Maid to serve?

Whatever happened to Tamil mantra 'your job is your God'? Postmen clung on their postman bag even when their vehicle plunged into a ravine. Secret service agents stood steadfast in line of fire to protect the symbol of sovereignty of a country even ignoring their own lives. Humanitarians flock to war torn or epidemic hit zone to care for the needy. Servants rather take abuses than invoke the wrath of their employers.

We are talking about a different time zone. Unless you have travelled back in time in a time machine, you would realise that things have changed drastically. 

Perhaps some the examples mentioned above are remnants of the feudalistic era or leftovers from the practice of caste system of division of labour based on familial tool of trades. It can also be a figment of what Pol Pot and his revolutionaries were trying to propagate. The ideology that man were made to serve nature and we do not need technology as Mother Nature has it all for us.
There used to be a time when certain things were considered to be out of bounds when a person is at work. Some things are obvious. Thou shall indulge in any intoxicating beverages whilst at work, unless of course, you are from the upper strata of the work force and entertaining clients and make them lose their inhibitions in order to secure businesses in your favour is one of the scopes of your work.
Generally, you do not like to see a person in uniform puffing away at his post. Nor should he be seen fiddling with his smartphone or seen busy entertaining his caller rather than vigilant on the task he is assigned to.
But then, values change. The honour of being in a job and the pride of carrying his duties to the virtues held by generations before us has lost its lustre. In the present world where everything and anything goes and is possible, there is nothing wrong in turning up at a lecture in beach wear. It only show that he is innovative and is open to ideas. Well, as long as the work gets done.

It takes all kinds

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 2011 (Biography)
The world takes a leap forward not with soldier ants like us but by those who think outside the box. They have not no qualms about upsetting the status quo and upsetting peoples' feelings. They have a clear vision of what they want to do in life and they pursue their dream at all cost.
After Jobs knew that he was not going to live long enough, he invited a writer, Walter Isaacson, to write his story, giving a one-to-one bare-it-all kind of  exposé. The end product also had input from the receiving end.
It is a thick book, 700 odd pages, graphically narrating all the adventures, misadventures, confrontations, the highs, the lows and the poignant moments in the life of the man who found another use for our fingers, to swipe something off if we do not like it or had enough off.
We all know about Steve Job being adopted and how his mother, an unmarried college student arranged to give Steve away for adoption to a college educated couple. Upon, his arrival. however, Steve became unwanted as they couple wanted a baby girl. And Steve landed up with a mechanic as a father.
The earlier part of the book shows that Steve grew in a loving family with plenty of love and support from his adoptive parents who tried to ensure a college education that they missed out. He had a lot of freedom growing up in the 60s in California.
We also know about his dropping out of school and his liaison with Steve Wozniak. He had a time of soul searching in India after discovering about his adoption. He was wondering about trying psychedelic drugs, Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, veganism, walking bare foot, dressing in traditional Indian garb with a bad case of body odour as he refrained from bathing!
Along the way came a daughter whom he declined to acknowledge till a paternity test approval.  Of course, we all know about his great work in Apple till he was booted out and how he was called back to rejuvenate that later ailing company. He must have a dynamic leader of the companies with many successes to speak for themselves. To be in the same team to share such a feat is something else. One has to has a hide thicker than the hippopotamus', able to withstand his tantrums, unjust demands to brink of tantrums, his reality distortion visions, his piercing eyes that wilt you to submission, a painful character, a slave driver, etecetera...
And the work in animation and Pixar... He did not really invent anything per se but rather he got the right people who would follow the right path to scavenge the technology lying around. There are many inventions lying around where the inventors do not know what their work can be used for! (like the touch technology which was later used in iphone!)
One interesting thing that he mentioned in his lifetime is "People do not know what they want, we show them what they want". In other words, we are all wondering about aimlessly like headless chicken or rudderless boats until someone shows us the way! (my interpretation)
His Oriental based philosophy in life also suggests that everybody is sent to Earth to perform their work and one should excel in theirs. A barber with his tonsorial skills should endeavour to improve his skills to serve mankind and so do computer computer makers. And a lay person, not in that particular field, got no business meddling in others' territory. Hence, the Apple phones are sealed without screws.
Just when you think this man who could and would change destiny and not going to take any setbacks lying down without giving a darn good fight, the coup de grâce came in the form a single mutated cell in the pancreas. After experimenting gravely with alternative medicine, trying state of the art molecular cell targeted genetic level treatment which eventually failed due to mutation of cancer cells, liver metatstasis and transplant, he took his final bow....