1 Essay General Ideas.

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2. Essay General Ideas
This is the garden of Buddha and Nanak

The flowers of peace bloom here
Gandhi, Subhash, Tagore, Tilak
are the flowers that bloom in this garden
Green is from Hari Singh Nalwe,
Red from Lal Bahadur Shastri
Saffron from Bhagat Singh
And The shade of peace from Jawaharlal
Nehru's
My contry's soil where crops grow like gold,
diamonds and pearls
-Manoj Kumar, Upkaar, 1967
Maithili Sharan Gupt’s immortal lines hum kaun
thae, kya ho gaye hain, aur kya honge abhi, aao
vichare aaj mil kar yeh samasyaen sabhi ((Who
were we? Who have we become? And what
more shall we be? Come, let us together
meditate on all these conundrums)
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The key message in this book:

Even though we’re constantly making
predictions about the future, we’re actually
terrible at it. We put far too much confidence in
our knowledge and underestimate our
ignorance. Our over-reliance on methods that
seem to make sense, our basic inability to
understand and define randomness, and even
our biology, all contribute to poor decision
making, and sometimes to “Black Swans” –
events we believe to be impossible but which
end up redefining our understanding of the
world.
Actionable advice:
Be suspicious of “because.”
Although it is absolutely in our nature to look for
linear, causal relationships between events in
order to make sense of this complex world, the
reality is that we are absolutely pitiful at both
making predictions of the future and
establishing causes for the present. Rather than
feeding our desire to see events in clear-cut
cause and effect, it’s better to instead consider
a number of possibilities without being married
to any single one.
Know what you don’t know.
If you want to make meaningful predictions
about the future – which, if you are buying
insurance, making investments, attending
college, changing jobs, conducting research, or
just being a human, then you certainly do –
then it’s simply not enough to take all of the
“knowns” into consideration. This leaves you
with only a partial understanding of the risks
involved in your prediction. Instead, you should
also be consciously aware of what you don’t
know, so that you don’t unnecessarily limit the
information that you are working with.
Question to ask, is COVID a black swan

fragile items which break when put under
stress, antifragile items benefit from volatility
and shock.
Fragiliy of constitutent parts help enhanse the
antifragility of the system by passing relevant
information. For example CCD's failures passed
on to others in coffee business in India
Shocks and stressors strengthen antifragile
systems by building up extra capacity (Ex
Demonetisation shock helping the digitisation
need during COVID///Epidemics' history in
Japan and East Asia--better hand and mask
hygiene)
Tranquility harms antifragility, volatility is good
Manage risks to benefit from unpredictability
Smaller firest to stem the risk of larger forest
fires: antifragility does not stem from removing
volatility
Antifragility has fueled progress and advance in
society
The main message in this book is:
Antifragility is a quality which has propelled
human progress from the earliest times. It
allows systems to grow and improve in an
unpredictable and volatile world. However,
modern society is in the process of trying to
dismantle the volatile environment that is vital
for antifragility. In doing so, we are making
ourselves more fragile.
This book in blinks answered the following
questions:
What is antifragility?
Unlike fragile items, which break when put
under stress, antifragile items actually benefit
from volatility and shock.
The antifragility of a system depends on the
f ilit f it tit t t
Unlike
Social Capital
While it took 75 years for Americans to havee
70% coverage of....
only 7 years for TV to reach 70% of households
right after the Second world War
This rapid and expansive reach of technology
had many effects on the American society.
Parent teacher meeting attendance went down,
Bowling Clubs were less frequented
essentially a fall in community living,
community feeling and thus a depleting Social
capital
A similar threat surrounds India, the rapid and
all encompassing embrace of technology poses
the same threat of depleting social capital.
More so in a society where the cleavages of
caste, class, gender and religion remain deep
and the political class has little interest in
bridging these cleavages and developing social
capital
Differences in social trust, family life,

parenting and community vitality were
minimal. Now the haves have it all
In his book "Our Kids" Robert Putnam argues

that the class and income differences have
created such wide gulfs between the have and
the have nots, that the dreams of social mobility
are today an illusion. The inequalities have
impeded the social mobility that was key to the
progress of the previous generation. This is the
central crisis of present inequality because in
denying upward growth, it is a denial of the
central pursuit of being human: the pursuit of
progress.
Inequality therefore is critical not merely
because what it is doing to present living
standards, it is critical because of what it is
going to do the upcoming generations too.
An idea Piketty also throws up in Capital in the
21st century: that the Forbes 400 of tomorrow
will not be a new set of entrepreneurs making it
to the top with their merit and skills but they will
be the grandchildren of the present billionaires.
(Cannot breathe writing about this profound Nobel Laureate, (1998) Portuguese author Jose
book and ideas:) Saramago wrote a book called "Blindness"
where in a fictional town an epidemic of
blindness have descended. The affected are
soon quarantined in an asylum to impede the
spread of infection. What follows in the
quarantine is anarchy where people fight for
medicines, medical care, food and gangwar
descends. Women are gangraped and finally a
woman kills one of the rapists, head of the rival
gang. This woman was the only person who
could see, she faked blindness so she can
accompany her husband to the quarantine
center. Towards the end of the novel she says:
Why did we lose our blindness, maybe we will
know someday. In many ways, we are all blind,
we can see but we are blind. Blind people who
can see, but do not see.
“Do you want me to tell you what I think,
Yes, do, I don’t think we did go blind, I think
we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people
who can see, but do not see.”
In nobel laureate Jose Saratago's novel
"Blindness" an epidemic of blindness strikes
a fictional city and people go blind. In the
quarantine center that houses the ill,
anarchy ensues over food and care, women
are raped and a man finall murdered. Later
like a miracle people get their eyesight back.
The protagonist in the end makes the larger
philosophical point of the book: I don't think
we did go blind, I think "We are blind"/ Blind
people who can see but do not see.
It is this blindness that our civilisation has
embraced that lies at the root of most evil.
Can we really say we do not see what we are
doing to our environment, what future we
are leaving behind for our kids, how we are
treating the poor and the weak, or our elders
feebled by age, or to the principles of
d th t i dl it f
Will it increase our GDP? the answer might be

inconclusive
Will it increase welfare, the answer is a
resounding Yes!
If the youth of rural India, find jobs back home,
stay back to take care of their elders and live a
fulfilling life in the community, is it not a pursuit
worth our efforts?
And is it also not the idea that Confucious
preached as Filial Piety? Being devoted and
dedicated to our parents through our lifetime?
André Gide, the French writer, once said,
“Everything has been said before, but since
nobody listens we have to keep going back and
begin all over again.” These words only
underscore the need to be vocal especially
when one has the country’s best interests at
heart, more so when India is passing through
one of its most difficult phases since
Independence.
We must remind ourselves of what B.R.
Ambedkar said on November 25, 1949: “‘The
second thing we must do as to observe the
caution which John Stuart Mill has given to all
who are interested in the maintenance of
democracy, namely, not ‘to lay their liberties at
the feet of even a great man, or to trust him
with power which enable him to subvert their
institutions.’
‘... this caution is far more necessary in the case
of India than in the case of any other country.
For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the
path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part
in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the
part it plays in the politics of any other country
in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to
the salvation of soul. But in politics, Bhakti or
hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and
to eventual dictatorship
’
think of the poem by Josiah Gilbert Holland,

