Self-made Billionaires (series)

A Man Who Dreams to ‘Conquer’ Earth and ‘Colonize’ Space

As a President and CEO of Amazon and with reported net worth US $ 196.6 billion till July 13, 2020, Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world.

With 5,66,000 employees, Amazon operates in 14 countries across the world.

Under Blue Origin, a flagship company of Amazon, Jeff Bezos has also started selling commercial spaceflight tickets for US $ 200,000 to 300,000 per passenger.

Jeff Bezos also owns a widely circulated American English daily, The Washington Post which he purchased on August 5, 2013 for US $ 250 million cash.

In this corona time when the most of the business has gone nose dive, Jeff Bezos has seen a rise in his fortune by US $ 74 billion this year.

Alexa, a household name in US, an Amazon product looks after the household of Americans.

By Mukesh Sharma

In this shop keeping society, everyone is selling something for their daily bread. Of course, business lies in selling something to somebody. But genius Jeff Bezos went ahead of sheer selling; he made service a giant global phenomena; in his game, he decided to play a ‘carrier’ between the seller and buyer. And this idea turned out to be super hit.

Jeff Bezos, man who dreams to ‘conquer’ the earth and ‘colonize’ space

Naming his business after the name of Amazon river, the biggest river in the world, Jeff planned the biggest store in the world.

On July, 1994, Jeff got his Amazon incorporated as a company and started it from the garage of his house on 28^th street in Belleue, Washington in September, 1994. Since then he never looked back. Today US based Amazon operates from 13 countries  -- Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain and UK.

In September, 2000, Jeff also founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup company. In July, 2018 , the company announced that it had priced commercial spaceflight ticket from US $ 200,000 to 300, 000.

Early life of Jeff was not without struggle. Born on Jan12, 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico to a teenage mother, Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen and his biological father Ted Jorgensen,his mother remarried another man, Mike Bezos, a Cuban immigrant when Jeff was just 4. Thus Jeff got his surname Bezos.

While at High School, Jeff worked at Mc Donald as a short-order line cook during the breakfast shift. He graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science. Rest is history.

Jeff says his goal is to create “the Star Trek Computer.”

Genius Jeff Bezos knows how to have Big Dreams, live for them and fulfil them. He is the man who dreams to ‘conquer’ the earth and ‘colonize’ space.

Self-made Billionaire (Series)

Cleaner to Billionaire

Jan Koum worked as a cleaner at a store, a college dropout who created whatsApp, got the billion dollar idea over a cup of tea; co-founded whatsApp with a friend Brian Acton; the Facebook that rejected his candidature for the job once, bought the App for US$19.3 billion and today the duo founders stand with reported net worth US$10 billion and US$ 2.9 billion respectively

By Mukesh Sharma

 

With one billion daily users across the world, WhatsApp has become a part of day-to-day life. Where ever one is, one remains in touch with one’s near and dear ones round the clock. Indeed WhatsApp has created a sense of togetherness in the world.

Jan Koum & Brian Acton who have created 
the sense of togetherness in the world

The life story of genius Jan Koum reads like a rags to riches.

Born on Feb24, 1976 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, he moved with his mother and grandmother to Mountain View, California(US) in 1992 at the age of 16. Before his father could join the family, he died in 1997 in Ukrain.

Young Jan worked as a cleaner at grocery store. His mother worked as a babysitter in early days of struggle.

Battling for better life, at the age of 18, the promising Jan developed interest in computer programming. So he enrolled himself at San Joe State University and also continued a job with Ernst and Young as a Security Tester. At this juncture, Jan met one Brian Acton. Soon both became good friends.

Later in 1997, Jan got a job in Yahoo as an infrastructure Engineer. So he dropped out of college. Brian Acton also joined Yahoo. Both worked with Yahoo for a long nine years. In September, 2007, both left the job with Yahoo and applied for job with Facebook. The candidatures of both were rejected.

In 2009, Jan got an idea for an App over a cup of tea at his friend’s Fishman’s kitchen counter. Jan decided to name it as WhatsApp as it sounds like what’s up.

