well many times they forget to mention
that one of the things that I do right
now is I’m a waiter that’s what I do for
a living I work as a waiter along with
my wife and it’s a different concept and
share a bit but I grew up with very
difficult challenges and I have really
come to a point where I
I wonder why do educational institutions
invite me to come and speak I’ve spoken
at this very place few years ago I speak
at graduations my wife and myself we we
are both educationally compatible my
wife is from Nagaland and I’m from
Bangalore and my wife has done nine
she’s nine standard appeared and I’m ten
standard failed so that is our
educational background and I could not
finish my tenth standard
because I was put in a school which had
certain systems and it was highly
academic and did not give me a chance to
think and I struggled a lot with no
identity always been compared my father
being an aerospace scientist he came
from a remote village and on the Pradesh
with no electricity and he worked hard
and he became a scientist that is great
but how can you medically proved that
every firstborn son will have the same
brains like the father but yet our
culture is such that they push and push
us to becoming something that we don’t
necessarily have the calling for you see
you can’t get a Benz car experience out
of a Maruti 800 but that’s what I
cultured us and they pushed me and I
failed every earth and but the teachers
did not like me so they didn’t keep me
in the sake the same class so they kept
shifting me to the next class and when I
reached in my tenth standard they said
that when he we have never had a single
failure in this Kendriya Vidyalaya and
you are going to create history by being
the first-ever failure of the school and
say all my parents and said if you
promise to take
of the school we will give him a pass
certificate so I was diplomatically
kicked out of the school and today I
tell the world that I could not finish
my tenth standard because the Indian
educational system was not up to my
standard and and this is this is
something that I am really struggling
and understanding because having failed
in tenth standard and I’m asked to come
and inspire the education the
educational world and something is
really wrong like I was asked to speak
at a very reputed college in our country
where the cutoff percentage is ninety
seven point eight and here they come and
ask me to speak to one thousand five
hundred students the creme of the
society and I said something is wrong
because I struggled to get 33.5%
and here they want me to inspire the
cream so when I went on the stage and I
said when you do well in studies your
goal is to join this college and with
pride they were all nodding their heads
I said when you don’t do well in studies
you become a speaker at this college and
that was the headlines in the newspaper
I was thinking if all of us could know
what our passion and our purpose is and
if we could put that into the
educational world because education is
good as long as it equips you to
fulfilling your dreams other than that
it’s just a waste because it’s a piece
of paper and one marks card cannot
decide everything in life and today you
look at people I was just talking to
someone she has done bachelor’s in
mechanical engineering with a special
focus on aeronautics and right now she
is working in HSBC you see what a waste
that is when I look at things the reason
also is because the system pushed her to
doing something which she would not want
to do that and what if we all could
identify our focus and a purpose
fifteen years of education can come down
to six years and we can do far better
like an Einstein standard student is
asking me Benny why should I study
algebra and trigonometry and these
things I said it’s good for you he said
when was the last time you used leg nama
tree I said I can’t think of it
he said you as a 42 year old guy you
have not even used that why should I
study how do you answer these questions
which are very important to as much as
we try to gain knowledge but we need to
gain the right knowledge we need to gain
knowledge that will help us to become
what we are meant to what we are called
for and I struggled with this being
compared to my brother and three sisters
to the neighbors to the bus drivers
children conductors children everywhere
because you’re just compared and
compared and you can’t live anymore in
this world just being you yourself and I
struggled with this thought and on top
of that I was born with asthma from the
age of two teen the age of sixteen I was
on wrong medication and as a result of
that sixty percent of my lungs got
damaged my immune system broke down and
I developed rheumatoid arthritis and at
16 the doctors gave me six months to
live
now tell me friends why would you want
to live another day when you are a shame
to your family occurs to the educational
world and now the medical world says
that you have six months to live I had
no reason to live one extra day I was
completely shattered when everyone were
planning their dreams and the future
