of her father. Greatly surprised and taken in by such graceful dance, he approved her formal dance training without hesitation. Sudha’s dedication to dance delivered results and she gave her first dance performance on stage at the age of eight. By the age of 17, she had presented 75 widely appreciated stage programs.
Life went on normally until that fateful night on May 2, 1981 when suddenly the bus Sudha was travelling in collided with a truck, killing the bus driver on the spot. Sitting two seats behind the driver, her legs became trapped and the rescuers had to struggle for a long time to pull her out.

Her right leg critically injured, Sudha was immediately rushed to the hospital where the doctor treating her injuries made the serious mistake of plastering the leg. Few days later, she noticed the colour of her skin was changing and upon inspection, it was noted that gangrene had set in. The doctors had no choice but to amputate her leg in order to save her life.

This drastic change left Sudha completely shattered and heartbroken – she could no longer pursue the passion of her life, the dance she cherished above all else. She was unable to sleep, became restless and remained in a state of shock for some time.
After this short low point in her life, Sudha’s confidence started returning. Determined to grow stronger, she refused the assistance of a wheelchair, choosing to practice walking instead with the help of a wooden leg and crutches.

Six months after the amputation, Sudha read an article about Dr. Sethi of Jaipur who had started manufacturing artificial legs of such quality that the amputee could work on an agricultural farm and even climb a tree. Dr. Sethi, recipient of Raman Magasassay Award and artificial limb specialist, examined Sudha and assured her that she will be able to walk normally again. When asked whether she will be able to dance again, the doctor replied, “Yes, why not? When using this, a farmer can work in wet soil and climb a tree, then why can’t you dance?”

Taking up the challenge to fulfill Sudha’s dream of dancing, Dr. Sethi had an easily rotatable aluminum foot manufactured for her. Excited with this new challenge, Sudha was able to easily learn to walk on the new leg however dancing on it was quite different altogether. The artificial leg would need constant changes to compete with the challenges of the dance steps but that did not reduce the problem. Her leg would often bleed as the movements became faster and faster, increasing the severity of the pain.

Initially disappointed, Sudha visited Dr. Sethi with her dance teacher. Highly impressed with her will power, Dr. Sethi carefully took note of each and every dance step and had a new leg rebuilt. Sudha continued practicing again, and mastered all the dance step despite the pain and bleeding that were constant companions. She eagerly awaited an opportunity to perform on stage once again.

The opportunity came on January 28, 1984. Initially extremely nervous, Sudha’s passion for dance overshadowing her disability on stage, she danced so proficiently that it left the audience mesmerized. At the end of her performance, the hall echoed with sounds of thunderous claps.

Sudha had become a star overnight! Every newspaper and magazine splattered her story across India. Ramoji Rao, the famous Telegu film producer was so impressed by her that he decided to produce a film based on her life and insisted on giving her the casting role. Nervous at first, Sudha finally agreed to take on the role since it was based on her own life story. Conveying a message of perseverance against all adversity the film touched many hearts, bringing people to tears. It was a super hit!

On seeing the outstanding success of the film, its producer made the film in Hindi as well, titled “Nache Mayuri”. Sudha’s talent had spread throughout the entire nation. The film easily crossed borders and was watched and appreciated in several countries.

Marrying the man of her dream, Ravi, she also continued her studies and received a post-graduation degree. Sudha continued to work as an actor both in movies and in TV serials.

Through sheer determination and will power, Sudha has proven to the world that despite a disability, one can touch the peak of success. She continues to be an inspirational source to many who face similar challenges in their lives.

People often ask: how can I make a difference in the world? I am just one person among billions of others, what could I possibly do that would change anything? Everyone else should have to change in order for me to make a difference.
~~Dashrath Manjhi

Well, here is a story of a man who single-handedly moved a mountain! He cut down a mountain single handed for 22 years - day and night, to ensure no one else dies without medical care like his wife.