with the line, “...A time like this demands,
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready
hands.
Albert Einstein once said, “The strength of the
Constitution lies entirely in the determination of
each Citizen to defend it.”
Aano bhadraah krathavo yatu vishwathaha Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides
In trying to explain this linkage, I was inspired
by a traditional African tool that has three
legs and a basin to sit on. To me the three
legs represent three critical pillars of just
and stable societies. Thefirst leg stands for
democratic space, where rights are
respected,whether they are human rights,
women's rights, children's rights, or
environmental rights. Thesecond represents
sustainable and equitable management and
resources. And thethird stands for cultures
Wangari Mathaai of peacethat are deliberately cultivated within
communities and nations. The basin, or seat,
represents society and its prospects for
development. Unless all three legs are in place,
supporting the seat, no society can thrive.
Neither can its citizens develop their skills and
creativity. When one leg is missing, the seat is
unstable; when two legs are missing, it is
impossible to keep any state alive; and when no
legs are available, the state is as good as a
failed state. No development can take place in
such a state either. Instead, conflict ensues
Kabir on the need to look within The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not
within itself: it wanders in quest of grass.
Nasadiya Hymn, Rig Veda:

There was no beginning no end, the universe
was created and destroyed endlessly. While we
are all mere ripples in the fabric of space time.
How then did we begin to create these barriers
of religion/race/caste/ gender
Vasudheva Kutumbakam: Maha
Upanishad
Satyameva Jayate: Mundaka
Upanishad
Brihadranyaka Upanishad:
Pavamāna Mantra[edit]
The Pavamana Mantra is from the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28)
असतो मा सद्गमय । Asatō mā
sadgamaya
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय । tamasō mā
jyōtirgamaya
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय । mr̥tyōrmā amr̥taṁ
gamaya
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ Om śāntiḥ
śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
- Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣat 1.3.28
Translation:
From untruth lead us to Truth.
From darkness lead us to Light.
From death lead us to Immortality.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace
As Gail Omvedt has underlined in her
book“Seeking Begumpura :The social vision of
Anticaste Intellectuals,” if Kabir dreamt of his
utopia calling itAmarpur (City of Immortality)
and sang of Premnagar,the city of love, Raidas
imagined his own version of it and named
itBegumpura (City without Sorrow).It would
be a city where there were no taxes or toil, “
where he could wander freely with his friends –
something a Dalit could never do in actual
Banaras”
and stable societies. The first leg stands for
democratic space, where rights are respected,
whether they are human rights, women's rights,
children's rights, or environmental rights. The
second represents sustainable and equitable
management and resources. And the third
stands for cultures of peace that are
Wangari Mathaai deliberately cultivated within communities and
nations. The basin, or seat, represents society
and its prospects for development. Unless all
three legs are in place, supporting the seat, no
society can thrive. Neither can its citizens
develop their skills and creativity. When one leg
is missing, the seat is unstable; when two legs
are missing, it is impossible to keep any state
alive; and when no legs are available, the state
is as good as a failed state. No development
can take place in such a state either. Instead,
conflict ensues
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/colum
ns/narendra-modi-un-champions-of-the-earth-
award-swachh-bharat-environment-5385279/
“यस्यां समुद्र उत सिन्धुरापो यस्यामन्नं कृ ष्टयः संबभूवुः ।
”
यस्यामिदं जिन्वति प्राणदेजत्सा नो भूमिः पूर्वपेये दधातु ॥३॥
It means:Salutations to Mother Earth. In Her
is woven together Ocean and River Waters;
in Her is contained Food which She
manifests when ploughed; In Her indeed is
alive all Lives; May She bestow us with that
Life
Nature
Prof. M.S. Swaminathan:

Our Biodiversity hotspots are PARADISES fo
Valuable Genes but fast becoming Paradise lost
Indira Gandhi:
Interest in conservation is not a sentimental
one, it is a rediscovery of truth that ancient
sages knew too well. Indian tradition teaches us
all life forms: human, animal and plant are so
closely interlinked that disturbance in one gives
rise to imbalance in others.
HARVARD BIODIVERSITY VISIONARY: Prof.

Edward O. Wilson:
Social and environmental development > Crude

GDP
Degrowth Gandhian Sarvodaya
African Ubuntu: You are therefore I am
Latin American: Buen Vivier: Good Life for
humans and ecosystems
Chemistry nobel 2018- directed evolution
pathbreaking cancer treatments, biofuel
engineering. to observe nature, learn from
ENVIRONMENT the principles of nature
From nature, so much to learn Frances Arnold, Chemistry Nobel laureate:
The very bestinventor and engineerof all times
whohas not been awarded yet is nature.
Intricate principles that support and create new
life. New solutions to important problems, lie in
nature
15 YR OLD GRETA THUNBERG at COP24
KATOWICE Until you start focusing on what needs to be
done rather than what is politically possible,
there is no hope.We can’t solve a crisis
without treating it as a crisis.
Prithvi Sukta ”
Life.
Wangari Mathaai In trying to explain this linkage, I was inspired

deliberately cultivated within communities and
conflict ensues
New ideas are invariable resisted by the existing

power structures: king/establishments.
therefore, fundamental ideas and institutions in
human societies are difficult to transform, up
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: until a crisis.
Thomas Kuhn The COVID crisis is that moment in human
history that can be a turning point in imagining
governance and institutions which make
societies more equitable, global governance
participative and restore justice and dignity to
the last man and woman.
Health
FROM THE MOUTH OF THE SHARK: WARSAN

AB and Duflo: From the mouth of the shark; SHIRE
On Migration no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well
your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.
you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
Knowledge and Innovation
Urbanisation A tale of two cities
As Mahatma Gandhi said in his famous

address at Kingsley Hall, London in October
1931: “…In the midst of death life persists, in
the midst of untruth truth persists, in the
midst of darkness light persists.”
As Gail Omvedt has underlined in her

book“Seeking Begumpura :The social vision
of Anticaste Intellectuals,” if Kabir dreamt of his
utopia calling itAmarpur (City of Immortality)
and sang of Premnagar,the city of love, Raidas
imagined his own version of it and named
itBegumpura (City without Sorrow).It would
be a city where there were no taxes or toil, “
where he could wander freely with his friends –
something a Dalit could never do in actual
Banaras”
Our
Durbalasya balam Raja rishis told us:durbalasya balam
Raja. The strength of the weak is
the Sovereign
Sophie's Choice: when talking about dilemma
The worldwide web opened up the world and

connected us like never before, the
worldwide virus has forced nations to close
their borders and opt for physical distancing.
The deadly virus does not distinguish
between a prince and a pauper nor does it
recognise the distincions of regions and
religions.
It treats us as one, highlighting both the
threat of the moment as well us humbling us
to recognise and acknowledge our
inalienable oneness.
What COVID 19 has also revealed to us is who

are the most important people in society. Its not
the millionare, the Forbes 100, the celebrity, the
corporate king or the successful lawyer.
It has humbled us to see, recognise and
acknowledge the people who have run our lives
and did in this moment of crisis: doctors risking
their lives; municipal workers arranging
institutional quarantine, sanitation workers
cleaning our colonies, the vegetable seller, the
local grocer, the teacher taking online classes,
the local administration running the
government.
This has been the moment to recalibrate the
relation between the Union and the states and
the local bodies. The oft redundant panchayat
took the centre stage. It reemphasised the
centrality of federalism and decentralisation to
good governance.
IQBAL poem:
https://www.notion.so/COVID-19-ESSAY-
0c6298551e03482781270132ca711f90#18bf
4a9077524920b337ecd55937f1c4
N 1918, misfortune befell the 22-year-old poet

