Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

The title of this blog is the title of the book by John Wood. I had heard about this book a lot and always wanted to read it. When I was travelling back home this summer, I saw the 'Nepali' version of this book by Nepali, I mean, someone had translated this book into a Nepali book. The whole story but it was being narrated in Nepali. I wanted to buy it, then again, I did not.

I had read one Nepali book called ' Palpasa Cafe' which was translated into English and had lost the whole meaning of the story. The translation was very disappointing. In retrospect, I had wished that I had read the book in Nepali. Likewise, I did not buy the Nepali version of ' Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.' I waited and here I am finally reading it. I have heard a lot about this book. Mainly by my husband who talked a lot about this book while we were doing the Annapurna trekking.

The book is by John Wood. John Wood is an individual who chose to walk away at the prime of his corporate career as a Microsoft's Director of Business Development in order to found Room to Read Foundation. He dedicated his life for a social cause.

I have just started reading this book and I am very enjoying so far. The story takes place in Nepal. John decides to have to have a little escapade in a foothill of Himalayas doing the Annapurna Circuit trekking. While doing his trekking he comes across a man called Pashupathi, who reveals his sadness for not having being able to do anything for the children of Nepal. One of his main concern in the Lack of School for the future stars of Nepal. John, with the help of Pasupathi visits the school in a village called Bahundada and is shocked to find the situation of the school. At the School John discovers that the few books available were so precious that they were kept under lock and key - to protect them from the children! There are fewer than 20 books –mainly left by backpackers which the children can barely read—(Danielle Steel’s, the Lonely planet etc) for more than 450 students.

His journey then begins....

This is a firsthand perspective of how John launched a literacy organization for children in Asia after a life-changing three-week trek through the mountains of Nepal. Leveraging his business acumen and networks from his days at Microsoft, Wood turned Room to Read into a successful nonprofit organization with schools and libraries throughout Asia.

I have yet to finish the book which I just started. The exciting part is that John is actually come to Kellogg School of Management next week and I want to finish the book before that. He is a graduate of Kellogg.

For anyone, who is looking for a book to read, this one is definitely recommended. One of the many things learned from this book is following your Passion.

One thing that struck me while reading this book is that quote from Dalai Lama that is mentioned in this book. “When we give something away, we actually get something in return: Happiness.”

Happy New Year to everyone

As the new year rolls in I take some time to think on my resolutions. Honestly, I do not even feel like a new year, thus, I do not have any concrete resolution. Sounds bit ironic right.. I was going to write morbid, but I do not think i have reached that stage. Well my resolution this year is to get a job in this tough market.

It is going to be an exciting ride. Christmas break was good. Pras and I joined Shailendra dai in Bahamas. After getting stuck in North Carolina for one night, we made it to Nassau on Tuesday afternoon. We were both very annoyed for having missed the flight.. which by the way was no fault of ours. Because of the col weather - 35, our 6:00 am flight got delayed for 2 hours. The Air Valve of the plane was frozen and it took them 2 hours to de freeze it. As a result, we missed our connecting flight from North Carolina. To make the situation even better, all our luggages were gone. I did not even have have contact solution with me. They gave us a hotel and some coupons... which -- I guess was the least they could do. We were at the Charoltte Aiport for almost 4 hours... hoping to get our luggage but to our vain no luck whatsoever.

Since we had a long day-- we had been up since 3:00 am in the morning, we went to the hotel and took a nap. Then called Smita didi and the family. Smita didi is my first cousins. My mum's oldest sister's daughter. The last time I had seen her was back in 2004. Almost 5 years ago. Steve- my cousin in law came to pick us up and we spend our night at the Sawyers residence. It was really nice meeting with the boys and the dog :)

Luckily, the next morning, we were put in 9:00 flight and got to Nassau at 11:00. The weather was kinda chilli that day. According to Shailendra dai, the weather on Monday was really sunny and beautiful. Clear Clear sky, but on Tuesday it was bit cold. we went to the beach but could not enjoy the ocean as we were hit by the sand storm. The next day, got even worse. We decided to take a ferry and go to Rose Island. It rained and the weather got more crappy. Despite that, we did snorkeling.. It was our first snorkeling ever and it was Amazing. One of the must to do - in a life time. The snorkeling made our day.

The next day.. finally, the weather started getting clearer.. at least better than the first few days. We really enjoyed relaxing on the beach.. but it was still kinda chili to sun bathe. I had a little blanket over me.. Yup! Finally, the last day of our trip was THE best one. We got up at 5:00 in the morning and headed to downtown for the Junkanu festival. Junakanu is kind of the mix of Mardi Gras and Carnival. Parade one after another. The Bahamanian would start the parade at 12:00 at night and would continue till 12:00 in the morning. The whole city- nassau was wide awake and so were we. Upon watching the carnival, we returned to the hotel took a brief nap and headed to another exciting day.. The snorkeling Day. We were taken in a boat to three different places and were given 30 min to snorkel. The weather was great and the water was Blue... could not have been better. The salty water made the snorkel even more exciting.

Our last stop was at the Shark Cove. We were given 10 min. It was literally swimming with the sharks. Not everyone dared to go to the water as it was kinda risky. However, they ( the divers) assured us that they had been doing this for 11 years and never had the any incident. They asked us not to bring any fish food with us. Would you ever get to swim with Shark-- No!! I decided to plunge in the water. They had a rope for us. As oppose to wander around the ocean, they strictly told us to hold the rope and not to go anywhere. Both Pras and Shailendra joined me. Looking underwater, I could see 10 sharks swimming back and forth. Some of them were bigger than me- More than 10 feet.... After being in the water for 7 min I decided to head back.

Only after getting up on the dock, made me realise that these were the same sharks that would kill people and I had been swimming with them. This gave me a chill.. but now I can say-- I swam with the shark!!! This definitely is one of the main highlights of the trip!!!