Well! Who hasn’t heard of Kofi Annan? The 2 term UN secretary general, the 2001 Nobel peace prize winner, one of the most successful men in history and a celebrated person for his efforts to appease the war situation in Syria! Here are a few things you did not know about him, I can promise you that the 5th one is a completely unexpected one, something you had definitely not guessed about :)
No.1:
He was the first African UN Secretary General. In a place where sometimes the high profile jobs are assumed to be for the ones who come from a flowery background or a race or a culture or an understanding, well exceptions are the rule and the norm! That is where history begins!
No.2:
““More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations. “
I love it when there is a unification of goals between people. When it is realized that the world is not about 7 different continents separated by oceans and seas, not a group of different colored people or races, but a group of people where humanity trumps all and is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing and nothing else matters!
He says that school taught him “that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere”
No.3:
He is a recipient of of honorary degrees from 30 universities across the world! And sometimes I feel that I really worry about scoring less marks in an exam or my competitor went to a better school than I did!
No.4:
He is very commonly called “A man of peace in a world of war”, a school boy from Ghana who takes on to the reins of world peace through his diplomacy and knowledge and who goes on to make a huge difference. He says peace is not just about ending war, it is about looking after each others welfare
No.5:
As promised, the fifth point is a highly unexpected one and something I would definitely boast about :D
Do you recognize the man next to Kofi Annan in this picture?
![DSC04353 [HDTV (1080)]](https://i0.wp.com/inspire99.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DSC04353-HDTV-1080.jpg?ssl=1)
Yup! That’s right, it is the same person who keeps bugging you on this site. Yours truly Vinay Nagaraju :).
Well thought I would share a few thoughts from my experience with the man which was a brief stint of 3Hrs, something which I am extremely proud of and something I will keep boasting about! But enough about me, I would stick to the man in news here
– The bigger a person gets, the humbler they are or perhaps the other way round! Most times I have seen so many people including me thinking big of their achievements, the ones who come from a high horse and expect to be treated different. Well maybe the high horse is something that is stopping them
– You got to pick and choose the words you use! For a person at such a high platform, every word counts and the entire world is watching what you do. it takes quite a bit to carry something like that
– No matter what you are and where you are, you are still a person! And it is never that hard to reach the true person beyond the stigmas and definitions created by the society. The way I saw it, it was more than refreshing to talk to a man like that and to take back a pride that I spent 3Hrs with him is nothing short of a fascinating memory!
Kudos to men like that :)
![DSC04330 [iPhone]](https://i0.wp.com/inspire99.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DSC04330-iPhone.jpg?ssl=1)
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congratulations for getting a chance of spenting three hours with a nobel prize winner. Few incidents and moments have are immortal and meeting with Kofi Annan is also the same which wiil remain in your memory forever.
many more to come for you…
thank you so much for sharing this incident with us sir… your posts sre a true source of inspiration…
Thank you Ashish :). It is going to be a cherished and a very well treasured memory in my life.
Hopefully more to come and more of such interesting things to write about :)..
Glad to hear that these posts are helping Ashish. A delight to hear from you. :)
Congrats Vinay! You got a treasure that money cannot buy. A nice post. Keep writing!
Thank you Datta.. Indeed :). Nothing on earth is ever going to buy an honor like this. I was truly humbled :)
Thank you Priyashi :). Indeed he is and so humble as well. It is quite a hardship to find such men who are great mix of the two. Certainly a high point in my life :)
Great Vinay !! those three hours would be treasured for ever ! …nice to see you and really an inspiring 100 ( not 99) post ..:-D
…and yes , as Alok said..please do something yaar..yesterday I couldn’t find the ‘post a comment’ option too… :-(
Thank you Maniparna :). Oh yes! Treasure pot indeed :).
He he he he :D :D .. WIll try and figure this commenting part soon Maniparna, there seems to be some integration issue with this.
Man, you are soooooooo ,lucky. Truly those 3 hours would have been awesome and I am sure you must have learnt a lot form him. Kind courtesy you we too are learning a little bit more.
Thank you Athena :). He he.. it sure was an amazing experience. Few things I can take away and a lot more I can look back and reflect to say that it was one hell of a day and something that I will cherish for a long long time :)
Such an inspiring post Vinay, am really glad that you finally shared it, btw you changed the pic, the first pic which you shared on Sat was also good. Please do share that too in the post.
And still the site is looking too bad as far as the designing is concerned, I guess yet another plugin or the same old one caused the issue. Honestly yesterday I did not even get the option to comment on the post….
Thanks Alok! :). It was one heck of a day and the entire day I felt that I was in a trance. It was almost a personal experience with the man, full 3 hrs, no interruptions and I still keep boasting about the privilege that the first time I sat in a Merc, I was with Kofi Annan, right next to him :).. Definitely a high point in my life :)
I have updated a couple more pictures of the same Alok, hope they add up to the post.
As for the design of the site, I am quite confused as to what is happening. It showed like that in the morning to me and now it looks proper. I don’t really understand what is causing these challenges. Might be one of the jetpack settings which is driving me crazy now!
Lucky you Vinay :-D -D I directly came to point 5 :-D :-D than re-read the article.I loved his vision about War & Peace.
It’s wonderful indeed for you to meet him, hi-5 toh banta hain iss baat par.
Good wishes.
Thank you Ruchi :) .. He he, I told you the no.5 would be an unexpected one. It was a treasure and I finally possess an autographed copy of his autobiography, something to treasure for the rest of my life :)..
He he, HI 5 :) ..
Wow, you had an opportunity to meet the man himself ! I admire Kofi Annan and its nice to read so much more about him :)
Thank you Nisa :). Oh yeah it was quite an honor to spend some time with THE MAN himself. And It was wonderful reading more about him and knowing more about him. It is quite a thrill to say that it was one of the highlights of my career before my 30’s :)