Suryakant Tripathi, better known as Nirala or “the
strange one.” “I travelled to the riverbank in
Dalmau and waited,” he wrote in his memoir, A
Life Misspent. “The Ganga was swollen with dead
bodies. At my in-laws’ house, I learned that my
wife had passed away.” Many other members of
Nirala’s family died too. There was not enough
wood to cremate them. “This was the strangest
time in my life,” he recalled later. “My family
disappeared in the blink of an eye. All our
sharecroppers and labourers died, the four who
worked for my cousin, as well as the two who
worked for me. My cousin’s eldest son was fifteen
years old, my young daughter a year old. In
whichever direction I turned, I saw darkness.”
These deaths were not just a coincidence of
personal tragedies visited upon the poet, they
were connected: “The newspapers had informed
us about the ravages of the epidemic,” Nirala
wrote.
NIRALA: A LIFE MISSPENT

ALBERT CAMUS: PLAGUE
SAMSKARA by Jnanipath Awardee U.R.
Ananthamurthy
Love in the Time of Cholera
COVID
Gabriel Garcia MArquez: Plagues are like

imponderable dangers that surprise people.
They seem to have the quality of destiny: NYT

interview 1988
John Lennon: Imagine

Imagine there's no heavenIt's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
Ban-Ki Moon on India:

"It is only through free, unified and
collective mobilisation that India can achieve
lasting peace, justice and prosperity. India's
founding fathers understood this necessity,
it must remain at the heart of our future.
Mob lynching is tantamount to VIGILANTE
PUNISHMENT; harmful for both social
cohesion and democratic fabric of the
nation. If we continue to walk down the path
of nationalist and religious discrimination it
would be a SOCIAL CATASTROPHE; and will
set back the development of our nation for
generations
A fatherUddalaka Arunihas a conversation with

his sonShvetaketu:
Bring a Banyan fruit
here it is Sir
Cut it up
I've cut it up Sir
What do you see there??
These quite tiny seeds, Sir.
Now take one of them and cut it up
I've cut one up Sir
What do you see there?
Nothing Sir.
Then the father told him:
This is the finest essence Son, that you can't
even see.
The spirit and essence of things; use it in Look, on account of that finest essence, this
Philosophical questions; even the spirit of huge banyan tree stands here.
the Constitution/ the nation
It is these fine, invisible essence of individuals:
the self, society: its values, nation: its ideals and
the world: its unifying force that set the order of
things.
without the essence, the edifice is lost.
with the loss of the essence, everything is lost.
Nasadiya Sukta
There was neither non-existence nor existence then;

there was neither the realm of space nor the sky
beyond.
What stirred? Where? In whose protection?
Was there water, bottomlessly deep?
There was neither death nor immortality then.
There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day.
That one breathed, windless, by its own impulse.
Other than that, there was nothing beyond.
Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning;
with no distinguishing sign, all this was water.
The life force that was covered by emptiness, that
one arose through the power of heat.
Whence this creation has arisen-
perhaps it formed itself,
or perhaps it did not-
the one who looks down on it,
in the highest heaven,
only he knows
or perhaps he does not know
-Nasadiya hymn : Rig Veda 10.129
There was no beginning no end, the universe was

created and destroyed endlessly. While we are all
mere ripples in the fabric of space time.
How then did we begin to create these barriers of

religion/race/caste/ gender
Those who survived the camps were changed

forever by what they had experienced.
As Elie Wiesel, nearly 15 years old when he
Ghat Ghat Panchi bolta hain: Kabir entered Auschwitz, noted:
P R I M A RY SO U R C E
Avagha Rang Ek Zaala: Soyarabai Never shall I forget the little faces of the
children, whose bodies I saw turned into
Manuhar Manuhe Babe: Bhupen Hazarika wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.
Never shall I forget those flames which
Alakh Elahi ek hai, nam darya do consumed my faith forever. . . . Never shall I
Ram Rahim ek hai, naam darya do forget those moments which murdered
Krishna Karim ek hai, naam darya do my God and my soul and turned my dreams to
Kashi Kaba ek hai, ek Ram Rahim dust. . . . Never.
ELIE WIESEL,quoted inNight
Alakh (the Invisible) and Elahi (the Lord) are
one, with two names
Ram and Rahim are one, with two names
Krishna and Karim are one, with two names
Kashi and Kaaba are but one, with two
names.
“The fall of the Berlin Wall showed us that

dreams can come true - and that nothing has to
stay the way it is, no matter how high the
hurdles might seem to be,” said Dr Merkel, who
is now 60 and has led united Germany since
2005.
“It showed that we have the power to shape our
destiny and make things better,” she said,
noting that people in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and
elsewhere around the world should feel
heartened by the example of the wall’s sudden
30 years of Fall of Berlin Wall: Merkel demise.
“It was a victory of freedom over bondage and
it’s a message of faith for future generations
that they can tear down the walls - the walls of
dictators, violence and ideologies.”
Pavamāna Mantra[edit]
The Pavamana Mantra is from the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28)
असतो मा सद्गमय । Asatō mā sadgamaya
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय । tamasō mā jyōtirgamaya
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय । mr̥tyōrmā amr̥taṁ gamaya
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
- Br̥hadāraṇyakopaniṣat 1.3.28
Translation:
From untruth lead us to Truth.
From darkness lead us to Light.
From death lead us to Immortality.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace
Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,
Lord of the Rings And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
. Let us remember and take heart

from Jawaharlal Nehru’s words in the Discovery
of India.
He quotes the chorus from the
Bacchae of Euripides, translated by Gilbert
Murray.
“What else is wisdom?
What of man’s endeavour/
Or God’s high grace, so lovely and so great?/
To stand from fear set free, to breathe and
wait;/
To hold a hand uplifted over Hate;/
and shall not Loveliness be loved for ever?”
Extending the process of creating a National

Register of Citizens across the country will
most certainly create a series of electronic-data
based pogroms (Page 1, “ Centre plans NRC
exercise all over the country: Amit Shah” and
Editorial – “Senseless”, both November 21). It
will further deepen the fissures that exist. In
this connection the observations made by Ornit
Shani, award winning author of How India
became Democratic, are worth quoting. On
page 129 it says: “The preparation of rolls was a
state building project of the largest possible
scale in terms of its population and territorial
reach. Thus, at a time when ‘who is an Indian’
was in question, and ‘where is India’ was in flux,
the preparation of the roll became an important
factor in the actual binding of the territories of
the provinces and the states, and the people
into a unified democratic order.” It would be
tragic if we disregarded the constitutional
mandate entrusted to us based on these ideas.
of a judge was not just to interpret law but also to

