Dragging my life through mediocrity & routine, without a sense of any credible achievement, I always want to wander through the minds of geniuses, want to look up to them out of the greed for inspiration and motivation. I want to reason my mind for the speciality created by the prefix "Extra" to the word "Ordinary" in its meaning and then I see, hear, read about some individuals who stands out like colossal moutains because of their geniuses, distinguishing themselves from the lesser mortals. Role models can inspire us to aim for goals and achieve ambitions which we think are beyond ourselves. It's good to have these dreams and ambitions and to have people who inspire us to go for it! The desire to know them springs out of a simple fact that I want to be like them and whenever I learn about them, it creates a sort of resonance in my head in terms of values projected, followed and appreciated by these individuals. This is the blog dedicated to those extra-ordinary & distinguished people.
My role models.
SPORTS
THINKERS / ACADEMIA
The ability to think & predict the future comes from the knowledge of the past and understanding of the present, and it really needs phenomenal intelligence and infinite capacity to absorb & process the information, which these guys were gifted with. In fact I would be wrong in saying that these guys only predicted the future because they almost created & crafted it. The impact of their thinking on their respective fields of expertise is tremendous, perhaps they were/are influential in changing the mindset of whole society. In today's digital age, the comparision would be like this, if normal human beings are Pentium-4 processors then these guys were/are IBM's DEEP BLUE (the supercomputer that beat Gary Casporov in Chess championship). I have read that geniuses eventually differentiate themselves from the rest through great originality. Intellectual geniuses usually have crisp, clear-eyed visions of given situations, in which interpretation is unnecessary—the facts just hit them, and they build or act on the basis of those facts, usually with tremendous energy.This list can be really long but I will just mention very few names which really influence my thought processes.
I would describe him with only four words "Thinker of the Century". I guess it sums up all.
Milton Friedman
Being myself a hardcore capitalist, no one could have been a better choice than Milton Friedman to be my role model in that field. He has used his ingenius mind to advance a moral vision: the vision of a society where men and women are free, free to choose, but where government is not as free to override their decisions. A see-through-chaos vision of a perfect society built on the foundations of true capitalism and freedom of choice.
Simplifying the business environment with his brilliant "5-forces" framework. Guru of Strategy. And No.1 on the list of Top 50 thinkers in the world at present. Men like him are responsible for taking the way we do business to the next level of civilization & sophistication.
BUSINESS
The internal combustion engine was the technological centrepiece & main driving force behind the flabbergasting economic & industrial growth in 20th century but 21st century belongs to Intel's PENTIUM chips or Micrprocessors which will take the entire human civilization to the next level. No one captured the speed of evolution of today's technology dependent society than Dr. Andrew S. Grove (Ex-CEO of Intel) with his amazing "10X change" barometer. Emphasizing on the virtue of the statement "Only change is the constant", his book "Only the Paranoid survive" guides us on how to steer and navigate life of business and business of life through "Strategic Inflection Points". I admire him for his observing power & the use of logic to reason cause & effect matrix.
Amazing Sixth Sense. No wonder he is the second richest man in the world. No one knows better than this legend, affectionately known as "Oracle of Omaha" for the right reason so, when it comes to the word I for Investment. Right moment, Right place and Warren Buffet, this is all it takes to create a fortune. And a true "karma yogi", when he declared that all his fortune worth US$ 40 billion will go for charity. Hats off to you Sir!
Narayana Murthy
The only Indian making it to the list of Top 10 "Most admired business leaders". A true role model for today's young generation. He has proved that success in business can be achieved by following the path of integrity, ethics and highest moral standards. He is a role model for every aspiring entrepreneur in India. I have great regards for his judgement on right and wrong & for his ability to stand by what he perceives as right.
This guy is a puzzle for me. I am still not able to answer the question that how the heck the same guy could be an Engineer who invented the first armoured tank, the most acclaimed painter who painted the ever smiling Monalisa, anatomist who studied The Vitruvian Man, an enigma who practised cipher mirror-writing and many more traits. Hats off to this polymath for his unmatched brilliance & creativity. No wonder, till date he is the only UNIVERSAL GENIUS known to the world.
I am a crazy fan of his Marathi literature. He won the hearts of millions of Maharashtrians by weaving RK Laxman's common man characters in beautiful & humurous stories making us laugh & conveying sublime messages in an understanding language. He was Leonardo Da Vinci of Maharashtra being a writer, director, actor, musician & lyricist all at the same time.
The actor of the millenium by BBC poll conducted in 2000. Already there has been written too much on his magnetic & charming personality and I don't think I can add more to it. I am in awe of his towering personality, apart from peerless acting, what I admire in him, are his qualities of a true fighter, the character which he played in numerous movies creating an image of "Angry Young Man", when he re-established himself leaving the dark past of bankruptcy behind. He impresses everyone the way he carries himself, with dignity and by maintaining a diplomatic poise, it is further glorified by the high baritone which has become kind of symbolic in India.
Last but definitely not the least! I am sure the name above mentioned has some strange curious effects on readers. Ok! in Hindu mythology, he is the guy who gave the world "Geeta", and who is recognized as the incarnation of the supreme soul itself. I am just running out of words to show my greatest regards for this perfect, infinite, omnipotent & omnipresent character. He was just a mythical character for me till the time I read Geeta. "The way of life" explained in Geeta just struck me like a bolt of lightening, simple yet powerful enough that my logic & heart allowed for their own submission & immersion in those beautiful verses.
So these are the people, I draw my inspiration from.