Dashrath Manjhi carved a path 360-foot-long (110 m) through-cut, 25-foot-deep (7.6 m) in places and 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) to form a road through a mountain in the Gehlour hills, working day and night for 22 years from 1960 to 1982. His feat reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of the Gaya district from 80 km to 13 km, bringing him national acclaim. Though initially mocked for his efforts, this only served to strengthen his resolve. But as time went by, the unfazed farmer continued to split the troublesome hill in half, he started getting some help. "Though most villagers taunted me at first, there were quite a few who lent me support later by giving me food and helping me buy my tools," he remembered. Now all the people of Gaya district have nothing but gratitude of the "Mountain Man" who made their lives so much easier.

Recognition

For his glorious feat, this Bihari old man became popularly known as the 'Mountain Man'. He died on 17 August 2007 at the age of 73, while suffering from gall bladder cancer in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He was given a state funeral by the Government of Bihar. Later, Nitish Kumar, the then Chief Minister of Bihar proposed to build a 3 km metalled road from Gahlaur to Amethi, naming the project as Dashrath Manjhi Road. A hospital in his name is also proposed for serving the villagers.

Some invaluable lessons to learn from this Legend

He never got panicked by measuring the whole task at once; instead, he started keeping his tiny steps one by one, faced difficulties on its encountering and progressed while solving them one by one. There is no point thinking much about the task that looks seemingly unconquerable and impossible; nobody completes them in one step. What matters the most is your small steps through which you reach there. So focus on your task and accomplish them with great care.

2. Patience is the greatest virtue that leads us to success.

Dashrath Manjhi cut through the hill for long 22 years. His patience give him the courage to overcome extreme pain, frustration, disappointments and personal loss.

3. Dream the impossible!

Dashrath Manjhi dreamt of making a walkway through two arrogant and treacherous rocky hills. He planned accordingly, accomplished the task and walked his dream. He was a legend who taught us to dare to dream the impossible. If you keep working on, the near-impossible task will seem a lot easier tomorrow.

4. Attitude matters!

Don’t ever blame difficulties if you crumble if front of them; it is not the difficulties but the attitude that lets you down. If Dashrath Manjhi could triumph over difficulties, it was his attitude that kept him stay focused and going.

5. Stay positive!

Your positive thoughts and words initiate you to reach your destiny along with your own values.

6. Don’t lose heart if people call you mad and crazy for you unique thoughts.

The same people appreciate you, promote you and example your tale for encouragement on successfully completion of your plans. When Dashrath Manjhi began working on his plan, people called him mad and discouraged him with impossibilities, but these same people appreciated him and used the way that he created.

Once a wise man drew a line on a board and told his student to make the line shorter without touching or erasing it.

How would you do it?
You have to shorten a line without touching it.
The intelligent student then drew a much longer line underneath that line. So, the line automatically became shorter.

The lesson here is that if your difficulties appear to be very big, lift your eyes, because you are only focused on yourself.

If you lift your eyes up and look at those who are in a worse condition than you, you will suddenly feel that your burden is not as bad as you thought it was.

If you think you have some big problem, look at people who have a greater problem. Suddenly, you will get a confidence that my problem is much smaller, and I can manage it.

(Miss India 2009 - Pooja Chopra)
Neera Chopra is her mother. This is her story.

...Neera Chopra lived through abuse, poverty and some tough choices to make her once-unwanted girl child, Pooja Chopra,

Neera Chopra's story:-

"I don’t know where to begin... they were terrible times. My husband was well-placed, but the marriage had begun to sink almost as soon as it began. Like most women do, I tried to work against all the odds .

My in-laws insisted everything would be alright if I had a son. My first child was a daughter, and that didn’t do me any good... but I couldn’t walk out. I had lost my father, my brother was in a not-so-senior position in Bata. I didn’t want to be a burden on my family and continued to live in my marital home in Kolkata.

I looked after my mother-inlaw, who was suffering from cancer, and while bathing her, I would tell myself she would bless me and put things right.

I don’t know how I tolerated it all. The least a man can do, if he must philander, is to not flaunt his women in his wife’s face. Then began the manhandling. I still wanted my marriage to survive. I was a pure vegetarian and learnt to cook non-vegetarian delicacies thinking it would please him.