make law. It is, perhaps, this streak of activism that
influenced him to pave the way for public interest
litigation (PIL) in India. In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v.
Union of India & Others, Bhagwati turned a post card
from an activist into a petition and gave a landmark
ruling that freed hundreds of bonded labourers. The
PIL became an important ally of social activists
across the country in their battles against systemic
oppression and structural violence. As External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, Bhagwati
will be remembered as a people’s judge.
If the introduction of the idea of PIL marked the
pinnacle of his judicial career, Bhagwati had his low
point during the Emergency. He was one of the five
judges in the Supreme Court bench that ruled in the
ADM Jabalpur (habeas corpus) case in April, 1976.
The SC upended the high court ruling in the case and
held that the right to life ceased to exist under the
Emergency provisions, a ruling that remains a stain
on the otherwise stellar record of India’s highest
court. Justice H.R. Khanna was the lone dissenter;
that act of superior wisdom and integrity cost him the
CJI’s post, but history earmarked him as a hero of
modern India. In 2011, Bhagwati, now 89, pleaded
guilty. He said: “The Supreme Court should be
ashamed about the ADM Jabalpur judgment. I plead
guilty. I don’t know why I yielded…”. A year earlier, the
SC itself had apologised for the 1976 ruling, which, it
said, violated the fundamental rights of a large
number of people in the country.
The apology, indeed, came late in the day. But
Bhagwati was upfront about his complicity in the
court’s disgraceful compromise with the
establishment. He didn’t shift blame or put it on the
system. It was “an act of weakness of my part”, he
said. Such unqualified confessions of guilt are rare in
the Indian establishment
https://youtu.be/AXW5oi0_epg
3000 years ago, a great poet of India,Kariyan
Pungun-dra-naar, wrote in Tamil the most
ancient language of the world:
“Ya-dum, Oo-ray, Yaav-rum Ke-rir”
which meansWe belong to all places, and to
everyone.
This sense of belonging beyond borders, is
unique to India.
In the Ganas(republic assemblies) like that of

Lichchavis, voting used to be done for
various issues. Voting was done by pieces of
woods called salakas. The collector of votes
was the Salaka-gahapaka: the collector of
votes. He was chosen for the job on account
of his reputation for honesty and
transparency.
Imagination, Innovation, observation
”
Life
“To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or
to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?" said Shakespeare,
in Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1
Social media trolling and hatred ultimately

leading to a murder
China's Costliest Pearl

Resurgence of Asia: Diversity in Development
Nudge
Poor Economics
The Third Pillar: Raghuram Rajan
How India Sees the world
Asian Drama: Gunnar Myrdal
Health
Dr. Sujatha Do we Care

amartya sen
Paul Farmer
Atul Gawande
Paradigm of global health
Significance of health
Colonial impact
Health status at the eve of independence
Trajectory of health
Poor investments, lack of public health care
Middle Class Exit: Economic Survey
Out of pocket expenditure
cross country analysis-Kerala vs Bihar-Patna Nalanda
Medical hospital annual flood- Bihar Litchi deaths--
Gorakhpur Japanese Encephalitis---Drug related HIV
crisis in Manipur--Mental health issues in Jammu and
Kashmir--Cancer belts, CVD and Drug overdose in
Punjab, pollution related deaths in Delhi, malnutrition
in belts like Kalahandi in Odisha, even a state like
Kerala has pockets of underdevelopment-like
Appapudi!!--tribal dominated area. Groundwater
contamination-Uranium pollution in Rajasthan.
Further double whammy of overnutrition and
undernutrition-lifecycle impact-intergenerational
Vicious cycle of poverty
oasis of health facilities in a desert of poor health
ecosystem
IAS Hollikerri
Amla Candy intervention
Food fortification
Amartya Sen-Primary health care; make health a
political issue
Alma Ata Declaration
Kerala model, Delhi Mohalla Clinics, Mobile clinics
Sporting culture
Awareness of good nutrition
Scourge of cardiovascular diseases: urban mobility-
cycling, walking
Infections and Inequalities: Paul Farmer

Capability Trap: L. Pritschett
History:
Pratham reports
The Hindu extended feature on education
Draft National Education Plan
Homeschooling
Global models of education
Education as a medium of transforming
societies
TARA WESTOVER: EDUCATED
Education Kathyayani Amma
Margaret Atwood: spelling: word after word
after word is power
Gandhian model of education
Shantiniketan model
Education and innovation as the foundation of
USA
Humanities--- STEM continuum
Integration of sports, environmental ethics
Vasant valley school example of a boy coming
out
Personal effort in Political: Queen visits

Nkrumah
Inequities of world: Theatres of Cold War
America-French-Russian Revolution
How history shapes the world colonialism
World wars
Cold War-theatres-Korea, Vietnam
The quest for peace Ethiopian Prime Minister
Amla candy rescues

Assam nutrition drive
https://www.thehindu.com/profile/author/Rahul-
Karmakar-16396/
Rahul Karmakar
Sweet-sour solution: Gooseberry candy adds

nutrients to fight anaemia, among women in
particular. | Photo Credit: The Hindu
Women unwilling to consume

iron-folic acid tablets could opt
for alternative.
A drive for good nutrition among pregnant
women and children in a
southern Assam district has been given a
gooseberry candy twist. This follows a
report that the targeted groups find the
prescribed iron-folic acid tablets repulsive.
According to the 2015 National Family
Health Survey, 47.2% of the women of
reproductive age in Hailakandi were
anaemic. The district, thus, has the most
anaemic children below 5 years,
adolescents and women of reproductive
age in Assam.
But mothers, pregnant women and children
in the district, data reveal, consume only
24.3% of the total iron-folic acid tablets
that the district receives and distributes.
“The tablets given to these groups are
often not consumed as they feel nauseated
or have constipation issues. There are also
myths that these tablets will kill them or
What we know today is that the Indian

population is mostly the result of four large
migrations that happened in prehistory: the
First Indians, or out of Africa migrants who
reached here around 65,000 years ago; the
West Asians or Iranians who mixed with the
First Indians to spearhead the agricultural
revolution in northwestern India and
subsequently, the Harappan Civilisation; the
East Asians who reached India around 2000
BCE and brought Austroasiatic languages; and
lastly, the Central Asian Steppe pastoralists
who migrated to India between 2,000 BC and
1,500 BC, bringing Indo-European languages to
South Asia. There were many more migrations
after these, but none of them—Huns, Sakas,
Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Mughals, British or
Portuguese—drastically changed our
demography.
It is clear is that we are a multi-source
civilisation—we created a unique, common
civilisation out of multiple migrations and
ancestries that came here at different points of
time, and this civilisation of ours has had a
significant impact on the world. We are all
migrants and we are all mixed. Unity in diversity
is not a cliche; it is the most accurate
description of us. And there are few things
more exhilarating than this.
A recent study of the Indus Valley .2 distinct
genetic lineage very searches suggest that
there was a movement of people from east to
west as the Harappan people‘s presence is
evident at sites like Golu in Turkmenistan and
Sunday Sultan in Iran as the Harappan is
treated with Mesopotamia, Egypt, the
Persian Gulf and almost all across South Asia
there is bound to be movement of people
resulting in the mixture into history. India
had a heterogeneous population right from
the beginning of city life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4k2jHNNid8
“The strength of the pack is the wolf, andthe

strength of the wolf is the pack.”
– The Law of the Jungle
When a man is in doubt what to do, he goes

wherever he happens to be first called.
Kopal-Kundala, Chapter IV: With the
Kapálik translated by Henry Arthur
Deuteros Phillips (1885)
Central Park 5 case