here I have my 10 standard failed
certificate and a report that says you
have six months to live so I
contemplated to commit suicide thinking
that the world has come to an end in my
life because the Indian society says you
fail in academics you failed in life
that is not true but that’s what it says
and and I struggled and I sigh
contemplated to kill myself at the
lowest point of my life is when I heard
the voice of Jesus Christ and I heard
him say that Benny even though you are
called worthless and knew useless to the
society I can transform your life and
make you a new person and for me that
journey started off afresh when I
started
get life as a gift from God I know my
friends many of you struggle with
challenges with comparison sometimes we
sit in the wrong classroom and that’s
why we don’t even feel like studying and
you look at me like I struggled with
Hindi I was put in the wrong classroom I
struggle with some of the subjects and
yet when I had to practice my guitar the
piece which I’m going to play for you
before I end it took me 2,000 hours of
practice imagine if your passion your
purpose studies everything comes to the
same place 2,000 hours without being
monitored still can be a great joyful
thing for me my parents used to pay 50
paisa every our to study even that I
could not study actually that that’s the
difference and today even though I was
considered as a failure in my past but
look I could I could be a different
person so just because the system says
that you cannot do it please don’t throw
your life away you are called to charter
a to take your footprints on an
uncharted territory for that you need to
have courage so that you don’t need to
follow just what the system says you
really need to follow the passion in
your life your dreams and for me one
such dream was to travel the world now
how can you travel the world when you’re
a failure and you have no money and you
have an Indian passport you see a wrong
combination of all these things at least
now the Indian passport has value at
least we can go to sixty countries
without a visa but in those days it was
tough you had unknown countries they
were challenges I prayed to God I said
God give me the strength my dream is to
go to one country I just want to take
off whether I land or no is not my
concern I just want to take off and
that’s that was my thing and I was I was
23 years old when I started off my first
journey from Trivandrum to Sri Lanka in
Colombo I said wow I truly can lie my
dream was God I want to travel
but how can I travel the world and I
said what is your plan for my life what
is your divine plan for my life and Lee
I know that we live in a scientific
world for me spirituality has been such
a key part of my journey from being a
broken worthless dying soul to coming to
this place it was a spiritual journey
that brought a great joy and adventure
in my life and that’s when I know in
2002 I had this vision that I will
travel to every country by 2010 I had
four financial principles which the
financial world still struggles to
understand how is it possible four
principles one I will never ask for
money – I’ll never borrow money three I
will never take a loan from the bank and
fourthly I will not trust the credit
card with these four financial
principles I started my journey you can
show the world map on the screen please
and let me show you my passport so this
is my one passport and I love this
passport it’s made in India Republic of
India I’m an Indian and that’s how I
travel the world sorry too many lines
that is not very clear but on 22nd of
November 2010 I arrived in my last
country Pakistan
and I broke six World Records and one
was I became the fastest man in the
world
both sovereign and dependent fastest to
travel to every sovereign and dependent
country in six years six months and 22
days that is that is 245 countries
including Antarctica and my favorite
part is carrying this Passport at the
immigration desk you must see the facial
expression of the officer when you put
the passport across generally they don’t
smile but when you put something like
this they are confused and some of the
smart ones would say sir please don’t
come as a family
come one person at a time and when I
tell them that I am this one person they
are amazed they say first thing what
have you studied that’s the thing you
know who said that you need to have some
kind of a degree to pursue your dreams
you need to have passed you need to have
purpose first and two you need to have
passion we have purpose and
fashion together you can do wonderful
amazing things and for me this is what I
could do I could travel to all kinds of
countries countries which people have
not even heard of one such country is
the last dot on the left hand corner
called Pitcairn Island I failed in
geography but I lived geography today so
this country is so far away that from
the nearest airport it takes two days by
boat but the boats are available once in
three months when I arrived in this
country they said many you’re going to
do the first-ever concert in two hundred
