Strong India Must for survival of civilised world

Twin tasks of strengthening the country and integrating Indian society are essential for survival of a civilised world. Survival of civilised world requires a tolerant and accommodating approach for which neither the doctrinaire liberals / left ideologues nor the religions that believe in the dictum of “we alone hold the true knowledge” are equipped.

Votaries of socialism and 'capitalist haven' have not been able to deliver on their promises nor growth of science and technology has brought peace of mind to humanity. Need of an inclusive approach to humans and all living beings as well as the environment is paramount. As the oldest civilization India has to show the way to the world as it has the civilisational experience to do this. Our civilisation teaches us to care for Jal, Jan, Jangal and Jaanvar (water, humans, animals and jungles) while other civilisations treat nature a resource for reckless consumption which is the cause of the environmental crises facing the world today.

Hardline ideologies, whether political or religious, are at the root of almost all problems of the world today. These are not prepared to allow true freedom of thought and action to all. Only Indian tradition has the spirit to accommodate all religious beliefs, even agnosticism.

We need to involve the entire society in the process of strengthening India. No individual or organisation, however strong, can handle the task of making India strong - the role can only to start the process of sensitizing the society about the challenges it is faced with. Citizen's pride in their identity as Indians and the urge to do their best for the country will ensure that society meets the challenges.

Experience in Uganda, Fiji and recently in Australia has shown that Indians are not safe anywhere, unless we make India strong we can not be safe.

Keeping Politics on Track

The Indian Parliament election results are just hours away. Most commentators suggest that national parties – Congress and Bhartiya Janata Party are likely to fare batter then the last time. The regional parties are likely to lose some of the clout they had come to enjoy. We seem to have come full circle. The single national party – Congress – threw away democratic norms during the regime of Mrs Indira Gandhi and small regional outfits led by Devi Lals and NTR’s and Bijus and Karunanidhis came up. These were followed by Lalus, Mulayams, Paswans, Devegaudas, Mayawatis and the ilk. Politics seemed to be losing relevance. People of India have high aspirations – they aspire to have better education, communications and jobs – not just bijli-sadak-pani (power-roads-water).

We, as a nation, need to learn our lessons. We the citizens must keep the politics on right track. Must ask ourselves – What has to be done to make politics relevant again – transparency, accountability, involvement of intelligentsia? What am I doing to achieve this, what can I do to this end. And act.

The slow deliberate route to genius

Today's New York Times has an interesting article about new scientific thinking on geniuses. The discussion suggests that genius is not devine or genetic to a large extent. Indeed it is slow process involving "the ability to develop a deliberate, strenuous and boring practice routine." The article goes on to poin out that the brain is 'phenomenally plastic' and that we construct ourselves through behavior. The Article refers to two new books: “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle; and “Talent Is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin. Here it goes:


May 1, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
Genius: The Modern View
By DAVID BROOKS
Some people live in romantic ages. They tend to believe that genius is the product of a divine spark. They believe that there have been, throughout the ages, certain paragons of greatness — Dante, Mozart, Einstein — whose talents far exceeded normal comprehension, who had an other-worldly access to transcendent truth, and who are best approached with reverential awe.

Here is the rest of this eminently readable article

Focus on good affordable health care for the large Indian population

A recent article in The Economist has generated lively debate on cost cutting innovations by private medical service providers in India. One hopes our leaders - those who run the health services and those who think they run the country - will focus on good affordable health care for the large Indian population. The article is really worth reading. Here goes --

Health care in India
Lessons from a frugal innovator
Apr 16th 2009

The rich world’s bloated health-care systems can learn from India’s entrepreneurs

See The Economist article here

Friends make your life better

We in India, indeed Asia, rely on friends and family as the support system while west and developed countries have created large and costly institutional set up to provide support in such situations. The New York Times health columnist TARA PARKER-POPE recently underscored the value of friendship and social networks in overall health.

Pope quotes Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech to say “Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message ....is that friends make your life better.”

April 21, 2009

What Are Friends For? A Longer Life
Well/By TARA PARKER-POPE

In the quest for better health, many people turn to doctors, self-help books or herbal supplements. But they overlook a powerful weapon that could help them fight illness and depression, speed recovery, slow aging and prolong life: their friends.

Complete New York Times article here

Wise words, Eternal wisdom

The current issue of Reader's Digest has featured parts of an article from Business India titled 'The best advice I ever got'. A very intersting comment preceding the various gems of advice is about the sources of such advice "Culling the sources of advice, a startling fact: Behind every successful man is his father! "

Selecting two of these gems (out of dozens in BT or exactly a dozen in RD) could be due to mood of the moment or of the season. Here we go -

Anu Aga, 66, Director, Thermax
Invest in yourself
“From my mother, I learnt to be authentic and not to pretend, which came in handy when I took over as Chairperson after my husband’s (Thermax founder Rohinton Aga’s) demise. I didn’t know anything about the business and admitted as much to the senior management when I sought their help in running the company. My father advised me to invest in myself and to live within my means, which is a philosophy we follow at Thermax where we’d rather be understated than ostentatious. From my husband, I learnt not to be afraid and have meaningful relationships. I owe my involvement in Thermax’s CSR initiatives to my son Kurush’s (who died in an accident) advice. My daughter (Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson, Thermax) taught me to accept people for what they are, rather than try and mould them into what you want them to be.” (As told to Tejeesh N.S. Behl)

