Millennials at Work and at School

Millennials: If the schooling and university systems were able to provide the millennials with the confidence to take the step of re-negotiating the contract, we are in a safe place in the future of work. But, unfortunately this is not the story for the majority of the millennials. The harassed seventeen year old student might not make it to this envious position of ‘quiet quitting’.

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Elippathayam: The urban rat-trap

Urban foxes: are they ‘fantastic’ or a growing menace?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/15/urban-foxes-are-they-fantastic-or-a-growing-menace
This article reminded me of my blogpost on animals and humans encroaching each others urban spaces. Amusing story on animals invading their natural habitat, the urban spaces.

Unni-Verse

We were sleeping peacefully in our home in the prestigious IIT Delhi campus after an exhausting day of travel and partying! I woke up suddenly feeling that someone was lightly running over me! I sat up and felt around, but there was no one or anything! My partner slept peacefully! I fell asleep again and then it seemed like someone was running a hand over my hair! I sat up with a jerk and looked around again. No one and nothing to be seen. This time my sudden movement woke my partner! “What is it?” “Don’t know, may be a rat?” “Turn on the light lets see.” So on come the lights, obviously there is nothing. We look in all corners of the bed, lift the sheets, look around the room. Nothing to be seen. “Perhaps I was dreaming!” We turn off the lights and I start to think. Am…

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Experiencing Music and Moving On

If you ask me what sort of music I like? I really don’t know. I just seem to follow the tastes of the people closest to me at that point in time. In my school-going days I listened to the radio, mainly Vividh Bharati Service of All India Radio, as my father listed to the news and old Hindi film songs. I reflect on my experience with listening to music and moving on with the changing ways!

Verghese Kurien: An Ode to Father of the White Revolution, India

An Ode to Dr. Verghese Kurien, The Milkman on India, on his 100th Birth Anniversary. Reposting.

Unni-Verse

Credit: Google, Google acknowledges the Milkman of India on his birth anniversary

Verghese Kurien (1921-2012) is considered the Father of the White Revolution in India. He is also known as the ‘Milkman of India’. He was responsible for moving India from a milk powder importing country to becoming self-sufficient in milk and milk products. He is credited with creating a series of institutions in Anand, a small town in the Western state of Gujarat, the AMUL Brand of milk products and its cooperative milk federation (GCMMF), the National Dairy Development Board to name a few. The Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) was one of the last institutions he built.

I joined IRMA in 2009 as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Chair Professor in Economics and became the Director of IRMA in 2011 for a full term till 2016. I met Dr. Verghese Kurien a couple of times during…

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What Makes Women Entrepreneurs?

In anticipation of the publication of our book ‘Women Entrepreneurs in the Indian Middle Class: Interdisciplicary Perspectives’ @OrientBlackSwan, I reblog a talk on innovation and entrepreneurship. According to Schumpeter, only innovation entrepreneurs are real entrepreneurs as they create a disequilibrium force. We argue in our book that there could be other reasons for entrepreneurship, especially among women. The economist’s definition of an entrepreneur as risk-taking, innovators looking for an opportunity, or that of the psychologist as high achievers may not suit most of these entrepreneurs. A key take away from the book was that “entrepreneurship can result from necessity as well as opportunity and women entrepreneurs pursue goals beyond economic gains”. Women’s decision to become an entrepreneur can be precipitated by both push and pull factors. It is not just ‘profit’ and attaining ‘scale’ that motivates a woman entrepreneur.

Unni-Verse

India currently faces a massive challenge of slowdown in growth and high levels of unemployment among youth, especially among the educated urban population. The formal labour market in India is saturated, unable to absorb the ever-increasing number of the labour force. Therefore, the role of small-medium enterprises in creating employment opportunities is vital for economic prosperity and social stability. Entrepreneurship is a crucial mode for utilizing youth power and generating employment that will in turn contribute to the economy’s growth and development, especially for those who aspire to be owners and employers rather than employees. Understanding the motivation and constraints faced by entrepreneurs is critical for designing and formulating appropriate policy initiatives. Encouragement of the ‘enterprise spirit’ or ‘animal spirit’ among young people is a precondition for success in employment, growth, competitiveness and innovation.

Woman Entrepreneur designing Blown Glass Bowls, London

I base this brief talk[1] on our book…

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