Dinesh

" Manmohan is critical... Have you seen the news? " texted Swetha, my wife, aware of how much I admire and respect him. I was just settling back into bed for the day when I received her message. I rushed to watch the news, and by then, it was official: the sad demise of the gentleman. Dr. Manmohan Singh was one of the few leaders in Indian politics with the vision and capability to lead the nation. His academic credentials need no introduction, and his integrity in nation-building is well-known. Coming from a humble background, he rose through the ranks—from Economic Advisor, to RBI Governor, to Planning Commission Vice Chairman, to Finance Minister, to Leader of the Opposition and eventually leading the country for a decade as Prime Minister. He set an example for all aspiring youths, demonstrating that education and hard work yield success. Notably, he was the first Prime Minister outside of the Nehru-Gandhi family to hold office for a decade. LPG Reforms Although he served...

Day 5 Today was supposed to be the last day of our official tour, but I had other plans. I decided to stay back for one more day to explore the local areas. Fortunately, one of my colleagues from the cohort also had the same idea, and she knew a local who had helped us. After breakfast, we left the hotel and took public transport to the meeting location. Some key persons we met during the trip attended this final meeting. We were joined by representatives from the Ministry, and together we provided feedback on the agenda we had been following throughout the tour and suggested a few action items. Honestly, I’m not sure how many of those will be implemented, but we don’t have much say in that. The official tour concluded with a networking lunch, and we were free for the rest of the day. The group decided to return to the hotel for a quick siesta and then visit the market area in the evening. Berlin, the capital, was undergoing numerous construction projects, and we saw "work in prog...

We packed our things and set off for Berlin, the capital, via a private bus, as covering the ~200 km distance by public transport would have been difficult. One curious thing we noticed as we began the journey was that the driver insisted everyone wear seat belts—it was mandatory. I found it uncomfortable sitting in a two-seater with a seatbelt on and felt a bit suffocated. So, midway through the journey, I moved to the back seat, even though it was technically against traffic regulations! You won’t believe this, but during my entire week of traveling across the country, I heard a car horn only twice. The first time was on this long road trip, and even then, it was a mild sound, and the second was in a Berlin market area. The trip taught us many valuable lessons. For instance, everyone strictly followed lane discipline. There was a ~25 km traffic jam on the national highway due to heavy truck traffic, but none of the vehicles, including our bus, moved into the car lane, even though it ...