Chernobyl
https://scroll.in/article/877928/the-pangti-story-
how-a-nagaland-village-turned-from-hunting-
ground-to-safe-haven-for-amur-falcon
https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-
india/nagaland/the-pangti-story-throws-light-
on-naga-villages-transition-from-predators-to-
protectors-of-amur-falcon-5139781/
CHANDIDAS "Shobar upor manush shotto tahar upore

nai" ("Above all is humanity, none else"
Silapadhikaram, Manimekalai: spiritual
empowerment of women
Bhakti poet Andal
refer to Gupta era literature
LAL DED: WOMEN SPIRITUAL EMPOWERMENT,
UNIVERSAL, LEGACY-LIVE S OF ALL
KASHMIRIS
Importance of good speech:
Basavanna: Nudithare mutthina haaradhan
thirabeku
Words should be like pearls strung on a
Bhakti thread
Marathi Mystic: Soyarabai " Avagha Rang Ek
Zaala"- doing away with the differences
amongst us the way to resolve conflict
Jack Ma led ALIBABA transformed 600 plus
FIGHTING POVERTY THROUGH E- rural villages, Taobao hamlets into rural e-
COMMERCE commerce hubs making them centres of
prosperity. World wide recognised e-commerce
power to address rural poverty
Dying to survive propelled lowering import
duties on generic medicines for Cancer from
India by China
The 1831 classic novel The Hunchback of Notre
LITERATURE / ART INFLUENCING POLICY Dame- in which the protagonist the one eyed
and deaf Quasimodo is the bell ringer of Notre
Dame- rekindled interest of Paris's elite in the
dying gothic building. In 1844 King Louis
Phillippe ordered its renovation. In 20 years it
was restored and lasted till 2019 Inferno.
TRUTH NEVER DAMAGES A CAUSE THAT IS

JUST
IN THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS, TRUTH
WILL EMERGE
Science and Nature:
cannot be viewed in silos or in isolation
Nature has been the powerhouse and the
source of all major discoveries
C.V. Raman's love for nature enabled him
to observe the Mediterranean Sea and its
changing hues. He thus questioned the
existing belief that the water body is blue
merely because of the sky's reflection. It
ultimately led him to propound the
Raman effect. The Nobel Prize of 1930
put India on the scientific map, otherwise
struggling for identity.
Jagdish Chandra Bose's eye for detail
and attention to natural processes led
him to discover the Creso graph which
measures the tiniest movement and
Science growth in a plant. It concluded that plants
have a stimuli similar to other organisms.
Good music and pleasant environment
enable growth, harsh words and noises
leads to degrowth and degradation.
Homi Jahangir Baba: institution builder,
clarity of thought and action. When in
Cambridge sent to ultimately make a
career in Engineering, he found love for
Physics and wrote to his father: he only
finds his calling in Physics.
And thus he did wonders in Physics.
Guided the Nuclear Development of
the nation.
AMAL KUMAR RAYCHAUDHARI
Raychaudhari equation,
but only recognised in country after
he was recognised in the West.
Inclusive precepts: visit to the Vavar mosque in

Erumeli is integral part of the pilgrimage. There
is little role of money or political influence.
Everyone, rich or poor, powerful or plebeian
enters the temple up the same steep 18 steps
bearing theirumudis on their heads. Classless
spirit of devotees.
Sabarimala
A respectful and empathetic enegagement

accompanied by moral pressure and peaceful
protects can make the pursuit more acceptable.
Laws and societal norms need to meet at the
halfway mark.
Bhupen Hazarika In his songAmay Ekjon Shada Manush Dao:
colour of everyone's blood is red, irrespective
of race
Manuhe Manuhar Babe: If man would not think

for man/ with a little sympathy/ tell me who will-
comrade?/if we repeat history/ if we try to
buy/or sell humanity/ won't we be wrong-
comrade?
5 milion women in Kerala creating theThe

Vanitha Mathil (Women's Wall)
Invisible to Visible
Public eruptions: Manipuri women against
the rape of a woman: "Indian army rape us".
extreme expression.
Delhi post 2012 Nirbhaya
Women
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya- went against

Gandhi's diktat of women not participating
in the salt law. She broke the salt law and
turned
up at the Bombay Stock Exchange to
gleefully sell the forbidden salt.
HANSA MEHTA
Women-Human Rights-Feminism preceded Hillary Clinton's 1995 argument
that women rights are human right
Hansa Mehta of India, the only other female
delegate to the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights in 1947-48, was a staunch
fighter for women’s rights in India and abroad.
She is widely credited with changing the phrase
“All men are born free and equal” to “All human
beings are born free and equal” in Article 1 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The cloud hides the sun but cannot
extinguish the day.
Rabindranath Tagore to Romain Rolland
Johann Wolfganga Von Goethe Divide and rule the politician cries; Unite and
lead, is watchword of the wise.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.- ESSENCE OF
EMPATHY Instead of buikding walls in our iaginations, we
need to try to tear them down and
reconciliation is greatly promoted by this
spiritual exercise.
Dream that one day down in Alabama, with its
vicious racists, black boys and black girls, will
be able join hands with little black girls and
black boys as sisters and brothers.
KING's general vision- a future where children
can
On October 26, 2018, a majestic herd of 13

elephants were passing through the fields to
reach the Brahmani river on the other side of
the fields. As the elephants faded into the
Environment (Man-Animal Conflict) distance, there was a sound like whiplash
meeting flesh, hundred times louder. 8 majestic
Gajarajs, the mghty elephants were running in
all directions before they collapsed and died.
They were electrocuted due to a low hanging
11 kv power line
first I-league match in Kashmir
home grown REAL KASHMIR club- team
steeped in symbolism-estb by SHAMIM
MEHRAJ A MUSLIM AND SANDEEP CHATTOO
A KASHMIR PANDIT- EFFORT TO GIVE
COMMUNITY HOPE TO REEMERGE AFTER
2014 FLOODS.
2018 NOVEMBER MATCH- IN THE GROUND-
UNDER SHADOW OF A MOSWUE AND
Sports binding communities
THE SHANKARACHARYA- THAT ADD TO

SYMBOLISM
Margaret Atwood- poemSpelling: A word

after a word/after a word is power.
96 year old Karthyayini Amma- oldest
Education- Karthyayini Amma- Atwood person ever to take part in Kerala's literacy
examination, getting 98 out of 100
The Philosophy of the school room in one
generation will be the philosophy of
government in the next. Abraham Lincoln
In hisGrundlegung Zur Metaphysik de Sitton,
Immanual Kant says,“So act as to treat
humanity, whether in their own person or in
that of any other, in every case as an end
withal, never as means only”. Kant’s
observation is even more valid today. The
citizens are ends in themselves, rather than
as means to other ends.
Hannah Arendt inThe Human Condition
(1958) suggests that the ability to tell a
On history story is the way we become historical.
History allows us to understand where we
come rom and how we have got to where we
are.
FALLING ON DEAF EARS/ A PARALYSED
ECONOMY/ INSTITUTIONS RUNNING ON NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS ON DISABILITY
CRUTCHES
WHEN HE WAS 8 YEARS OLD, HE DECIDED HE

