The Indian budget every year has always been an eagerly awaited event. For many decades, the best minds in economics, finance, tax, business and industry throng the media house to analyze the provisions shared by the Financial Minister.
Sometimes major events completely disconnected may be data points for the plans of the different powers around the world. The challenge is to discern what purpose they serve? More critically, what are we moving towards?
When the US Ambassador threatened India's "Strategic Autonomy" policy over India's friendship with Russia - much more than meets the eye was at stake. Let us unpack how the Ukraine war has fundamentally changed the US and the world. And why are we here anyway?
Getting eyeballs, goal of many in the online businesses, has a completely different meaning for an incredible person in Mumbai – Kusum Vira. She collects eyeball donations from her community for Mumbai. 85% of all the eye donations in Mumbai come from the Gujarati and Jain community. 500 eyeballs a year. Not just the cornea donations, she is also passionate about Skin donation, which is needed in skin graft operations. 95% of all skin donations in Mumbai, again, come from the Gujarati community that she engages with.
Kusum Vira, operating from her Lower Parel residence
Interestingly, she has been using the appeal of charity in the religious and cultural ethos to drive people towards body part donations after death.
Though Kusum simply puts it as a “religion-backed ideology that perceives donation as an ultimate form of charity”, many say the model is charting its own success story. Kusum’s son Vikas, secretary ofNGO Tarun Mitra Mandal, which collects the highest number of eyeballs in the city, says, “Donating eyes has become more like a custom now, with more families willingly doing it. This led to us also pushing for skin donations and, surprisingly, there have been hardly any refusals.”
Ghatkopar is the main pocket for such donations and Kutchi Gujaratis remain the highest donors in the community. This community’s contribution compared to the rest of the city is just unbelievable.
Dr Prakash Katakia, of Arpan Eye Bank, which caters exclusively to Ghatkopar, told TOI that they get about 500 eyeballs from an area that registers around 3,500 deaths a year. “This is a huge percentage, given that we manage to merely collect another 3,000 eyeballs from one lakh deaths,” he said.
Given the long queue of people who are still waiting for cornea transplants and lack the donors, it is important for more donors to join in the drive.
The Indian budget every year has always been an eagerly awaited event. For many decades, the best minds in economics, finance, tax, business and industry throng the media house to analyze the provisions shared by the Financial Minister.
When the US Ambassador threatened India's "Strategic Autonomy" policy over India's friendship with Russia - much more than meets the eye was at stake. Let us unpack how the Ukraine war has fundamentally changed the US and the world. And why are we here anyway?
This visit of India left me with many questions. Many observations and inputs from different people and sections. Food for thought that I have tried to contemplate on and make sense of. Sharing all that with you.
When you analyze the last 60 years of the economic miracles of Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia versus the continued impoverished Indian economy, you get very interesting lessons. Can Indians have the wherewithal in them to do in one generation so that the coming generations may rise?
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