BANGALORE: The ’70s was an era of backpackers in India. One of those was a teenage backpacker from California, who came visiting in search of spiritual tranquility. But the visit of this college dropout went unnoticed. None could have imagined then that the boy would emerge as a revolutionary icon in the world of technology. Well, that was the first and perhaps the last time that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Corporation , visited India.

After working at Atari Inc, an electronic arcade recreation firm as a video game developer in 1974, Jobs took a break and backpacked around the Indian subcontinent in search of spiritual enlightenment.

His interest in the Indian pilgrimage can be traced back to 1972 when Jobs entered Reed College , a private humanities school in Portland, Oregon. Jobs, being from a middle-class background, had trouble fitting into the affluent school. He dropped out after just one semester. He was a voracious reader of philosophical writings, and had keen interest in religion. Jobs was determined to study and experience, first-hand, what he thought were the last vestiges of spiritualism and existentialism.

Jobs visited India with his Reed College friend Dan Kottke, with whom he shared his interests in Eastern religions and mysticism. He is said to have visited the Kainchi ashram in Kumaon Hills in Uttar Pradesh, and wanted to meet Neem Karoli Baba. Unfortunately by the time they arrived Baba had died.

Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine's book, ‘Fire in the Valley: The making of the personal computer’ says Jobs and Kottke “drifted around India, reading and talking about philosophy”. The journey was a sort of ascetic pilgrimage. They had even shaved their heads. “Except we didn’t know where we were going,” Kottke has been quoted as saying. The pair were only seeking spiritual solace and enlightenment.

Upon his return, Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak launched Apple, and the rest is history. Jobs is a Buddhist, a choice he might have made thanks to his India connection. Consumer trend strategist Jeff Yang says that the secret of Apple’s success lies in Jobs embrace of a Zen Buddhist principle that expresses the power of nothingness. It is this, Yang says, that made Apple put simplicity at the core of its products, and which is what has helped them become category-defining icons.