Inspiring Lessons from Warren Buffet’s Life

Posted on November 9, 2008 by admin

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with *Warren Buffet*, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1. He bought his first share ! at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world’s largest private jet company.

6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO’s only two rules.

Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder’s money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.

8. Bill Gates, the world’s richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people : “Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:
A. Money doesn’t create man but it is the man who created money.
B. Live your life as simple as you are.
c. Don’t go on brand name.
d. Don’t waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.

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Get inspired from the life of Great Shri.Visvesvaraya

Posted on November 1, 2008 by admin

 The Struggle for Education

 

Visvesvaraya was born in Muddenahalli in the Chikkaballapur Taluk of Kolar District (Mysore State), on the 15th of September 1861.

 

Visvesvaraya completed his early education in Chikkaballapur; then he came to Bangalore for higher education. He joined the Central College.

 

But his pocket was empty and with no roof over his head!

 

A family from Coorg in South India was looking for a tutor for the children. Visvesvaraya, himself a student, became their tutor. He lived with them and also earned a few rupees.

 

The poverty-stricken lad stood high in the B.A. Examination in 1881. He got some help from the Government of Mysore and joined the Science College in Poona to study Engineering. In 1883 he ranked first in the L.C.E. and the F.C.E. Examinations (these were like the B.E. Examination of today).

 

As soon as the results were out the Government of Bombay offered MV a post. He was appointed Assistant Engineer at Nasik.

MV was only thirty-two. The Government appointed a Committee; it was to find ways of helping irrigation. Once again it was Visvesvaraya who found a solution. He devised a new system called the Block System. He devised steel doors; these could stop the wasteful flow of water in dams. Even British officers were full of praise for the invention.

From Bombay Visvesvaraya went to Hyderabad as Chief Engineer. His great achievement in Hyderabad was the taming of the river Moosa. This river divides the city into two. In 1908 the river was in floods as never before. The waters of the river poured into many houses, and men and cattle were carried away. Visvesvaraya planned dams to tame both the Moosa and another river, the Isa..

Visvesvaraya was the Chief Engineer of Mysore for three years.In those days the Maharaja used to appoint the ministers. There used to be three ministers and the Chief Minister was called the Dewan. In 1912 the Maharaja choose Visvesvaraya as his Dewan.

As the Dewan of Mysore -And Ideal Administrator

Soon after Visvesvaraya became the Dewan, one of his relatives went to him. He was a man whom MV liked and respected. He was in Government service. He wanted a higher post; that would have given him another fifty rupees a month.

Visvesvaraya said ‘No’. But, as long as the relative was alive, he paid him a hundred rupees every month from his pocket.

As the Dewan, he got a car from the Government for his use. He used the Government car for government work; for his private work he used his own car. He was such an honest man.

The Dewan would be neatly dressed and ready for work by seven in the morning. There was not a crease or a wrinkle anywhere on his clothes. He worked steadily and methodically till one in the Afternoon. He was back to work at three and till eight at night he was at his desk.

It is the duty of ministers to tour the state and meet the people and find out what they need, isn’t it? MV had his own way of touring a district. Before the visit, officers were asked to send information about the district. How do the farmers get water, how many tanks are there in the district, how many wells, how many hospitals and how many schools, how many acres of land are used for agriculture – these and a hundred other questions had to be answered by different departments. They had also to explain the needs of the district. Then the Dewan went to the district. He held discussions with the officers and with members of the public.

Then he took decisions. As soon as he returned to Bangalore every officer who was to do some thing got a letter. It told him what he was to do. So the Dewan’s visit was made most useful to the Government and to the people.

Visvesvaraya believed in the value of education. In those days colleges in Mysore State were under Madras University. Because of MV’s firmness and fight, Mysore University came into being. It was the first university in an Indian state governed by an Indian ruler. MV also made arrangements for the government to give scholarships to intelligent students to go to foreign countries for studies.

The Retired Dewan Has Not a Moment’s Leisure

In 1918 Sri MV retired voluntarily. People think retirement means rest. MV lived for 44 years after he retired from service. He was 101 when he died. Except in the last few days when he was very weak, he wore himself out for the country.

From his boyhood Visvesvaraya was eager to learn new things. (When he was past one hundred, a relative was going to Madras; he asked MV, “What shall I bring you from Madras?” Said Sir MV, “Bring a good Modern English Dictionary.”)

Ten years after he retired from government service, floods in the Bhadra put a stop to the work in the Steel Factory in Bhadravati. It fell to Sir MV’s lot to set things right. The General Manager of the factory, an American, said it would take at least six months to reopen the factory. Sir MV thought the period was too long. The officer was stubborn. Sri MV removed him. In a few days he got the factory going. Many officers in the factory belonged to other countries; naturally they were not as interested in the working of the factory as Indians. MV got a number of engineers of Mysore trained. In three years Mysoreans took the places of the foreigners.

It was MV’s dream to start an Automobiles Factory and an Aircraft Factory in Mysore State. He worked in this direction from 1935. The Hindustan Aircraft Factory (now called the Hindustan Aeronautics) in Bangalore, and the Premier Automobile Factory in Bombay owe much to his efforts.

