HIS OWN MAN: Business Today Cover Story on Dr Raghuram Rajan

His Own Man (November 24),  

Online comments posted on November 21, 2013:
This article, together with the interview given by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has clearly portrayed the real Rajan. It is comforting to find that Rajan remains as forthright in expressing his views after taking over as governor as he was when he wrote his book Fault Lines. Those who have read Fault Lines will not be surprised by his approach. The finance minister, who before Rajan, had appointed D. Subbarao hoping to have a submissive RBI governor, was soon disappointed. He is likely to be second time unlucky with Rajan. We are lucky to have institutions like the RBI which, in terms of work ethic and independent functioning, can match the best in the world. - M.G. Warrier, Mumbai

Occasionally, I get responses like the one copied below, which keeps me going till I get something similar!

“Dear MGW,

Thanks for the link, this morning I just allowed me to bit more serious topic of the day - economics. I came across the introductory talk of RBI Governor Rajan, which he started with a stanza of famous poem, 'If' I felt too good as this was the poem, its print out was displayed in front of my son's study table, when was doing PG in Computer Science. Here the poem:

K S Iyer

Text of poem “If…” quoted in

His Own Man (November 24), 

If…

BY RUDYARD KIPLING

(“Brother Square-Toes, Rewards and Fairies)

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream, and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think, and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you ’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build  ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings, nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’  worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And, which is more, you’ll be a Man, my son!”