Those Three Stories!

Who doesn’t know about the Apple iPhone? It’s rare to find someone in the business world who doesn’t know about Steve Jobs, one of the founders of this company. His speech at Stanford University in 2005 is recognized as one of the best speeches in the world. It has been translated into many languages, including Kannada, and is available on YouTube. I’m not here to translate that speech, but in it, he shares three stories from his life. This isn’t just a story of his life; it reflects the essence of human life. I see reflections of my own life in his stories, and I’m sharing a brief summary of them with you.

In his first story, he talks about connecting the dots of life through incidents from his childhood and youth. He suggests that instead of searching for the future by connecting the dots forward, we should look back to connect them (to the past). Only then does the meaning of our life become clearer. Call it karma, or fate, if you like! But the ultimate truth of life is that the events in our lives write our future. I never learned the accounting software Tally from anyone. About 20 years ago, I came across a Tally learning book at Sapna Book House in Bangalore. Something compelled me to buy it. After that, I worked for about four years without a computer, so where was the opportunity to learn Tally? Just a month before leaving for abroad, I got a job at an office supplying equipment in Bangalore, where I learned a little Tally. However, I left for abroad within a month. There too, there were no computers or Tally—everything was manual. But my boss bought Tally software and asked me to input several years of accounts into it. Thus, I got the chance to learn Tally at that point. Later, when we started our own company, this knowledge came in handy.

Here, the dot in my life is Tally. Years ago, I bought that Tally book, and looking back today, I see how those dots connect. Many such connections have occurred in my life. After finishing college, I started selling tea powder to vendors on the streets of Mangalore, and now I see that connection while running my own business abroad. True friends, every moment of our life connects the dots of our future. When you look back, it all makes sense.

Steve Jobs’ second story is about failure and love. There comes a time when he is ousted from the very company he built with love. However, he loves his work. As a go-getter, he builds another company. While his dream company Apple heads towards bankruptcy, the new companies he built, NeXT and Pixar, flourish. Eventually, Apple buys his new companies and brings Steve back as the head. See, when we love our work, no failure can hold us back.

I too experienced failure. When we started our business, the first month brought us huge loss—almost a crore overnight due to a fraudulent company. But our love and dedication to our work lifted us above that failure. Our company now has a good reputation in the market. All the hard work we put in comes from our devotion to our work. Therefore, from my life’s experience, I can say that when we love our work, no failure can shake us.

His third story is about death. Unfortunately, Steve Jobs is no longer in this world. But his life is an inspiration for everyone. In 2004, when he was diagnosed with cancer, the doctors told him he had only a few months to live. Steve delivered his world-famous speech in 2005. Yet he was a fighter. When the doctors said he had only a few months to live, he fought back and even won against cancer. His battle against death continued until 2011 when he finally passed away.

In his third story, he says the ultimate truth of life is death. No one can escape death. Even those who say they want to go to heaven don’t want to die. No one can escape death. Therefore, we must have a hunger within us—a hunger for learning, a hunger for achievement, a hunger for growth. Time is short. If I think my death will come tomorrow, I must consider what I want to accomplish today and do it immediately. Not only that, we must also be foolish. If we think we know everything, then there are no bigger fools than us. Only when we remain humble and strive to learn new things does our knowledge grow. So, it’s okay to feel foolish about the hunger for knowledge and the desire to learn new things. These are the words of Steve Jobs.

How true they are! I’m not a science student; my studies are in commerce. But we deal with electrical appliances. In my many years of experience, I’ve learned about thousands of devices. However, I always feel like I have so much more to learn. Every day, when a customer asks about something new, I find myself searching for answers instead of having the confidence to say it doesn’t exist. Because many times, I’ve realized that my knowledge is limited. There are so many things we are unaware of. It’s a continuous hunger for learning. When someone tells us we don’t know much, we should have the integrity to admit it. If we simply act like we know it all, we cannot grow. Accepting our ignorance and striving to learn is wisdom. And death is a truth. Life is fleeting. Therefore, we must celebrate life every moment.

Prakash Malebettu