Later on Feb24, 2009, Jan Koun incorporated whatApp as a company with tittle WhatsApp Inc in California. Further he also convinced his friend Brian Acton to join the company with a co-founder status after Brian managed to bring in $ 250,000 in seed funding.

On Feb9, 2014, Zuckerberg of Facebook invited Jan Koun for dinner at his residence and formally proposed a deal to join Facebook as a one of board of directors with profit share. After 10 days Facebook also announced that it was acquiring whatsApp for US $ 19.3 billion.

Another co-founder of whatsapp Inc Brian Acton is an American computer programmer. Born in Michigan and grew up in central Florida. He studied at Lake Howel High School and also graduated from Stanford University in 1994.

A momentary idea over a cup of tea changed the destiny of Jan Koum and Brian Acton.

The world shall remain grateful to Jan Koum for instilling the sense of togetherness in the world what even different religions failed to do.

Self-made Billionaires (Series)

The Infinite Google

The ingenuity of two college friends  -- Lawrence Edward Page and Sergey Brin who created Google while studying at Stanford University, has, no doubt, bounded the ‘infinity’, and today their reported net worth stand at US $ 63.3 billion and US $ 62.3 billion respectively; the duo fly by their own boeing 767 jet

By Mukesh Sharma

Google sounds like the genie of Aladdin. Just ask anything, Google has it. Any information is just a few clicks away. Nothing seems to be beyond the purview of great Google. Over 300 million use google daily across the world.

Larry Page & Sergey Brin -two genius who created infinite Google

Larry (short name of Lawrence Edward Page) and Sergey first named their ‘Search Engine’ as “Back Rub”, for, it was dependent on backlines to estimate the importance of sites. Later in 1996, they renamed it as Google after the mathematical term ‘googol’ that refers to No.1 followed by 100 zero.

And thus Larry and Sergey co-founded Google in 1998 - a search engine to access any information.

Lawrence Edward Page was born on March 26, 1973 in Michigan in a family of computer scientist – the father Carl Page was then a pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence and was a computer science professor at Michigan University, and Gloria, the mother was also an instructor in computer programming at Lyman Briggs College of Michigan University. Lawrence, nick name Larry learnt first lesson in computer programming from his mother. After graduation from University of Michigan, Larry went to Stanford University as a PhD scholar where he met another scholar Sergey Brin.

Born on August21, 1973 in a Jewish family in Moscow, Russia, Sergey Brin’s father Michael Brin immigrated to US when Sergey was just 6. His father joined University of Maryland as a professor of mathematics. So Sergey grew up in Adelphi, Maryland. After the completion of graduation, Sergey as a brilliant student and scholar went to Stanford University to earn PhD degree where he met another genius Larry Page.

The favourite Google phrase is:

Maintain a healthy disregard for the impossible

The world is grateful to these two genii who have made an impossibility a possibility by creating an infinite Google.

Self-made Billionaires (Series)

He Became World’s Youngest Self-made Billionaire at 23

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, a ‘’programmer prodigy” created Facebook from his dormitory room while studying at Harvard University; his net reported worth is US $ 88.2 billion as on July14, 2020

By Mukesh Sharma

The most of the people in the world remain mute witness to happenings; some express awe and dismay at the happenings; but a few make things happen. Those who make things happen, think beyond impossibilities; they look beyond present to peep into future; they don’t tell the world what they can do, they just do it. Of course the young and dynamic Mark Zuckerberg who needs no introduction, is the one who has set rather unbeatable records with his stunning ‘feats’ in the world of computer communication, and has shrunk the world into tiny a mobile. Mark Zuckerberg is a success personified; his life is an epitome of inspiration to young minds.

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, who has shrunk the world into a tiny mobile

Surprisingly enough, at the young age of 23, he became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. Forbes listed him as the 4^th richest person in the world. In 2010, Time magazine named him among the 100 wealthiest and the most influential people in the world.

The New Yorker magazine says:

Some kids played computer games, Mark created them.

In a yet another observation, the New Yorker says:

By the time Mark began classes at Harvard, he had already achieved a reputation as a programmer prodigy.

Born on May 14, 1984 in White Plains, New York (US) in a family of doctors - his mother Karen a psychiatrist and father Edward Zuckerberg a dentist. Mark was raised in a Jewish household and his ancestors hailed from German, Austria, and Poland.

