Author Archives: Venkatesh Govindarajan

Past. Present. Future

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN Just think of a star to sum up Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, while listing the keywords. Its five sides  stand for 1] technology, 2] politics, 3] despair and hope, 4] truth, and 5] resilience. This needs to be ‘read’ after you have digested his sapiens and before, or […]

A Question Of Sustainability

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN October 31: UN World Cities Day. Cities are where the battle for sustainable development will be won, or lost. A clutch of sustainable cities makes a sustainable province; a clutch of sustainable provinces makes a sustainable country, and it follows that several sustainable countries learning and sharing and helping other countries, will make […]

For The Greater Good

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN I first heard about Hans Rosling,  MD, PhD, from my colleague Maria Sandberg, PhD, at Karlstad University [Sweden], when I was assisting her in a first-year course in Environmental Technology. Rosling’s ‘baby’ — GapMinder — was to be introduced to students, the purpose being exactly the same which Rosling pursued for most of […]

Of Profit & Morality-2

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN It is, perhaps, immoral to profit from buyers who are not too willing to pay the extra bucks. But, what about those who can? Of course, willingness to pay can be considered as fertile ground for exploitation. However, whether it is moral to avail of this willingness depends entirely on the motive of […]

Of Profit & Morality-1

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN It is as simple as simple is. Also, complex. A consistent profit-forgoing approach in one part of the world cannot be sustained in the presence of a voracious profit-seeking in another. This is because understanding the thought process of citizens of our Global Village is as important as refining and consolidating one’s own […]

Ahoy! The New Eco Vision

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN They call themselves fittingly as a ‘profit for good’ company — a mission backed by a non-profit foundation. Ducky.eco, formed in 2014, addresses the climate crises and threat to the environment. The company intends to slowly, surely and steadily, expand its influence-footprint globally — to motivate people to truncate their environmental footprints. “Ducky […]

Fear War. Love Peace

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN War brings out the best and worst in us. Just as Charles Dickens labelled a period of time in history as the best of times and also the worst of times. I have, ensconced in the security of Sweden,  been following all that has been happening — words and deeds — in the […]

The Tao Of Life

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN Systems View of Life is a sublimely coherent book: from start to finish. It has 18 chapters that comprise of four sections that enlighten, educate and exhort the reader to change their way of thinking, and therefore, their deeds in the years to come, from a validated, high-point scientific base, juxtaposed and bolstered by a cogent, also perceptive, […]

The Story Of Sleep

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN Sleep disorders are far more variegated and complex than you think. The causative factors are numerous and the complementary, synergistic effects they have, make this a challenging field for physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists. It is also more psychosomatic than one can imagine. This piece is a ‘free’ translation of a booklet this writer […]

Waste Is No Waste

VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN Rice is the staple food of millions of people in the world. India is the second largest producer of this crop — most of which is consumed domestically. It also brings in useful foreign exchange to the country. When we see rice on our plates, we ought to thank the numerous farmers and […]