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27th June 2008

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It’s a little over 2 years that we first heard of it ...today was the inevitable day.

I wasn't fortunate enough to attend the Bill Gates town hall in person today. Though it was being webcasted to all MPRs on campus - I decided to watch it from my desk, after all I feared shedding a tear in front of a whole bunch of colleagues. But the load on the network gave me the slip and I had to go into an MPR. I couldn't help but shed a tear - but I wasn't alone - the man himself shed a few tears when the energetic Big Boy Ballmer couldn't hold himself together any longer, that moment, I’m sure the whole world broke down. Dang - Today hurts deep.

As I ask myself when the first time was I ever heard of Bill Gates. I can't even remember it’s something like how you don't even remember someone telling you – “this is your brother” or "this is your sister". I grew up knowing this chap - he wasn't just a hero, or just an inspiration, he is a way of life - someone who we look up to as a role model who we can’t replicate even a smallest fraction of how we live not just our professional life but also our personal.

The media covered the day pretty well, even my mother who is generally up to date on things but not technology in particular, was eager to speak to me today about how the media was covering Bill. However, everyone seems to be bidding farewell to Bill. This is ok for people who just saw him as an entrepreneur, as a computer industry leader. However, for people who look up to him as a role model, it’s just another chapter, they realize that Bill Gates is just being himself, doing things others didn't even dare to dream. He started this company even before I was born, I believe in everything that this company does, I'm a part of it just cause of him. ..and I hope someday, I get the courage to give up all the small little things I may have done but hold close and move on to be of any little help I can be to people around the world, be it in Education or Health.

Bill, you just didn't create Microsoft, you created the software industry. Every person in this industry, be it they work for Microsoft, its partners or even its competition, holds you in high regard, we hope to work hard, smart and in every way to push this industry and its state of the art forward and continue to make you proud!

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