Respond instead of reacting: Azim Premji


I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with
young people. The funny thing about life is that you realize the value of
something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black,
to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to
realize the importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly
appreciate some of the lessons I have leant along the way. I hope you will
find them useful when you plan your own career and life.

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our
strengths.

From the earliest 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
rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim.
At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in
swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, "Forget about hopping. You
are anyway good at 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, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is important
for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good
in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy
to correct our weaknesses.

The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value
than five found.

My friend was sharing me the story of his eight year-old niece. She would
always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible,
but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a
supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The child had
to cut the packet and pour water in the dish. After that, it took two
minutes in the microwave to be ready. The child found the food to be
absolutely delicious? The difference was that she has cooked it !

In my own life, I have found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as
earning our rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old
rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have
if we have struggled to earn it.

The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time.

Life has many challenges. You win some 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 do encounter failure along the
way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don't beat yourself for it
or any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share in the
problem, learn from it and move on. The important thing is, when you lose,
do not lose the lesson.

The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility.

Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wondering whether
you deserve all of it. This brings me to the value of gratitude. We have so
much to be grateful for. Our parents, our teachers 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 life is permanent
but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to
savour the memory of the good things while they lasted.

The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence.

One way of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than
ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently. Emulate it. But
excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. We must also feel the need
from within. It must become an obsession. It must involve not only our mind
but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act but a habit. I
remember the inspiring lines of a poem, which says that your reach must
always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only
competition is yourself.

The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity.

It comes on you suddenly without warning. One can either succumb to
self-pity, wring your hands in despair or decide to deal with the situation
with courage and dignity. Always keep in mind that it is only the test of
fire that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me.

His eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She
kept at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her
bedtime. My friend told her, "Look, why don't you just give up? I don't
think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another 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 them together!" If we
persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.

The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change,
do not compromise on your values.

Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind,
but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. You must define what
your core values are and what you stand for. And these values are not so
difficult to define. Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and
humility have survived for generations. Values are not in the words used to
describe them as much as in the simple acts. At the end of the day, it is
values that define a person more than the achievements. Because it is the
means of achievement that decide how long the achievements will sustain. Do
not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and
end up becoming the longest way to the destination.

And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas
even if everyone tells us that we are wrong.

There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning,
the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper
off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up
the money, smile politely and say, "Thank you, Sir."
One day, the vendor's assistant asked him, "Why are you always so polite
with him when he is so rude to 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 being polite. Why should I let his rude
behaviour 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 of
conformity. We defied our elders to fall in line with our peers!

Ultimately, we must learn to respond instead of reacting.
When we 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 the other 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 and what gives you the maximum happiness in
life.

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