Savitribai Phule, 194 [3 January 1831 – 10 March 1897]. Probably the first female teacher of modern India; a pioneer of India’s feminist movement; co-founder, Satyashodhak Samaj; author and poet.
Introvert. Everyone has two traits – introversion, extroversion coexisting. One of them may be slightly more dominant in one and the other in the other. Am I one with ‘introvert’ domination? Am I an ‘extrovert’ domination turned into the other? Am I a real hybrid? Shouldn’t all of us be hybrids? Shouldn’t we be moving to the left or right, depending on the need, possibility? Shouldn’t we be balancing? Could we be social, thinking introverts more?
Braille Day. Braille, by Louis Braille. A tactile writing system of raised dots, allowing blind or visually impaired people to read and write by touch, forming letters, numbers, and symbols..
Hypnosis. During hypnosis, a person may have heightened focus, concentration and an increased response to suggestions. It is not clear whether medical hypnosis is pseudo or not. Mind control, mesmerism, manipulation, initiation, and therapy – are they real? Can a person be a victim, if she is low on will power? Can the conscious be played around artificially?
Birds. 10,000+ bird species. Flying thousands of kilometres; remarkable intelligence; problem solving abilities; talking/singing; and social bonding. They play an important role in maintaining ecosystems, biodiversity and ecological balance through: pollination, seed dispersal, natural pest control et al. Habitat loss, deforestation, urbanisation, pollution, climate change, pesticide use, plastic use, unethical practices, and wildlife violations are threatening birds, security, and protection. Bird populations are declining at an alarming rate. Birds need to be treated ethically.
Mamdani’s inaugural speech in New York City: ‘…we will make the words “City Hall” synonymous with both resolve and results…. every one of us is deserving of a decent life….. if only government dared to work hardest for those who work hardest….New York “belongs to all who live in it.”….We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism….of New Yorkers…. universal child care for the many …. freeze the rent…. buses fast and free….. from one of “no” to one of “how?”… ensure that no New Yorker is priced out of any one of those basic necessities….The movement ….. lives on with every battle we will fight, together; every blizzard and flood we withstand, together; every moment of fiscal challenge we overcome with ambition, not austerity, together; every way we pursue change in working peoples’ interests, rather than at their expense, together…..We will set an example for the world…. The work continues, the work endures, the work, my friends, has only just begun.’
Can we appreciate that a system exists for a larger aim – to enable us to live together, solve problems collectively, and still retain our diverse individual selves? The system has to be effective, efficient but it should be kind. It should offer essentials, essential services to all. Human dignity cannot be lost in competition with material.
US entered Caracas, Venezuela’s Capital and captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro Moros, and his wife; taken to New York; charged with weapon and drug offences in New York. Something amiss? Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez has taken charge for an interim period. Incidentally, both are the devotees of Satya Sai Baba. Interestingly Trump said – US oil companies would move in to fix infrastructure “and start making money for the country”. Venezuela’s government described the attack as an attempt to seize “Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals” in an attempt to “forcibly break the political independence of the nation”.
Maduro succeeded President Hugo Chávez in 2013. Shortages and drop in living standards led to waves of protests in 2014. Thereafter elections appear to be not so ‘fair’. In 2018, there was a constitutional crisis for 4 years with opposition president Juan Guaido declared elected, which Maduro did not accept. In 2024, he got ‘reelected’ but many asserted that he lost by a wide margin. There is no settled position on his citizenship – Columbian, or Venezuelan.
Will it benefit the world? Will it benefit the US at least? Venezuela seems to have lost. And they may continue to lose in the long-drawn process ahead.
Nomination to Earthshot Prize. Andhra Pradesh Community-managed Natural Farming (APCNF) has been nominated to the Earthshot Prize 2026. Thanks to Salesforce. In their nomination, Salesforce says: To fix our relationship crisis with Mother Nature, we must move from extraction to regeneration. It is a transition that requires both massive scale and deep, community-level trust. Industrial agriculture is currently a primary driver of planetary degradation—depleting soils and collapsing biodiversity. But in Andhra Pradesh, a quiet revolution is proving that we can nourish a growing population while healing the planet.
Why this project stands out: Scale that matters: APCNF has already reached 1.13 million farmers across more than 4,000 villages to transition to natural farming; Women at the helm: The movement is anchored by 290,000 women’s Self-Help Groups, ensuring the transition is socially inclusive and resilient; Measurable restoration: By restoring soil biology, these farms can capture 2-3 tons of carbon per hectare annually and reduce water consumption by up to 60%; Economic resilience: Farmers are seeing up to 66% increase in net income due to lower input costs and more stable yields; Data is key: The State institutions step in to aggregate and market the broad diversity of agro-forestry and agricultural products, enabling small-scale farmers to achieve competitive prices for their produce, and large-scale commodity traders to have supply chain clarity and predictability.
When I (read: Tim Christophersen, Salesforce) visit projects like this, I’m reminded that Regeneration-Restoration isn’t just a concept—it’s a practical, local reality led by those closest to the land. APCNF is a globally adaptable model showing that farming can be a solution for climate change, not just a victim of it. Congratulations to the team at Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS) and the millions of farmers in Andhra Pradesh for showing us what is possible. Let’s keep scaling what works!.
How is 2026-27-30-35-47 going to be unveiled? Each one of our lifeworkers – can we read a book every week, 1000 books – mostly non-fiction, 10% fiction? Can we read 10 pages a day, a lakh pages? Can we write a page a day, 10,000 pages? Can we take 10,000 pictures, 10,000 video clips? Can we send a lakh messages? Can we be in touch with a lakh persons, at least once? Can we mentor 200 directly? Can we converse, seriously, intensely in 1000 conversations? Can we write 50 books? Can we vision 200 organizations and support? Can we work with 50 field stations? Can we conduct 100 leadership programs, 100 livelihoods programs directly? Can we design 1000 plans? Can we track all of these? Can we put up a dashboard to ourselves at least?
Yes, we can. If we coexist, flowing. Starting earnestly together. In N? Sadasanghayoga for 7L.