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Thursday, December 31, 2009

God has always been planning things for me - Shobha Warrier

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/28sl1.htm

Naga Naresh Karuturi 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 MSFS missionary school where I was given free education up to 10th standard. 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 (1992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.

Here, I looked up to many students at IIT, and one of them was Karthik who was in the same hostel.

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.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Winners may analyze but never rationalize

Monkey-hunters use a box with an opening at the top, big enough for the monkey to slide its hand in. Inside the box are nuts. The monkey grabs the nuts and now its hand becomes a fist. The monkey tries to get its hand out but the opening is big enough for the hand to slide in, but too small for the fist to come out. Now the monkey has a choice, either to let go off the nuts and be free forever or hang on to the nuts and get caught. Guess what it picks every time? You guessed it. He hangs on to the nuts and gets caught.

We are no different from monkeys. We all hang on to some nuts that keep us from going forward in life. We keep rationalizing by saying, "I cannot do this because . . ." and whatever comes after "because" are the nuts that we are hanging on to which are holding
us back. Successful people don't rationalize. Two things determine if a person will be a success: reasons and results. Reasons don't count while results do. A good advice for failure is: Don't think, don't ask and don't listen. Just rationalize.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Everything happens for the GOOD

There was once a King who had a wise advisor. The advisor followed the King everywhere, and his favorite advice was, “Everything happens for the good”. One day the King went hunting and had a little accident. He shot an arrow at his own foot and was injured. He asked the advisor what he thought about the accident, to which the advisor replied, “Everything happens for the good”. This time the King was really upset and ordered for his advisor to be put in prison. The King asked his advisor, “Now, what do you think?” The advisor again replied, “Everything happens for the good”. So the advisor remained in prison.

The King later went on a hunting trip, this time without the advisor. The King was then captured by some cannibals. He was taken to the cannibals' camp where he was to be the evening meal for the cannibals. Before putting him into the cooking pot he was thoroughly inspected. The cannibals saw the wound on the King’s foot and decided to throw him back into the jungle. According to the cannibals' tradition, they would not eat anything that was imperfect. As a result the King was spared. The King suddenly realized what his advisor said was true. The advisor also escaped death because had he not been in prison, he would have followed the King on the hunting trip, and would have ended up in the cooking pot.

Monday, December 28, 2009

The maximum buying mood - HOW to create it.

I am currently reading the book by Cavett Robert - "Success with People" and some of the thoughts on the same are shared in this post.

There are three stages of information that will help in a successful sale or project - What, Why and How? For example:
WHAT: Water boils at 100 degrees C.
WHY: We are knowledgeable of the physics behind this phenomenon
HOW: Water boils when heat is applied to it

Each of the three are interdependent but the most important of the three is HOW. HOW provides the solution and precedes action. A better example of salesman:
WHAT: Salesman may know what a prospect's buying habits are
WHY: Salesman may even know why the prospect follows these buying habits.
HOW: But until salesman learns by creative selling how to cause the prospect to change his attitudes and buying habits - he is still an amateur.

Now that we know the importance of HOW - Lets learn the motivation behind it.
People buy things that make them feel important. People also buy and acquire things when they begin to feel important and optimistic - this is when he enters into the buying mood.

In essence, its seems reasonable that if I want to sell you something, my first step should be to create this buying mood within you - by making you feel important and optimistic. For example:
"Mr. Jackson, I sincerely feel that you deserve this. You owe it to yourself after all these years".
"Mrs. Singh, don't you feel that it's time that you start thinking of yourself a little bit. You have everyone else in your payroll. Now honestly, isn't it time that you give yourself a little consideration"

There has been considerable research in this topic and needles to say, I am not done thinking about this topic. We shall continue on the same lines the next time we meet.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

6 points a day

I was reading through the book "How to become a rainmaker" and what an amazing great read it has been. I have slightly modified some of the points in one of the chapters to fit to my business.

I have come up with a plan to stretch myself in my business and personal life - to become a better husband, friend, son and citizen.

Rules of the game are very simple - Get atleast 6 points each day in business and personal affairs. How exactly would I come up with 6 points, the math is simple
1 point - For every business contact
2 points - For every appointment fixed
3 points - For every plan shown
4 points - For every new business

So for today, lets say - I had one plan shown and two business contacts - it means I earned 6 points for my business today - working towards a goal.

Amazing way to gauze the success in your business and the action steps towards that goal.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Rich merchant and his 4 wives

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out : "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have !"

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

b. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament.

Sai Ram Kandarpa: Nothing happens overnight. We did not grow or age old overnight. Same is the case with the moral of this story. Slowly but surely try reducing your affection and attachment towards each one of your wives and strengthen the bond with lord. This does not mean you leave all your material possessions to join the order of monks - rather complete your responsibilities towards yourself, family, children, ancestors, friends and society.