WILL BE A PHYSICIAN FOR CHILDREN.
AFTER COMPLETING MEDICAL SCHOOL, HE
DENIS MUKWEGE RETURNED BACK TO CONGO AND
DISCOVERED HIGH MATERNAL MORTALITY
RATE. HE CREATED A CENTRE FOR SAFE
MATERNAL CARE. THE FIRST PATIENT HE
TREATS WAS A SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM. HE
SOON REALISED THAT SEXUAL ASSAULT IN
THE REGION WAS BEING USED AS A WEAPON
OF WAR. AS THE SITUATION WORSENED, HE
WENT TO THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE ISSUE. 4
PILLARS
SOON, MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICALLY,
SOCIALECONOMIC SUPPORT AND LAST IS
LEGAL SUPPORT.
ONE DIMENSION WAS NOT ENOUGH.
CHANGING HATE WITH LOVE.
DRAW A LINE, NEVER ACCEPT THE WAY
WOMEN ARE BEING DESTROYED THE WAY
1000 yr old Roman empire collapsed due to
viral spread of network born threats:
of religion (christianity)
disease (bbonic plague) & migration (german
Niall Ferguson: THE SQUARE AND THE truves.
TOWER spread due to phys and spirt connectivity
Today- network borne threats- cyber,
pandemic, global warming
diverging approaches to common challenges:

USA dismantling post world war order,
multilateralism
Britain's gradual demise from global
stage
tour d'horizon of world EU divided- right conservatives of Italy,
Poland
vs. Merkel, Macron upholding Shengen
free passport zones
Africa, Latin America off the radar
Iran Saudi clashing in Middle East
China, India-islands of stability
Robert McNamara US Secr of defence in the
Vietnam War had asked his staff to keep an eye
numbers are not everything, spirits and on hundred different variables to assess their
emotions cannot be contained in numbers position in the war. Using that data he kept
arguing for a long time that the Americans were
winning the war, which they eventually lost. So
one must remember that spirit and emotions of
people cannot be contained in figures alone.
Shikwa-e-zulmat-e-shab se to behtar tha
Apne hisse ki koi shama jalate jate
Pakistani Poet Ahmed Faraz How much better it would have been, if
instead of going on cursing the dark of the
evening, we had lit the candle that was within
our hands to light.
A caving expedition gone horribly wrong led to

a group of young football players being trapped
in a cave in Thailand form June 23 to July.
While the boys and their coach showed
exemplary grit in holding on, the rescue
operations saw unprecedented level of
international cooperation.British diving
Power of Human Cooperation experts, para rescue team from Indo Pacific
command, specialists from Japan, China,
Israel, American billionare entrepreneur Elon
Muskcame together along with Thai NAVY
SEALs.Adversity brings out the best in us, as
also power of cooperation which can move
mountains and offer respite from a rock and
a hard place.
Japenese company RAKUTEN in 2010 swiftly
shifted to adopting English as language of all
communication and work. Even though most of
Cultural Globalisation: English as Lingua its employees spoke Japanese. They were
Franca assisted with language learning. It hashelped
the company adopt an international mindset.
Others like Honda, Bridgestone also followed
suit.
On a warm afternoon in Kabul in June, a group
of Afhans, young and old have congregated in
the grounds close to one of the city's largest
mosques. The crowd has convened to heara
Peace, no war caravan of peace activists who travelled 700
km by foot demanding end to decades old
Afghan Conflictthat has claimed countless
lives. They assert:"THIS IS NOT OUR WAR,
WE DON'T WANT THIS WAR"
Kabir on the need to look within The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not
within itself: it wanders in quest of grass.
SIVA VAIDYANATHAN: ANTI SOCIAL
MEDIA
Critique of Facebook as a challenge to Democracy

worldwide. Two problems- nature of
platform(massive surveillance unit which farms
people' data) and how people use it (also advertising
companies targetted on users)
If you wanted to build a machine that would distribute
propaganda to millions of people, distract them from
important issues, energize hatred and bigotry, erode
social trust, undermine respectable journalism, foster
doubts about science, and engage in massive
surveillance all at once, you would make something a
lot like Facebook. Of course, none of that was part of
the plan.
InAntisocial Media, Siva Vaidhyanathan explains how
Facebook devolved from an innocent social site
hacked together by Harvard students into a force
that, while it may make personal life just a little more
pleasurable, makes democracy a lot more
challenging. It's an account of the hubris of good
intentions, a missionary spirit, and an ideology that
sees computer code as the universal solvent for all
human problems. And it's an indictment of how
"social media" has fostered the deterioration of
democratic culture around the world, from facilitating
Russian meddling in support of Trump's election to
the exploitation of the platform by murderous
authoritarians in Burma and the Philippines.
Facebook grew out of an ideological commitment to
data-driven decision making and logical thinking. Its
culture is explicitly tolerant of difference and dissent.
Both its market orientation and its labor force are
global. It preaches the power of connectivity to
change lives for the better. Indeed, no company
better represents the dream of a fully connected
planet "sharing" words, ideas, and images, and no
company has better leveraged those ideas into
wealth and influence. Yet no company has
contributed more to the global collapse of basic
tenets of deliberation and democracy. Both
authoritative and trenchant,Antisocial Mediashows
h F b k' i i t
A day before the Ethiopian Prime Minister were

to travel to meet Eritrean President seeking to
resolve the contentious issues that have had a
20 year lingering war, he said:There was no
longer a border between Eritrea and Ethiopia
because a bridge of love has destroyed it.
Peace, therefore is possible and in the
interest of all. In the Eritrean, Ethiopian
scenario: Ethiopia seeks to reduce its
dependence on Djibouti and seek access to
Eritrea Ethiopia Eritrean ports while Eritrea seeks to recover
from its economic stagnation and diplomatic
isolation with Ethiopia's cooperation.
conflict gave Eritrean leader pretext of
concentrating power, large conscription
program, authoritarian
Become gateways for global trade and
counter terror operations. International
community should aid, political wisdon of
people
Greece and Macedonia
Ramkishan Yadav hails from Begusarai district
in Bihar. He has been in Delhi for the past 7
months to complete the treatment of his 11 year
old son who suffers from a treatable form of
bone cancer. The father and son live on the
The Case of Cancer Refugees footpath in front of the main gate of the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences in the national
capital. When they first arrived in the city, they
had rented a room nearby. As the trearnebt got
prolonged the room was a luxury and they had
to move out into the street. This ordeal is
unfortunately not exceptional.
Renaissance Man: A man who excelled in

every field/ all educated people create art
and master every area of study
Renaissance Woman: upper class women
should know the classics and be
charming. However not expected to seek
fame. Should inspire art but rarely create
it. Little influence in politics
Other Renaissances:
Tong and Song dynasties in China
saw periods of great artistic and
technological advances.
Like Italian Renaissance, the
achievements of the Tang and Song
dynasty had its roots in earlier time-
Western domination over Ideas/ Chinese the Han dynasty.
Renaissance After collapse of Han, China had
experienced turmoil
gunpowder and printing invented
literary masterpieces created
Breakthroughs in Architecture,
painting, poetry
Song Painting: Waiting for Guests by
Lamplight
Unending curiosity Da Vinci's Mona Lisa: subject of research:
what is she thinking?
In greek: No place/ English: ideal place
In the wake of Renaissance,Thomas Morewrote
Utopia the bookUTOPIA: It is about an imaginary land
where greed, corruption and war has been
weeded out
The Book of the City of Ladies: Christine one of the first european writers to question
de Pizan (Renaissance writer) different treatment of boys and girls
Johann Gutenberg 1440- developed a printing press-
Suleyman's law code- penalties fo criminal