Mark studied at Ardsley High School and was a brilliant student. On his college admission form, he mentioned that he could read and write French, Hebrew, Latin and ancient Greek.

After  schooling, Mark studied at Harvard University where he launched the Facebook Social Networking from his hostel dormitory as a student on February 4, 2004 with his roommates.

As a co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg serves as a Chairman and CEO of Facebook. Inc. He is also the co-founder of the Solar Sail Spacecraft.

Indeed, the world of communication owes a lot to genius Mark Elliot Zuckerberg! Hats off to him.

Self-made Billionaires

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Curiosity Moves the World

It is the curiosity that guides love birds to know about each other physically, psychologically and emotionally; it further leads to intense and intimate desire to see, feel and experience each other’s body. When a young man looks at a young woman with prying eyes, he doesn’t look at her simply but desires her; his lusty eyes run over her contour and curves; in a quick succession of thoughts he tries to feel and experience her coveted body with nothing on

By Mukesh Sharma

Curiosity is an inner urge of a human mind to know about unknown, to see unseen and to hear unheard. What is within four walls ? What is behind the curtain? What is what? Who is who? When will it occur? How will it happen? These questions often occur to everyone’s mind. In fact the curiosity is a wishful desire to go beyond 5Ws and I H. It’s an inquisitiveness to look beyond present and to peep into future and far off. All the discoveries and inventions made by the man so far are the result of continued curiosity only. Curiosity rolls the wheel of progress. 

Of course, curiosity changes with age and circumstances. A baby gets attracted to different colors, movements of an object or any sound, for, it bubbles with curiosity for anything around.

To a child, a balloon might sound the most enticing thing in the world. In fact, a child grows up with curiosity; it learns about things around through curiosity only. As a first teacher, curiosity teaches a child to use the pronouns like ‘I’, ‘My’ ‘Me’, ‘We’, ‘Our’ ‘Us’ ‘He’, ‘His’ ‘Him’ ‘She’, ‘Her’,  ‘Her’, ‘They’, ‘their’,  ‘Them’, ‘It’, ‘Its’ and ‘It’. A child learns to identify itself with these syllables. And thus the small world of a child begins to broaden, lengthen and deepen. A child is a baby of curiosity.

 

If the sun stirs the world, curiosity moves the world

What is more, a young man and woman learn their first lesson of love through curiosity only. What the people call love-at-first-sight is too born of curiosity only. The celebrated writer G.B.Shaw says:

My first love is a little foolishness but a lot of curiosity

Evidently enough, it is the curiosity that guides love birds to know about each other physically, psychologically and emotionally; it further leads to intense and intimate desire to see, feel and experience each other’s body. When a young man looks at a young woman with prying eyes, he doesn’t look at her simply but desires her; his lusty eyes run over her contour and curves; in a quick succession of thoughts he tries to feel and experience her coveted body with nothing on. John Donne, a metaphysical poet in his poem “To his Mistress going to bed “ says:

 O my America! My new found-land

Yet another English writer ironically says:

Men are attracted to women navel because of curiosity of thoughts that ‘Heaven’ is not far off. 

Feared by the society, law of land and social ignominy, a man pretends to be a gentleman in the absence of opportunity  -  opportunity gives rise to thoughts, and thoughts give rise to desires and desires give rise to action. Opportunity can make a saint a devil. The possibility of an Aasharam cannot be ruled out hidden in  Baba’s clothing. Here curiosity is the main culprit.

All the successful writers/film makers know how to create and sustain curiosity through the story line till the end; it is sheer curiosity that makes a reader to read a book to the last page for the final revelation; it is the curiosity that makes the audience to stick to their respective seats in cinema hall to know the end of the story. Curiosity nurtures creativity which is essentially a baby of curiosity.

Even scientists are goaded by their curiosity to know, discover, experiment and invent on an unknown terrain and territory. NASA named its lander on Mars as ‘CURIOSITY’ that signifies the role of curiosity in the world of science too. Albert Einstein philosophically says:

Never lose your holy curiosity

Endorsing the significance of curiosity, Zora Neale says:

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with purpose.