years I was just so thrilled to create
history and I sat down there to perform
the organizers came and said sir you
will not believe this is the largest
gathering we ever had I said what do you
mean he said the entire population of
the country 66 people and and 52 people
have come for the concert that is 80
percent of the country that has come see
at one point I was a failure but I did
not my life did not end there I
journeyed across and today I could do
wonders with my life I’ve been to 257
countries there’s no more countries left
having traveled to all these countries
reached at the peak of my life doing
everything I said it is time for me not
to build my Empire but to give back into
the society and that’s when I went ahead
and built this cafe called chai 316 the
next picture please this is a four
hundred Sita cafe the next picture and
it’s a very unique cafe where we only
serve tea and the price of the tea is
decided by the students so it is one
such place which is running under laws
but doing extremely well
we have no debts we have no challenges
at all but the beauty here is 80% we
listen and 20% we talk and every day at
least 50 to 60 people walk in and every
week we rescue one young boy or a girl
from committing suicide which means 50
lives every year we say
them from committing suicide these are
these are ones you know physically there
well it’s just that mental illness is
not even talked about in our culture
many times you you see that we are so
advanced in so many things but when it
comes to mental health we are really
backward actually and here at 16 with my
mental challenge I wanted to kill myself
and if God could give me this life and
life abundantly I could enjoy this world
that he has blessed me with I believe
that there’s so much of great potential
in this world but just because the
system says you cannot do it you feel
like quitting and so what we do is we
listen to their problems the longest one
sitting session we had was eight as a
depressed engineering student came at
11:00 in the morning and he left at 7 in
the evening we listened to him for eight
hours in that listening
he found his purpose he found his joy he
knew that his life is far greater than
the challenges that he is facing into
this world so my friends and the
greatest Heights that you you would
really achieve think about investing
back into somebody’s life be humble be
real know be someone where there is
greater joy in investing back into the
society at the peak of my career this is
what I could do and I just I’m so
thrilled and the best part of a cafe
again talking about creativity is our
toilets are toilets are the best in the
world the last picture please so this is
how our toilets look they’re very
musical the girls toilet is in the shape
of a piano and the boys toilet in the
shape of a guitar with the limited
knowledge that we have we try to do our
best and many times the students say sir
the toilet looks so good I don’t feel
like using it say but whatever we do we
try to give our best but you have to do
it with the right principles there are
challenges in this world for example
when I take my passport my first
passport when I turn it across my
country that I traveled as a concert
musician was to Russia 19th of February
2002 first concert imagine so thrilled I
am to create this journey and I landed
in Moscow and they asked me for a bribe
of fifty dollars about two thousand
rupees but you see I’m an Indian and I’m
a Christian I don’t give a bribe because
it is against my ethics it is against my
identity as an Indian and because I
refused to pay a bribe they detained me
in the airport for thirty hours for
thirty hours I was treated like a
criminal I was humiliated I was shamed
my people are waiting outside for the
first concert that I’m going to perform
and I was challenged at the very
beginning with ethics with moral values
but I continued and after 30 hours they
called me and they said they have
decided to deport me back to India but a
glorious opening ceremony ahead but I
did not give up and today when I look at
this passport I’ve learnt a lesson don’t
allow your starting to shape the way you
finish don’t allow your beginning to
shape the way you end with your values
your principles we can we can’t change
our country corruption exists because of
you and I because if we all stop to give
that extra money what the demand there
is no room for corruption take a stand
and I believe that India will change if
you and I take a stand and not going to
some other country I was offered for
nationalities to change my citizenship
actually but I kept my Indian passport
even though it was challenging today I
know that I can make a difference as an
Indian as I close by playing this song
on my guitar and this is the guitar that
I designed in 2004 for the Olympics when
I was invited to play at the cultural
stages if I could perform on a guitar
like this with no proper knowledge but
with passion and purpose meeting
together you can do wonders with your
life if you know your purpose and your passion enjoy this song