The rivers of Orissa were frequently in floods; they caused a lot of trouble to the people. It was necessary to tame the rivers and to use the waters for the welfare of the people. MV studied the problems and prepared a report. This report paved the way for the construction of the Hirakud and other huge dams.

Bharata Ratna (The Gem of India)

Any state should be lucky to have a minister of Visvesvaraya’s ability. Would any salary be too high for such a genius? The Maharaja’s secretary suggested to the Maharaja that MV’s salary should be raised; he had not consulted MV. Visvesvaraya came to know about it. He wrote to the Maharaja saying that he did not want a rise.

For sometime, when the Bhadravati Factory was in trouble, he worked as the Chairman. At that time, the Government had not decided the salary. It took some years to do so; the Government owed him more than a hundred thousand rupees. But he did not touch a rupee even. He told the Government, “Start an institute where boys can learn some profession.” The Institute was about to start work. The Government wanted to name it after Visvesvaraya. But he said, “Name it after the Maharaja of Mysore.” This is the Sri Jayachamaraja Polytechnic Institute of Bangalore.

Free India honors great servants of the country every year by awarding titles. The highest of this award is ‘Bharata Ratna’. In 1955 Visvesvaraya was made a ‘Bharata Ratna’, the Gem of India.

His memory was an amazing as his genius.

We saw how in 1908 he tamed the Moosa. Fifty years later, one day, there was a discussion about the river, and he referred to some detail. Then he called a servant and, pointing to a bookshelf, said, “Bring the three or four books in the middle of the third row.” Then he opened one of them and pointed to the detail under discussion on one page. He was 96 or 97 when this happened.

How did Visvesvaraya use his genius and  his extraordinary memory? This is the important question. He was the embodiment of discipline and hard work. He was never late by a minute and he never wasted a minute. Once a minister was late by three minutes; MV advised him to be punctual. A man should do any work he undertakes methodically – that was his firm faith. Every man should understand his responsibility and do his best – which was the essence of his teaching. He practised this very honestly, and there are hundreds of instances to show this.

In 1947 he was the President of the All India Manufacturers’ Association. He had to make a speech at a function. Some of his friends were staying with him. On the day of the function they woke up at half past four in the morning. What they saw astonished them; Sir MV, who was 87, was already up and faultlessly dressed; he was walking up and down; he had in his hands a copy of the speech he was to make and was carefully reading it!

In 1952 he went to Patna. He was to study a plan for a bridge across the Ganga. The sun was cruel and the heat unbearable. MV was 92. There were parts of the site to which he could not go by car. The Government had arranged to have him carried in a chair. MV did not use the chair; he got off the car and walked briskly. The Government had also arranged for his stay in the GuestHouse. He would have been comfortable there. But he stayed in the railway coach and went on with the work.

A hundred such instances of his discipline and devotion to work can be listed. He once said, “The curse of our country is laziness. At first sight every one seems to be working. But in fact, one man works and the others watch him. As someone said with contempt, ‘it looks as if five men are working. But really only one-man works. One man will be doing nothing. One man will be resting. Another man will be watching them. Yet another man will be helping these three.”

Visvesvaraya was dedicated to work. He was also a man of spotless honesty. We saw how, as the Dewan, he refused to favor a relative. In 1918 he decided to give up the Dewanship. He had to give the Maharaja his letter. He went to the palace in the Government car. He returned in his own car. Those were days when people had to work by candlelight. MV used, for official work, the stationery and the candles supplied by the Government; for his private work he used stationery and candles which he had bought.

MV had the courage of his convictions. He did what he thought was right and was not afraid of opposition.

MV also planned the KIRS dam. The cost was estimated; it came to 25,300 thousand rupees. Officers of Mysore State were shocked and opposed the scheme. At last Visvesvaraya satisfied the Mysore Government with his arguments and it agreed. A new difficulty arose. MV wanted the height to be 130 feet. The Government of India approved a height of only 80 feet. MV went ahead with a foundation for a dam 130 feet high. Later, the Central Government agreed with him. Many people made fun of him when he started the Bhadravati Steel Factory and called it ‘a White Elephant’. Some officers did not manage it properly and the factory suffered heavy losses. Quite a few persons felt happy! But today it is an asset.

Somebody once said to him, “You have done great service to the country. You are like Bhishmacharya.” MV said, “You make me remember what a small man I am. What am I before Bhishmacharya?” He was so modest. Even at the age of 95, he rose to receive a visitor; he got up again when the visitor was leaving. But he also knew modesty did not mean pocketing insults. In the old Bombay Province the rules did not permit an Indian to become the Chief Engineer. Only an Englishman could sit in the Chief Engineer’s chair. So MV gave up his post in Bombay. The Dewan was the highest officer in Mysore State. He himself gave up that very high office. He had self-respect without arrogance.