Then, I was pregnant again. When Pooja was eight months in my womb, my husband brought a girl to the house and announced he would marry her. I thought of killing myself. I hung on the slight hope that if the baby was a boy, my marriage could be saved.

When Pooja was born a girl, for three days, nobody came to the hospital. There was a squadron leader’s wife on the opposite bed, who was kind enough to give me baby clothes for Pooja to wear. When she was 20 days old, I had to make a choice. I left the house with my girls ‘ Pooja and Shubra, who was seven then. I haven’t seen my husband since. I promised myself, even if we had just one roti, we would share it, but together.

I began life in Mumbai with the support of my mother, brother, who was by then married. It wasn’t the ideal situation, especially when he had children - space, money, everything was short. I began work at the Taj Colaba and got my own place. How did I manage? Truth be told, I would put a chatai on the floor, leave two glasses of milk and some food, and bolt the door from outside before going to work. I would leave the key with the neighbours and tell the kids to shout out to them when it was time to leave for school.

Their tiny hands would do homework on their own, feed themselves on days that I worked late. My elder daughter Shubhra would make Pooja do her corrections... This is how they grew up. At a birthday party, Pooja would not eat her piece of cake, but pack it and bring it home to share with her sister. When Shubhra started working, she would skip lunch and pack a chicken sandwich that she would slip in her sister’s lunchbox the next day.

I used to pray, ‘God, punish me for my karma, but not my innocent little kids. Please let me provide them the basics.’ I used to struggle for shoes, socks, uniforms. I was living in Bangur Nagar, Goregaon. Pooja would walk four bus stops down to the St Thomas
Academy . Then, too little to cross the road, she would ask a passerby to help her. I had to save the bus money to be able to put some milk in their bodies.

Life began to change when I got a job for Rs 6,000 at the then Goa Penta. Mr Chhabra, the owner, and his wife, were kind enough to provide a loan for me. I sent my daughters to my sister’s house in Pune, with my mother as support. I spent four years working in Goa while I saved to buy a small one-bedroom house in Pune (where the family still lives). I would work 16-18 hours a day, not even taking weekly offs to accumulate leave and visit my daughters three or four times a year.

Once I bought my house and found a job in Pune, life began to settle. I worked in Hotel Blue Diamond for a year and then finally joined Mainland China ‘ which changed my life. The consideration of the team and management brought me the stability to bring them up, despite late hours and the travelling a hotelier must do.

Shubhra got a job in Hotel Blue Diamond, being the youngest employee there while still in college, and managed to finish her Masters in commerce and her BBM. Today, she is married to a sweet Catholic boy who is in the Merchant Navy and has a sweet daughter.

I continue to finish my day job and come home and take tuitions, as I have done for all these years. I also do all my household chores myself.

Through the years, Shubhra has been my anchor and Pooja, the rock. Pooja’s tiny hands have wiped away my tears when I broke down. She has stood up for me, when I couldn't speak for myself. Academically brilliant, she participated in all extra-curricular activities. When she needed high heels to model in, she did odd shows and bought them for herself.

When I saw Pooja give her speech on TV, I knew it came from her heart. I could see the twinkle in her eye. And I thought to myself as she won ‘My God, this is my little girl.’ God was trying to tell me something.

Today, I've no regrets. I believe every cloud has a silver lining. As a mother, I've done nothing great."

Pantaloons Femina Miss India Pooja Chopra’s mother promised, ‘One day, this girl will make me proud’.

Pooja speaks on fulfilling that promise... "When I was 20 days old, my mother was asked to make a choice. It was either me, a girl child, or her husband. She chose me. As she walked out she turned around and told her husband, ‘One day, this girl will make me proud’. That day has come. Her husband went on to marry a woman who gave him two sons. Today, as I stand here a Miss India, I don’t even know if my father knows that it is me, his daughter, who has set out to conquer the world, a crown on my head.

"Our lives have not been easy, least so for my mother. Financially, emotionally, she struggled to stay afloat, to keep her job and yet allow us to be the best that we could be. I was given only one condition when I started modelling ‘ my grades wouldn’t drop.

