Stories from the grassroots | Thoughts on development | Lessons on leadership
“Development has been a buzzword in the past few years which has been used and abused to shape the political and economic dimensions of entire nations. It is projected as a broad purpose and justification of all activities, often without answering the questions of whose development and how.… Continue reading
On a personal level, it is indeed a delight to read or listen to a review of one’s book. Recently a friend shared this wonderful video where Sri Gurupada Belur, one of Karnataka’s well known engineers shares his view of my book ‘Leadership lessons for Daily Living’.… Continue reading
Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts and ideas on education have been studied, often quoted and has inspired several Institutions to start schools and colleges. From the conceptual understanding of what education needs to be, to making it both pragmatic at the individual and community level, Swami Vivekananda’s ideas are both relevant and necessary.… Continue reading
Recently, one saw a mockery of the statement ‘first amongst equals’ in the state of Karnataka. Constitutionally, the head of government is the chief minister at the state level while the Prime Minister is at the national level.… Continue reading
Swami Vivekananda’s life and message continues to inspire millions of people around the world. Describing him and his work is like trying to describe God…One can do it in so many ways depending on one’s beliefs, experiences and perspectives. Instead of spending time on trying to unpack him and his message intellectually, it is more rewarding to try and live it on a daily basis.… Continue reading
Over time, I have given several interviews and have spoken at several forums. Each one has been different and taught me several lessons. They have also given me the time and space to reflect on the questions that had been asked and my own life too.… Continue reading
The last couple of weeks has seen discussions around the vaccine for COVID and whether they are safe and effective. While each person is entitled to his/her own view, it can indeed be confusing listening to the several experts and political commentators about this issue. … Continue reading
Early last week, I was invited to a one-to-one meeting with Ms Nirmala Sitharaman ji, the Union Finance minister to share inputs on the forthcoming budget. She was keen on understanding the fiscal policy aspirations of the NGO sector and other insights into how best to grow the rural economy.… Continue reading
The inequities that India’s caste system has created has been attempted to be stalled or reversed through the constitutional mandate of Affirmative action. Increasingly, one has forgotten the basic tenet of ensuring justice and fairness to all citizens and the sociopolitical eco-system has only been exploiting the sentiments of religion and caste.… Continue reading
The recent Diwali festival saw the government of Karnataka vacillate between wanting to ban firecrackers and not wanting to ban it. Chief Minister Yeddyurappa initially announced that his government was considering a ban but went back on this a few days later.… Continue reading
My first brush with being made to feel like a South Indian and distinctly different from the person in front of me is something that is strongly etched into my memory now. My father had insisted that all his children learn three languages at school – Kannada, the language of my state of Karnataka, English and Hindi (which he felt was our National language). … Continue reading
We live in a world of having a expert for all major human endeavours – from the mason to the medical specialist, from the masseuse to the manager…to the point where we have a special word called a Generalist even.… Continue reading
The problem of pollution is back in Delhi again. The state governments of Arvind Kejriwal and Capt. Amarinder Singh have started blaming each other for the problem, while the Supreme Court has been demanding action from both the Central and State Governments. … Continue reading
Earlier this year, two communities – Parivara and Talawara were added to the list of Scheduled Tribes. These communities numbering close to 11 lakh has further resulted in marginalizing the shrinking numbers of forest dwelling indigenous communites.… Continue reading
The current NGO situation seems to be finding a lot of newspaper space the last few days. While there are several challenges that NGOs around the world are facing, the current COVID crisis only seems to have worsened this. What NGOs need now is to rediscover their relevance to society as much as Societies and Governments need to recognize the work & contribution of good and credible NGOs.… Continue reading