Sir MV was a fearless patriot. Those were days when the Englishman was the lord of India and wanted to be treated like a god. The Maharaja of Mysore used to hold a Durbar during the Dasara. On the day of the European Durbar, the Europeans were given comfortable chairs but Indians were required to sit on the floor. MV went to the Durbar for the first time in 1910. The arrangements pained him. The next year he did not attend the Durbar. When the officers of the palace made enquiries he frankly gave the reason. Next year all – Europeans and Indians -were given chairs. A British officer wrote a letter to MV. He said that in the Maharaja’s Durbar, he wanted a cushion to rest his feet because the chair was too high. MV got the legs of the chair shortened and wrote to him that the height had been reduced.

The Bhadravati Steel Factory, Mysore University, Krishnarajasagara, the Bank of Mysore – every one of his creations was mighty and magnificent. But far mightier and far more magnificent was the Bharata Ratna, who was at once a matchless Dreamer and Doer.

He once said:

“Remember, your work may be only to sweep a railway crossing, but it is your duty to keep it so clean that no other crossing in the world is as clean as yours.”

Service of the country was this great man’s ‘tapas’. When he reached the age of 100, people all over India showered affection and respect on the Grand Old Man. The Government of India brought out a stamp in his honor.

http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatpersonalities/visvesvaraya/index.htm

 

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Inspiring story of Suhas Gopinath, World’s Youngest CEO at 17 yrs

Posted on October 29, 2008 by admin

At a seminar on ‘Education System in India‘ at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, last year, a boy dressed in casuals stepped out of his car and entered the gate. He is stopped by the security personnel: “This event is only for CEOs, you are a college boy.”The boy smiled, picked up his cellphone and soon a whole swarm of organisers arrived at the entrance to usher him in.

But then we really can’t blame the security. Even the wisest of men probably wont guess that the 17-year-old Suhas Gopinath can be the CEO and President of a Bangalore-based IT solutions company, Globals Inc. Suhas had actually been invited as one of the speakers at the seminar…

“Because of my age and looks, I often land in embarrassing situations and do not know how to handle the confusion,”says a candid Suhas, who is currently juggling is corporate life with a BE in Information Science at the M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Information Technology. He owns a car, bought out of his earnings, but doesn’t have a license to drive it around the city as he is too young to get a license! As a CEO, he wraps up mega deals, but cannot sign on the dotted line as legally he is not yet an adult.

His is a story of a pastime turning into obsession. As a student at Air Force School in Mathikere, he frequented a cyber cafe near his home. “I was overwhelmed by the world of Internet. It became a passion. Though my parents were completely against it, I would spend hours before the computer. My elder brother Shreyas encouraged a lot. I learnt HTML, ASP and every possible software at the cyber cafe,” recalls Gopinath.

On May 14, 2000, along with friends Clifford Leslie and Vinay M.N, he floated his own website-www.coolhindustani.com. “I did not have the money to start. My parents refused to give my a penny, saying it was not worth it. So I wrote to Network Solutions Inc in the US and they readily agreed,” he says.

Suhas, really had ‘IT’ in him. In August, the same year, he set up Globals Inc, a web solutions and n e t wor k i n g company, with a team of four. Now, he has 350 employers, offices in 11 countries, and a turnover of $1 million this year.

“Initially we offered the services for free. As most of us were studying and were very young to actually run the company, many clients were not keen on us. But after seeing the work we delivered, they were impressed. Lot of them in fact still are very encouraging,”he smiles.

At the Bangalore office, there are more than 15 full-time software engineers today. How does he deal with employees elder to him by many years? “Most of the people who work with me are between the age group of 17-19 yrs. I treat them as friends first, than act like a boss. So the job becomes much more easier,” adds Gopinath.

But it’s a stressful life, he admits.”As I got more interested in the company, my studies went for a toss. In my Class X exams I scored 80 per cent, but in I PUC could barely get 65 per cent. Even here I try and not bunk too many classes, but clients cannot be given lame excuses. When I have exams, I tell them I am unwell…” he is candid.

A few years ago ……

  • He buys a car but wouldn’t drive because he had no license.
  • He, as a CEO, successfully accomplishes a deal but wouldn’t sign the contract !!
  • He even grew his Mustache to camouflage his student looks

Success comes with a price and Suhas has understood the importance of it. “At times, I repent that I am not a normal boy, enjoying a teenager’s carefree life. Most of the time I am forced to wear blazers and I am always nervous-about work or studies,” he says.

While most others of his age are rolling balls down a bowling alley, he is charting the road map for his company. “We are planning to start management consultancy in the industry sector as well. There are plans to expand our services to non-IT areas by next year,” explains Suhas.

But ask him what’s his message for to-be entrepreneurs and he’s cautious.”I don’t think I am mature enough advise others, but if you have it in you, go for it. One should also make time to enjoy other things in life. With work, you get too busy to even repent,” he adds.

Mr. Gopinath was announced as a “Young Global Leader” for 2008-2009 by the World Economic Forum, Davos. In that position he would be involved in development programs across the world, including in a leadership program. He is reported to be the youngest YGL in the World Economic Forum’s history.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

http://o3.indiatimes.com/seoindia/archive/2005/08/30/237460.aspx

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8 yr old Girl becomes youngest Asian to clear Cambridge Grade X exam

Posted on October 24, 2008 by admin

Studies are child’s play for her.

