“How is your father’s health?”
This is the question asked by Dhirubhai Ambani to a person, who had come for interview for senior post in Reliance. The person had attended other companies’ interview with Reliance as last option.
As we all know, Dhirubhai Ambani was one step ahead with his competitors. This was possible due to the information he gathered from known and unknown source. The author Ashwin Sanghi in his book “13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck” has highlighted the information as an important steps to become lucky. He has shared few stories of great personality like, Dhirubhai Ambani (above example), Premchand Roychand, Mahatma Gandhi, Hasmukhbhai Parekh, and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. These people became great, lucky as they notice things, got information. They hang on the ideas, absorbed stuff to become lucky.
The story which enthralled me is – In 1903, when Gandhi aged thirty-four years was leaving Durban, his friend Henry Polak saw him off at Johannesburg railway station and gave him Ruskin’s book for the journey. Gandhi read the book from Cover to cover during the 24 hour train journey, and the Gandhi who stepped off the train at Durban was a transformed man. Gandhi had decided to change his entire life to match the ideals prescribed by John Ruskin.
Many year later, examining what he owed to Great Britain, Gandhi wrote, “Great Britain gave me Ruskin, whose Unto This Last, essays on principles of political economy, transformed me overnight from a lawyer, city dweller into a rustic, living away from Durban station.”
Had he not read Ruskin, Gandhi would have probably remained a lawyer and the great transformation from Mohandas to Mahatma would never have happened.
The channel is unimportant, but staying informed and absorbing ideas seems to be one of the key traits of lucky people.
#subodhanjal #bloodygoodluck