Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A glass that is half full- Proud to be Indian

Having spent my working life so far in the murky world of finance, everything looks dubious. The weekend in Pune was a breath of fresh air. There was a book launch (Pathbreakers 2- By Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu) and the rostrum was weighed down by a dozen self made men. Three of them from the field of science ( Dr Bhatkar of Param fame, Dr Mashelkar and Prof MM Sharma) gave a different meaning to optimism and cheer. They have spent their entire lives in PSU's, working for what would be pittance as compared to most of us in the finance world. The panel discussion was on 'governance' and the views from these three were fantastic. Their acheivements in the face of government processes and procedures, sparse budgets etc are beyond comments by nitwits like us.
Their main contention was that 'governance' is a word used by the under acheivers and the born cribbers. Their encouragement and optimism was an eye opener. At each stage they said that governance is 'within' you. You are the instrument of change.
They left us numb with their perception on worldly matters and their optimistic approach to life.
I wish I had heard them a few decades ago.
I also urge people to get hold of the book. The two volumes have interviews with 51 remarkable people. And each one of them (except for the habitually fibbing finance guys who have been interviewed) is an inspiration to each and every Indian.

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