An Experiment in Trust

I am publishing this article without the permission of the author, my uncle Prof S.H. Patil, with the fear that it may get lost in the deluge of information available today. ----- Start of Article ----------- It is generally acknowledged that there are many things seriously wrong with our system of education. Otherwise we could…

Odisha – the state that deserves more …..

We were in Odisha for a 1week trip, organized and curated by former colleague Jitu Mishra, an archaeologist by training from Pune's Deccan College and founder of Sarna Journeys based in Bhubaneswar. He is ably supported by a very enterprising team of: Rosalin Dash, Dr Sushree Mohanty and Safiulah Muhamad. Jitu and I were colleagues…

3 Must Watch and Reflect Lectures on Ambedkar

These 3 talks had a profound impact on me. The lectures helps you to understand Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar better, revisit issues such as reservation and merit, realize how entitled most of us are and leaves no doubt that we did win the ovarian lottery at birth. B.R. Ambedkar: The Life of the Mind & a…

Georgia – the country that loves you

The challenge - not to fall in love with Georgia I first heard of Georgia in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall fell. At that time Michael Gorbachev’s charismatic foreign minister Eduardo Shevarnadze was asked to lead Georgia before he was formally elected in 1995. The next time was when my…

Welcoming 2021 via a Scottish Tradition

As we enter the new year, wanted to share an interesting Scottish New Year tradition. As tradition requires 'BBC Proms 2018' ends the glorious Last Night of the Proms with a rousing " Auld Lang Syne". Lyrics of Auld Lang Syne The poem " Auld Lang Syne " by Robert Burns soon after its publication,…

A Memorable Cycling Trip in Madhya Pradesh

The magnificent temples of Khajuraho. The gorgeous Raneh falls. The Panna Tiger Reserve. A visit to a tribal village relocated to make space available for the king of the jungle. All these on one cycling trip in Madhya Pradesh! Though I have visited several cities in more than 50 countries, the experience of this cycling…

Some of my favourite ‘Words of Wisdom’

----- You don't know what you don't know You know what you don't know You Know Ron Smith form VP Intel Corp and someone I admired ----- If you are driving on Road and see everything coming your way, then you are probably driving on the wrong side of the road. Anonymous ---- People (Consumers)…

Calibrating – India vs China

I first visited Shanghai in 1996 and at that time the pace of development was exhilarating. I had accepted that catching up for India would be a tall order, but then I was young and optimistic that India would catch up one day. Also had the opportunity to work in Hong Kong from 1998 to…

The Future of Food

Was forwarded this presentation by Bhavish Sood which a must read tagtaste-india-opportunity-mapping-reportDownload Some notes from the presentation The restaurant business is a big gamble Only 0.7% restaurants that have been in existence for at least three years ever paid Income Tax. 49% of restaurants are not profitable restaurants that are bubbling all the time one…

Understanding the Gist of the game ‘Golf’

Lot of people think that Golf is a old man's game, till they start playing it. I started playing the game pretty late in life and have had the rare opportunity to also build one - Clover Greens The 18th hole at Clover Greens The message below was a Whatsapp forward with author unknown. However…