Nimesh Kampani, 61, Chairman & Managing Director, JM Financial

Never borrow for personal needs

“For me, it’s my self-consciousness and intuition that have been the guiding force. But I have inherited the value systems and principles from my parents. My father followed the golden principles—never borrow money for personal needs and don’t ever give guarantees. He would always say: ‘The repayment liabilities are yours. You can’t disown them. On the other side, the asset that you believe belongs to you, may or may not remain of that value always. So, the value of assets goes down but the liabilities stay with you. Live within your means.’ So, he would also explain to us by saying: ‘Liabilities are like taxi meters, which keep running 24 hours, even when you go off to sleep. The interest meter runs all the time. If you do business with your own money, you can withstand any bad time.’” (As told to Rachna Monga)

Clearing the Clutter and Finding Your Life

Often it takes a crisis for us to see things as they are. The article by Gail Blanke is full of such lessons

Why you need to throw 50 things away
Gail Blanke, author of "Throw Out Fifty Things"

Okay, so we're living in really tough times. Jobless rates are soaring, home values are plummeting, 401(k)'s are dwindling and bad people are running off with good people's money. And nothing is the way it was, nor is it likely to be again, for any of us.

Here's the thing: Sometimes it takes a crisis for us to know what we're made of, what we stand for, how good we are. And sometimes it takes a crisis for us to let go of the past - so we can grab hold of the future.

Read on

Unofficial definitions - read, reflect and contemplate

• Atom Bomb: An invention to end all inventions.
• Boss: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.
• Cigarette: A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool on the other.
• Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read.
• Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.
• Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.
• Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.
• Criminal: A guy no different from the rest....except that he got caught.
• Dictionary: A place where success comes before work.
• Diplomat: A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.
• Doctor : A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills.
• Etc. : A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.
• Experience: The name men give to their mistakes.
• Father: A banker provided by nature.
• Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.
• Miser: A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.
• Office : A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.
• Opportunist: A person who starts taking bath if he accidentally falls into a river.
• Optimist: A person who while falling from Eiffel tower says in midway "See I am not injured yet."
• Philosopher: A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.
• Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.
• Smile: A curve that can set a lot of things straight.
• Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine will-power is defeated by feminine water power.
• Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

Austere Times, Never waste a crisis

In November 2007 I heard an elderly Punjabi gentleman bless two young men launching their enterprise - with kirat karo (work hard) and kiras karo (live frugally). Most of the developed world looks at Economic meltdown as a crises but this NY Times article finds that it is also an opportunity to change the lifestyle. Frugal life is not something west has invented in face of the meltdown. The common Indian Bania - Gandhiji's community, engaged in business since times immemorial has made it their creed, even those who joke about them respect their success.

Austere Times? Perfect
By MATT RICHTEL

SAN FRANCISCO — Millions of Americans have trimmed expenses because they have had their jobs or hours cut, or fear they will. But a subset of savers are reducing costs not just with purpose, but with relish. These are the gleefully frugal.

For the complete article go to NYTimes

A cup of coffee

On the day they bid me farewell, colleagues recalled some long forgotten moments. The Trip on trail of times gone was nostalgic. 30 years spent in a one stop organisation with a small number of colleagues came back as one long eventful, torrential trip. The reverie began smoothly with V recounting how he was surprised when soon after a dressing down for a lapse he sheepishly sought leave to go for food and was told "we all come to work for food and you never need to seek permission for going to take food."

Many others responded, telling the small assembly that they had never seen one angry. V felt compelled to tell them that the relationship was always cordial and there was no bitterness, even when a mistake was pointed out.

The colleague who joined the launch team of Dainik Tribune newsdesk, one of only two from that team now left in the paper, confessed how she came to regret her decision to turn down the offer of a cup of coffee in the Sector 17 Coffee House. The offer, made on a rainy day after we reached the local bus terminus and had head in different directions, was meant to break the ice among new unfamiliar colleagues, but was obviously seen as an advance and ‘diplomatically’ declined. Over the years she came to realise value of the camaraderie with this “walking encyclopaedia" and shared small talk over tea almost everyday.

The episode was fresh in her memory though one had to struggle to recall if such a thing had indeed happened. Much mirth resulted when she said she will accept all such offers in future and was told that now the offer of coffee will have to come from her.

One very sensitive long time colleagues said he had read me wrong. He never thought of me as an actor but has found out that his impression of me - the appearance of not ever being angry - was not correct. This ‘justifies’ his calling me an actor. That one was able to control anger successfully dawned on him only recently. This trait was not very well known to oneself. Controlled anger being a very positive attribute was a lesson internalised from my late father during the formative years.

The science graduate who had never worked in a newsroom and learnt the skills and craft on the job, got the ultimate compliment when editor called one "not just encyclopaedia but an institution" and said not one editorial subject was ever declined as being unfamiliar. With ‘this gentleman’ holding fort he had no worries about the editorial page or other tasks.

The long innings did much for all of us, it built us up. As we grew the paper grew too. Challenges notwithstanding, we developed into a team with a culture. Memories of Cups of coffee, the mirth and struggles will live on, as stuff to cherish.