Midway into December, I get a call from an unknown no. that flashes Scotland. Who do I know in ‘Half the world away and at least twenty degrees colder Scotland?’ The only person that comes to my mind is Mukesh. I have never met Mukesh. Atleast not the way ‘met’ is understood traditionally. I met Mukesh through my blog. These were the beginning days of the blog. He would always drop an encouraging comment or two. And soon he became a regular 🙂 I discovered that he and his wife Suparna were serial entrepreneurs. Not only were they always bubbling with new ideas they also walked the extra mile and put them into action.
On the other hand, I am at my moodiest in my writing. I never respond well to topics and themes and deadlines. I can not be summoned to write. My words creep upon me when they…
Needless to say, i completely adore Jhumpa Lahiri’s work. I love her style of writing and her characterization. An advantage of having an enterprising husband and a promise to review her latest book – The Lowland, landed me with a free copy of her just released book. It was an engrossing journey and what follows is my take on The Lowland.
Similar to her previous work, Lahiri’s story starts from the shores of Kolkata, India and travels to the United States. But the backdrop of the story is set in the 60’s and 70’s, highlighting the Naxalite Movement.
The story is about two brothers, Subhash and Udayan, their similarities, differences and the bond between them. It traces the journey from their shared childhood to adulthood. The different paths forged by them later in their lives, the path, which entwines at some point and then forms a new dimension in the…
My best friend Deepak always starts from the end. He says, “When you’re on your death bed and think, only if…. ” Currently he is in New York and living its life to the fullest. While he understood the meaning of life as per Western belief – ‘We have only one life to live’, most of us believe the Indian mythology ‘This is one out of many lives we have lived in past and we will live’ (courtesy: Devdutt Pattanaik). With Roti, Kapda, Makaan as our primary drivers coupled with strong social circles, we hardly get time to think ‘the meaning’ and what we want to do with ‘this life’.
There are quite a number of “meanings” that come in our way, but they come with the heavy price tags. Some of them come with Price tag: Life. Brave few among us rise up to the occasion and bargain the meaning at this heavy price. I am going to talk show you 3 of them here.
First on the list: Ruma Roka
She creates jobs for the differently abled. Watch her story below. She had paid the price which you can easily notice in her sincere expressions – right from heart.
Next on my list: Mittal Patel
She made me aware of the Nomadic communities and the problem they are facing. But I was bold over to know that there are 10 Crore people living in this communities without any sort of record including census. Mittal has taken up a job to get them their identities as Indians.
Last on my list is Mr. Suprio Das
His work – providing safe drinking water to masses. Need I say more? Watch him speak.
But there’s one more guy that I wish to Salute and in my view, He has become a role model for many of us – who stay away from the problem because of it’s scale. Scott Harrisson has devoted his life for a cause: “To make sure every human being on this planet have access to clean water”. and He’s making long strides in his mission. Watch him how he does it. Note it is a long video, but am sure if you watch it till the end – it will leave you shaken and inspired at the same time. This one, you’ll never forget for the rest of your life.
A Big salute to all 4 of you. You guys rock.
The first three videos are from the event in which Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.
Have you come across any more ‘initiatives’ that comes with a Price tag: Life?
my words, my world 