“Who is Mark Zuckerberg?”
I am sure all of you would be surprised at my naivety, my absolute lack of general knowledge. But hold on, this is not my question, in fact I was asked this question by friend’s grandfather, Dada, who just turned 90 few months back. After hearing this question, even I was surprised; first because at the age of 90 he knew that certain Mark Zuckerberg exists in this world; on other hand I was surprised that somebody would actually ask this question in this internet era.
“Where did you come across Mark Zuckerberg?” I asked him.
“I was reading an article about wealthy people and according to the article; this 23 year old boy is listed as one of the billionaires in the world. I am 90, he is not even one third of my age but he is already a billionaire whereas I have not seen this much of money in my entire life. People around me always thought that I know everything, but now I know, there are many things that I do not know yet.”
Leaving me speechless, he left room and went to sleep, while I and my friend started to discuss current trending topics.
While returning from my friend’s place, a sentence from Dada, kept buzzing in my ears “People around me always thought that I know everything, but now I know, there are many things that I do not know yet”. This comment led me to believe that what matters is really not how many years you have lived, but how???!!!
The man in question, Mark Zuckerberg, was just 23 when he became billionaire; Bill Gates was around 20 when he founded Microsoft along with Paul Allen.
The great saint Dnyaneshwar was just 18 when he wrote Dnyaneshwari; his commentary on Bhagvat Geeta.
Vijay Mallya and Kumar Managalam Birla took control of their respective business empires at the age of 28, when most of us are finding their bearing on life.
And that’s precisely the point, ask yourself, not how many, but how……
Just being old does not guarantee that one knows everything. Because if you do not enrich yourself in terms of knowledge, experience as you grow; age is just a number!!
This reminds me of one of the famous anecdotes from cricket. Monty Panesar, spin bowler from England, began his career as a very good bowler and showed a lot of promise. However after 33 test he could not achieve what he could have or people thought he could. This prompted, Shane Warne to proclaim that rather than having played 33 Tests, he (Monty Panesar) had merely played his first one 33 times!!, indicating that it was proverbial case of ‘Wisdom does not always come with age - sometimes age comes alone???!!!!
But, Monthy Panesar showed that if you learn from your mistakes and previous experiences, you can really make a difference, and how!!! He made Shane Warne eat his own words, with his stellar performance against India in Mumbai test in Nov. 2012. Shane Warne incidentally was a spectator from close quarters to this very ‘Full Monty’ performance, as he is part of ESPN-Star’s commentary team!!!! Shane Warne must also be thinking….But How??????
One should follow Aufbau principle in life. As the orbitals of our life i.e. age increases, one should be able to fill up more electrons i.e. experiences, wisdom in ones life.
Now question comes how you can enrich your life with various experiences, well the solution would vary from individual to individual, but here are some suggestions:
- Rekindle any of your old/lost hobby. You will cherish the immense happiness it brings to you.
- Read to educate yourself on various different topics
- Get yourself associated with that one or more causes you are passionate about may be as a volunteer or member and work for that cause throughout the year and beyond.
Well such tiny steps taken by you would enrich your noosphere which should eventually lead you to enrich somebody else’s…Remember what Emily Dickinson said......
If I can stop one heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one life the aching
Or cool one pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his nest again
I shall not live in vain.
It is that time of the year when many decide to start afresh with new zeal, new resolutions and I believe it is certainly not the bad thought to start by helping one heart from breaking.
Not 'How Many', but 'How' is the question.......