acts, bureacratic and financial corruption.
Gretest lawgivers of all time sought-reduce bribes, no imprisonment without
trials, rejected promotions not based on merit.
idea of balanced budget for governments
1000 B.C.In India:Aryan, Dravidian, Arabs,
African interacted due to migration and
resulted in the Vedic culture, a forerunner of
Hinduism
700 A.D. In East Africa, Islamic and Christian
cultures interaxted due to trade and religious
conversions leading to a new trade language
Cultural blending in history called Swahili
1500 A.D.- Mexico-Spanish and Aztec cultures
interacted due to the Spanish conquest led to
Mestizo Culture, Mexican Catholicism
A.D. 1900- United States- European, Asian,
Caribbean cultures interacted due to
migration and religious freedom resulting in
Cultural diversity
In the 17th century, Jahangir's wife the Persian
princess Nur Jahan held the reins of power
during his rule.
Women leaders In the20th century Indian subcontinent has
seen women leaders like Indira Gandhi,
Benazir Bhutto, Chandrika Kumaratunga (Sri
Lanka President), Khaleda Zia, Sheikh
Hasina, Pratibha Patil
in 1492, Cristopher Columbus convinced
Spain to finance a bold plan of reaching Asia
via Atlantic in the west. He mistakenly
One decision can change the world, set thought he reached East Indies on reaching
the ball rolling an island in Caribbean. But his voyage
opened way for European colonisation of
Americas, a process that forever changed
the world.
Throughout the night of August 4 1789,

noblemen joined hands with the commoners
of the Third Estate in declaring their love for
liberty and equality.They supported the
National Assembly in sweeping away feudal
privileges of First and Second Estates, making
commoners equal to nobles and clergy. By the
morning, the Old Regime was Dead.
India on the midnight of 14-15th August 1947
witnessed a similar turn of history when it made
itsTryst with Destiny.By the morning of 15th
August, the colonial regime was dead as
India awoke to light and freedom.
Soon after the French Revolution declared its
ideals of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,
writerOlympe de Gougespublished a
declaration of therights of women, her ideas
were rejected. In 1793, she was declared an
enemy of the Revolution and executed.The
sentiments, therefore did not apply to all,
particularly not to women
During the Reign of Terror, in the number of

people guillotined, majority belonged to the
Third Estate, the lowest rung.Today, the
On Capital Punishment and Judiciary highest number ofundertrials and convicts in
India also belong to the lowest rung of the
society.Justice does have a dimension of class
and privelege.
Mary Astell in her book A Serious Proposal to
the Ladies, written in the year 1694/17th
century asked a question: If all men are born
free, how is it that all women are born slaves
Philosophes challenged many ideas, but

traditional view to women
Ex: Rousseau, progressive ideas on
education, but women-only educate to
be helpful wife and mother
against women reading novels:
fiction/idleness
Mary Astell- A Serious Proposal to the
Ladies
Women and Enlightenment Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of
the Rights of Woman 1792: women like
men need education to become
virtuos and useful, against Rousseau.
urged women- enter male dominated
fields of medicine and politics
Also contribution: Paris and other cities,
wealthy women helped spread
Enlightenment ideas through social
gatherings called salons
In a plush South Delhi hospital at the heart of
the national capital, 55 year old Mr. Nagarjuna is
admitted. He is about to get a cosmetic face lift
from one of the country's top most cosmetic
surgeon. Mr. Nagarjuna works in the Television
Industry and thus wants to maintain a rather
younger look on his face. He ensures he gets a
Preventive Health Check up done every few
months to ensure he is medically doing good.
His room at the hospital is equipped with air-
conditioners, sofas for attendants, a Television,
Health for All a personal toilet, there is timely food service
and a nurse on call. He is at ease about his
surgery.
In the month of July 2018, 25 year old Upendra
from Darbhanga district in Bihar was admitted
to theNalanda Medical College and Hospital
in Patna.He has suffered a fatal accident which
has injured his head, rib cage and face. After a
couple of critical surgeries, he was admitted to
the Internal Care Unit for stabilising further.
However, with monsoons came heavy rainfall
which drowned the Kankarbagh area and the hospital.

In the ICU, he does not have doctors and nurses now
but knee length dirty water, with fishes and snakes
swimming.
The stark contrast between Mr. Nagarjuna and
Upendra highlights the inequitable nature of India's
health system. The irony also lies in the fact that this
is not a comparison between a state capital city and a
village in the hinterlands of India. This is a
comparison between two state capitals of India but
the difference is almost as stark as between a Third
World nation and a First World country. The two
worlds coexist in India today. This coexistence is a
cause of both worry and hope.
Worry because the inequities between different
regions, the private sector and the public is
disproportionately huge.
Hope, because we have leapfrogged to achieve for
ourselves capacity, infrastructure, expertise and
experience in treating some of the most challenging
pathologies. Challenging surgeries, low cost medical
equipments, generic medicines or improved
accessibility. We have today the best in class
capacity and infrastructure for health.
The problem is of universal access. The challenge is
that the best of services are limited for a few people,
in few regions and at an exorbitant cost. The handful
of renowned government institutions which attract
people from the periphery like AIIMS Delhi, Ram
Manohar Lohia, Patna Medical College Hospital etc
are overburderned. They present a problem of not
merely dealing with more patients than the capacity
permits but also of Health refugees. These are
people who are left on the streets of Delhi, Mumbai
staying on for prolonged treatments, as they cannot
afford shelter for themselves.
Health has to be seen holistically. The Alma Ata
Declaration defined four constituents of healthcare,
Preventive, Curative, Rehabilitative and Promotive
Care. In essence there has to be a life cycle approach
towards health. The reason for poor health record of
people cannot be accorded to a single reason.
reason It has
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We should all be

feminists- explores the Feminist idea to assert
its inclusive nature.
‘I would like to ask that we begin to dream
about and plan for a different world. A fairer
world. A world of happier men and happier
women who are truer to themselves. And this is
how to start: we must raise our daughters
differently. We must also raise our sons
differently…
innovative initiative of enhancing political
mobilisation, a group does free plumbing and
Fixing Hong Kong repair work in households along with
conversations to inculcate a spirit of
togetherness and collectivity
John F Kennedy Don't ask what your country can do for you, ask
what you can do for your country
On 15 August 1947, at the stroke of the
midnight hour when half the world slept and the
other half lay chaind by colonialism, the
epochal question before the Indian people
switched. Until then it waswhen shall we get
freedom,After 15 August it became:what shall
we do with freedom?
Ancient India was home to some of the famous

centres of learning like Takshashila, Nalanda
and Pushpagiri which attracted knowledge
seekers and savants from across the country
and the world
Contribution of decimal system and zero
advancements in field of metallurgy
saa vidya yaa vimuktaye
Education All that is ancient is not necessarily good. Nor
should you think that all that is modern is
necessarily bad.Wise persons carefully analyse
and come to a conclusion.\
Universities are the homes of Intellectual
adventure

