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
Moving ahead as one country despite the cultural diversity
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
Demystifying the ‘specialist’
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
Engaging citizens in policy making
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
ST reservations – the curious case of shrinking benefits to forest dwelling indigenous communities
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
Wake up call for NGOs
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
Investor universe for a Social Stock Exchange
It is now more than a year since the Social Stock Exchange was announced by the Union Finance Minister and SEBI was mandated with the responsibility of setting it up. While the Exchange is a good idea of mobilising resources that the Social sector desperately needs, what is to be seen are the operational details of making it work.… Continue reading
Kick starting the Indian Economy thru Labour Reforms
The Indian parliament recently passed three acts codifying the plethora of laws that related to Labour laws. While labour is on the concurrent list and the National Govt and the States can make their own laws, this was a long overdue reform that we needed.… Continue reading
NGOs, Media Advocacy and Development Journalism
Watching television is now an ordeal. One hears a lot more noise than anything else. Whether it is news or current event shows, the media seems to be obsess over the death of an actor of the demolition of the office of the other and the consequent political drama that plays out.… Continue reading
Launch of my 7th book…
Writing a book is a labour of love. It took me more than a year of writing, months of editing & revising and the manuscript is now finally a book. Even though this is my 7th book, the excitement is still palpable.… Continue reading