that one of the things that I do right
now is I’m a waiter that’s what I do for
a living I work as a waiter along with
my wife and it’s a different concept and
share a bit but I grew up with very
difficult challenges and I have really
come to a point where I
I wonder why do educational institutions
invite me to come and speak I’ve spoken
at this very place few years ago I speak
at graduations my wife and myself we we
are both educationally compatible my
wife is from Nagaland and I’m from
Bangalore and my wife has done nine
she’s nine standard appeared and I’m ten
standard failed so that is our
educational background and I could not
finish my tenth standard
because I was put in a school which had
certain systems and it was highly
academic and did not give me a chance to
think and I struggled a lot with no
identity always been compared my father
being an aerospace scientist he came
from a remote village and on the Pradesh
with no electricity and he worked hard
and he became a scientist that is great
but how can you medically proved that
every firstborn son will have the same
brains like the father but yet our
culture is such that they push and push
us to becoming something that we don’t
necessarily have the calling for you see
you can’t get a Benz car experience out
of a Maruti 800 but that’s what I
cultured us and they pushed me and I
failed every earth and but the teachers
did not like me so they didn’t keep me
in the sake the same class so they kept
shifting me to the next class and when I
reached in my tenth standard they said
that when he we have never had a single
failure in this Kendriya Vidyalaya and
you are going to create history by being
the first-ever failure of the school and
say all my parents and said if you
promise to take
of the school we will give him a pass
certificate so I was diplomatically
kicked out of the school and today I
tell the world that I could not finish
my tenth standard because the Indian
educational system was not up to my
standard and and this is this is
something that I am really struggling
and understanding because having failed
in tenth standard and I’m asked to come
and inspire the education the
educational world and something is
really wrong like I was asked to speak
at a very reputed college in our country
where the cutoff percentage is ninety
seven point eight and here they come and
ask me to speak to one thousand five
hundred students the creme of the
society and I said something is wrong
because I struggled to get 33.5%
and here they want me to inspire the
cream so when I went on the stage and I
said when you do well in studies your
goal is to join this college and with
pride they were all nodding their heads
I said when you don’t do well in studies
you become a speaker at this college and
that was the headlines in the newspaper
I was thinking if all of us could know
what our passion and our purpose is and
if we could put that into the
educational world because education is
good as long as it equips you to
fulfilling your dreams other than that
it’s just a waste because it’s a piece
of paper and one marks card cannot
decide everything in life and today you
look at people I was just talking to
someone she has done bachelor’s in
mechanical engineering with a special
focus on aeronautics and right now she
is working in HSBC you see what a waste
that is when I look at things the reason
also is because the system pushed her to
doing something which she would not want
to do that and what if we all could
identify our focus and a purpose
fifteen years of education can come down
to six years and we can do far better
like an Einstein standard student is
asking me Benny why should I study
algebra and trigonometry and these
things I said it’s good for you he said
when was the last time you used leg nama
tree I said I can’t think of it
he said you as a 42 year old guy you
have not even used that why should I
study how do you answer these questions
which are very important to as much as
we try to gain knowledge but we need to
gain the right knowledge we need to gain
knowledge that will help us to become
what we are meant to what we are called
for and I struggled with this being
compared to my brother and three sisters
to the neighbors to the bus drivers
children conductors children everywhere
because you’re just compared and
compared and you can’t live anymore in
this world just being you yourself and I
struggled with this thought and on top
of that I was born with asthma from the
age of two teen the age of sixteen I was
on wrong medication and as a result of
that sixty percent of my lungs got
damaged my immune system broke down and
I developed rheumatoid arthritis and at
16 the doctors gave me six months to
live
now tell me friends why would you want
to live another day when you are a shame
to your family occurs to the educational
world and now the medical world says
that you have six months to live I had
no reason to live one extra day I was
completely shattered when everyone were
planning their dreams and the future
here I have my 10 standard failed