Wangari Mathaai deliberately cultivated within communities and
conflict ensues
CRAZY RICH ASIAN
BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT IN AMERICAN
ROMA: Indigenous people of Mexico: lead CINEMA-ASIAN STORY-MUCH COMMERCIAL
actress: asserted people of every PROMINENCE
background can scale greatest heights
BAREFOOT COLLEGE, AN EXTRAORDINARY

SCHOOL IN TILONIA VILLAGE, RAJASTHAN,
HELPED TURN RURAL WISDOM INTO A
FOUNTAINHEAD FOR DEVELOPMENT
BAREFOOT COLLEGE EMPOWERS
MARGINALISED WOMEN BY TRAINING THEM
TO BECOME SOLAR ENGINEERS, ARTISANS,
DENTISTS, BROADCASTERS AND DOCTORS
SOLAR MAMAS/BAREFOOT COLLEGE FOR THEIR OWN VILLAGES
SOLAR ENERGY TRAINING LATEST INITIATIVE
WORKS ON GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY-MAKING
VILLAGES SELF RELIANT
MORE THAN 3 MILLION PEOPLE TRAINED
BUNKER ROY
Be firm in your faith, be courageous in action
Keep your head erect—fear not;
Forget all your differences, let all march
HAO DHARMETE DHEER onwards,
God is with us—victory is assured;
Many languages, many creeds, many costumes,
Shri. Atul Prasad Sen Let there be unity in this diversity,
Watching the rise of the great Indian Nation,
The world will be filled with wonder
The world will be filled with wonder”
In Paasa village of Kandhamal district-
a makeshift gong is rung 8-10 times in case of a
medical emergency, once if somebody in the
GONG THAT KEEPS A VILLAGE GOING village dies, to call villagers to attend the
funeral, it rings twice
for a call for villagemeeting, five times.
Lack of mobile connectivity, no electricity for
days at end
TARA WESTOVER: EDUCATED
“The year was 1945. Towards the end of a gruesome

world war, the world powers decided to carve up the
Korean peninsula along the 38th parallel.
“Before partition, North and South Korea might have
been homogeneous in every respect, but after the
division, they steered onto different paths. While
schools in the North chose to ‘educate’ their children
in the worship of a cult leader, ideological
indoctrination and servility, its southern counterpart
focused on liberal education, innovation and
economic growth.
“Today, almost seven decades later, the difference in
the fates of these people and the trajectories of both
these nations cannot be more stark. One is known for
gross violation of human rights, while the other a
champion of liberal democracy. One is known for gut-
wrenching poverty, while the other unbridled
prosperity.
“This only proves the age old adage that the destiny
of a nation is indeed shaped in its classrooms.”
Tara Westover, born to a fundamentalist Mormon

family in rural Idaho, USA was haphazardly
homeschooled by her parents in crfts, religious texts
and devotional literature. At 16 she moved out to gain
an education for herself and studied at Harvard and
Cambridge moving away from her family.
She realises education is an exercise in achievinga
"will to change", to accomodate and adapt and
break down rigid barriers with new perspectives
gained from novel experiences.
For Tara Westover: learning is a passion not for
making a living but a way of making a person,
capable of taking in her words "custody of my own
mind"
INGabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a

Death Foretold, the narrative is about how an
entire town is well aware that two brothers are
out to killSantiago Nasarto avenge their family
honour. All of them know about the spot where
he is to be killed and the timing. Yet Nasar did
Not recognizing imminent threats not recognise the omen.
about the ignorance and irresponsibility
of the onlookers
the murderers as responsible as all
others who did nothing to stop the
murder
Crime, environment, anything
Social and environmental development > Crude
GDP
Degrowth Gandhian Sarvodaya
African Ubuntu: You are therefore I am
Latin American: Buen Vivier: Good Life for
humans and ecosystems
Chemistry nobel 2018- directed evolution
pathbreaking cancer treatments, biofuel
engineering. to observe nature, learn from
ENVIRONMENT the principles of nature
From nature, so much to learn Frances Arnold, Chemistry Nobel laureate:
The very bestinventor and engineerof all times
whohas not been awarded yet is nature.
Intricate principles that support and create new
life. New solutions to important problems, lie in
nature
15 YR OLD GRETA THUNBERG at COP24
KATOWICE Until you start focusing on what needs to be
done rather than what is politically possible,
there is no hope.We can’t solve a crisis
without treating it as a crisis.
Prithvi Sukta ”
Life.
WHERE DO UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS
BEGIN? CLOSE HOME, SO CLOSE THEY
CANNOT BE SEEN ON ANY MAPS OF THE
WORLD. YET THEY ARE THE WORLD OF THE
INDIVIDUAL PERSON, THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
HE LIVES IN, SCHOOL HE ATTENDS, FARM OR
HUMAN RIGHTS: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT FACTORY HE WORKS IN. THIS IS WHERE
PEOPLE SEEK EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, EQUAL
DIGNITY, NO DISCRIMINATION. UNLESS THESE
RIGHTS HAVE MEANING THERE, THEY HAVE
NO MEANING ELSEWHERE. THESE HAVE TO
BE PROTECTED HERE, ELSE SEEKING THEM IN
THE LARGER WORLD IS IN VAIN.
WEF_GHCR_2017.pdf | Powered by Box

The world is endowed with a vast wealth of
human talent.
The ingenuity and creativity at our collective
disposal
provides us with the means not only to address
the great
challenges of our time but also, critically, to
build a future
that is more inclusive and human centric. All too
often
however, human potential is not realized, held
back either
by inequality or an unrealistic and outdated
faith on the
part of policymakers that investment in small
sub sections
of highly skilled labour alone can drive
sustainable,
inclusive growth.
The
Global Human Capital Report 2017
proposes a
new benchmark for leaders to build the
workforces of the
future. The approach it advocates, based on
the principle
that all people deserve an equal opportunity to
develop
their talents, provides leaders with the means
and the tools
to navigate the changes we are already
witnessing from the
current wave of automation and successfully
navigate the
transition to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Buddha once asked his first disciple Ananda,

"Have you heard, Ananda that the Vajjians had
full and frequent public assemblies?
Ananda replied: Lord, so I have heard.
the Blessed one rejoined:So long as the
Vajjians hold these full and frequent public
PArliamentary/ valye of conversation assemblies, so long they
may be expected not to decline but to
prosper"
Hiren Mukherjee a veteran Parliamentarian

once narrated this exchange in context of
Indian Parliament in the Nehruvian era.
“Kheencho na kamanon ko na talwar nikalo/Jab
tope muqaabil ho to akhbar nikalo” (Neither pull
the string of your bow, nor unsheathe your
sword/when facing the canon, bring out a
newspaper)
media
he more fearless and alert the watchdog is, the
more brightly democracy will shine. Journalism
has been called the fourth pillar of democracy:
Vidhaika, Karyapalika, Nyaypalika, and,
Khabarpalika, the fourth pillar.
George Orwell's '1984', recollecting which he
said , "Freedom is the freedom to say that two
plus two makes four. If that is granted, all else
follows."
https://www.livelaw.in/columns/press-
conference-collegium-cji-gogoi-142149
William wordsworth: Bliss was it in th
(Dayave dharmad mool vayyaa)
That is “Kindness is the basis of all faiths”.
Every human being must possess affection and
kindness in his heart for all living beings.
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2. Essay General Ideas

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