In other words, it won’t be wrong to say: Curiosity is the mother of all the discoveries and inventions.

In a democratic dispensation, wily netas use this powerful element of curiosity to get elected and rule over the unsuspecting masses. False promises are made to create curiosity in the populace that makes the public to think that this neta might emerge as a ‘savior’ and that remains a possibility all through years. Democracy is the game of curiosity.

Never let anyone or anything crush your curiosity. What Bill Gates is today because he never allowed anyone or any circumstances to suppress his curiosity for the computers. What Sachin is today because he sustained his curiosity for cricket right from his younger days. So is the success story of almost all the big names in the world. Who are you? What are you? What can you do? How can you do it? These pertinent questions that nag the head of each man and woman, can’t be answered by any guru or any book. Only your live curiosity can answer these questions.

This blogger maintains that even almighty God must have created this universe out of curiosity only. That is why each and every thing in the nature arouses nothing but curiosity.

Undying curiosity for success can take anyone to dizzy heights. A man can learn only as an ideal student of curiosity. A man without curiosity is a dead man. If the sun stirs the world, curiosity moves the world.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEATH

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEATH

Cessation of breath is not death. It is not a full stop of life but just a coma in a long sentence of life. There is life beyond death where a subject survives with its mercurial body and all subconscious cognition constituted by its past karmas carried out through different births and lives through ages 

By Mukesh Sharma

Her pupil-less eyes were white like full moon; there was gleam but no gaze; she wouldn’t cast glance but just turn face in the direction of the subject. With white eyebrows and grey long straight hair falling down the knee, her starch white rather elongated face with striking mien was expressionless  -  no smile or frown, no happiness or sorrow, no mercy or cruelty, just intensely calm and quiet. Slick and slim, she was in full sleeves white rob down to ground; her white hands with well-shaped fingers were sticking out. She would walk with no gait. She would just float to come near or go far. She would shrink or swell her to any size. She would speak without lip synch. The sound of her echoing voice was so clear and deep as if emanating from far off space. She had stunning power to produce her any number of visual copies in a twinkling of eyes to be at number of places at the same time.

Feared by all the living beings, she was none other than the Death herself. Though invisibly she is everywhere, she has made humans’ hospital as her temporary residence in this Corona time. It won’t be wrong to call such places nowadays as House of Death.

 

Blogger Mukesh Sharma recuperating in an American hospital, Glendale, Arizona, US

Lying on the hospital bed with many machines buzzing and terminals fixed on the chest and legs, this blogger all of a sudden caught the sight of the Death, and out of curiosity couldn’t desist himself to have a word with her. Here are the excerpts of a revealing conversation:

 

Blogger:

PranaamMaa

Death:

Long live son. I am surprised that you can see me! One can see me only a few seconds before one’s last breath. Perhaps God has bestowed on you some special powers.

 

Blogger:

Maa you have just blessed me with long life?

Death:

Of course son. It is well within the capacity and capability of the man to live a long life. God or I have nothing to do with that. Death is the result of sinful karmas.

 

Blogger:

What is this sinful karma?

Death:

All seven deadly sins  - Pride, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth make knots of guilt in the mind. Further, man commits sins by Thoughts, Actions and Words. Any act against the natural justice is sinful karma. It is these sinful karmas that cause early death.

 

Blogger:

What is death?

Death:

Cessation of breath is not death. It is not a full stop of life but just a coma in a long sentence of life. There is life beyond death where a subject survives with its mercurial body and all subconscious cognition constituted by its past karmas carried out through different births and lives through ages.

 

Blogger:

Then what is life ?

Death:

Life is a blessing of God. All the creatures are essentially the respected residents of Kingdom of God. Each life on the earth has a specific purpose for the perpetuation of nature. Each life has separate identity but interconnected and interdependent on one another like the countless droplets of the one ocean. A reasonable life span is assigned by the God to each creature suitable to the gross body it wears that can further be increased or decreased through karmas.

 

Blogger:

How the age of a man is determined?