"All the girls in the pageant worked hard, but my edge was my mother’s sacrifice, her karma. Today, when people call to congratulate me, it’s not me they pay tribute to, but to her life and her struggle. She’s the true Woman of Substance. She is my light, my mentor, my driving force."

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on
a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken
face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands
desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got
panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed
on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the
drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.
In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of
the cockroach on his shirt.
When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and
threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind
picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach
responsible for their histrionic behavior?
If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?
He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle
the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or
my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the
disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my
inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that
disturbs me.

More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates
chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:
I understood, I should not react in life.
I should always respond.
The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well
thought of, just and right to save a situation from going out of
hands, to avoid cracks in relationship, to avoid taking decisions in
anger, anxiety, stress or hurry.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

“We told them so.”

“Crazy men and their crazy dreams.”

“It`s foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap, Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.



Moral: Even the most distant dream can be realized with persistence and determination.

A number of years ago in Elkhart, Kansas, two brothers had a job at the local school. Early each morning their job was to start a fire in the potbellied stove in the classroom.

One cold morning, the brothers cleaned out the stove and loaded it with firewood. Grabbing a can of kerosense, one of them doused the wood and lit the fire. The explosion rocked the old building. The fire killed the older brother and badly burned the legs of the other boy. It was later discovered that the kerosene can had accidentally been filled with gasoline.

The doctor attending the injured boy recommended amputating the young boy’s legs. The parents were devastated. They had already lost one son, and now their other son was to lose his legs. But they did not lose their faith. They asked the doctor for a postponement of the amputation. The doctor consented. Each day they asked the doctor for a delay, praying that their son’s legs would somehow heal and he would become well again. For two months, the parents and the doctor debated on whether to amputate. They used this time to instil in the boy the belief that he would someday walk again.

They never amputated the boys legs, but when the bandages were finally removed, it was discovered that his right leg was almost three inches shorter than the other. The toes on his left foot were almost completely burned off. Yet the boy was fiercely determined. Though in excruciating pain, he forced himself to exercise daily and finally took a few painful steps. Slowly recovering, this young man finally threw away his crutches and began to walk almost normally. Soon he was running.

This determined young man kept running and running and running — and those legs that came so close to being amputated carried him to a world record in the mile run. His name? Glenn Cunningham, who was known as the “Worlds Fastest Human Being,”and was named athlete of the century at Madison Square Garden.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw.

As every shovel of dirt hit his back, the donkey did something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed, as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of a hole is to shake it off and take a step up.

Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest holes just by not stopping, never giving up!
Shake it off and take a step up!

A little boy came running excitedly to his mother saying:
Mom, there is a boy out there in the woods who is mocking me. Everything I say he says after me.

If I say: "Hello," he says: "Hello."
When I say "Who are you?" he says: "Who are you?"

So I got mad and jumped over the fence and went into the woods to find him. But he wasn't anywhere.
So I yelled, "I'll punch you in the nose."
And he said the very same thing, exactly as I had said it."

The boy's mother told him, "That is only an echo answering you Billy. If you had said: 'I love you,' it would have said the same to you."

There is a similar story about a dog who went into a room full of mirrors.
He eventually died of exhaustion trying to fight his mirrored 'enemies.'
If he had only wagged his tail once, he would have had all of them wagging their tails in friendship.

Moral: Life is like an echo or a mirror: we get out of it what we put in.

So,try putting in all ur humility n tenderness towards all.

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him,

"I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Michael replied,

"Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or ... I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I Choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied.

"If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be-born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or ... I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued,

"...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read "he's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes', I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity.' "

Over their laughter, I told them,

"I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

“Humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries, but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.” – Bill Gates

Passion, intensity, and tenacity. That’s one way to describe Bill Gates.

When I think back to why I joined Microsoft, a very big reason was Bill Gates. Here was a guy with all the money in the world, yet he showed up every day to change the world. Rather than just retire and play with his money, he focuses his time, energy, and resources on making a better world.

