Randy Pausch....

...is no more.

He died yesterday, at the age of 47, fighting terminal cancer.

What Randy has left behind is more important, at least for me. When Randy stepped on stage last year to give his "Last lecture", he was getting ready to inspire millions, terminally ill or otherwise. What did Randy talk about in his last lecture? He talked about living for the moment, to the fullest. He talked about "brick walls", about "taking help to realise your dreams". And he also talked about "How the dreams will come to you". You can look up Randy Pausch's last lecture video on youtube (3 million downloads) here....but beware, its 1.16 hrs video, and, it needs some level of emotional strength to watch through it. If you cannot take the time out for the video, do take a look here for an excellent write-up. Also recommended is the book, that came out after the video.

Randy helped me kill some of my notions about life...not that I did not know about them, but to see a terminally ill person putting it across to you in clear,concise messages, perhaps, did the trick. He also taught me something more ... he gave me a point of view that I need to pass on to Aarushi,very early in her life.

Pass on the hope & the optimism by spreading Randy's message.

I have got my leave.

Bid me farewell, my brothers!

I bow to you all and take my departure.

Here I give back the keys of my door

and I give up all claims to my house.

I only ask for last kind words from you.

We were neighbors for long, but I received more than I could give.

Now the day has dawned

and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.

A summons has come

and I am ready for my journey.

Tagore

Happy dancing: Spread the infection around

I know I am late on this one...its been there on all the big blogs over the last week: Matt & his almost clumsy dancing, accompanied by a haunting melody.

Statistics first, the video was uploaded on Youtube on 20th june 2008, which means it is exactly a month old today. It has been viewed 7,285,989 times, which means 3 views every second. How much more viral can it become? A simple, almost goofy video generates interest that companies spend millions of dollars to generate. (I am sure Stride did not spend that much).


Why did this become a such a huge viral? May be because it generated the same feeling amongst millions, that I felt when I first saw this video: Happiness, qualified and unconditional happiness. It brings out the optimist in you that Life Matters!

The background track is the musical rendition of a verse from Tagore's Gitanjali. Its English translation goes something like this:

"The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment."

Truly, if I may use, Connecting People.