certificate and a report that says you
have six months to live so I
contemplated to commit suicide thinking
that the world has come to an end in my
life because the Indian society says you
fail in academics you failed in life
that is not true but that’s what it says
and and I struggled and I sigh
contemplated to kill myself at the
lowest point of my life is when I heard
the voice of Jesus Christ and I heard
him say that Benny even though you are
called worthless and knew useless to the
society I can transform your life and
make you a new person and for me that
journey started off afresh when I
started
get life as a gift from God I know my
friends many of you struggle with
challenges with comparison sometimes we
sit in the wrong classroom and that’s
why we don’t even feel like studying and
you look at me like I struggled with
Hindi I was put in the wrong classroom I
struggle with some of the subjects and
yet when I had to practice my guitar the
piece which I’m going to play for you
before I end it took me 2,000 hours of
practice imagine if your passion your
purpose studies everything comes to the
same place 2,000 hours without being
monitored still can be a great joyful
thing for me my parents used to pay 50
paisa every our to study even that I
could not study actually that that’s the
difference and today even though I was
considered as a failure in my past but
look I could I could be a different
person so just because the system says
that you cannot do it please don’t throw
your life away you are called to charter
a to take your footprints on an
uncharted territory for that you need to
have courage so that you don’t need to
follow just what the system says you
really need to follow the passion in
your life your dreams and for me one
such dream was to travel the world now
how can you travel the world when you’re
a failure and you have no money and you
have an Indian passport you see a wrong
combination of all these things at least
now the Indian passport has value at
least we can go to sixty countries
without a visa but in those days it was
tough you had unknown countries they
were challenges I prayed to God I said
God give me the strength my dream is to
go to one country I just want to take
off whether I land or no is not my
concern I just want to take off and
that’s that was my thing and I was I was
23 years old when I started off my first
journey from Trivandrum to Sri Lanka in
Colombo I said wow I truly can lie my
dream was God I want to travel
but how can I travel the world and I
said what is your plan for my life what
is your divine plan for my life and Lee
I know that we live in a scientific
world for me spirituality has been such
a key part of my journey from being a
broken worthless dying soul to coming to
this place it was a spiritual journey
that brought a great joy and adventure
in my life and that’s when I know in
2002 I had this vision that I will
travel to every country by 2010 I had
four financial principles which the
financial world still struggles to
understand how is it possible four
principles one I will never ask for
money – I’ll never borrow money three I
will never take a loan from the bank and
fourthly I will not trust the credit
card with these four financial
principles I started my journey you can
show the world map on the screen please
and let me show you my passport so this
is my one passport and I love this
passport it’s made in India Republic of
India I’m an Indian and that’s how I
travel the world sorry too many lines
that is not very clear but on 22nd of
November 2010 I arrived in my last
country Pakistan
and I broke six World Records and one
was I became the fastest man in the
world
both sovereign and dependent fastest to
travel to every sovereign and dependent
country in six years six months and 22
days that is that is 245 countries
including Antarctica and my favorite
part is carrying this Passport at the
immigration desk you must see the facial
expression of the officer when you put
the passport across generally they don’t
smile but when you put something like
this they are confused and some of the
smart ones would say sir please don’t
come as a family
come one person at a time and when I
tell them that I am this one person they
are amazed they say first thing what
have you studied that’s the thing you
know who said that you need to have some
kind of a degree to pursue your dreams
you need to have passed you need to have
purpose first and two you need to have
passion we have purpose and
fashion together you can do wonderful
amazing things and for me this is what I
could do I could travel to all kinds of
countries countries which people have
not even heard of one such country is
the last dot on the left hand corner
called Pitcairn Island I failed in
geography but I lived geography today so
this country is so far away that from
the nearest airport it takes two days by
boat but the boats are available once in
three months when I arrived in this
country they said many you’re going to
do the first-ever concert in two hundred
years I was just so thrilled to create
