Great movements of change, take off like fire with a little fuel and a trigger. The fuel is often an underlying sentiment or the collective force of people desiring change, while a simple act can create the trigger, such as social/political or even technology shifts. This pattern can be mapped across history’s many seminal moments, revolutions and wars. Closer home, the Salt March led by Mahatma Gandhi is a prime example of a symbolic event galvanizing millions of people towards a common goal of non-violent method for freedom.
Since PV Narsimha Rao triggered the liberalization effort, the resulting economic expansion has brought upward mobility and connectivity to many, in turn resulting in a more confident India. We see this confidence all around us: in the global ambitions of a new breed of entrepreneurs, in our greatly evolved international relations and geopolitical posturing, even in the increasing expectation that we should win Olympic medals. It’s the same confidence that is making many return to India after having left it to pursue better opportunities elsewhere. I am an example of returning to India. India’s rise perhaps would have been regarded with great scepticism not so long ago, but now, it is expected and even normal.
Where will we be in 10 or 20 years? What can the combined aspirations of a billion people mean for our future? Will the growth trajectory continue and be inclusive of the entire population? Will we have produced companies that create global impact? To facilitate dialog on these pertinent questions, on Feb 7, 2017 we are hosting our Annual Summit- ‘A Billion Aspirations: Ideas transforming India’.
It is a theme appropriate to our times. Through a series of live-streamed talks and interviews that will include Mr. Ratan Tata, Pullela Gopichand, Shikha Sharma, Ronnie Screwvala and PS Jayakumar, we start a dialog and hope for the achievement of a collective billion aspirations that can have far reaching consequences and impact. Our desire is to create an ongoing platform of thought leadership that the business ecosystem can look towards for insight and inspiration, and use it to fuel our own aspirations. Our dream is the realization of those billion dreams. This is a small step in that direction, and I welcome your participation.
Vani Kola
Register for the event live stream: http://bit.ly/livestream-signup
