Bill was a hacker, says Gates Sr

NEW DELHI: Success does require single-minded pursuit. Microsoft giant Bill Gates showed this right through childhood even though it meant sleepless nights for his parents and some trouble for his teachers as well: in his desire to get into the computer''s brain, he hacked into school programmes and headed towards nearby computer centres much after everyone had gone to sleep.
"His room was in the basement.He used to get up at night to go to a nearby computer centre. All night he would be there. And then before daybreak, he would jump back into bed and act as though he was asleep," recalls William F Gates Senior, 78-year-old father of the billionaire Gates.
Gates Senior, who co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is currently here to see some of the work being done by the Foundation on HIV/AIDS through Avahaan, the India initiative on HIV/AIDS.
"My son and his wife launched into the problems of global health as they were deeply affected by illnesses killing millions of people in the world," says Gates Sr, impressive in his well-built six feet six inch frame.
He attributes much of Bill''s success to luck. "He just did the right thing at the right place at the right time. But who could ever predict he would be so successful in business," adds the proud father. Did he find Gates Jr different from other children? "Yes", he says, after a brief pause, "Bill was a smart kid, enormously curious. If he didn''t understand something, he would make an enormous effort. He used to spend a lot of time in the library."