My dear friends, regardless of how hard I try, I can’t stop the tears flowing from my eyes. Today I am standing on the dais of one of the most prestigious companies of the world as its Chairman, addressing a group of bright, intelligent and talented engineers who will be playing a key role in shaping the future course of this company, and nothing in my life has given me more pride and happiness than this moment.

I came prepared to convey the good news that our company has been listed on the NYSE, but the overwhelming reception that I received today tells me that the news has already reached you, for a moment I had forgotten that we are in the information age,

At this juncture, I am reminded of a story which I would like to share with all of you, a story which might not be able to prove to you the secrets of share holder value creation, or the rationality of consumer demand, on the contrary, I hope this story would expound a value, a virtue which would make you see within yourself to try and see if you possess it in any form.

A few years back, there was a young boy who used to earn his living by distributing newspapers and milk packets in the morning, and carry wood and other requirements for a hotel right opposite this huge edifice where we have congregated today, his daily wages were Rs. 200/- per day, no matter how much his heart desired, he could neither attend school, nor spend time playing with his friends

Everyday, when all the highly educated and top notch software engineers, found some time out of their busy schedule of writing codes, developing and testing systems and maintaining the mainframes of their offshore clients walked out for their lunch, they used to come across this kid carrying a load twice his weight on his head, walking along, with only a sleeveless vest protecting him from the scorching heat, and not even a pair of slippers to protect his tender feet, but nobody bothered, maybe once in a while they felt pity for him but then they had already made up their minds that they could not make any difference to his life, so the best way for them to fight their conscience was to ignore him, and that they did explicably.

That day was no different, except for the fact that, as he was walking along the footpath, a car slowed down, stopped and a young lady got down walked upto him and asked if he had had his lunch, he stared at her astounded, not knowing how to react, never in his wildest of dreams did he expect any of these people to bother about him, as she knelt down to reach him he saw a tag hanging around her neck with her photograph and a small image similar to the one that was on the building right across the road, he couldn’t understand, why she was asking him that question, nevertheless he shook his head and signaled no, she then asked him if he would like to have lunch with her, this brought a smile to his otherwise dry face, together they walked into the restaurant

Soon this became a regular affair, and they used to meet everyday for lunch, the lady never asked the boy about his family nor his problems, neither did she tell him anything about herself, rather they discussed more about their work, their dreams and aspirations, the future, the things they wanted to do, and the difference they wanted to bring about in this world.

One such afternoon, it was his birthday, and he waited for her with a sense of eagerness and exhilaration as she had promised a beautiful present for him, yet she didn’t turn up. After three long hours, dejected he turned back and started to walk towards his workplace.

For one last time he turned back hoping that something might have delayed her, and his joy knew no bounds when he saw the car, it had just stopped right at the place where he waited for her everyday, elated, he started running towards the car, but stopped midway, it wasn’t her who got down, it was some old man, he appeared to be searching for someone, he could see the old man stopping every passer by and asking him something, nobody seemed to be knowing what he was asking, he walked upto him and pulled at the flanks of his trousers, the old man looked down, stared at him for a few seconds, and asked him, “are you the small kid who used to have lunch with my daughter everyday”?

He nodded his head to signal yes.

The old man gave out a sigh of relief as he took him aside and handed over a letter addressed to him.

Tears came into his eyes as he read through the single line written in the letter, “The doctors say that I won’t live long enough to see my dreams come true, but my only dream is to see you scale new heights in your life”

She met the kid the same day that she was diagnosed of a fatal disease.

Today my dear friends, that same small kid is standing right in front of you. She made sure, that financially I didn’t face any hurdles in my way, yet more than anything, she gave a purpose to my life, and for that, I will be ever grateful to her and nothing I do or achieve in my life will be enough to express my gratitude to her.

P.S. This is just a short story that i had written for a newsletter.