Yogi is not a lazy person, he is one who is most efficient with his mind, body and intellect. His return on investment of his time, energy and passion for god is priceless and cannot be quantified.


Hope you enjoyed reading this post. The original story was copied from http://www.indianchild.com/4_wives.htm

Thanks.

Sai

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Two frogs - Power of the spoken word

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them
fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit
was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The
two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit
with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop,
that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took
heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down
and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again,
the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He
jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the
other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to
them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the
entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging
word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it
through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes
to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your
path. The power of words... it is sometimes hard to understand
that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak
words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in
difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time
to encourage another.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Interest or Commitment - Difference between average and extraordinary

Do you love what you do? Yes
Is that your calling for life? Yes
Would you do it for free? NO !!!

People have reasons for doing what they do today. I have a reason to go to work daily - why! to place food on the table, to provide shelter for my family and provide security in life (at-least temporarily).

Difference between interest and commitment is that of response and action. When you are interested in something you treat it as a hobby - play with it for while and if there is no instant gratification, you abandon it look for something else. But when you are committed, you are not just looking for instant satisfaction but also look at a long term perspective and have a delayed gratification attitude.

The transition from interest to commitment should be quick and disciplined so it avoids the pain of guilt, desperation and frustration. Get out of the awkward phase of partial commitment at the earliest. That phase is like barbed fence - its better to be on either side of the fence than be on fence for long time.

Don't wait too long to get committed to being productive (not busy) - people who don't stand for something, are washed away for anything. If you see enough success around you or in you, build on it and work towards increasing your awareness and knowledge in the chosen field.

There is price to pay for every prize. There ain't no free lunch !!!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Challenges are way of life

Have you heard these phrases before...?
"I am too busy"
"I don't have time"
"My roommate dog's vet's sister-in-law thinks this is a bad idea"
"My 2 month old kid needs me to be around"
"I am tired"
"I have to check with my parents"
"I download pirated software online, but is your opportunity legal"
"I need to know everything about it before I do anything"
"Money is root of all evil"
"Business men are crooks"
and many more... (some extremely creative)

The true problem here is people think being busy is being productive when they are completely separate entities. I have not met anybody who is not interested in making extra money, however, I have met only a few who are willing to work for it. The issue is we want the end result without the pain of the process - we want fruits to fall right into our lap so we can avoid climbing the tree to pluck them.

Priorities we set and decisions we make today, direct us to where we will be in future. You are where you are because of the choices you have made in the past. If you don't like the situation you are in - for GOD's sake stop repeating your past. Changing is a challenge when there is not enough incentive for one. When the whole world around you is changing (for better - I am an optimist) by the minute, it will prove costly to do the same things you did 5 years ago, and expect different results.

Nothing worthwhile, everlasting, and significant has been achieved without overcoming challenges and shortcomings. Every man (and woman) have shortcomings and challenges that need to be overcome. That is where I believe we need help of a mentor who has experienced similar challenges and has overcome

But remember fruits that we pluck on our own after climbing the highest branch, bruising on our way up, balancing on toe - are far more tasty and filling than any others that fall into your lap.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Don't push people

Has it ever happened to you that you have experienced or gotten hands on something remarkable - something that has positively affected and changed your life for good and now you want to share it with people around you... and end up forcing it down their throat.... why !!!

I realized the knowledge I gained after reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and tried to educate my friends on the same - only getting a deaf ear - WHY try...There is a popular saying in telugu "Chavitodi Mundu Shankam Mogina Upayogam Ledu", when translated to english "There is no use of blowing horn in front of the deaf".

There is one part of your brain that urges you to slap them and tell them the dark realities of life (Get out of the MATRIX - here the RAT RACE). Saving may be one way for wealth (eventually) but who has time till eternity to realize that?. Time is the only wealth that we have NOW that we can utilize and that is in our control.

In the end of conversation with my friend, though I was happy on sharing my new found knowledge, truth of the matter is I wasted my energy blowing the horn in front of a deaf person who could care less and continues on with his life - like nothing ever happened.

My suggestion to readers of this post is try - try to educate the willing people, but never push. Willing people are open minded, ambitious and lookers for additional ways on improving one's quality of life. I hope you are one of the FEW people who want to change their living and change the way of thinking.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Reading Accountability Team

Everyday I spend at-least 20 minutes to read a positive and educational book to enhance and expand my thinking. Reading helps me in gaining the knowledge and expertise by studying and learning from experiences of many a successful people.

Reading helps me learn from myself for I hear my voice from the books written by others. This particularly helps me for I know my shortcomings (though not all) and books fuel that internal fire to get better by the day (and night).

I would strongly recommend readers of this post to also read "FUEL the energy you need to succeed" by Wes Beavis.