 

Which is why city girl Naina – all of eight years – breezed through the Grade-X international General Certificate of Secondary education (iGCSe) exams conducted by university of Cambridge in June this year, becoming the youngest South Asian ever to do so.

 

The prodigy, making light of her achievement, has now set her eyes on the Baccalaureate, which offers high quality programmes to a worldwide community of schools.

 

“Spotting her aptitude for studies when she was in the first standard itself, her father (Ashwani Kumar) did all he could to help her learn in a playful environment. And she took to texts like a duck to water,’’ her mother, Bhagyalakshmi says.

 

How does such a little child retain loads of information which even adults find difficult to manage? “Rote learning was ruled out. She was made to understand the subjects at the conceptual level and then the answers fell into place even if questions were tweaked,’’ says Bhagyalakshmi.

 

And what does the little scholar aspire to become? “A doctor like Ambati Balamurali,’’ chirps Naina.

 

Her special qualities do not come in the way of her mingling with other kids.

Naina is good at sports too. in fact, she is State No 1 in table tennis mini-cadets and is also seeded in cadet girls. She’s quite adept on the keyboard as well, having cut an album of Ramayana slokas.  To the delight of the mediapersons, she also gave an impromptu recital.

 

Express News Bureau

 

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How Warren Buffet made his billions?

Posted on October 21, 2008 by admin

Warren Buffett is a man who has made millions but he also started working at his father’s brokerage when he was 11 years old, that’s an age when most other kids were playing hide-n-seek and didn’t know how to spell ‘brokerage’..

This financial wizard is by recent estimates, worth $46 billion but how he got there is the fascinating story.

It all began in the family grocery store back in Omaha. Buffett’s great grandfather started the store in 1869 and it was in the Buffet family until 1969, till his uncle finally retired. But it’s at this store, where he began going around his neighbourhood selling gum. This was before his stint at his father’s firm.

Warren Buffett told CNBC’s Liz Claman, “My grandfather would sell me Wrigley’s chewing gum and I would go door to door around my neighbourhood selling it. He also sold me six Coca Cola for a quarter and I would sell it for a nickel each in the neighbourhood, so I made a small profit. I was always trying to do something like this.”.

From small beginnings come bigger things and so after selling gum, soft drinks and working with his father, by age 14, he had bought a 40 acres farm in Washington, Thurston County..

But he confesses that he never enjoyed the farm as much as he enjoyed investing in stocks. But the first stock he bought was “Citi Service preferred stock. I had three shares and made all of $5 on it. I had bought it at $38.25 and then I sold it around $40, it went down to $27 in between and after I sold it at $40, it went to $200!”.

From that poorly timed stock sale in 1944, he learnt a lesson that became his legendary investment strategy – which is essentially – patience pays, so buy them and hold them. He figured out two other critical things about himself in the 1940s – what he is good at and what he likes to do..

This pivotal moment in his journey came in 1956, when he was just 25 years old. This man who was rejected by Harvard and now armed with contributions from family and friends and $100 of his own money starts a limited partnership with seven people.

Over the next nine years, Buffett turned a $105,000 into $26 million – a stunning 24,000 per cent increase! He had invested mostly in textile companies, farm equipment manufacturers and even a company making windmills.

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Thirteen years later, Buffett forms another partnership that becomes one of the greatest teams in the history of investing. He convinces longtime friend Charlie Munger to quit his investment partnership to join Buffett as his Vice President of Berkshire Hathaway.

And now with the 82-year-old Munger, Buffett sits on top of the greatest holding companies ever.

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So, it’s understandable that this man is looked up to for investment and business advice all the time. But what’s the secret gift he’s got? How does he pick the right investments all the time? He explains, “I look for something that I can understand to start with, there are all kinds of businesses I don’t understand.”.

“I don’t understand what car companies are going to do 10 years from now, or what software or chemical companies are going to win/do ten years from now but I do understand that Snickers bars will be the number one candy company in the US – like its been for 40 years. So, I look for durable competitive advantage and that is hard to find. I look for an honest and able management and I look for the price I’m going to pay.”.

While Buffett’s big acquisitions have made headlines; wise investments in companies like Coco Cola, the Washington Post and Gillette have provided the capital to make those acquisitions possible. Since taking control of Berkshire in 1964, the company has acquired 68 subsidiaries. In March of 1964, Berkshire acquired its first insurance company National Indemnity.

In 1972, See’s Candies for $25 million, in September of 1983, Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borhseim’s in 1989. In 1998, Berkshire acquired Dairy Queen and Geico in January, Net Jets in August and General Re Corp in December. In April of 2002, Fruit of the Loom and most recently Buffett is looking abroad for new business.

