Articles by Vikram Raman

For those of our readers who will be in India for the next few days, make sure to tune into Young Turks on CNBC which will feature Sweta Mangal, the CEO of Acumen Fund investee - Dial 1298 for Ambulance.

Young Turks on CNBC TV18, India is a program that profiles the young entrepreneurs in India who will be the leaders of tomorrow. The show will be aired on the following schedule and we hope you will be able to catch it.  If you aren’t able to please share with friends and colleagues.  This is a great opportunity to see a true social entrepreneur in action.

The schedule is as follows (all times India Standard Time):

30th July, 2009 (Thursday) - 6:30 pm

1st August, 2009 (Saturday) - 11:00 am

2nd August, 2009 (Sunday) - 12:00 noon

About Dial 1298

Dial 1298 for Ambulance is an initiative started by a group of young professionals with a high degree of social and public commitment with the primary objective of rolling out a nationwide network of Life Support Ambulance Service accessible to anyone, anytime and anywhere through an easy to remember four digit telephone number.

To learn more about Dial 1298 visit their website or You Tube channel.

As India marked the 138th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi yesterday, it was striking to realize that his thoughts and ideas, though very much alive in some forms (one of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters of recent times took a modern look at Gandhian philosophy), are getting further diluted from today’s mainstream political agenda rampant with corruption and scams. As the nation continues to debate on the relevance of Gandhian principles, I am struck by some of the insights I’m reading in Gandhi’s autobiography, quotes such as:

• “The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice.”
• “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
• “What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?”
• “Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”

It might be worth capturing a small episode in Gandhi’s life while he was studying law in England. He had, prior to his departure from India, made a solemn vow to his mother to remain a vegetarian while living abroad. He found sticking to a strictly vegetarian diet very tough, and some of his friends tried their best to persuade him to try various other forms of food (including fish and eggs, which could be interpreted as vegetarian), deeming it a necessity to survive the harsh English cold. Gandhi’s stand here is truly an eye-opener. He says: