Nice Guys don't always come in last

Sometimes in the early 70's, as a kid, we had very little money and so very little entertainment or activities. The days we looked most forward to was when my Moms cousins would come visit us, They were young kids, in their early 20s and would sometimes take us out for a Coke or a movie or just get some toffees.

One of them was Leo uncle. He was doing his graduation at UDCT, a chemical engineering college at Matunga. It was a very prestigious institute and it must have been very difficult to get in. As kids who were under 10, we had no idea how smart he was. Just knew how nice he was.

One fine day, I got to know that he had been selected to do his Masters at a US University. Once again had no idea how difficult it must have been, especially since he had to get a full scholarship. When the big day arrived, he was leaving from our house. They were nice enough to allow me to be part of the entourage that would drop him at the airport. And we were going by taxi, one that Leo uncle's dad owned. Around Marine Drive, it was realized that something had been forgotten and so we went back to Colaba, and then once again proceeded. It was my first visit to the airport and just seeing those planes taking off was fascinating.

Last week Leo uncle was back in Mumbai and visited our office. He had greyed. And retired. But nothing else had changed. He was just as nice. And just as modest. Notwithstanding the fact that he has 22 patents, he said nice things about almost everything. You can read about some of what he has achieved.

http://www.baxter.com/about_baxter/scientific_excellence/distinguished/index.html
http://www.chroniccareindia.org/leo_martis.htm

There was however 1 very interesting take away. He said that in everything you do, you need to have an end purpose in mind. Else you'll never get where you want to go. He used an example about gossiping. Think about what you want to achieve? Give information? Incite the person ? Get him to hate the other person? In most cases, our purpose would be none of them. And we'd probably end up not gossiping.

In research, which was his field it becomes even more important. If the end goal and timeline is not defined, you end up doing very little for very long. I thought about how true this is even to what we do. And how often we go on for ever, unable or more likely unwilling to let go.

I guess Kenny Rogers summarized it well in his classic, "The Gambler".
"... know when to hold it, know when to fold it, know when to walk away and know when to run."

What I found most interesting was Leo uncle's current lifestyle. Now that he's finally retired, he's decided to do all the things he never did earlier because he was too busy working. Play. Sing. And Dance. And so now he does all 3. He plays Golf. Takes Piano Lessons. And also takes Ballroom Dance Lessons. And follows his philosophy of end goal. He competes and has specific goals for each of them.

Here's to Leo uncle, one of the nicest human beings I've had the privilege of knowing.

p.s.: I requested Freia to preview the piece and her reaction was "What's the end goal of this blog". I didn't have any, but if I must have one, its saying a small Thank You for being a Big Inspiration.