A Day With a Wannabee Entrepreneur !!

After a brief hiatus, The PERFECT Show gears up again. This week, we have an interesting guest. A person who is in his twenties, has broad views on life, a to-be entrepreneur and a good friend of mine, who i will vouch has the right attitude to do something worthwhile. Its Ravi Kumar, who is a software professional currently employed in Sun Microsystems, Bangalore.. He has done B.E in Information technology, 2003.

Some of his worthwhile achievements till date are:
- Forming a city wide youth magazine, AKANKSHA during 2002
- President of SunTalk Toastmasters Club. (A corporate club of Sun Microsystem)
- Setup his own food business in Dec 2007. Will be registering it as a company in May.

“There are more ideas on earth than intellectuals imagine. And these ideas are more active, stronger, more resistant, more passionate than ''politicians'' think. We have to be there at the birth of ideas, the bursting outward of their force: not in books expressing them, but in events manifesting this force, in struggles carried on around ideas, for or against them.

Ideas do not rule the world. But it is because the world has ideas... that it is not passively ruled by those who are its leaders or those who would like to teach it, once and for all, what it must think.”

- Michel Foucault

So here we go with our show.

Host : Prashant Sree - ME
Guest : Ravi Kumar - RK

ME: Hi Ravi, Welcome to the show.
RK: Thank You Prashant.

ME: Ravi, what are you passionate about in Life ?
RK: Iam passionate about self improvement and a zeal to make a difference in this life to the world before i die.i want to be a better person each coming day.

ME:How do you aim to make a difference in others life ?
RK: I am a non conformist by nature. A rebel of sort. I do not agree to many set patterns. I am unhappy with the way world acknowledges education. I want to do redefine education in its real sense. Instill creativity and innovation in one's life and not to follow the crowd blindly. There r many paths of career than what parents force their children.





ME: A worthy thought and a worthy challenge to take up. ;) What is the most important learning which you have learnt from your mistakes which you would like to share with others.
RK: I am a firm believer that every individual is unique and has something extra ordinary in himself. It might sound philosophical but since man is God's best creation, he is endowed with some special quality.
And man has to strive to find what he is good at. Its finding one's calling. And one's you find it, passionately pursue it. This is my learning. the movie "Tare zamein par" spoke my mind.

ME: Good insight.,. Have you found ur calling ? ;)
RK: Yes. Its not concrete, but I have found the direction.....

ME: Wow dude.,. Good to hear that. Suppose you are given the choice to manifest anything, what would you like to change in today's society/world ?
RK: Perception. I would want the world to look for character, humility as a yardstick to measure a man's success than material prosperity. There is an acute shortage of worthy role models. I wish I could create a few worthy role models for the upcoming generations.

ME: Worthy indeed. Includin yourself a role model.,. Hope tat will true :).Now, who s your fav mythological hero and your reasons for that ?
RK: Frankly, I can never relate to any of them. And since I doubt their veracity, I feel better emulate the real heros whom we know existed in flesh and blood than look for mythic heros. My current hero would be Narayan Murthy. Likes of him have redefined capitalism into inclusive capitalism. Money is an enabler for greater purposes. Its not an end in itself. And he has shown that by bringing a change in the society.

ME: Hmmm.,. I respect your opinion.,. Now, what do you want to stand for in your life ? What do you want to be remembered for ?
RK: Someone who practised what he preached. I find preachers all my life but a handful of them actually have the guts to do. At present I am doing something for which I am facing a lot of embarassment and hostility. But I am doing it. I want to be remembered as someone who did what his heart asked for without succumbing to the frailties of life.

ME:Well said.,What do you consider your charm ?
RK: This i realised lately. I can convince and motivate people. I can because of my enthusiasm. I always knew I have enthu stuffed in till the tip of my fingers. I had read somewhere, "Even if you do not have any other qualities in you, you can achieve everything just by your enthusiasm".

ME: :) Cool .,. Now the last one. What is your thumb rule for life ?
RK: Follow your heart. You will be very satisfied when you leave this world.

ME: Good :).Can you share some of your thoughts on your calling?
RK: To create an ecosystem for kids who would learn to live life in true terms. Today's kids are getting educated in the best of schools but somewhere they are missing the true form of education.
Education that fosters creativity, education that teaches one to go slow and appreciate the world around us.
Education that compels children to look for a purpose in life and make a change to the world around them.

ME: What have been your favourite books,till date ?
RK: Books. I survive on them. It is not one or two books that shape you. It is usually a gradual process. But books that have left lasting impact are : Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Alchemist, Banker to the Poor: Md Yunus, Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid:CK Prahalad, Animal Farm,The High Performance Entrepreneur-Subroto Bagchi, City of joy, The Power of your subconscious mind.

ME: Which Quotes do you identify yourself and believe in ?
RK: The quotes with which I identify and truly believe in are:

* Just do it
May sound an ubiquitous Nike ad. But dwell on it. You will know its power. I follow it blindly.

* If you cant win with talent, triumph with effort. (and enthusiasm)
This has been my mantra for long. I have added the enthusiasm part. I will rate that higher than effort. And I have seen it work.

ME: Well said. I can only say that the insights provided are indeed inspiring. I really hope that you are successful in accomplishing what you have dreamt to. I on behalf of my readers wish you all success in your endeavours. It was a pleasure to have you in the show.
RK: Thank You.

Well readers, I hope that you enjoyed the show as much as i did. Before i sign off, i will quote
Rita Mae Brown's saying:

"Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work."