“Hey bud, get up! I got you some special coffee; that’s exactly what you need now!” said Aaron, entering my room. I had been working on something until 6 am, not realizing that I ended up sleeping at my desk. Though this was not new to me, I don’t remember the last time I went to sleep because it was late. Generally, I only hit the bed when I couldn’t stay awake anymore. I woke up around 8:15 am and felt that my body was burning hot and my throat was hurting. It took me no longer than a few minutes to realize that I had a fever, and it was not good.

Aaron handed me the warm coffee while I was rubbing my eyes. I was in shock to see the person who inspired me to be better every day standing in front of me, holding my go-to drink in his hands. Out of all the questions I ever wanted to ask him, I stupidly started by asking, while sipping the coffee, “OMG, this is my recipe. How do you even know this? Don’t tell me you read my diary!” Aaron smiled, “Vin, you know I was here since 7 am. I had nothing to do, so I read it a little bit. I must say, you have a whole emotional storm in you besides the tasty recipes and heartwarming poetry.” I felt a little embarrassed as no one knew that I wrote a diary, but I was amazed to see the one and only Aaron Swartz in front of me. I can’t describe him with words; imagine how you define someone who helped create the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) at the age of 14, developed the technical architecture for Creative Commons, created Markdown, co-founded Reddit, and above all, was a writer, an entrepreneur, the internet’s own boy, and a hacktivist who lost his life advocating for the free and accessible flow of information.

“Do you know, Vin, I love seeing a bit of myself in you, but remember, your journey must go far beyond me or anyone else. I had a world with Stephen and Albert; they told me about your curiosity, and I even met Steve before coming here,” said Aaron. I replied furiously, “But you know, Aaron, I just feel so empty and lost sometimes. I’m badly puzzled. I’m 23, and nothing seems perfect yet. Things are only going oddly. I’m not able to put forward my best; there’s so much I need to do.” “Calm down, boy,” said Aaron in a strict voice. “I know you well, and that’s why I say I see a bit of myself in you. Good things take time, but great things test you over time. When I wanted to make scientific papers available for everyone to learn, the entire US government was against me, and even our beloved MIT betrayed me. Everyone in the world has an easy way out, and most people take it, but that is not for us. When you want to do something beyond, you need to work much harder than anyone, and I can see you are doing that.”

I was a little emotional at the time. I said in a low voice, “I do remember that day when your video entering the MIT server room went viral and the US government attorney was bombarding you with baseless accusations. I never thought that MIT would not stand by your side and choose to be silent.” “It’s okay, Vin. I actually won in the end, as I still live in the hearts of many who truly care. And remember, today we are here for you. If I can give you one piece of advice, I would really say to make sure you add the human element to that checklist hanging behind your chair.” “But you know how bad I am at making any human connections in my life. Sometimes it feels like I am too messed up. There are thousands of contacts and literally hundreds of messages I get, but you know…” Before I could complete the sentence, Aaron added, “I know it’s an impossible task for us, but I also know that you have heard the sound of emptiness despite being surrounded by the voices of thousands. Vin, your journey is quite far, and your hunger is never going to be over. As Steve said, stay hungry. I want to stay here for a while, but I need to go, and I know you have a lot of work to do as well.” “When will we meet again?” I asked in a sad voice. Walking outside my room, Aaron replied, “Actually, I will be coming back twice, firstly on September 1st for the launch of ClimateThread, and later on December 1st when Perplexed will break records. All the best with everything, Vin, and remember, when you think you are precisely right, you are substantially wrong.”

Thanks a lot, everyone! I am so happy to see how much you all are loving my content. We have crossed the 45k+ read mark with the last blog. I apologize for not being able to write consistently; there has been a lot going on in my life, and I am a little overwhelmed, but anyway. For all of you who have been following me for a while, you know I always leave an announcement at the end. This time, it’s about my book. I am about to be done with the first draft by the end of this month and hopefully, I will announce a launch date soon. If you want me to write about any particular topic in the next blog, feel free to drop me an email at info@vinamrasharma.com with the subject “Inspiration.” Thanks and have a wonderful day.