He fights the good fight to leave the world a better place than he found it, and he’s a world-wide giver of epic proportions. In fact, he and Warren Buffet joined forces to drive a campaign to encourage the wealthiest people to give most of their money to philanthropic causes (see The Giving Pledge.)

It’s one thing to be smart. It’s another thing to be resourceful. It’s yet another thing to get results. Bill Gates is a visionary that makes things happen by creating systems bigger than himself and inspiring people to join him on epic adventures to change the world. He’s not a seeker of fame or a seeker of fortune, although he has both. He’s a maker of impact. Technology is his way, and reducing inequities in the world is his game.

Who better to learn some lessons for life, than from a master of the game of life? With that in mind, let’s see what lessons we can borrow from Bill Gates’ playbook.

25 Lessons Learned from Bill Gates

Bill is full of lessons and insights. Here are 25 plays we can take from the pages of his playbook:

1. Change the world, or go home. There is a little sign on many doors at Microsoft. It features the blue monster and it reads: “Change the world, or go home.” Not only does that phrase capture the spirit of thousands of Softies … it speaks to the way Bill Gates drives his life. He lives to build a better world, whether it’s one version, one platform, one system, one idea, one cause, one innovation at a time. The beauty is, he knows how to scale and amplify his impact in powerful ways – he’s on top of his game.
2. Blaze the trail. The path isn’t always there. Sometimes you have to make it. Sometimes people will think you’re crazy. Sometimes you are just ahead of the curve. it’s a dream for a reason, and sometimes making your dreams happen takes going out on a limb and giving your all for what you believe in. Bill Gates believed that the personal computer was the future and that there should be one on every desktop and in the living room and it would change the way we work and how we live in unimaginable ways.
3. Make an impact. Drive from impact. Bill Gates makes choices based on impact. Whether it’s following his passion or investing in a cause, he drives from making impact. He doesn’t just do things because he can. He does things because they matter and he can make them scale.
4. Humanities greatest advances are the ones that level the playing field. Bill Gates has a strong belief that “All lives have equal value.” Help those that can’t help themselves. Everybody deserves a chance at their best life. Lift the underdogs of the world up. In his speech at Harvard, Bill says, “Taking a look back, one big reqret is, I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world. The appalling disparities of health and wealth and opportunity that condemned millions of people to the lives of despair. I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas and economics, and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences. But humanities greatest advances are not in its discoveries, but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.”
5. A sense of urgency. The world changes fast. The market changes faster. Bill says, “In this business, by the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late to save yourself. Unless you’re running scared all the time, you’re gone.”
6. The market doesn’t always drive the right things. In one of his powerful TED talks, Bill says, “There are some very important problems that don’t get worked on naturally. That is the market does not drive the scientists, the communicators, the thinkers, the government to do the right things. And only by paying attention to these things, and having brilliant people who care and draw other people in, can we make as much progress as we need to.”
7. Live your values. When you let the world know what you’re about, you become a lightening rod and you attract people with the same values. At Microsoft, Bill Gates attracted people with a passion for changing the world and joining him on a journey to help create better lives through technology and innovation. On the philanthropy side, Gates connects with U2’s Bono beyond the music when it comes to sharing their global mission to end poverty, disease, and indifference. In 2005, TIME named Bono, Bill and Melinda Gates, “Persons of the Year” for their humanitarian work. On Bill Gate’s 54′th birthday, Bono had this to say before leading the crowd in Happy Birthday: “Without him, and without his business, we just wouldn’t be where we are today. It’s his birthday today. Bill Gates is in the house.”
8. Your best gets better with the right people. Don’t go it alone. You’re better when you’ve got the right people around you. Bill Gates built a culture of the best and brightest and was good at convincing his friends, such as Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer to join him on his adventures. By surrounding himself with smart people, Bill was able to scale. He also had a sounding board for ideas. More importantly, ideas could get better from the combined smarts and perspectives. Bill also knows how to complement his strengths by having the right people around that make up for his weaknesses.
9. Innovation is the heart and soul of a business. It’s about bringing ideas to market and applying research. If you don’t innovate you die. The world keeps changing. To stay ahead of the game, or even to stay in the game, you have to keep innovating: innovate in your products, innovate in your process, innovate in the markets, etc. Bill Gates uses innovation as a way to drive impact whether it’s shaping software or saving the planet.
