In 1974, Steve Jobs came to India in search of Neem Karoli Baba, lived in ashrams and villages with little money. What he learned later shaped trillion-dollar company Apple

Apple recently saw a major leadership transition as Tim Cook's tenure as CEO came to an end on August 31. On his final day in the role, he shared an emotional message for the Apple community on X, thanking employees and supporters for their inspiration over the years.

He wrote, "My title changes tomorrow, but the love I have for the Apple community never will. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. My gratitude is endless, and I’m excited for the next chapter!"

For the unversed, Apple's journey began in 1976, when Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne were involved in founding the company. But years before Apple became a global technology giant, Jobs travelled to India in search of spiritual answers. His seven-month journey through the country became one of the lesser-known chapters of his life and later influenced the way he viewed intuition, simplicity and creativity.

Steve Jobs came to India in search of Neem Karoli Baba

In 1974, Steve Jobs travelled to India with his friend Daniel Kottke, whom he had met while studying at Reed College. Jobs was looking for spiritual enlightenment and wanted to understand himself and his place in the world.

The trip was partly inspired by Be Here Now, a spiritual book written by Ram Dass that had become influential among young Westerners exploring Eastern philosophy and spirituality. Both of them travelled to India hoping to meet Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji, at his ashram in Kainchi Dham in Uttarakhand. However, they arrived after the guru had already died.



Neem Karoli Baba, whose birth name was reportedly Lakshman Narayan Sharma, was a Hindu spiritual teacher known for his teachings on love, compassion and selfless service. His ashram in Kainchi attracted many Western visitors during the 1960s and early 1970s.

The guru died in September 1973, around a year before Jobs reached India. According to accounts of the journey, Jobs nevertheless spent time at Kainchi Dham and continued exploring the spiritual traditions that had drawn him to the country.

Krishna Das, a spiritual musician who was associated with Neem Karoli Baba, also discussed Steve Jobs' visit in an earlier conversation with BeerBiceps. He explained, "Steve Jobs did come to India, to meet Maharaj. But Maharaj left, so he never actually met him physically."

Steve Jobs lived simply during his seven-month India journey

Steve Jobs' time in India was far removed from the lifestyle he would later lead as one of the world's most influential technology executives. According to accounts included in Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, he travelled with very little money and often went barefoot. He stayed in temples, dormitories and sometimes with families in villages.

His travels took him through several parts of northern India, including Haridwar, Nainital and Manali. The experience exposed him to a different way of life and encouraged him to think beyond the material world.

He later described the trip as a serious personal search. In conversations recorded by Isaacson, he opened up about the difference he noticed between Western and Indian approaches to life. He believed that people in rural India relied more heavily on intuition, and he said the experience had a significant influence on his own work.

The journey also strengthened Steve Jobs' interest in spirituality. During his time in India, he reread Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, a book he had first discovered as a teenager. According to Isaacson's biography, the book remained important to Jobs throughout his life, and he reportedly reread it every year.

How India's influence stayed with the Apple founder

Steve returned to the United States after around seven months in India. Although the trip did not result in the meeting he had hoped for with Neem Karoli Baba, the experience left a lasting impression on him.

After returning, he reconnected with Steve Wozniak and continued working on computers. In 1976, they helped establish Apple, initially operating from Jobs' family home. Over the following decades, Apple grew from a small computer company into one of the world's most valuable technology companies. Steve Jobs became closely associated with a design philosophy built around simplicity and ease of use.

Walter Isaacson later wrote about the connection between Jobs' spiritual interests and his approach to design. The simplicity he encountered through Zen Buddhism and Eastern philosophy influenced the way he thought about products, according to the biographer.

Jobs' India experience was therefore not simply a trip in search of a spiritual teacher. It became part of a broader personal journey that shaped his views on intuition, simplicity and awareness.

Today, as Apple moves through another leadership chapter, Steve Jobs' journey to India remains an intriguing part of the company's history.