The Biggest Apple

Steve Jobs’ passing on has left a deep void in hearts that did not even know him. The tributes and accolades continue to flow as the entire world, cutting across international divides, mourns his loss. Even those who shrugged their shoulders, it was reported, did so in a way compatible with his ‘i’ range of products – an idon’t care.

What is it about this man and an apple? While Adam was derided for his bite into its flesh, Jobs took the world by storm by redefining its role in the history of mankind. His apples shrunk the world for us to hold in our palms.

He was just a man – a two legged homo sapien like us – but infinitely more sapient than the best of his educators, on whom he turned his back. It was his vision that impelled him forward, driven by insatiable curiosity and bundles of energy. Many of us have those qualities, but perhaps not all of them together in equal measure. While we mark time among the milling throng, occasionally rising a full head and shoulders above it and patting ourselves on the back for those rare moments of glory, he took a vertical leap all the while respecting that other apple, the law of gravity, that kept him earthed in reality.

Many callisthenic gurus take vertical leaps and sit cross legged six feet off the ground. But what do they achieve, even for themselves? Ironically Jobs himself, it is said, sought the counsel of gurujis at one stage of his life, but it is very apparent that he saw through them – or that he used their skill at sharpening the intellect and the soul to hone his own, but for the greater good of mankind; and so became the greatest guru of them all.