RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Earnestness, it is aptly said, is the font of authority or authenticity, where ‘auto’ means ‘self’ — your original instrument and ‘entea’ — or tool connotes communication. This explains why our credibility as a speaker or leader in any field of activity, for example, is directly correlated to the extent to which the audience […]
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 […]
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 […]
MANSOOR HASAN KHAN The UN’s 2019 World Happiness Report released in March [2019] shows that India is on a declining trend when it comes to happiness. The county ranked 117 in 2015, 118 in 2016, 122 in 2017, 133 in 2018, and is now at 140. This year, the report has focused on “happiness and community,” exploring […]
JAWAHAR NIDAMBOOR “Nobody but a blockhead,” as Dr Samuel Johnson said, “ever wrote, except for money.” That the good, old Johnson could have, perforce, included ghost-writers in that position, no less — if only he had fancied them — is passé. Realistically speaking, it’d have been fair too, in an equation with such an unmistakable […]
TEMO DIAS In times of global turmoil full of social divisiveness and mounting controversy, it may seem odd to emphasize the importance of spiritual institutions in our drive to halt climate change. However, faith-based delegations flocked to this year’s UN Climate Change Conference, COP24, in Katowice, Poland, from all corners of our planet. Indigenous leaders, […]
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 […]
MASOOMA SAKRIWALA It is more than just a feeling. That xenophobia exists — in one form, or the other, in our country. It also reminds me of Dr Diepiriye Kuku’s first-hand experience about this hushed, gross misconduct. I was so ashamed after reading it that I felt a desperate need to express my own thoughts […]
VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN India is a big-government country. From the national, state and city to village levels, there are millions of ‘babus’ with permanent jobs — some of them sinecures as well — entrusted with responsibilities. Of managing, sustaining and developing the systems around them and promoting social welfare, and happiness in the best of cases, […]
VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN I visualise sometimes, at the risk of being immodest, when by dint of honest hard work, patience and perseverance, I may get well-deserved recognition — national or global — and, accolades to go with it. I may be invited to speak to an open audience — youngsters and coevals — about ‘myself.’ Speaking […]