1/ I like to help people. And this is a trait imbibed in me by my dad. This thread is about how he did it.

2/ Dad started at the lower end of the financial spectrum. With 6 siblings and not enough for a day's meal let alone college fees, he would double-up selling tickets at the ticket counter of the Bangalore Turf Club. That paid his college fees.

3/ His first full-time job gave him a rickety cycle to commute. He would cycle from central Bangalore to what is today Koramangla, every single day, for 8 years (yeah 8 years in one job is a bit shocking by today's standards).

4/ He then got a scooter when he switched jobs. The ubiquitous Bajaj. The salary and savings mostly went in the sustenance of a large joint family. So not much of an upgrade still.

5/ But, whenever he went on the scooter, he would be sure to give a ride to any stranger waiting at the bus stop. In those days, in Bangalore, the bus frequency was around 30-45 mins. Dad would help out.

6/ Then came the whole phase of going to the post office every month. Dad would read the classifieds for help/donation in the newspaper. Someone needed money for a child's heart operation, someone needed to get a tumour removed, someone had an eye surgery coming up.

7/ Dad would get his cheque book out, write down an amount, fill the details as given in the newspaper, and ask me to hop over to the post office. Every single month.

8/ Then came an upgrade in his job - a company car. And instead of just one stranger getting a ride from the bus stop, we started helping 3! Every morning on being dropped to school, the rear seat would be filled with strangers going in the same direction. We were the minibus.

9/ There wasn't any fear of helping strangers or a sense of accomplishment. He just couldn't understand why would someone not help out when one had the means.

10/ Some things stick. While watching Chitrahar on TV, he commented - look at the extras who are dancing behind the hero. What do you think their lives are like? What must they be thinking of? Since then, I have always tended to focus on those 'extras' - in songs & elsewhere.

11/ He rose further up the corporate ladder. With more means, he gave more. He committed to sponsoring the education of one girl child for a lifetime, via an NGO he knew.

12/ Then one day a young kid showed up at our home selling encyclopedias. Dad asks him about his life. Turns out he needed money to pay his engineering fees (he had got admission and the first semester was due to start).

13/ Dad offered to pay for his entire engineering degree for the next 4 years. Every semester the kid would show up at our doorstep, dad would give him a cheque addressed to his college and the kid would happily go back.

14/ By the final semester, when the kid showed up, dad had passed away. Too soon. There were still many to help, but he was gone. I removed my cheque book for the first time (I was 2 months out of b-school), paid for the kid's final semester. He graduated & got a well-paying job

15/ At his funeral, numerous people came over and mentioned how they owed their career to my dad. He had helped them all get their first jobs.

16/ He of course never got to see any of the work and impact we created with The Better India. But he sure laid the foundations for it.

17/ A journey from selling tickets at a turf club to becoming the CEO of one of India's largest steel orgs. This pic is important because both Mr. Premji & dad helped The Better India, without them knowing anything about it when they met (I was yet to finish college!)

18/ One of the foundations supported by Mr. Premji (and others) had given a grant to The Better India during its initial days. That crucial support helped us grow.

Dad, of course, taught me about the need to make a difference. And that 'extras' were also heroes.