Hunger Kills : Don't we know it !!

One day, sitting idle on my couch, I was going through a magazine. As I was flipping the pages of the magazine, I saw an article with a headline "WHAT'S THERE IN NUMBERS".


Instantly, I replied to myself, we need NUMBERS to measure the value of anything in this world, be it weight, height, temperature, price etc. Numbers form the basis of measurement. Without Numbers, we wouldn't be able to scale anything. A common answer to a common question. But I still wasn't able to decipher why the author has used such a common title for an article. With that, I decided not to waste my time reading that article. I didn't know at that time that these three words will change my thinking forever.



A few days back, I saw the Global Hunger Index Report 2012 released by International Food Policy Research Institute. I was completely shocked and bed stricken to see India lagging behind at 65th spot out of 79 countries in global hunger index, even behind our neighbours Pakistan, Srilanka, Myanmar, Nepal. I wouldn't count China here because it would be a foolishness on my part to even compare 2nd ranked China with lowly 65th ranked India. India and China aren't comparable in any sense. But, people still compare them, don't know why ?


Leaving this China topic behind, let's move forward. I was not only shocked by the number but it was bewildering for me. After reading the report, the only sentence which came to my mind was "what's there in numbers". For the past decade or so, we Indians have clamored about our growth story. We have taken pride in being one of  the top five fastest growing nations of the last decade. An average growth of about 8% p.a. may have been impressive but what's the point of achieving such high numbers when the growth is not inclusive. The needy, poor in our country are feeling left out because they haven't been benefited by this illusionary growth story. We have been so mesmerized by these growth numbers that we  have overlooked the plight of poor in this country. We haven't even dared to look whether the benefits of this growth are reaching the desired people or not. Poor people, especially children are dying because of hunger. According to a data, in India, around 6 million people have died out of hunger in the last decade or so. These are staggering numbers. Don't we Humans know, Hunger is the worst method to die from. Let all of us come forward and make efforts for a better, hunger free India. Hope never dies.!!!

Leadership Vs domination

In this global and competitive world, we need leadership to carry us forward. A leader has the quality of carrying his team forward, bringing out the best from each member of his team in the most efficient manner. Leadership is not just required in companies or on playing field, it is required everywhere whether organizing a college fest. in college to fighting a election. A leader can seem approachable where as a person who is dominating is not. Domination will only create divide in the team, it will deter the team members from actively participating in the discussion. They will feel hesitant to come out with their own ideas. Where as, a leader can make a team to work as a unit. He can encourage his team members to come out with new ideas. We have seen that how good leaders have changed the face of their respective organizations. From Eric Schmidt of Google to Steve Jobs of apple, we have seen them bringing out the best from their team. They had that charisma and power to change the face of their organizations. Some people have leadership quality in inheritance but most of them improve it by using their experience. To excel in this highly competitive world, we need leaders to excel rather than dominators.