10. Be the platform. Be the platform people can build on. See the role that you play in building something that let’s other people build on what you do best.
11. Build a better system. Don’t just solve a one-off problem. Make the solution systematic and make it repeatable. Find, create, or leverage systems. There is always a system, whether it’s at the micro-level or the macro level. The system has inputs and outputs, cycles, and levers. Whether you’re creating the system or leveraging the system, you’re more effective when you realize that there is a system.
12. Build an ecosystem. There are systems and ecosystems all around us. Bill says, “Personal computing today is a rich ecosystem encompassing massive PC-based data centers, notebook and Tablet PCs, handheld devices, and smart cell phones. It has expanded from the desktop and the data center to wherever people need it — at their desks, in a meeting, on the road or even in the air.” On creating partners for your ecosystem, Bill says, “Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning.”
13. Know how to turn the crank. Take action. Execute. The problem isn’t a shortage of ideas, it’s execution. Lots of people have ideas. There is an overload of ideas. The real gap is bringing ideas to market in a way that matters. The secret sauce is ruthless prioritization of the ideas that make the most impact.
14. Take Care of Your People. Bill Gates says, “Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.” He set a powerful example of taking care of employees, from private offices for developers to creating a workplace of extreme empowerment, engagement, and passion.
15. Divide and conquer the problem. There is always a way to chunk up the problem and prioritize more effectively. Whether it’s slicing the problem into versions over time, or simply taking the most meaningful or highest ROI (Return On Investment) pieces of the problem and tackling them first, you can make progress on the worst of problems or the best of opportunities. No problem withstands sustained, focused effort that learns and improves over time.
16. Improving your odds doesn’t guarantee success. One of Bill’s stories during his speech at Harvard is how he learned this lesson: “Radcliff was a great place to live. There were more women up there and most of the guys were mad science types. The combination offered me the best odds if you know what I mean.”
17. You don’t have to be first to win. Bill says, “Microsoft has had its success by doing low-cost products and constantly improving those products and we’ve really redefined the IT industry to be something that’s about a tool for individuals.”
18. The toughest feedback to hear, is the feedback you need the most. You get better by listening to your toughest critics. Your greatest source of growth can come from the people that will tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear. Bill says, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Bill also says, “You’ve got to want to be in this incredible feedback loop where you get the world-class people to tell you what you’re doing wrong.”
19. Business and technology go hand in hand. Bill says, “Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.” We’re truly living a knowledge worker world, where information technology is front and center. Bill says, “It’s pretty incredible to look back 30 years to when Microsoft was starting and realize how work has been transformed. We’re finally getting close to what I call the digital workstyle.”
20. Frame the problem. Bill says, “I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.” Framing a problem is simply how you look at a problem, just like how you frame a picture. It’s about choosing what to focus on, what’s in and what’s out. When you frame the problem, you bound it. Framing also helps you get a better perspective on the problem, as well as share the problem more effectively with others. Some questions to help frame a problem include: Who’s the customer? What are their needs and priorities? What’s happening in the market? What are competitors doing? What are our options for responding? How do we differentiate? How is technology changing and what possibilities does it offer our customers? What are the priorities for our business?
21. Celebrate success, but learn from failure. Don’t repeat the same mistakes and don’t wallow in your wins. Bill says, ““It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
22. Technology is just a tool. Don’t lose sight of the end in mind or the difference that makes the difference. Bill says, “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
23. Don’t automate inefficiency. Make sure something actually makes sense to automate, otherwise you compound the problem. Bill says, “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”
24. Empower people. Put the right information into the hands of the people that can make the most of it. Bill says, ““The vision is really about empowering workers, giving them all the information about what’s going on so they can do a lot more than they’ve done in the past.”
25. Go digital. Connect people, process, and technology. Create a digital landscape or a virtual world to reduce friction and to create new possibilities. Bill says, “One of the wonderful things about the information highway is that virtual equity is far easier to achieve than real-world equity…We are all created equal in the virtual world and we can use this equality to help address some of the sociological problems that society has yet to solve in the physical world.”

