A theory of destiny

A lot of students ask me, "What kind of a job should I take? What type of company should I join?" In answer, I put forward my theory of destiny.

The theory goes like this: Barring major accidents, you will probably find that you can achieve almost any destiny that you imagine for yourself. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you don't achieve it, it will most probably be because you stopped imagining!

Now I say "barring major accidents" because one may encounter certain major irreversible blows which may throw you off track. This is a probabilistic theory, because life is probabilistic. One could have been born in an utterly poor family (most of you have been very lucky). One could be suffering from tremendous ill health (most of you are not). Or one could be crossing the road and be hit by a truck (and most of you haven't been).

But set these major accidents aside and understand what I really mean. I mean that there are thousands of decisions you take each day. The effects of most of these are fairly reversible, so nothing major is lost. As a result, you have literally MILLIONS of ways to get from point A to point B in your life. So if you are today at point A and you see point B clearly, you will most probably get there or close to that, even if today you appear to be headed in the wrong direction.

Think of it like this - you walk a few steps every day. If you know where you want to go, you can go around an obstacle. Life is normally long (barring accidents!)

"Sense of history"... I don't know where I read this phrase - perhaps it was a Tolstoy or Dostoevsky novel - but I really liked it. You need to look beyond today and have a sense of history. You have to see how history plays out in the lives of people, especially in the lives of great people. Then you will learn patience.

I had earlier shared a video of Steve Jobs who talked of how he spent a long while studying fonts, because his school was very good at that sort of stuff. He turned even that into a huge positive advantage for Apple. Gandhiji lived in South Africa as a barrister. He turned that into a part of his story! Nelson Mandela spent many frustrating long years in jail. He used that to become one of the consciences of the 20th century! Looking back, it all looks planned. But these people had a sense of history and a clarity of mission that kept them moving towards their destiny, regardless of the days and months and years of obstacles.

So I urge you - do not worry too much about the economic slowdown and what job you will get next year and what package you will get "in hand". Instead know WHERE YOU WANT TO BE in 5 years, in 10 years, in 30 years. Suddenly everything will become clear.

I was a researcher at Harvard when my future mentor Prof. Ramachandran "Jai" Jaikumar said, "I need someone to help me but I can't pay much..." I jumped and said, "I don't care, I want to do this!" There was no office, no help with the work visa, no career path - nothing. Yet I was electrified by the opportunity. So Jai asked, "Why?" I said, basically, "My goal is to make a big positive impact and for that I don't need a career path, I need to learn." I remember that he laughed and said, "That's great! Unfortunately far too many people are so carefully and scrupulously trying to look out for themselves that they end up achieving very little!!"

So as Protons, see the opportunities, don't see the negatives. Focus on improving yourself and don't worry about the reward.

Karmayevaadhikaar aste
Maa phaleshu kadachana
Maa karm phal hetu bhu
Maa te sangato akarmani!

That's the theory of destiny in a nutshell!