Jan 20, 2006

down to earth

Last Sunday, I was taking Anuraag (my son) to the soccer game near my house. This is an indoor soccer field in Canton, MI.In the parking lot, 2 cars away from my car (Jaguar), I see a Lincoln Zephyr (smaller, less expensive car than Jag) and middle aged dad with his son coming out to the soccer game.
He resembled our (Ford Motor Company) chairman Bill Ford Jr.- great-grandson of Henry Ford. The chairman who represents Ford Family (owns 40% of FMC) and the company has presence in 23 countries.
He was going to same soccer field as Anu. I introduced myself and he asked me which organization do I work for. He enquired about the soccer score and Anu briefly and left to watch his son's game.
The following day (Jan 21st), he had to make big announcements like plant closings etc. which was covered in the media all over the world. The incident has broken lot of myths about people and their lifestyles .. The incident reinforced hard to believe facts like ..
> Son's soccer game is more important than anything else

> Rich people do not necessarily drive expensive cars nor employ chauffeurs, while employees are parking Jaguars next to owners of the company

> Weekend before major media presentations affecting 30,000 families is like any other weekend

> Rich people do not necessarily live and commute in rich neighborhoods (Canton, Ann Arbor are mediocre communities in MI)

> Successful people take time to be acknowledge and talk even in a uncomfortable setting

> and many more ..

Down to earth living and taking time to appreciate all aspects of life is key. You can deduce & learn a lot more from this incident.Sometimes we strive so much for things that are not necessarily important like money, social status, etc. The guy who has everything in life is spending time understanding soccer game plans for his son.

The key is to prioritize and control what is driving your life.
Please do not forward the email as it is a personal experience.

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Please take time to provide feedback and suggestions for my articles. my background ..
Born in Aliabad, Hyderabad 1962 - 6th child of Sri Aekka Sathyanarayana Swamy and Smt Aekka Sakkubai's family of 5 sons and 2 daughters
Bachelor of Engg (Electrical), College of Engg, Osmania University 1984
Graduate Engineer Trainee,
Sriram Refrigeration, 1984
Asst Exec Engineer,
ONGC Ankleshwar Gujarat 1985
Asst Exec Engineer,
APSEB Vidyuth Soudha 1986-91
Married to Vasudha Nov 1989
Blessed with daughter Apoorva - Aug 1991
Admission to MS Wayne State Univ Detroit Aug 1991
MS Wayne State University,
Detroit 1993
Joined Ford Motor Company Detroit 1993
Blessed with son Anuraag - Apr 1994
Lost Dad Aekka Sathyanarayana Swamy Dec 1996 at age 70 yrs
Mother's visit to USA 1997
Apoorva's HS graduation 2009
Apoorva accepted at University of Michigan Ann Arbor 2009
Lost Mother Smt Aekka Sakkubai Nov 2010 at age 74 yrs
India visits 1992, 1995, 96, 98,

2000, 01, 03, 04, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11

Regards,
Venkat Aekka
vaekka@yahoo.com
favorite quote:
So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them - Swamy Vivekananda

Aekka Family - 1973

Aekka Family - 1973
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Venkat Aekka

Venkat Aekka
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