By Dr. Amit Kapoor
At Thinkers50 India we are driven by simple but fundamental beliefs: that ideas are powerful because they can change the world; that the first step towards building a better future, be it in business, finance, economics; arts and entertainment; history and culture; or governance is by infusing each with fresh and new ideas.
It is exactly this idea that has lead to the creation of Thinkers50 India that seeks to expand and celebrate the best and brightest thinkers across the Indian diaspora through online and offline platforms such as this magazine. In that regard, I welcome you to the inaugural issue of the magazine that seeks to raise the level of debate on matters of business, technology, innovation, sustainability, culture and governance and thank you for joining and enhancing the conversation.
It is symbolic that the theme we are exploring in our launch issue,”the idea of India”–that examines among many areas, what India was, what she is and what she could be–coincides with the month we celebrate the 66th year of our independence.
We have for this inaugural issue, which we hope will adorn your coffee tables and book shelves for time to come, invited eminent Indian intellectuals from around the world to share their idea of India, linking it to their domain of expertise. From people like Nirmalya Kumar, talking about the potential of emerging economies; to Pankaj Ghemawat sharing tips on how Indian firms need to focus on global connectedness to speed up growth; to Nila Madhab Panda sharing from his purview as a film maker the reasons for the floundering unity of our country; to academics such as Vijay Govindarajan and Arvind Rangaswamy sharing from their global experience tips to raise the higher education bar in India; to management practitioners such as Vineet Nayar, Devdutt Pattanaik, sharing ground realities of doing business in India; and many many more that encompass the over twenty essays and interviews in this edition–we have brought the best minds together to make a stellar issue on a topic that has never been more pertinent for our citizens.
The strength in our conviction for this type of dialogue, the theme of which–arts, humanities or science–will change with each issue of Thinker50 India magazine, is exactly what has given us the determination to forge on, when well-meaning and practical friends and advisors have encouraged us to re-think launching yet another publication when the media industry in India, thus far untouched by the global recession, is going through a blood bath across all platforms-television, print and online.
Maturity they say comes from staying steadfast to the course irrespective of the numerous hits and highs, that constitute the cycle of life. This could not hold more true for India, than today. The true test of our maturity and freedom will emerge from how we come out of the mostly true conundrum of social, economic and political woes we face today.
Thanks for reading this issue and we look forward to your feedback.
