|
|
The South
Asian Life & Times - SALT |
|
|||
|
Cover Story
Tech Stories 2011 Adventure &
Sports
Environment
Vishnu - Hinduism's
|
|
||||
|
Editor’s Note This is a Special Issue - a recap of the significant
stories of 2011. Some were mainstream and some not. Some were South Asian
and others not. Yet, these stories impacted us all as individuals and as
members of a global community. We had riots, protests, calamities, nuclear
disaster - and a few royal weddings. An inspiring story from South Asia was that of
Mingma Sherpa from Nepal who successfully climbed the fourteen tallest
mountains on earth – an exclusive group also called 8000ers. Twenty-three
people before him had also achieved this remarkable climbing feat but what
made Mingma’s achievement very special was the fact that he summited all
peaks on first attempts. He has not been given due recognition by the
mountaineering fraternity for this rare feat. For this very special issue, we also wanted a very
special person on the cover – somebody inspirational, a leader by example, a
thinker. Dr Karan Singh is all this and more. Deemed by many as the
conscience-keeper of the nation, we bring you a conversation with him. The defining characteristic of India has been that
of a secular country, with equal justice and opportunity for all. Through
hard work, we all strive to achieve a decent standard of living. Many people
are working two jobs trying to make ends meet. Yet, untested, inexperienced,
and untried graduates-to-be, in their early 20s,
from some of the premier institutes of the country are being offered
annual salary packages close to 10 million rupees – roughly equal to
$200,000. This translates to almost 30,000 rupees a day! And this is at the
start of a career! It is difficult to see the rationale. We seem to be
moving towards becoming more ‘unequal’ – despite the awareness that more
equal the society, the stronger and healthier it is. The chief executives,
in many top companies, earn more every day than the average annual salary of
a worker. India, perhaps, is among the countries with the greatest
inequality of income.
This was not
Mahatma Gandhi’s or Nehru’s economic vision of the ‘Indian Dream.’
We could, however, strive to reclaim
it. Wishing all our readers a safe and a happy 2012, Roopa Bakshi
|
|||||
|
Copyright © 2000 - 2012 [the-south-asian.com]. Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. |
|||||