history and I sat down there to perform
the organizers came and said sir you
will not believe this is the largest
gathering we ever had I said what do you
mean he said the entire population of
the country 66 people and and 52 people
have come for the concert that is 80
percent of the country that has come see
at one point I was a failure but I did
not my life did not end there I
journeyed across and today I could do
wonders with my life I’ve been to 257
countries there’s no more countries left
having traveled to all these countries
reached at the peak of my life doing
everything I said it is time for me not
to build my Empire but to give back into
the society and that’s when I went ahead
and built this cafe called chai 316 the
next picture please this is a four
hundred Sita cafe the next picture and
it’s a very unique cafe where we only
serve tea and the price of the tea is
decided by the students so it is one
such place which is running under laws
but doing extremely well
we have no debts we have no challenges
at all but the beauty here is 80% we
listen and 20% we talk and every day at
least 50 to 60 people walk in and every
week we rescue one young boy or a girl
from committing suicide which means 50
lives every year we say
them from committing suicide these are
these are ones you know physically there
well it’s just that mental illness is
not even talked about in our culture
many times you you see that we are so
advanced in so many things but when it
comes to mental health we are really
backward actually and here at 16 with my
mental challenge I wanted to kill myself
and if God could give me this life and
life abundantly I could enjoy this world
that he has blessed me with I believe
that there’s so much of great potential
in this world but just because the
system says you cannot do it you feel
like quitting and so what we do is we
listen to their problems the longest one
sitting session we had was eight as a
depressed engineering student came at
11:00 in the morning and he left at 7 in
the evening we listened to him for eight
hours in that listening
he found his purpose he found his joy he
knew that his life is far greater than
the challenges that he is facing into
this world so my friends and the
greatest Heights that you you would
really achieve think about investing
back into somebody’s life be humble be
real know be someone where there is
greater joy in investing back into the
society at the peak of my career this is
what I could do and I just I’m so
thrilled and the best part of a cafe
again talking about creativity is our
toilets are toilets are the best in the
world the last picture please so this is
how our toilets look they’re very
musical the girls toilet is in the shape
of a piano and the boys toilet in the
shape of a guitar with the limited
knowledge that we have we try to do our
best and many times the students say sir
the toilet looks so good I don’t feel
like using it say but whatever we do we
try to give our best but you have to do
it with the right principles there are
challenges in this world for example
when I take my passport my first
passport when I turn it across my
country that I traveled as a concert
musician was to Russia 19th of February
2002 first concert imagine so thrilled I
am to create this journey and I landed
in Moscow and they asked me for a bribe
of fifty dollars about two thousand
rupees but you see I’m an Indian and I’m
a Christian I don’t give a bribe because
it is against my ethics it is against my
identity as an Indian and because I
refused to pay a bribe they detained me
in the airport for thirty hours for
thirty hours I was treated like a
criminal I was humiliated I was shamed
my people are waiting outside for the
first concert that I’m going to perform
and I was challenged at the very
beginning with ethics with moral values
but I continued and after 30 hours they
called me and they said they have
decided to deport me back to India but a
glorious opening ceremony ahead but I
did not give up and today when I look at
this passport I’ve learnt a lesson don’t
allow your starting to shape the way you
finish don’t allow your beginning to
shape the way you end with your values
your principles we can we can’t change
our country corruption exists because of
you and I because if we all stop to give
that extra money what the demand there
is no room for corruption take a stand
and I believe that India will change if
you and I take a stand and not going to
some other country I was offered for
nationalities to change my citizenship
actually but I kept my Indian passport
even though it was challenging today I
know that I can make a difference as an
Indian as I close by playing this song
on my guitar and this is the guitar that
I designed in 2004 for the Olympics when
I was invited to play at the cultural
stages if I could perform on a guitar
like this with no proper knowledge but
with passion and purpose meeting
together you can do wonders with your
life if you know your purpose and your passion enjoy this song
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