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Recently, he bought 80 per cent of the Israeli Metal Works Company and he did it without even seeing it. He was approached by the promoter via a letter and what was in that letter convinced him that ‘this was the kind of the person I wanted to do business with and it is the kind of business we wanted to own.’ How does this ‘daring bit of investment fit in with his usual careful way of investing?.

He explains, “I had to size up the business but that’s a background of being in stocks. If you put your whole net worth in stocks when you are 20-21 years old – you have not visited the businesses but you are really analyzing their financials, you are trying to assess whether they have durable competitive advantage, assess the quality of the management and the integrity of the management and then you try to figure out whether you are buying it at a reasonable price and that’s it, that is all we do.”.

He’s never had anything lacking – his acute business brain has made him a lot of money. He also feels that the youth of today are living better than John D Rockefeller. His own style remains the same - he lives in the same house for 48 years, carries no cellphone, has no computer on his office desk, does not move around with an entourage.

As he puts it, “I have had everything I wanted all my life. At 20, I was having the time of my life doing what I did. Today, I’m eating the same things I always eat – burghers, fries and cherry coke. Only my clothes are more expensive now but they look cheap when I put them on!”.

At 76, he married his long-time companion, Astrid Menks at a low-key ceremony at his daughter Susan’s house. He is also amazingly healthy for someone on a burghers-coke diet. He’s also surprisingly down to earth. He moves around freely unencumbered by a security detail. He does have a few guards with him during the annual shareholders meeting but he says he doesn’t feel the need to put himself in a cocoon.

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Which probably explains, why he wasn’t nervous about visiting a factory in Israel, which is close to the Lebanese border. He says of that visit, “Our plant there is about 8-10 miles from the Lebanese border and there were maybe a rocket or two that hit the parking lot or something like that but it can be dangerous being in this (US) country as well.”.

Buffett is comfortable in Omaha in part because people leave him alone with the exception of a random fan or two. This billionaire doesn’t even have a chauffeur – he drives himself around in a 2006 Cadillac DTS, recently purchased after he auctioned off his old Lincoln Town Car, which was famous for its Thrifty license plate. And no, he does not want a yacht or many mansions. He just wants to be left alone to enjoy a good football game in his sweatsuit on a big screen television – with popcorn.

It’s really no surprise that America’s most prominent investor chooses to live far from the nation’s wealthy-elite in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. He says that when he was in New York, he had about a 100 ideas about where to invest but it was over-stimulation.

In Omaha, he needs one good idea in a year and he feels he can think better and with less distraction. He feels there is a sense of community in living there.

His investing theories have been talked about ad nauseum by almost every business/finance writer and is a cottage industry all by itself.

But one he finds closest to reflecting his views is a book written by Larry Cunningham – ‘The Essays of Warren Buffett – Lessons for Corporate America’ is required reading in a one of a kind course start at the University of Missouri School of Business.

The course is called Investment Strategies of Warren Buffett. It turns up Buffett is hot on campus too. The class now in its eighth year and is the brainchild of Buffett’s friend Harvey Eisen.

Harvey Eisen recalls, “This course is a breakthrough in terms of reality meeting academics. I said why don’t we have a course like this and the academics scratched their head and said ‘well we don’t’ and I said ‘why don’t we’ and then we got it done.”.

Dean of the University of Missouri School of Business Bruce Walker bought the idea. He says, “We want our students to be exposed to many different approaches to investing.”.

The Buffett playbook is taught, analysed and written about but it is best summed up like this.

Harvey Eisen explains it, “Number one – Don’t lose the money and number two – don’t forget rule number 1! Number three – look for unique companies that are hard to replicate – he calls that a moat around the business. Number four – he talks about the circle of competence, which means in simple English, do what you know..

“Everybody in the stock market knows about the economy or about the Federal Reserve. Warren focuses on what he knows and he has made enormous successes at that.”

He does not want his managers to report in at any committee meeting of any kind and he lets them get on with the business of running their businesses. But there is one thing he requires of each CEO. Buffett says, “I asked them to send me a letter, that I would keep in a private place that will tell me what to do tomorrow morning, if they are not alive in terms of their successor.”

But what about his own successor? He says, “The succession plan is very simple. Our board met a few days ago and we talked about that every in single meeting and we have at least three people inside Berkshire, who in many respects will do my job better than I do. I can’t give you the names but the board knows which one of those three they would pick, if something happened to me.”.

Warren Buffett has also given away $31 billion of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and he ‘hopes it will accomplish just what they have set out to accomplish. I have observed their Foundation very carefully and Bill & Melinda decided initially they were spending about a billion a year. They have decided they were going to try and figure how they are going to save most lives, relieve the most human suffering.’

Ultimately, that’s what money is really meant for, isn’t it?

 

http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/dec/26buffet.htm

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‘You should dare to dream’ – Speech by Azim Premzi

Posted on October 16, 2008 by admin

Speech given by Azim Premzi to the Business students of IIM

Distinguished Director and faculty of IIM- Kolkata, Guests, and my young friends I am very happy to be with you this afternoon. Indian Institute of Management – Calcutta is one the earliest management colleges of higher learning to be set up in the country. The pioneering spirit continues even after IIM-C has transformed itself into a world class institution. In your two years here, you must have experienced the enormous change in your own understanding of business and management. Graduation is not the end but the beginning of learning and change. I have found that people who succeed most in their careers are those who can constantly transform themselves. Transformation is not so much a process, as a deep seated desire to change ourselves and our environment. Based on my own experience, I would like to share with you my thoughts on how to make continuous transformation possible. I hope you find them useful.

