There are few people who after attaining unprecedented success would curtail their business activities to engage in humanitarian works while still full of energy and health. Bill Gates is the one. The success did not go to head and he perfectly understood that there was more to life than professional success. He did not sell his conscience to the material achievements. A human being he remained and heard the demand of his conscience. So far Bill had spent 37 per cent of his wealth on humanitarian works as per the call of his conscience that he needed to share his success with the underpriviledged section of the human society. Bill gamely disengaged from the rat race of the mad, mad, mad world.
In an interview he admitted that he was not interested in making it to the list of the richest persons of the world. His heart was never in it and the voice of his conscience was loud and clear. In 2000 Bill with his wife started ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’ to organise his philanthropic projects. In the year of 2005 alone his foundation spent $ 28.8 millions on world health and educational projects. Gates wish every person of the world to have the access to best services in the field of health and education in 21st century.
Every year Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gives aid of around $ 3.6 billions to the organisations of the world engaged in health service programmes on humanitarian basis. And $ 2 billions are earmarked to be granted to the organisations that are working in the field of education in the socially backward sections of the societies in various countries. The foundation provides grants in USA and Canada also to institutions engaged in providing Computer, Internet and training facilities. In the North-West Pacific region foundation donated a big grant of $ 377 millions for community projects and $ 488 millions for special projects.
In reply to a question once Bill Gates said, ”There are two ways of benefaction; one is to do something to save the life of any person and the second is to try to understand a person who has come to meet you. You try to gain the information on him and polish him.” Bill called it personality development. He admitted that he had preference for the second way. He loves to improve and polish the personalities of others. To educate a person and being helpful in the spread of education is Bill’s way of polishing the people with qualifications after scraping off the rough surface created by the ignorance. His foundation is truly turning out improved personalities by helping the educational projects world over. The foundation also provides funds to the organisations engaged in fighting off killer diseases and in taking preventive measures as social service. Bill’s foundation has done remarkable job in the field of health by providing financial support to the drives against diseases like T.B., AIDS and Polio.
In 2000 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave a grant of $ 210 million to Cambridge University to help it give scholarship to the needy students. Bill thinks that such deeds send a positive signal throughout the world that the mankind is one family where haves are expected to help out their have-not brothers and sisters. A resourceful or capable person’s success must be shared by all, especially the underpriviledged.
Bill has announced that after July 2008 he would practically delink himself from the affairs of Microsoft and dedicate himself fully to the humanitarian works through his foundation but he would continue to hold the chairmanship of the company. Inspired by the example of Bill his close friend Warren Buffet has announced an annual sum of $ 1.5 billions he would give to the foundation of Bill and Melinda to finance its projects.
But the mystery of Bill spending 37 per cent of his wealth on humanitarian works does not go down well with his detractors. Their noses were extra sensitive to smell the rotting rat. Those narrow minded people could not believe that a noble soul could really exist in their cut-throat world. They remind us that in the decade of 80s Bill had faced many law suits in courts on charges of restrictive trade practices to illegally gain monopoly of Microsoft in the business. Hence, they conclude, the so called humanitarian deeds of Bill was merely an attempt to whitewash his besmeared image. Is he again being driven by a wish to become the greatest man of charity through his foundation? Some of the critics would like us to believe so. They can never think that genuinely good people can exist in this evil world.
Let us give rest to the doubting people. The fact remains that the faces of Bill and Melinda are truly genuine and their conduct is clearly transparent. And what they are doing is indeed noble. There is no trace of any guilty feeling or sham act. They are being guided by their noble thoughts and the concerns for the mankind. Bill has realised how fortunate he has been and how hundred of millions of underprivileged humans have been unfortunate in birth.
Name, fame and wealth makes one insensitive to others in most of the cases. But in the case of genuine human beings like Bill a person develops extra sensitiveness to others. After one crosses forty years of age a person goes through a mental change-over experience. A noticeable change in his behaviour and act is seen. A person who is intellectually alive tries to find his real inner self in the backdrop of his works accomplished and experiences gained. His spiritual aspect also shows up.
Bill appears to have gone through the same experience. After gaining incredible success profesionally he went through the same introspection process asking “Is that all to life or there is something more beyond?” The answer was clear that professional success was only half part of life and beyond it lay the other half. In the first half a person works for himself and the other half was to work for others to redeem oneself as a true human being by sharing his successes with fellow humans. The life of Bill Gates teaches us that relentless hard work is the essence of life and the down hill journey agewise is the time to go spiritual and gain the heights of nobility.
