Dear Colleagues November 1, 2024
As you remiss changing season these days, here is another round of random reflections for your perusal:
- We grew up remembering October/November as the period of changing seasons. Weather turns cooler, fresh crops, fruits and vegetables, including peanuts, come to the market. Festivals (Dusshera/Durga Puja, Diwali/Kali Puja) fall in this period. Rain would stop in peninsular region; hence sports and cultural events begin to be organized. This year, October was the hottest month in the north, and incessant rains washed away those events in the south, including million-dollar vehicles and fancy houses. Why?
- Coffee beans were first discovered in the Kingdom of Kaffa in Ethiopia more than 1200 years ago. A goat herder noticed one day that his goats became very energetic by eating those beans. When he took some beans to his local monk, who made a drink from it, and reported that he was able to focus on prayers well after drinking it. Now, we know that goats provided evidence of energy and monk provided evidence of concentration when we drink coffee!
- The recent inauguration of Atal Setu from Mumbai to its hilly outskirts has provided a long bridge for fast travel. In the process, movement of goods has become easier. Simultaneously, it has opened more frequent tourism to green hills in Lonavala, Khandala and others. Flashy new resorts are coming up on these hills to attract more tourists. The natural green cover and myriads of waterfalls mya soon disappear due to frenzied construction. Timeframe and ethics in making such choices impact the futures of societies!
- Having participated in dozens of United Nations conferences over the past four decades, we used to find long speeches by officials and politicians rather dull, repetitious and boring. We figured that these conference halls were built in an earlier era, when participants were meant to be ‘listeners’ of important ideas from the mega-stage. A recent conference in Africa, held in a conference center built ten years ago, had ‘copied’ the old design, where participants sat at least 200 feet from stage. The discussion rooms designed for Board/Committee meetings, big heavy tables and chairs. ‘Delegates’ sat in the big auditoriums, and participants had conversations outside.
- My intention was to write this point on severe air pollution in this region; but all of us are suffering and know all about it. Just to add, when will citizens do anything about it.
Stay well, sincerely
Dr. Rajesh Tandon
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.
