The philosopher who turned down the Nobel 50 years ago - The Hindu

The philosopher who turned down the Nobel 50 years ago - The Hindu

By a mere coincidence, I read  Reader's Digest book choice(RD, October 2014) on Washington Grover this week. Copied below is my response to Reader's Digest:

M G Warrier

October
22, 2014
The Editor


Reader’s Digest
Letters
Modi-fied reading
I found ‘The Story of George Washington Carver’(PART TWO) (RD, October 2014) a timely recall of a century
old story which is very relevant in 21st Century India. One can pick
up several parallels to the quotes from Carver in the recent speeches of Prime
Minister Modi and several other Indian statesmen including former President
Kalam, which call for adapting this book as the basis for moulding the India
Growth Story tapping the available resources of the nation and redeploying them
for the benefit of ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ (Refer the PREAMBLE of Indian Constitution).
The following quotes from Carver  need to
be repeated:
“A plant needs certain
things, and the soil has certain things to give, and it is the farmer’s job to
make the right adjustment between them” (There can be no better way to start a
discourse on resources management!)
“That will be the mark of
your success- not the clothes you wear, or the money you put in the bank. It is
only service that counts”(Asset accumulation to be proportionate to value
addition explained here!)
“Learn to do the common
things uncommonly well”(Need for skill development!)
“You can’t keep a man in
a ditch unless you are willing to get in with him” (Leadership qualities)
M G Warrier, Mumbai

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