The collapse of organised retail in shopping malls, to e-commerce and digitalisation of finance should not be equated to online learning and the awaited deprioritization of physical university education in the fourth industrial revolution. A section can move to MOOCs, but cannot totally substitute physical seminar style classes. They are a complimentary asset, not the main journey of structured learning. The platformization of education is not that disruptive. These need the empathy of a teacher and the physicality of space.

Spoke to a very experienced environmental impact assessment expert who said, it is better to spend tax payer money on Environmental Management Plan implementation than on the clearance process. This is according to me a serious indictment of the environmental governance process where there is no follow up on the measures written in the report.

Leadership journeys are learning journeys, glad to have crest fallen and have learnt from them. Every experience is precious. Failures are powerful as they have a significant cost associated to it; financially, socially and personally. The personal cost of failure is terrible, as it transforms oneself, makes one deeply appreciate the opportunities one has received and not captured. Gratitude. Amen.

Solutions needs a discussions of the power structures in the market that enterprises operate; the inherent biases, the cash castes and market entry barriers such as regulatory structures, and cultural politics of entrepreneurial land. Critique is just a trailer. In my work with the civil society in Singapore and India; vested agendas hinder progress more than good intentions. Solution builders are ego neutral, and focus on impact. Solutions have to be Market centric to be long lasting. Activists do not understand the language of the market. Language is an analytical framework itself.

The question i ask activists/social sector professionals usually- What is the alternative to operate in a neoliberal set up. Move beyond the critique although the critique is the starting point of developing solutions and critique is data.

KJo is a very bright man who understands pop culture and the film business. Being a second generation film maker helps for sure, but he is a very hard working man, being on every reality tv show possible, while making movies. His autobiography is one I am waiting to read, as most of his Bollywood peers did not even clear high school. He is sharp and witty, when interviewed face to face, while Koffee with Karan is a pop culture product. 

Nirmala Sitharaman ji in NDTV’s Davos debate, equated Demonetisation with India’s Mars Mission. Cash is now backward, while payment wallets are the same as ISRO’s space exploration excellence. This is stretching the technocratic imagination a bit too far. Amitabh Kant ji’s verbose speak to back up the digital push did not cut any ice. Harvard Economist Ken Rogoff’s expression was priceless. The Indian delegation on the panel was certainly not the best as far as intellectual firepower. The SBI Chairwoman was least convincing. Sitharaman ji’s criticism of banking corruption in the wake of the notebandi crisis was sniggered away by Arundhati Bhattacharya. Not the most cohesive presentation on India’s most disruptive public policy innovation since 1991 on the world stage. Please send Jayant Sinha or Nandan Nilekani or the Davos Men to present India’s brand. Oh I forgot everyone important is tied up with regional polls. To be fair with the current administration, the Big Bang Innovation was something anticipated by the public since 2014. A large section of the working class although troubled is content at least because of a proactive measure, even as flawed as Demonetisation. A shopkeeper once mentioned that at least a step was taken, the last PM was on silent mode. The outcomes of the measure has been shifting but the political capital invested is huge. This is truly the audacity of hope.

At a Brookings India event on Climate Change and Air Pollution, where an environmental economist and bureaucrat is speaking. Basic Air Pollution 101 in sophistication speak. The audience is C Suite posh. The talk is about Business Models, the science is simplified. Interesting thoughts certainly. I am wondering where is the climate change scientist where, or the air quality modeller? The science is relegated to economics and public policy, although Climate Change is science based policy. The culture of conversations have to evolve. I thank the prestigious think tank to bring Climate Change on the table.

Activists on the left and artistes who are sensitive to sociopolitical causes, and bicker from attending cultural and literary festivals sponsored by corporate cash, often from the mining sector and Langigarh is prominent among them. The artist community has to realise that the biggest patrons of the arts including the written word have been funded by the new high royalty, which is the financial elite. The fear is often in between not doing the right kind of work due to the lack of material resources or the tendency of being coopted within neoliberal debates. We are all coopted in one way or the other. The point is in engaging with the mining firm to implement better ESG norms. Boycotting is one way, and not the only mechanism to bring about the right reform.

The conversations regarding data security are long over drawn, but with the JAM+Demonetisation combination, this lens is more relevant than ever. Public Policy will be more technology driven passing everyday, and the questions of ethics and transparency to citizenry have to brought up again and again. India is a country of unprecedented complexities and realities on the ground are infinitely complex to model the deficiencies. There is a rampant black market already in Aadhar numbers. No one talks about making government decision making transparent, including diluting RTI. Rather citizens as taxpayers are treated as criminals unless proven otherwise exemplified by the Bank officials question usual account holders wishing to deposit or withdraw their own resources. Technology is underwritten by value laden thinking, and assumptions behind technology need to be unpacked as a black box.