You should dare to dream, define what you stand for, never lose your zest and curiosity, always strive for excellence, build self confidence, learn to work in teams, take care of yourself, preserve, have a broader social vision and finally never let success go to your head”.

First, you have got to have a dream. Dreams are very powerful internal motivators. Great achievements are created twice – First in the mind and then in a concrete form. The most exhilarating part of being young is the ability to dream. As one grows, one may realize that not all of them are achievable. But never turn cynical. Aging is not adding on years. It is parting with one’s dreams. Use your experience to reshape your dreams and adapt them to changing reality but do not stop dreaming. I cannot think of a single transformation or achievement, individual or social that did not begin with a dream. Dreams not only help us in seeing things before they happen, but they also give us the passion and energy to make them happen.

Second, stay on course even if you stumble. When everything seems to go wrong, you can either give up or you can let misfortune transform you into something stronger. The difference between great achievement and mediocrity is not extraordinary talent or intelligence, but perseverance. In fact, dreams and perseverance make a winning combination. In 1972, a chartered plane, carrying a Rugby team crashed in the Andes. After a week long futile search, the rescue team gave up thinking that all of them must be dead. The passengers after waiting for many days to be rescued decided to help themselves since apparently nobody else was going to do it. Two of them volunteered to cross the mountains by foot to reach the green valleys of Chile and bring back help. It was a walk of more than 50 miles. But they did it and came back to rescue their fellow passengers who managed to survive in the mountain 70 days after the crash. The core of heroism lies in the ability to walk that extra mile. As long as you can do that, you will never be defeated.

Third, do not be afraid to admit your ignorance. While it is important to project what we are good at, we must be equally candid about areas we do not know enough about. The seeds of learning were sown by the great great philosopher Socrates who said “All I know is that I don’t know.” Today, knowledge is multiplying at such a rapid rate that it is impossible for anyone to know everything. But if we can develop an index system by which we at least know with whom or where the knowledge is available, we have achieved quite a bit! And there will still be areas which we will be unable to tap. The important thing is not to hide behind a false front. People will respect you for your honesty, if not your wisdom.

Fourth, think about what you will take on next rather than about what you may be letting go. Too many people are so enamored by the legacy of success in their current roles that they are afraid to look further. This can lead to inertia. If we linger too long on past success, we will miss out on the opportunities that lie ahead of us. We must learn to look at change as an exciting adventure rather than a disruption. New avenues for learning always lie just beyond the shade of our comfort zone.

Fifth, contribute in every situation. The only way to keep learning is by contributing. You do not have to be the leader every time. When a formation of birds flies over long distances, each bird takes its turn in leading. This ensures that no bird gets too tired and yet the formation keeps moving at a certain pace. Every person is important. It doesn’t matter whether you play the violin, the flute or the drums; you are still part of the orchestra. Leadership is not about exercising power as much as it is about contributing. This will happen when you realize that leadership is not a privilege but a responsibility.

Sixth, pursue excellence in whatever you do. Excellence cannot be forced through a process nor guaranteed by a certificate. It comes from an all consuming passion to do one’s best. It needs an eye for the smallest of details. When differences become small, it is the small things that make the difference.

Seventh, while you must take your careers seriously, do not take yourself too seriously. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. This will help you to keep issues in their perspective. Being cheerful is an attitude. Not only will it help you to reduce your own stress, but a positive attitude is contagious. It can do a lot to elevate the moods of people around you and recharge you to take one more shot at the problems facing you.

Eighth, we must always know what we are really good at. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, we must focus on areas where our talents truly lie. A talent can be defined as that skill which we not only enjoy learning but which we can also learn rapidly. We need to work at honing our talent and smoothening the rough edges. But exceptional performance usually comes from doing what comes naturally to us.

Ninth, always welcome feedback even if it comes in the guise of criticism. I remember the story of a boy who dreamt of becoming an artist but was frustrated because whenever he showed his painting, the teacher would look at it with a frown and find some fault with it. The student improved on his work continuously and he thought he would one day hear a word of appreciation from his teacher. But it never happened.

Finally, in disgust, he bought a painting from an accomplished artist, touched it up with fresh paint and showed it to his teacher. To his amazement, the teacher smiled and said, “now this is really good work. Congratulations.” Feeling guilty, the student confessed that it was not really his painting. The teacher looked at him silently and then said, “Till now, I thought you wanted to paint a great picture. But I realize now that you do not want any more corrections, which means that the last painting you did was the best you will ever do. Remember you have set these limits to your talent, not me.” Criticism may actually be an __expression of faith in us rather than a put down. We must learn to take it constructively because it will show us what more we can learn. Finally, always play to win. Winning is not about making the other person lose. It is about stretching yourself to your own limits. Once so stretched, you will realize the true extent of your potential.

