My unforgettable interaction with the legend…

Come tomorrow, Microsoft will be missing someone important @ their Redmond Campus.

That’s the legend - Bill Gates…

• A man who wanted his title to be "Chief Software Architect" for his founding company after being there for 25+ years!!!
• A man who had a vision to employ thousands of engineers to write programs!!!
• A man who realized his dream of his software running on everyone's desktop.
• A man who made it to the top and sustained as the richest person on the planet.
• A man who donated 29 Billion of his personal wealth to Philanthropy.
• A man who's Philanthropy work so believed, that Warren Buffet wrote his personal fortune to the foundation formed by him.
• A man who believed in true friendship, making his friend one of the richest non founder employees.
• A man who wrote 2 NYT best sellers "Business @ the Speed of Thought" and "The Road Ahead"
• A man who championed for a revamp of his home country's basic education system
• A man who worried about his home country losing out on innovation if foreign students that are educated at his home country's colleges not given opportunities.
• A man who planned his succession well in advance, when many would never dream of leaving such a powerful position.

and I could go on and on...

To me, for someone who worked @ Microsoft in the field as Architect Evangelist, his departure is sure a sign of missing a real evangelist for the company.

He would always make it to the employees’ conferences be it sales or technical. Even during the last 2 years, he made it a point to at least attend the conferences for technology personnel.

Here is an instance of my personal interaction with him.

I would never miss his keynote sessions and the following Q&A session where he would address each question however stupid, until the organizers step forward to take him away.

There was one such conference where I had a question, but ran out of luck before my turn. I couldn’t keep it and finally took all the courage and I wrote to him soon after returning to India.

Knowing the preciousness of his time and his questioning deeply on any subject, I felt like being bestowed “Nobel Prize” when he responded, also copying a Corp VP on the subject!!!

Bill, I am sure you will be working hard in your own ways to make the world a better place for the underprivileged and also be an "Insider ouside of Microsoft" from now.

All the very best to Microsoft without Bill and to Bill for following your heart...