Note From President Vineet Bhatnagar
THE FIRST THING THAT CROSSED MY MIND when I acquainted myself with the multiple areas where Roopa Purshottaman, the recipient of the Uma Jain Young Women Achiever Award this year, has excelled till date was simply
this – one can over extend oneself in different aspects of life and excel in each one of them. She is a first-rate economist, an advisor on urban infrastructure, a young fellow at the world economic forum and the founder of a residential school academy for adolescent girls.
Very often, most of us choose a life which is uni-dimensional. We strive for the best in that chosen area. We convince ourselves by saying that “I can do THIS OR THAT”. Such an approach is clearly one that confines both our outcomes as well as experiences. I think that compartmentalising a life is one way to lead a suboptimal life.
Roopa’s journey and her achievements illustrate that many of us can do so much more than what we could currently be engaged in. But for that to happen, we have to adopt the “&” approach and not commit to the “OR” formula. One has to move away from “THIS OR THAT’ to “THIS & THAT & THAT TOO & THAT TOO AS WELL”.
The “&” approach is likely to be a liberating experience. The apparent “lack of time” argument is certain to get
diluted by the enrichment that accrues on account of multidimensional experiences and hopefully achievements too.
Imagine the life of a renowned scientist who is an accomplished violinist, great cook and a weekend tutor for tribal kids. I wish more of us could have such a complete life.
— President Vineet Bhatnagar