Do it yourself

  न चोरहार्यं न च राजहार्यं न भ्रातृभाज्यं न च भारकारी।   व्यये कृते वर्धत एव नित्यं विद्याधनं सर्वधनप्रधानम्॥ (Not stolen by thieves, not seized by kings, not divided amongst brothers, not heavy to carry. The more you spend, the more it flourishes always. The wealth of knowledge is the most important among all kind of wealth.) India stands at a pivotal moment in its journey to becoming a global economic powerhouse. With a young population, a burgeoning digital economy, accelerated clean energy transition, and an ambitious political leadership - the country has immense potential to enhance its participation in the global economy. However, there are several structural and systemic challenges that holding India back from realizing its full growth potential. In my view, five critical issues that are holding India back are – (i) an inadequate education system; (ii) a feudal governance structure; (iii) a sluggish justice delivery system: (iv) a broken civic services delivery system...

Not long ago, history used to be mostly an academic subject. The educated elite wrote, studied, analyzed, discussed, debated, formed, and altered history as per the available scientific evidence, their perceptions and affiliations. Their perceptions were perhaps deeply influenced by the political narrative and economic concerns of the times. The common people were however mostly concerned with their cultural traditions. These traditions passed through generations, have been generally regarded as history. Popular literature and other art forms, e.g. films, theater, drama, paintings, etc. also had significant influence on the common peoples' perception about history. For common people, the valor of Rajput Kings like Prithviraj Chauhan, Maharana Pratap etc., and sacrifice of queen Padmavati are established through ballads written by poets like Chand Bardai (Prithviraj Raso) and Malik Muhammad Jayasi (Padmavat). Disregarding what academic historians had to say about these legends, peop...