Be willing to take risk, break away from the pack: Nandan Nilekani

Bangalore, Jan 10: When it comes to making Bangalore a "world class" city, who could better understand than the Bangalore man Nandan Nilekani himself!

[Read: Question and answer with Nandan Nilekani]

Nilekani, a prominant citizen of Bangalore and the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and Infosys co-founder, addressed the young audience at Christ University, Bangalore, in regards to their future and making the city a better place to live in.

We are all ordinary people but together we can do extraordinary things: Nilekani

During the talk, Nilekani described himself as a "very ordinary person who got the chance to do extraordinary things." And going by his belief of giving it back to the society, Nilekani wants his fellow citizens to get similar kind of opportunities. "Why shouldn't there be hundreds of thousands of stories like mine? Every person should have the opportunities that I had," he says.

Nilekani announced his new initiative - IdeasForBengaluru where he wants people of Bangalore to come ahead and give suggestions and point to make the city a world class city. There points could be given to him through social media and also in person. "This city needs urgent answers from us," he says.

He gave out many messages to the youngsters sitting in rapt attention, some from his personal experience and some that he learnt during the nearly 35 years of journey in the corporate and political world. He says that luck played a huge role to get him the right opportunities at the right time and make him meet the right people at the right place.

When asked about a few tips on being successful in this world of tough competitions, he says that "you should harness the talent of people around you. Analyse the worst of the situations and try to get out of your comfort zone."

"Remember that nothing can be done alone. It is because seven of us got together that we were able to start Infosys. We wouldn't have been able to do it alone," he reiterates.

On his views about politics, he says that it is very important to get into politics to reach out to a larger mass. "In corporate world, I was able to reach out to only a few hundred thousand people - customes, employees and shareholders. But with Aadhar project, I've already helped over fifty one million people and the numbers are only increasing."

"I would definitely contest for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls if given a chance," he says.

His belief is that "We are all ordinary people but together we can do extraordinary things."

The man who needs no introduction!

Nandan Nilekani holding a talk with youngsters at Christ University, Bangalore.

Mr. and Mrs. Nilekani on Forbes

Mr. and Mrs. Nilekani on Forbes magazine cover.

Nandan Nilekani addresses audience

Nandan Nilekani addresses students at Christ University, Bangalore.

Students at Christ University

Large crowd gathered at Christ University, Bangalore

Nandan Nilekani addresses at Christ University

Nandan Nilekani addresses at Christ University, Bangalore.

Youngsters at the auditorium

Youngsters at the auditorium at Christ University, Bangalore.

Nandan Nilekani addresses press conference

Nandan Nilekani addresses press conference at Christ University, Bangalore.

Nandan Nilekani during Q&A round

Nandan Nilekani answering questions of students during Q&A round at Christ University, Bangalore.

Oneindia reporter asking a question to Nandan Nilekani

Oneindia reporter asking a question to Nandan Nilekani at Christ University, Bangalore.

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