Death:

Man has no fixed age; it may be of a few minutes or of many decades and centuries; it may be extended even to eternity like the great devotee of lord Rama, Hanumana who is still alive on the earth right from satyuga. All depends on karma, and karmas are under the control of man himself not God.

 

Blogger:

I am not able to understand this esoteric wisdom. Would you please spell it out, Maa ?

Death:

It’s not a secret son. Even in the Gita, Chapter 1, sloka 7, Lord Krishna Himself has revealed this truth and uses the word dvijottama-  man is born twice  - first born into the world of nature through the womb of his mother and second birth is into the world of spirituality. The individual born as a child of nature grows up into his spiritual manhood and becomes a child of light.

 

Blogger:

Maa elucidate it further for this moron son.

Death:

Through selfless karma one gets enlightened like Buddha, Mohammad, Nanak and Christ  - all are the children of light  -  all are true sons of God. An enlightened man emerges as a superhuman  and eventually be one with the God.

 

Blogger:

You mean to say even an ordinary man like me can become God.

Death:

Of course son. An extraordinary is born as an ordinary first. Even God has to be born as a man first to become God again. Through karma it is possible.  But only a few blessed souls get enlightened and attain salvation  -  free from the bondage of birth and death. It may take thousands of births through thousands of years to cleanse and upgrade the mind through rightful karmas and meditation. Distracted by illusions and deviated from the righteous path of karma, the majority of lesser souls die again and again through sins and sufferings, and are reborn in different forms and shapes of life with varied life-span to suffer afresh.

 

Blogger:

But Maa, we humans live in society. We live through mundane duties towards family, society and our respective country. How a worldly man can get enlightened?

Death:

Son nothing is useless or purposeless in this universe. Be it animate or inanimate each has a specific purpose. Humans can continue the pursuit of purpose through one’s human duties, as a good father, a good mother, a good wife, a good husband, a good son, a good daughter, a good friend, a good citizen,  and as a whole a good human being. Lives of all great humans on the earth teach this goodness.

 

Blogger:

What do you mean by the pursuit of purpose?

Death:

Inner self of each man knows the real purpose of its life. But the perverted man is seldom able to know or see it; he commits all kinds of sins to be ‘successful’ in the eyes of others; he lives and works for short lived success and happiness rather than actual purpose of life which brings real pleasure, bliss and contentment. It is acquired through rightful karmas whatever may be the circumstances or situation. Rightful karmas always lead to rightful purpose of life. Each object in the universe be it the sun, the moon, planets, stars, any seen or unseen, known or unknown,   has a specific purpose and  it does karma to serve that purpose, a duty assigned by God.

 

Blogger:

I am still bit confused Maa

Death:

It’s so simple son. Suppose one wishes to become an IAS, only hardwork( karma) would serve one’s purpose. Means always leads to End. To be at the top of a mountain, just stick to the right trail. Think of work (deeds) not about its fruit. No action goes without reaction. Bad action brings bad reaction and good action results in good reaction. One can get enlightened even by doing one’s rightful karmas possible well within the family life and by performing worldly duties.

 

Blogger:

What are the causes of early death?

Death:

Ignorance and illusions are responsible for the doom of the unblessed. Unaware of his powers, man is attracted to illusions - the unreal world which is just a shadow and thus commits sins after sins, and dies with sufferings. I have nothing to do with the death of living beings. I have no power to kill even a tiny insect. All creatures write their own death. Man dies in his mind first because of fear produced by the guilty conscience a fallout of sins. As a result, the body too dies. Prana cannot survive with sick mind. When pranas leaves the body, I have no option but to take over the soul of the subject.

 

Blogger:

Any message to mankind in this corona time, Maa

Death:

Mind you, man is the creation of God; he is a son of God; he has all the powers like God. Through his mind and mental energy what you call will power, man can overcome deadliest thing known as fear, a  root cause of all the human  problems. Man can befriend life; he can defeat death. Corona is nothing before man’s enormous mind power. Man can achieve even seeming impossibilities. Could anyone have imagined thousands years ago that man would reach moon one day. Universe is full of possibilities. Man can make things happen. Nothing is beyond the reach of man. After all man is the son of God.

 

Out of reverence, the moment this blogger closed his eyes and open it again,  Maa Death had become invisible.