AZIM H. PREMJI, CHAIRMAN,WIPRO CORPORATION

The55-year-old Wipro chairman made international waves in 2000 ever since hisgroup become

ARs 3500 caror empire with a market capitalization exceeding Rs 500,000 million!Wipro is one of the brand names in IT outsourcing.

Locatedin over 35 countries with 10near shore development centers, Wipro has beendeclared the 4^th largest in the

Worldin terms of market capitalization in IT services having a CAGR of 42% in thelast 5 years. Azim premji addressed in the

“Shapingyoung minds program” (SYMP) organized by the ALL INDIAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATIO(AIMA)

In collaborationwith the Bombay management association (BMA) on February 9, 2004 at NCPA inMumbai on “My Lessons in life”.In his words.....

I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful tobe with young people. The funny thing about life is that you realize the valueof something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, tosalt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realizethe importance of youth.

At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of thelessons I have learnt along the way. I hope you will find them useful when youplan your own career and life.

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths. From theearliest years of our schooling, everyone focuses on what is wrong with us.There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbitschool. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the endof the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. Theparents were concerned. They said, “Forget about hopping. You are anyway goodat it. Concentrate on swimming.” They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming.And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, haveyou ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is important for us to know what we arenot good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is onlyour strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses.

The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupeeearned is of far more value than five found. My friend wassharing me the story of his eight year-old niece. She would always complain aboutthe breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child remainedunhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a supermarket and brought one ofthose ready-to-cook packets. The child had to cut the packet and pour water inthe dish. After that, it took two minutes in the microwave to be ready. Thechild found the food to be absolutely delicious? The difference was that shehas cooked it! In my own life, I have found that nothing gives as muchsatisfaction as earning our rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inheritedfollows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value ofwhat we have if we have struggled to earn it.

The third lesson I have learnt is no onebats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You winsome and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head.The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you doencounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon.Don’t beat yourself for it or anyone else for that matter! Accept it, look atyour own share in the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thingis, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

The fourth lesson I have learnt is theimportance of humility. Sometimes, when you get so much inlife, you really start wondering whether you deserve all of it. This brings meto the value of gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents, ourteachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we can never repay them.Many people focus on the shortcomings, because obviously no one can be perfect.But it is important to first acknowledge what we have received. Nothing in lifeis permanent but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we mustlearn to savor the memory of the good things while they lasted.

The fifth lesson I learnt is that we mustalways strive for excellence. One way of achieving excellenceis by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep learning what they dodifferently. Emulate it. But excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. Wemust also feel the need from within. It must become an obsession. It mustinvolve not only our mind but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an actbut a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem, which says that yourreach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, youronly competition is yourself.

The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. It comes onyou suddenly without warning. One can succumb to self-pity, wring your hands indespair or decide to deal with the situation with courage and dignity. Alwayskeep in mind that it is only the test of fire that makes fine steel. A friendof mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter wasstruggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could notsucceed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her, “Look, whydon’t you just give up? I don’t think you will complete it tonight. Look at itanother day.” The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes,” But, dad,why should I give up? All the pieces are there! I have just got to put themtogether!” If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into itsperspective.

The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you mustbe open to change, do not compromise on your values. MahatmaGandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you mustnot be swept off your feet by the breeze. You must define what your core valuesare and what you stand for. And these values are not so difficult to define.Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and humility have survived forgenerations. Values are not in the words used to describe them as much as inthe simple acts.

At the end of the day, it is values that define a person morethan the achievements. Because it is the means of achievement that decide howlong the achievements will sustain. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The shortcut can make you lose your way and end up becoming the longest way to thedestination. And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even ifeveryone tells us that we are wrong.

There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Everymorning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab thepaper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick upthe money, smile politely and say, “Thank you, Sir.” One day, the vendor’sassistant asked him, “Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rudeto you? Why don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?”The vendor smiled and replied, “He can’t help being rude and I can’t help beingpolite. Why should I let his rude behavior dictate my politeness?

In my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was many times,a rebel without a cause. Today, I realize that my rebellion was another kind ofconformity. We defined our elders to fall in line with our peers!

Ultimately, we must learn to respond instead of reacting. Whenwe respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate.We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what theother person wants us to do. I wish you all the best in your life and career.

I hope you achieve success in whatever way you define it andwhat gives you the maximum happiness in life.

“Remember, those who win are those who believe they can.”