Ultimately, transformation is about reaching and utilizing not only your potential but those of others who work with you. I wish you all the best in your career and in your lives as you step out into a new world

 

 

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Story of C.V.Raman, First Indian Nobel prize Winner for Physics.

Posted on October 11, 2008 by admin


The genius who won the Nobel Prize for Physics, with simple equipment barely worth RS. 300. He was the first Asian scientist to win the Nobel Prize. He was a man of boundless curiosity and a lively sense of humor. His spirit of inquiry and devotion to science laid the foundations for scientific research in India. And he won honor as a scientist and affection as a teacher and a man.


One day in 1903, Professor Eliot of Presidency College, Madras, saw a little boy in his B.A. Class. Thinking that he might have strayed into the room, the Professor asked, “Are you a student of the B.A. class?”

“Yes Sir,” the boy answered.

“Your name?”

“C.V. Raman.”

This little incident made the fourteen- year- old boy well known in the college. The youngster was later to become a world famous scientist.

 

Child Genius

Raman grew up in an atmosphere of music, Sanskrit literature and Science. He stood first in every class and was. Talked about as a child genius. He joined the B.A. class of the Presidency College. In the year 1905, he was the only boy who passed in the first class. He won a gold medal, too.

He joined the M.A. class in the same college and chose Physics (study of matter and energy) as the main subject of study. Love of science, enthusiasm for work and the curiosity to learn new things were natural to Raman. Nature had also given him the power of concentration and intelligence. He used to read more than what was taught in the class. When doubts arose he would set down questions like ‘How?’ ‘Why?’ and ‘Is this true?’ in the Margin in the textbooks.

The works of the German scientist Helmhotlz (1821 – 1891) and the English scientist Lord Raleigh (1842 – 1919) on acoustics (the study of sound) influenced Raman. He took immense interest in the study of sound. When he was eighteen years of age, one of his research papers was -published in the ‘Philosophical Magazine’ of England. Later another paper was published in the scientific journal ‘Nature’.

 

Officer – Scientist
Raman’s elder brother C.S. Ayyar was in the ‘Indian Audit and Accounts Service’ (I.A.A.S.). Raman also wanted to enter the same department. So he sat for the competitive examination. The day before this examination, the results of the M.A. examination were published. He had passed in first class recording the highest marks in Madras University up to that time. He stood first in the I.A.A.S. examination also.

On May 6, 1907, Raman married Lokasundari Ammal.

At the age of nineteen, Raman held a high post in the government. He was appointed as the Assistant Accountant General in the Finance Department in Calcutta. And the same year something happened to give a new turn to his life.

One evening Raman was returning from his office in a tramcar. He saw the name plate of the ‘Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science’ at 210, Bow Bazaar Street. Immediately he got off the tram and went in. Dr. Amritlal Sircar was the Honarary Secretary of the Association. There were spacious rooms and old scientific instruments, which could be used for demonstration of experiments.

Raman asked whether he could conduct research there in his spare time. Sircar gladly agreed. Raman took up a house adjoining the Association. A door was provided between his house and the laboratory. During the daytime he would attend his office and carry out his duties. His mornings and nights were devoted to research. This gave him full satisfaction. So he continued his ceaseless activities in Calcutta.

 

From Accounts to Science

At that time Burma and India were under a single government. In 1909, Raman was transferred to. Rangoon, the capital of Burma. When Chandrasekhara Ayyar passed away in 1910, Raman came to Madras on six months’ leave.

After completing the last rites, Raman spent the rest of his leave period doing research in the Madras University laboratories.

The Science College of Calcutta University was started in 1915.
There a chair for Physics was established in memory of Taraknath Palit, a generous man. Raman was appointed Professor. He sacrificed the powerful post in the government, which brought a good salary.

Professor Raman

In 1917, at the age of 29, Raman became the Palit Professor. He continued research along with the new assignment.

Raman was very deeply interested in musical instruments such as the Veena, the Violin,the Mridangam and the Tabala. He began to work on them. Around 1918 he explained the complex vibrations of the strings of musical instruments. He later found out the characteristic tones emitted by the Mridangam, the Tabala etc.

Not a Minute to Waste

Absorbed in experiments, it was not unusual for him to forget food and sleep. Sometimes working late at night, he would sleep in the laboratory on one of the tables.

In the mornings too, most of his time was spent in the laboratory. He worked in informal clothes. At 9.30 a.m. he would rush home. After a shave and a bath he would dress up and send for a taxi. He would finish his breakfast in two or three minutes and get into the taxi. Racing over a distance of four miles, he would reach the class on time. He never wasted time.

 

In England

The Congress of the Universities of the British Empire met in 1921 in London. Raman went to England as the representative of Calcutta University. This was his first visit abroad.

