Dear Colleagues   

Another round of random reflections for your perusal:

  1. In north India, the month of January has been unusually cold, with heavy fog on most days. Several state governments periodically close primary schools because of such weather, sometimes pollution, sometimes cold or heat wave. Sudden holidays or rescheduling school hours disrupt learning process for children, as well as cause hardships to working parents. Resilience requires capacity to live with unpredictable weather patterns!
  2. The beginning of 2024 has been somewhat disappointing for Indian sports. Following the shocking defeat of Indian cricket team in the world cup finals in November last year, England defeated us in first test match last month. Then came the news of Indian women’s hockey team unable to qualify for Olympics this year. And, similar result for Indian men’s soccer team in Asian competition. Is this temporary difficult period with unfavourable stars, or there is something more structural?
  3. The diversity of India is reflected in myriad everyday ways. The festival of Sankranti (around January 14) is one such recent occasion. As the sun moves from south to north on this day, new year is celebrated in many communities in India as festival…Pongal in Tamilnadu, Bihu in Assam, khichdi in UP, Uttarayan in Gujarat, and Makar Sankranti in several other states. The period is also a marker for onset of harvesting and wedding festivals in different regions.
  4. India celebrated 75th Republic Day on January 26. For many Gen Y & Z youth, the meaning of republic is mostly associated with flag-hoisting and a grand parade in Delhi as well as throughout the country. While our colonial masters (UK) continue with monarchy even today, India chose to become a Republic after independence. Citizens….all citizens……especially youth…. have critical roles in participating in a Republic!
  5. Like many of you readers, I am also on some social media platforms, though not very active in all. On advice of my colleagues, I started becoming active on LinkedIn lately. Suddenly, I am receiving hordes of requests for possible employment. What has begun to surprise me that I am being offered jobs by recruiters, head-hunters et al. Some of these offers promise substantial compensation of Rs 200 per day (somewhat below minimum wage in Delhi)!

 

Stay well, sincerely

 

 

About the Author

A Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, USA) and an electronics engineer (IIT, Kanpur) with a graduation in management (IIM, Calcutta), Dr Rajesh Tandon is an internationally acclaimed leader and practitioner of participatory research and development. His journey with PRIA started in 1982, as a young IIM graduate wanting to do more than just complete his PhD fieldwork.

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