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Some time back, Raheena, my childhood friend and now a single mom, invited her buddies to her son’s birthday. She wanted to give him a present he would never forget. And she wanted her close friends to be present.

The present was a 14-slide PowerPoint presentation, each slide thoroughly thought out and filled with nuggets of wisdom for a 14-year-old who was embarking on a journey into the lonely future. Now, well-to-do moms are known to have beachfront parties or five-star do’s for their kids.

Why did Raheena think of a presentation for god’s sake? We didn’t know why at that time but as the slides unfolded before our eyes, we were convinced it was the best gift a mother could give a son. It was the essence of life, a life that a dreamy-eyed girl, an extraordinary student, an unhappy wife, a successful entrepreneur, and a loving mother had experienced. They are not the last words on life but a series of steps a boy must take to make life meaningful and complete.

Some of Raheena’s 14 slides are presented below, with their titles in bold.
Smile forever: Just a few movements of your lips and facial muscles can work wonders. So, practise how to smile. Take as many pictures of yourself smiling with your mobile; find out your best smiles. Teachers and bosses love a good smile; they want to believe that everything’s fine with the world.

Life, life, life: “Such is life. It is no cleaner than a kitchen; it reeks like a kitchen; and if you mean to cook your dinner, you must expect to soil your hands; the real art is in getting them clean again, and therein lies the whole morality of our epoch.” (Quoted from Balzac’s Father Goriot).

New testament: Want to make it big? Don’t start building your career in your own country. Go to Harvard, Stanford or UCLA. Earn your spurs and gallop back to your own country. No prophet can take off in his own country, Christ said. So become a global brand before you become a national hero. There is no greater career truth than that.

Opportunity knocks: Before Jack Welch, there was Lee Iacocca. Here’s what Lee told his troops: “We are continuously faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.” That is one career-saving quote I have always carried in my purse. Every time I feel disillusioned, I just read it-and I am rejuvenated.
So, dear son, be prepared for every eventuality, it may be your biggest chance.

Beyond knowledge? “I would trade off all my technology for an afternoon with Socrates,” Steve Jobs told Newsweek in 2001. The quest for knowledge and success is incomplete without an understanding of philosophy, the search engine of life. It will broaden and simplify your mind, as it has done mine.

Who’s Soorpanka? If you are going to permanently be on the fast track, perhaps you need to ask yourself: Should I marry and have a family? Will I have enough time for my wife and kids? Will I have time to tell my daughter the story of Cinderella or Soorpanakha? And, then, will I be able to regale her with Aesop’s wonderful tales? I remember how much you enjoyed the story of the thirsty crow and the pitcher, and the numerous questions you asked, when you were 5.
Travel truths: In a delightful essay, Pico Iyer says: “We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves.” I have applied that to my life. Every job and career is a journey where we must constantly rediscover ourselves. It is the escape from the routine that uplifts our lives.

What’s the purpose? Ultimately, life is about coming to terms with uncertainty. I did it by creating my own world. It was complete, certain and beautiful; it had an answer and a purpose. Now, it is time for you to create your own universe. Fill it up with iPods, PlayStations and raves if you have to. But always have a purpose. For, purpose ennobles life.

I don’t know what effect the presentation had on the 14-year-old kid; but it did impact the rest of us on that warm summer evening. I am sure one day each one of us will make a similar presentation- and recount it like Aesop did centuries ago.

Email: vinaykamat@dnaindia.net