Raman lectured in the ‘Physical Society’ of London. People came in large numbers to listen to him. He was introduced to J.J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford, the famous English Physicists. Raman visited St. Paul’s Church in London. A whisper at one point of the church tower is heard clearly at another point. This effect, produced by the reflection of sound, aroused his curiosity.

 

The Blue of the Sea

Raman’s journey to England and back was by sea. In his leisure hours, he used to sit on the upper deck of the ship and enjoy the beauty of the vast sea. The deep blue color of the Mediterranean Sea interested the scientist in him. Was the blue due to the reflection of the blue sky? If so, how could it appear in the absence of light? Even when big waves rolled over the surface, the blue remained. As he thought over the problem, it flashed to him that the blue color might be caused by the scattering of the sun’s light by water molecules. He turned over this idea in his mind again and gains. Immediately after his return to Calcutta, he plunged into experiments. Within a month, he prepared a research paper and sent it to the Royal Society of London. Next year he published a lengthy article on the molecular scattering of light.

Raman Effect

Sometimes a rainbow appears and delights our eyes. We see in it shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The white ray of the sun includes all these colors. When a beam of sunlight is passed through a glass prism a patch of these *color- bands are seen. This is called the spectrum. The Spectro- meter is an apparatus used to study the spectrum. Spectral lines in it are characteristic of the light passing through the prism. A beam of light that causes a single spectral line is said to be monochromatic.

When a beam of monochromatic light passes through a transparent substance (a substance which allows light to pass through it), the beam is scattered. Raman spent a long time in the study of the scattered light.. On February 28, 1928, he observed two low intensity spectral line corresponding to the incident mono- chromatic light. Years of his labor had borne fruit. It was clear that though the incident light was monochromatic, the scattered light due to it, was not monochromatic.Thus Raman’s experiments discovered a phenomenon which was lying hidden in nature.

The 16th of March 1928 is a memorable day in the history of science. On that day a meeting was held under the joint auspices of the South Indian Science Association and the Science Club of Central College, Bangalore; Raman was the Chief Guest. He announced the new phenomenon discovered by him to the world. He also acknowledged with affection the assistance given by K.S. Krishnan and Venkateshwaran, who were his students.

World-Wide Interest in Raman Effect

Investigations making use of the Raman Effect began in many countries. During the first twelve years after its discovery, about 1800 research papers were published on various aspects of it and about 2500 chemical compounds were studied. Raman Effect was highly praised as one of the greatest discoveries of the third decade of this century.

After the ‘lasers’ (devices that produce intense beams of light, their name coming from the initial letters of ‘Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) came into use in the 1960′s, it became easier to get monochromatic light of very high intensity for experiments. This brought back scientific interest in Raman Effect, and the interest remains alive to this day

 

The World Honors Raman

Raman received many honors from all over the world for his achievement. In 1928 the Science Society of Rome awarded the Matteucci Medal. In 1929 the British Government knighted him; thereafter Professor Raman came to be known as Professor Sir C..V. Raman. The Royal Society of London awarded the Hughes Medal in 1930.Honorary doctorate degrees were awarded by the Universities of Freiburg (Germany), Glasgow(England), Paris (France), Bombay, Benaras, Dacca, Patna, Mysore and several others.

 

The Nobel Prize, Too

The highest award a scientist or a writer can get is the Nobel Prize. In 1930, the Swedish Academy of Sciences chose Raman to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics. No Indian and no Asian had received the Nobel Prize for Physics up to that time. At the ceremony for the award, Raman used alcohol to demonstrate the Raman Effect. Later in the evening alcoholic drinks were served at the dinner. But Raman did not touch them. He remained loyal to the Indian traditions.

 

http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatscientists/drcvraman/page15.htm

 

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Get Inspired from Success of College dropouts

Posted on October 9, 2008 by admin

Dear Friends,

Even college dropouts have achieved great success in life.  Click the link below to know few examples of success of college drop outs.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce9pevKYHSo

 

A.Hari

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Get Inspired from Achievements of Great Sportsmen.

Posted on October 9, 2008 by admin

Dear Friends,

Click the following link to view a five minute video which explains how great sportmen have struggled a lot before achieving success.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=RQCd9aErQqI&feature=related

Let us Get inspired from such great sportmen.

A.Hari

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Get Inspired even from Insults – Read about incident leading to creation of Stanford University

Posted on October 7, 2008 by admin

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a
homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walk
timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President’s
outer office.The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods,
country Hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn’t even
deserve to be in Cambridge.
“We want to see the president,” the man said softly.
“He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped.

“We’ll wait,” the lady replied”.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple
would Finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t…. and the
secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even  though it was a chore she always regretted.

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she
said to him.

He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance
obviously didn’t have the time to spend with them, but he detested
gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president,stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the
couple.

The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one
year.He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed .My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus ”

The president wasn’t touched…. He was shocked.

“Madam,” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every
person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a
statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress
and Homespun suit, and then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any
earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent.

The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now.

The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it
costs to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”

Her husband nodded.

The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment.

Mr.and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, travelling to Palo Alto,California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

 

A TRUE STORY —– by Malcolm Forbes 

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