I feel if I tell you the people I like you will be able to figure out about me, so here goes.

Here mentioned are few people I admire categorized by their field of work/claim-to-fame and inline brief comment on them.

People in ALL CAPS are all time favorite (incl. foreseeable future), and people in Normal font are contemporary favorites.

Humanity

1.       MOHAN DAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI

-          In words of Einstein “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth”.

-          Thanks to Shri Nautamlal B. Mehta (Kamdar) and/or Rabindranath Tagore for bestowing the title of “Mahatma” on Gandhiji, No soul who ever lived in this earth deserved this title more than Bapu.

-          To read my blog on Gandhi click here.

2.       Saint MOTHER TERESA

-          Vatican may need evidence of Miracle to give her Sainthood, but I don’t. What she did was beyond humanity (and Miracles). Only if we could imbibe little more of her selflessness.

3.       Bill Gates

-          Evangelists of FOSS (Your’s truly) may hate him for promoting paid S/W, but there is no arguing that he is one of the smartest people of 21^st Century. Though I love his tech skills and his excellent business skills, I pray him for his philanthropic work.

4.       APJ Abdul Kalam

-          Hardwork = Success could not have better example than APJ. A maverick, genius, patriot and a poet, APJ and his book Wings of Fire gives me fires of goose bumps when my self confidence is down.

Politics

1.       NELSON MANDELA

-          If perseverance and faith could be personified it would name itself Mandela (or Gandhi). For it is easy to accept defeat after few years in prison but to fight even after 27 years of prison is beyond asking for flashlights and tv interviews like present day politicians.

2.       Rahul Gandhi

-          It is easier to live like king if you were born royal, but to stand out and do something and work more than one needs to for something you already have is mettle of a real Politician. There will always be antisympathisers (or antipathisers) for born rich/royal but then to work and work hard without being scathed by all criticism is a sign of a great (to-be) politician.

Business

1.       LAXMI NARAYAN MITTAL

-          It took 2 to 3 generations for Ambani(s), Tata(s) and Birla(s) to get to place where they are, and I say it took half a generation on LN’s part to be the best and biggest. His takeover of Arcelor (please read the book “Cold Steel”) is a business saga which must be taught to every inspiring entrepreneur. [similar (&close second):: Sunil Bharati Mittal]

2.       Dr. Upendra Mahato

-          He is first DSc (in Technical field) from Nepal and also the richest person of Nepalese origin should be sufficient to conclude that Dr. Upendra Mahato has conquered two opposite fields (Science and business). Can a man ask for more ?

Science

1.       ISSAC NEWTON

-          Great Poet Alexander Pope sums it all about Newton in one of his poem:

-          “Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night;

God said, let Newton be! And all was light.”

-          Paramount of Science discovered by Newton will always remain unparallel and according to me humanity till doomsday will be indebted to Newton and his works.

2.       THOMAS ELVA EDISON

-          Where most scientist/inventor struggle to make one invention, the number 1093 is certainly out-of-the-world and incredible. I cannot list out the things we wouldn’t have had (atleast till few decades) without Edison.

-          On repeated failure think of Edison for the world has never seen man with perseverance like Edison and laborer like Edison.

-          Edison not only showed us that there was no limit to achievement more importantly he showed us either you win or battle is still on (case: Light Bulb)

3.       CHARLES BABBAGE

-          He may never have realized what mammoth monster he was trying to give birth to but in hindsight this may be the single most important invention that changed the face of the earth. (Close second: Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of Printing Press)

Music

1.       LATA MANGESKAR

-          When she sings (sang) inanimate things also listen. There are only few things in world where too much is not bad, her singing is one of them.

2.       A R Rahman

-          I have no regrets that I could not listen to Beethoven or Mozart or Paganini play (live), A R Rahman may not outshine them but he outshines all his contemporaries.

Trading

1.       JESSE LIVERMORE

-          In trading very few people make millions (some billions) and a lot of people go bankrupt. A lot of them make Million and go bankrupt (Trader Vic) and very very few make Millions after going bankrupt and only one person did this several times, Livermore (and Millions in 1900’s was more valuable than today). Livermore’s teaching (Reminiscences of a Stock Operator) are the commandments of trading bible.  

 

2.       Steven A. Cohen

-          Trading is about Making money so certainly one with most money must be the best. SAC Capital Advisors is a mammoth hedge Fund and attracts best of mind and it is not easy to run such a big Hedge Fund and still give great returns.

Special Mention

(These are few people whom I admire and I felt they needed a special mention too)

1.Man Mohan Singh – For bringing intelligence and clean image into politics. As the adage goes “Intelligent is always humble”. Hope he becomes PM again in 2014)

2.Julian Assange – Braveness is inversely proportional to Intelligence, but not in Julian’s case.  Wikileaks stands for Truth and Satyameva Jayate Nanritam (Truth Alone Triumphs)

3. Martin Luther King – For giving us The Dream a hope without which we wouldn’t have seen rise of Barack Obama.

4.Panini – For giving the Grammar to the most beautiful (and some say advanced) language, Sanskrit.

5.Baba Ramdev – For bringing hatha Yoga to public of India (BKS Iyengar could only influence foreigners and then we were reluctant to join in the bandwagon)

6.Gary Kasparov – For lifting chess from sport to Art (Wijk aan Zee, 1999, Kasparov vs Topalov, what a game!)

7.Tim Berners Lee – For invention of World Wide Web which has changed the world in most unimaginable way.

8. Johannes Gutenberg – Without printing press (and all books) the propagation of knowledge would have been slow and we would still be building pyramids (with hand).

9. Pele – For making the game Beautiful.

10. Oprah Winfrey – If she cannot inspire an women to rise nothing ever will. Her philanthropy is another reason I like her.

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