Top 10 Bill Gates’ Quotes

Here are my top 10 favorite Bill Gates’ quotes:

1. “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.“
2. “If you give people tools, and they use their natural ability and their curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will surprise you very much beyond what you might have expected.”
3. “If you show people the problems and you show people the solutions they will be moved to act.”
4. “In terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen.”
5. “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.”
6. “Often you have to rely on intuition.”
7. “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
8. “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
9. “You’ve got to want to be in this incredible feedback loop where you get the world-class people to tell you what you’re doing wrong.”
10. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

Quotes by Bill Gates

Here is an extended list of useful or interesting quotes by Bill Gates:

1. “Analytical software enables you to shift human resources from rote data collection to value-added customer service and support where the human touch makes a profound difference.”
2. “At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas but the image is that they all come from the top – I’m afraid that’s not quite right.”
3. “Capitalism is this wonderful thing that motivates people, it causes wonderful inventions to be done. But in this area of diseases of the world at large, it’s really let us down.”
4. “Every day we’re saying, ‘How can we keep this customer happy?’ How can we get ahead in innovation by doing this’, because if we don’t, somebody else will.”
5. “Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.”
6. “I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.”
7. “I do think this next century, hopefully, will be about a more global view. Where you don’t just think, yes my country is doing well, but you think about the world at large.”
8. “I like my job because it involves learning. I like being around smart people who are trying to figure out new things. I like the fact that if people really try they can figure out how to invent things that actually have an impact.”
9. “I really had a lot of dreams when I was a kid, and I think a great deal of that grew out of the fact that I had a chance to read a lot.”
10. “I think it`s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we`ve ever created. They`re tools of communication, they`re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.”
11. “If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 MPG.”
12. “If I’d had some set idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?”
13. “If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.”
14. “I’m a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they’re interested in.”
15. “In this business, by the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late to save yourself. Unless you’re running scared all the time, you’re gone.”
16. “Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.”
17. “Instead of buying airplanes and playing around like some of our competitors, we’ve rolled almost everything back into the company.”
18. “Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.”
19. “It’s pretty incredible to look back 30 years to when Microsoft was starting and realize how work has been transformed. We’re finally getting close to what I call the digital workstyle.”
20. “Microsoft has had its success by doing low-cost products and constantly improving those products and we’ve really redefined the IT industry to be something that’s about a tool for individuals.“
21. “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.”
22. “One of the wonderful things about the information highway is that virtual equity is far easier to achieve than real-world equity…We are all created equal in the virtual world and we can use this equality to help address some of the sociological problems that society has yet to solve in the physical world.”
23. “Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning.”
24. “Patience is a key element of success.”
25. “Personal computing today is a rich ecosystem encompassing massive PC-based data centers, notebook and Tablet PCs, handheld devices, and smart cell phones. It has expanded from the desktop and the data center to wherever people need it — at their desks, in a meeting, on the road or even in the air.”
26. “Software is a great combination between artistry and engineering. When you finally get done and get to appreciate what you have done it is like a part of yourself that you`ve put together. I think a lot of the people here feel that way.”
27. “Smart is an elusive concept. There’s a certain sharpness, an ability to absorb new facts. To ask an insightful question. To relate to domains that may not seem connected at first. A certain creativity that allows people to be effective.”
28. “Step back, build a better system, make sure that the government money gets to the people who deserve it.”
29. “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
30. “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”
31. “The great thing about a computer notebook is that no matter how much you stuff into it, it doesn`t get bigger or heavier.”
32. “The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.”
33. “The Internet will help achieve “friction free capitalism” by putting buyer and seller in direct contact and providing more information to both about each other.”
34. “The vision is really about empowering workers, giving them all the information about what’s going on so they can do a lot more than they’ve done in the past.”
35. “This is a fantastic time to be entering the business world, because business is going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 50.”
36. “This is a very exciting time in the world of information. It`s not just that the personal computer has come along as a great tool. The whole pace of business is moving faster. Globalization is forcing companies to do things in new ways.”
37. “Until we’re educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do.”
38. “Virtually every company will be going out and empowering their workers with a certain set of tools, and the big difference in how much value is received from that will be how much the company steps back and really thinks through their business processes … thinking through how their business can change, how their project management, their customer feedback, and their planning cycles can be quite different than they ever were before.”
39. “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”
40. “We are always saying to ourself, ‘We have to innovate. We got to come up with that breakthrough.’ In fact, the way software works, so long as you are using your existing software, you don’t pay us anything at all. So we’re only paid for breakthroughs.”
41. “We don’t have the user centricity, until we understand context, which is way beyond presence. Presence is the most trivial notion, just, ‘am I on this device or not’ — it doesn’t say ‘am I meeting with something, am I focused on writing something.”
42. “We’re only at the beginning of what we have to do here.”
43. “When you want to do your homework, fill out your tax return, or see all the choices for a trip you want to take, you need a full-size screen.”

