“India is not a poor country. It is a poorly managed country”. William Nanda Bissell.  
William Nanda Bissell is an interesting guy with interesting ideas. He is the CEO of Fabindia – a company that sources and markets the products of 40,000 craftspeople across India – potters, weavers, carpenters and many others who live by the ingenuity and skill of their heads and their hands. He has written an immensely readable book, called “Making...Read the full article »

“While Montessori education could open up creative channels in my daughter, it will not prepare her for the stress and competitions in the corporate world”. Hemalatha Iyer.   Hemalatha, a member of our New Constructs community, posted her honest assessment of the Montessori method and why she would not chose it for her daughter. While her own mother-in-law was a Montessori teacher and completely convinced about the merits...Read the full article »

“By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man—body, mind and spirit.  Literacy is not the end of education nor even the beginning.  It is only one of the means whereby man and woman can be educated.  Literacy in itself is no education.  I would therefore begin the child's education by teaching it a useful handicraft and enabling it to produce from the moment it begins its training.    I hold that the highest development...Read the full article »

“The love of a family is life’s greatest blessing”. Anonymous.   It was a chance encounter at an airport with an old friend.  My old friend Sandilya told me that since retiring he had been volunteering as the non-executive chairman of the SOS children’s villages in India. I was intrigued by his description of a community designed solely to help poor orphans. “Come and visit,” he urged.    That’s how my wife...Read the full article »

“To aid life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the basic task of the educator”. Maria Montessori.   It was a normal school class – noisy, a little chaotic. A few students paid attention to the teacher standing over them. But most of the kids pushed and shoved and screamed at each other. Two or three just stared off into space.   Next door, in the Montessori classroom, it was a different story. No pushing. No shoving. It was...Read the full article »

"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think". Anne Sullivan.  
I was conducting a Discover Your True Calling workshop at IIM, Indore last week. I had the afternoon free and decided to see the much acclaimed, high-grossing Bollywood movie – “3 Idiots”. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, largely because it is...Read the full article »

“Education demands the utilization of the inner powers of the child for his own instruction”. Maria Montessori.  
Teach for India – the Indian arm of Teach for America – recently invited me to teach a lesson in one of its schools. This was probably to reach out to potential corporate sponsors such as Mastek, where I am chairman of the board. I said yes.  I didn’t know what I was getting into.   A week in advance, I arranged a...Read the full article »

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you...Read the full article »

  "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack". Rudyard Kipling  
The old lion, a couple of lionesses and three playful cubs were just a few yards from our Jeep. The lion and the lionesses lazed in the sun, probably after a sumptuous meal of a zebra or wildebeest. The cubs strayed near a herd of wild buffalo, fifty yards away. Our guide told us that the buffalos had poor eyesight but if they caught the scent of the cubs...Read the full article »