How do we differentiate between self –respect and ego? This is a question I come across quite often among my students and colleagues? The dividing line is thin, but not very blurred. When the cause for which we work gets hurt because of our supposed hurt or annoyance, we are perhaps inflating ego. When we…
Deification of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam legacy will be the greatest disservice to his memory. Having his statues on crossroads would not make him more venerated. We killed Gandhi, many times over by deifying him. I hope Dr Kalam will survive this tendency of making idols of people and forgetting…
Every time there is a tragedy, the parliament discusses the issue and then business resumes as usual. I hope things will change this time. Not because in the presence of thousands of people, a farmer was allowed to commit suicide. But because the conditions which lead some farmers to take extreme step have their…
Education matters despite policy neglect! ‘Kaju katri khao, teacher’, said the student ( will you eat cashew sweet ?), Teacher asked, ‘from where did you get this?’ and took one piece. ‘A rich man had died today’, replied the student. He used to work at cremation ground in Surat. And Bina Rao has been providing…
Politics of sugar, subsidiarity principle and whither innovation Many social segments of the country are feeling that their voice is perhaps not being heard adequately. This could also be a consequence of lack of clarity about the major policy shifts. In some areas, we are continuing with the same policies even if change…
Stolen Childhood: greatest robbery of this century There couldn’t be a more opportune moment for remembering millions of children who toil in cotton fields, brick making Bhatta, construction industry, roadside dhabas and restaurants and above all, houses of the the elites. Restoring Childhood ought to be the first priority of any civilised nation. Nobel peace…
Remembering Lal Bahadur Shastri: Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan Few people remember that October 2 is birth day of Shastri apart from Bapu. It is not surprising that our text books have not done justice to such role models of honesty, simplicity, frugality and devotion to public causes. When series of railway accidents took…
BRICS by brick: An emerging new pole in the world Recent agreement, among BRICS nations [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] to develop a new development finance institution is a highly welcome step. A unipolar world needed very badly a new pole. India has the opportunity as the head of the new institution to…
Ten things Modi can do to sustain enormous societal expectations: a) Champion Look East policy: visit USA after visiting China, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, S Korea, Ethiopia, Uganada, Kenya etc., President Mukherjee who triggered it earlier can really guide in this; the centre of the world, I argued in 2003 has moved towards East; China and…
Ahmedabad Declaration Second International Conference on Creativity and Innovation at Grassroots December 2012, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India Grassroots innovations evolve in response to local problems but not always the ones faced by the innovators themselves. Many times, third party problems inspire the innovators to attempt solutions. Thus, these unaided, self-triggered and self-inspired solutions…