Bill Gates’ 11 Rules of Life

There is a list of rules for life that you don’t learn in school that often gets attributed to Bill Gates:

• Rule 1: Life is not fair
• Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem.
• Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
• Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
• Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
• Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
• Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now.
• Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT.
• Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters.
• Rule 10: Television is NOT real life.
• Rule 11: Be nice to nerds.

Narayanan Krishnan, a 29-year-old chef from India who founded a non-profit body to feed the homeless and destitute, has been short-listed by CNN for its annual ‘Hero of the Year’ honour that recognises “everyday individuals who are changing the world.”

Mr. Krishnan founded his nonprofit Akshaya Trust in 2003.

He has served more than 1.2 million meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner - to India’s homeless and destitute, mostly elderly people abandoned by their families and often abused.

Mr. Krishnan brings hot meals and dignity to India’s homeless and destitute - 365 days a year.

“I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food,” Mr. Krishnan told. “It really hurt me so much.”

Haunted by the image, Mr. Krishnan quit his job within a week. Helping the old man, Mr. Krishnan said he decided to “serve all the mentally ill destitute and people who cannot take care of themselves.”

Mr. Krishnan and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van. He provides hot meals - simple vegetarian fare - that he personally prepares, packs and often hand-feeds to nearly 400 people each day.

The group’s operations cost about USD 327 a day, but sponsored donations only cover 22 days a month.

Since investing his entire savings of USD 2,500 in 2002, he has taken no salary. Due to lack of funding, the group was also forced to stop construction on Akshaya Home, Mr. Krishnan’s vision of a dormitory for the people he helps.

“Despite the demands and few comforts his lifestyle affords”, Mr. Krishnan says “he’s enjoying his life”.

"Successful leaders have the courage to take action while others hesitate."
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly"
“Be a hero .Always say I have no fear"
“Always look within not without"

Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore.

You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?

Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me)

Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, "God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky."

Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.



Childhood in a village

I spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying.

Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!

Another memory that doesn't go away is the floods in the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.

I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends.. I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon. The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!

I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!



January 11, 1993, the fateful day

On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door.

It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs.

The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital.

First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do?

In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.

I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.

Life without legs

I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits.



'I never wallowed in self-pity'
July 28, 2008



The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!
All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.

God's hand

I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school.

If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.

My sister, my friend

When the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained.

She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings.

She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school.

My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.

Inspiration

I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests, and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior.

When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600.

Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.

Moving to a residential school

Living in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.

There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do.. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad.

They are such wonderful supportive parents.

Life at IIT- Madras

Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.

Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to him during my years at IIT- Madras.

He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here.

I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot..

'There are more good people in society than bad ones'
July 28, 2008



Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.

Joining Google R&D

I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now.

Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.

I am lucky. Do you know why I say I am lucky?

I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a conference. We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.

I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster.

One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras, my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parents and they could take care of my sister's Nursing studies.

Surprise awaited me at IIT

After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge.

I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me. It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good.

Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute.

My life changed after that. I felt free and independent.

That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.

The world is full of good people

I also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones. I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too. (via : email)