Various.

* The Legendary JRD
in the summers, i read a book named "JRD - mee paahilele" ('JRD - through my eyes') by D R Pendse. Pendse worked with TATAs from 1968 to 1991, as an economic advisor. he is a very well known economist, and has done great work for spreading awareness regarding important issues concerning indian industry, global market and economics, development of think tanks etc. through this book, i could take a peek into JRD's life as the head of TATA group of industries. he led the group for grand 53 years (!!!), from 1938 to 1991. it was a very dynamic era - from the time before world war II to the time when independent India was opening up its markets to the global industries. JRD led TATAs through all of this.
while reading about him, two things struck me the most --
1. the unshakable set of ethics and the integrity this man showed. he was a true patriot, who, while leading a private sector industry, proclaimed "what is good for India, is good for TATAs". he built an ethics system inside the group, which still lives on. a pioneer in Indian Aviation, he started TATA Airlines in 1932, which later became Air India. he was the one who funded TIFR and paved way for India's nuclear research, he was the one who initiated the family planning movement long before the government did. he was sure a visionary, and was aptly decorated by India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1992.
2. JRD's power to identify bright, capable people and apply them at the right positions was awe-inspiring. an example that i know of is Sumant Moolgaonkar (popularly known as SM - the man who headed Telco for 40 long years, made it a successful business, exemplifying a great manufacturing industry.) JRD picked up, applied and took with him all these great men, often eccentric. hats off to his leadership !
JRD's life is an inspiration. I have one of his posters on my wall which says: "No success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people, and is achieved by fair and honest means."

* you may wonder who gave me that poster, and that is the second thing i am going to talk about.
before i left for USA, i attended an "orientation-cum-info" session organized by a well known coaching center for GRE, TOEFL etc. the person who heads this center had the JRD poster (and a copy of Bhagawad Gita) gifted to us students, which was very thoughtful of him, and i was impressed.
but my impression was tarnished by what he talked in front of the young students ready to fly to the US. his talk was far from inspiring. he talked about and criticized corruption in India, and how the talented ones are getting wasted staying here. he in fact said "go to the advanced countries abroad. your talent will be recognized and appreciated there. no one cares about your credentials here. just dont forget your parents, send money home. blah blah blah"
that was all of his "expectations" from 500 bright (i believe) and young students going abroad for higher studies. there was no mention of making use of educational facilities there, becoming experts in the respective fields and contributing to India in whatever way one can. (btw, i am not hinting you cannot contribute by staying outside India. in fact in the modern world, one's physical location matters less and less. but he simply did not touch on any of this). the man who gifted us JRD's poster talked only about how nice, clean, honest, healthy an environment one will get abroad. he said and implied that it is not much of a use to stay in India. he never uttered the terms "giving back to the country", "contributing to India's progress" etc.
i thought he would use this golden opportunity to voice out the need for the educated and privileged ones to contribute to the nation's progress. he had a huge young audience. but he lost the opportunity. i kept thinking. the next time i go back home, i am going to see him and tell him all this.

* (reposting from my blog)
I remember hearing about Che Guevara while in school. he did not figure in the history books i read, but there sure were some passing remarks by my teachers and seniors. i never went ahead and found out more and almost forgot about him - till, one fine day, one of my senior roomies showed me the film - The Motorcycle Diaries.
it's an amazing and very very moving film, to say the least. i loved the shooting through picturesque latin America, and a desire of going to these places sprang up. the movie, as it turns out, is much much more than a 8000 mile journey two friends make, a large chunk made using a beat-up motorcycle, which they fondly called "The Mighty One". the journey becomes a life-changing one, one of self-discovery for the two friends. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, (better known as "che Guevara" - this "che" is not a nickname or something. it's Argentinian's way of saying what US guys say as "dude", i gather.) and his friend Alberto Granado take on a journey to discover Latin America that they had never seen, they travel and empathise with people they have never met, they work amongst volunteers in the Leper Colony in Peru. before they know, their lives are changed - forver.
in the movie we get to see a large spectrum of emotions and the types of situations. there is love, physical challenges, agony, pain, poverty, oppression, fun .. amazing combinations ! i felt like going on a roller-coaster ride. surely one of those movies i will never forget :)

-- Mandar Gadre.