Words matter. These are the best Rohini Nilekani Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I have never hesitated to say that all philanthropists do have their politics. All of us have a political point of view; some of us articulate it, some of us don’t.
It is not easy to calculate the cost of land to build individual or community toilet systems. But we need to account for it when we total up the true cost of sanitation.
Bihar has always drawn me, ever since I was a child, brought up on the stories about my grandfather Babasaheb Soman.
Millions of Indians have moved from just surviving or accepting life as it used to be to imagining a life where they can thrive and rise up to their potential. This rise of individual hope could generate massive amounts of creative energy.
As a philanthropist, I fund a lot of NGOs.
What works at scale may be different from scaling what works. Pilots often succeed, while scale-up often fails when the context changes.
Everything does not have to be a commodity.
My mission is to put a book in every child’s hand.
Work from home will relieve the pressure on urban infrastructure and land, which can be released for mass housing or public transport, and critical lung space.
Climate change has the potential to swallow up all other issues of development.
I think those who are already in philanthropy and enjoying it and making a difference have a responsibility to share their stories widely, and to be very transparent about their giving.
Personal philanthropy must be separated from corporate philanthropy. Personal philanthropy is more about giving back to society, or giving forward, as it is now referred to.
Depending on which of the many hydrogeological zones of India you tap into, the water can either be easy to reach or incredibly difficult to suck out.
We need more imagination, more innovation and more public financing for projects and programmes that harness the positive energy of young men.
When 9/11 happened, it changed things overnight, giving the biggest shock treatment to individual agency. People in the U.S., the absolute stronghold of individualism and libertarianism, had to give up many cherished freedoms and privacies in exchange for the promise of public safety.
Children’s ability to learn is infinite when they are engaged.
Having our own children in good schools does not inure us from the ill-effect of others having theirs in poor schools. Having great roads within our gated homes and offices does not help when our fancy cars spill out on to poor public roads.
If the privileged in society can use that privilege to privilege others, then the consequences can be tremendous.
We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, we must be participants; we must be co-creators.
What role can such philanthropy play in a society like ours? For one, philanthropic capital can go where markets will not go and where states often cannot go.
We must incorporate climate modelling in future plans and investments. Whether it is policies on crop procurement, skilling and job creation, urbanisation or even beach tourism, climate adaptation pathways will have to be imagined.
As ordinary citizens, we don’t spend much time reading about and thinking through the creation of new laws or amendments of old ones.
I have a philanthropy advisor, Hari Menon, who was earlier at the Gates Foundation.
Addressing governance issues are important because whichever silo you work in, be it education, microfinance, sanitation, food or health, you would eventually hit governance deficit.
At a physical level, India is blessed with a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. We have a predictable monsoon, and a vast network of rivers and water bodies. We have one of the longest coastlines. We have enormous access to solar energy.
We can be inspired by and renew our ancient culture of sustainable design and living. Why not set standards for producers and importers of all goods and services sold in India?
It was only in 2001 that I set up a foundation, Arghyam. That was pretty much to learn the ropes of how to give, what to do.
A low-water economy should rest on the principle that water be left in its natural state in the environment as much as possible. Every drop extracted must be justified. Every drop used must be recycled and reused whenever possible.
If anything, all homes should have piped water supply and sanitation, which could improve public-health indicators and reduce infant mortality.
Often, our laws and policies reflect patriarchal biases that can trap men in stereotypes – for example, the idea of guarding the modesty of a woman serves neither men nor women nor any other gender – instead, it comes from the same strong patriarchal framework that we need to confront and reject.
I came from a seedha-saadha middle class family in Mumbai. The Infosys story changed our life drastically but we have remained the same.
No doubt there are dangers involved in letting children go online unsupervised.
When a government is in fear of dissent from its own citizens, and when its reaction is to shut out that dissent, we should all worry.
We cannot imagine democracies without a vibrant civil society.
Poor governance affects us all – entrepreneurs, homemakers, farmers, labourers, whatever identities we might have.
One of the great conundrums in philanthropy globally is that the way wealth creation happens itself often creates the inequities in society.
Among the most important lessons to be taken from the history of oil is not taking essentials for granted. Conserve oil, but also conserve water. If our Hummers are a red flag in oil, maybe our Jacuzzis are the same for water.
Rich or poor, we all need organizations that can represent us; we all need modes of collective action when individual action does not yield justice.
India’s waste problem is gigantic, and with its economy growing steadily, it will be compounded manifold.
India is criss-crossed with the most elegant wells that tap into the shallow aquifer.
It is inevitable that we will need digital technology to re-imagine learning beyond schooling. Even if it is only to inspire people to do more things physically.
Climate change is already upon us, and its effects are being felt with increasing intensity.
India is a groundwater civilization. Almost all Indians use groundwater, directly or indirectly, each day.
History has shown us many times that if the state repressively forces the redistribution of wealth and social justice, it becomes dangerous both for democracy and for human creativity. Yet, restraining the excesses of a capitalist structure that creates new inequities seems to need more than good public policy.
