Thursday, October 6, 2011

Steve Jobs went to a better place

As the morning sun rose ushering in the Dashami, the 10th day of Navaratri - Dussra, came in the news of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passing away. It was a very surreal moment. On one hand people knew of his ailments and fight with cancer but on the other hand, there was this expectation of him always bouncing back and being on top like he always did in life.

I somehow never admired him or understood his deal when he was alive, tried to always be confrontational, questioning - so what? But them moment I read the news, it was as if I actually lost something even though I have never met him or used any of apple's products. Realized later that the nemesis is often as important as an ally. It was an object to throw rage at. Its the balance in life. The sponge absorbing the water is no less important than the bucket pouring it.

Stories of Steve's life are abound and there's no dearth of information on him, so no point in highlighting anything from there. Now that he's gone, there's a sense of a strong & deep personal loss. Everyone on the internet and in the tech world is feeling it.

He was one of those very few men who was alive, as a mortal. Whom the world has seen at his most vulnerable. And he was rare because he bounced back in the glare of everyone's gaze. He bounced back and infused life back into something unique which had died, something the world would cherish in the form of Apple, Inc.

Steven Jobs - you were the learned man who learnt his wisdom amidst the torturing gaze of constant attention and pressure from the world. You are the rare colourless diamond, baked under the intense pressure of the entire earth. And you didn't need to hide to know the actual reality of life.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."


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