Someone, somewhere in time must be waiting someplace to hear what you have to say. So say it! I wanted to end my talk with these words, but they were too precious to save till the end. I'm talking about the ones we loved, love and intend to love. Perhaps it takes some near death experience to instigate such intimacy, but I've survived way too many of those to wait for such experiences. A slip disc, couple of broken fingers, sprained ankles, boxers shoulder and a torn tricep worked just as well in my case. Not that it dampened my spirit, but the time out from active duty and some introspection into the memories of yesterday inspired these letters. I decided to write to my dear ones and tell then how much I had enjoyed the moments we spent together. If this inspires you to do the same, then it might just be worth more than I can imagine. Start cranking out those love letters now..

The journey to Chitrakatha begins...

Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. The Reality Distortion Field or RDF is a term coined by Apple engineer Burrell Smith to describe Steve’s charisma and his ability to convince you of just about anything. John Sculley adds: “He possessed an innate sense of knowing exactly how to extract the best from people.” Even Steve admits to this: “My job is not to be easy on people. My jobs is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better. I did everything in the early days — documentation, sales, supply chain, sweeping the floors, buying chips, you name it. I put computers together with my own two hands. And as the industry grew up, I kept on doing it.” Steve studied Zen Buddhism in his youth. He often said that he thought of becoming a monk up in a monastery in Japan instead of starting Apple, but his guru Kobun Chino convinced him otherwise. That same Zen master was a spiritual adviser at NeXT and married Steve and Laurene in Yosemite in 1991. A lot of critics of Steve’s tough management style point out: “Imagine what he’d be like if he hadn’t studied buddhism...” This is one of Steve’s many paradoxes: how could a real Buddhist make a living out of selling gadgets to the masses?

The reputation Steve earned since his very first years at Apple -> As early as 1981, Macintosh project founder Jef Raskin wrote a note to Apple president Mike Scott complaining about the chairman of the board-enfant terrible that seemed to grow an interest in his pet project. It said:

• Jobs regularly misses appointments
• He acts without thinking and with bad judgement
• He does not give credit where due
• Jobs often reacts ad hominem
• He makes absurd and wasteful decisions by trying to be paternal
• He interrupts and doesn’t listen
• He does not keep promises or meet commitments
• He makes decisions ex cathedra
• Optimistic estimates
• Jobs is often irresponsible and inconsiderate

“He didn’t create anything really, but he created everything.”
- Former Apple CEO John Sculley on Steve Jobs’ contribution to Macintosh

“What really gets you is the way he talks — there's something about the rhythm of his speech and the incredible enthusiasm he conveys for whatever it is he's talking about that is just infectious.”
- Alan Deutschman

"His DNA was built into this company. And when he came back, everything fell into place — a return to excellence in design, to listening to the consumer, to developing cool products."
- Heidi Roizen, one of Steve’s long-time business partners

“The Mac is the expression of his creativity, and Apple as a whole is an expression of Steve.”
- Larry Ellison, one of Steve’s best friends