Subject: FW: INSPIRATION : MUST READ - A Guy from IITChennai who got into

Google

A Guy who got into Google

God has always been planning things for me'

July 28, 2008
Shobha Warrier

Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and
has joined Google in Bangalore.

You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of
students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?

Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his
powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the
mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide
me)

Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, "God has always
been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky."

Read why Naresh feels he is lucky. [cid:image001.jpg@01CAAA66.CE7969D0]

Childhood in a village

I spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra
Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad was a lorry driver and
my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in
me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying.

Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me
when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from
the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not
read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!

Another memory that doesn't go away is the floods in the village and how I was
carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember plucking fruits from a tree
that was full of thorns.

I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends..
I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon.
The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!

I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's
lap!
[cid:image002.jpg@01CAAA66.CE7969D0]
January 11, 1993, the fateful day

On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my
sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go
with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there.
As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry.
As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the
door.

It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As
I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened
to me except scratches on my legs.

The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to
treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing
by took us to a government hospital.

First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also
bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene
had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me
to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the
wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents
do?

In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.

I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember
that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three
months.

Life without legs

I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at
home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself.
I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits.
[cid:image003.jpg@01CAAA66.CE7969D0]

'I never wallowed in self-pity'

July 28, 2008

The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them
wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy
to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!
All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me
everywhere.

God's hand

I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the
accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I
joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the
tenth standard, I studied in that school.

If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have
started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God
had other plans for me.

My sister, my friend

When the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku,
a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my
sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could
take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained.

She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so
lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings.

She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over
the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school.

My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid. I never
wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and
the others also looked at me as a competitor.

Inspiration
I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who
encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests, and a brilliant boy called
Chowdhary, who was my senior.

When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-
JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600.

Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for
me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per
year, which my parents could never afford.

Moving to a residential school

Living in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life
centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all
my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year
for me to adjust to the new life.

There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-
JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents
didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that
I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do.. If the results were good, they would
praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that.
They did not want me to feel bad.

They are such wonderful supportive parents.

Life at IIT- Madras

Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the
physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer
Science.

Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to
him during my years at IIT- Madras.

He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came
here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me
and guide me a lot when I was here.

I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has
been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so
brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to
my lab mates, I gained a lot..
'There are more good people in society than bad ones'

July 28, 2008

Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab
mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our
internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.

Joining Google R&D

I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now.

Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in
pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.

I am lucky

Do you know why I say I am lucky?

I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year
at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a conference. We met a
kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel
fees from then on.

I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard.
After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was
very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow.
Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who
wants to do things faster.

One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing
the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed
from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from
them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras, my fees were taken care of by them. So,
my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parents and they could take care
of my sister's Nursing studies.

Surprise awaited me at IIT

After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute
without my knowledge.
I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the
department for me. It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met
with my requirements, it would be good.

Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary,
Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000.
What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so
that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute.

My life changed after that. I felt free and independent.

That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at
every step.

The world is full of good people

I also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will
always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones. I
want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life