INDIA, January 17, 2025 (Economic Times): Steve Jobs’ handwritten letter, offering a rare glimpse into his spiritual and poetic side, has made history as the first personal letter by Jobs–the late co-founder of Apple–to be auctioned, fetching an impressive US$500,312, according to India Today. Written on Jobs’ 19th birthday, February 23, 1974, the letter was addressed to his childhood friend Tim Brown, just two years before he founded Apple with Steve Woznaik. In the single-page letter, Jobs reflects on Zen Buddhism and shares his dream of visiting India and the Khumb Mela, a revered Hindu pilgrimage and festival. In the letter, Steve Jobs appears to be responding to a letter written by Brown. He appears pensive, and speaks about having “cried many times”. “I wish to go to India for the Kumbh Mela, which starts in April. I will be leaving sometime in March, not really certain yet,” he says. Jobs appears to be already heavily influenced by Hinduism, signing off his letter with a “Shanti, Steve Jobs”.
Steve Jobs had planned to visit the ashram of Neem Karoli Baba in Uttarakhand, but when he reached Nainital, he realized that Neem Karoli Baba had passed away the previous year. He however stayed at the ashram in Kainchi Dham, where he found comfort in Neem Karoli Baba’s teachings. Jobs stayed in India for seven months, and immersed himself into the culture. When he returned, Jobs had been transformed and his parents could barely recognize him. “My head had been shaved, I was wearing Indian cotton robes, and my skin had turned a deep, chocolate brown-red from the sun,” Jobs had said. He was also wearing the orange robes of a sadhu.
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