A long journey — Towards the end of 2020, I found myself discussing the impact of COVID-19 on agricultural value chains. I do not know much about either subject. This article is thus my attempt to share the fundamentals of the supply chain, its impact on agriculture, and how we perceive food. …

Beyond academia — Two and a half years ago, I worked with the body established to promote the Sustainable Development Goals. Within the system, I promoted SDG 4 (Quality Education) through university partnerships. My role was to support universities around the world with SDG-focused Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), improving their curriculum and…

Making education systems more personal, local, and long-lasting — On 18th December 2020, I was invited to share opening words at my school’s (where I completed 10th grade) annual festival. The theme was Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Skill Development. This got me thinking. Why should school students discuss SDGs? What would the interaction yield? Structures of the education…

24 Solutions by 12 Friends to Reduce Your Water Footprint — If we could see groundwater in decline, then we would probably not pollute or consume irresponsibly. This piece discusses first-hand action and conversations with 12 close friends from around the world who explain their deliberate efforts to reduce their water footprint. Let us begin by understanding the water footprint. As…

A fundamental discussion Water is the basis for agriculture, manufacturing processes, household activities, public works, and even traded in financial markets, making it the foundation of progress. Finance, the enabling agent, makes water projects a reality. I would like to summarize the Horasis Extraordinary Meeting and few other discussions I…

The Water Footprint Algorithm — The Big Bang Theory (TBBT, a sitcom) invited us into the daily happenings of seven friends with varying levels of tolerance for each other. Amidst their adventures, there was a lot of indirect and direct water consumption. This was seen at home, through grocery shopping, at the university cafeteria, and…

And it will keep getting weirder… — You have finally decided that the environmental field is where you wish to make a career. Let us hold that thought for a second. I would bet that this decision is based on a perception of what you think happens in an environmental career based on a host of non-commercial…

There are times when you would have asked yourself: ‘is this where I want to be’? Subconsciously, the ‘where’ is the wait before having made it to that better place. This story is about how I deal with the wait, keeping positive at all costs. In 1996, I had a…

…and the prize goes to… The focus of the 75th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) week has been on the need for multilateralism. Through this story, I have channelized the scope of multilateralism to climate change. It is complicated to align the individual (you and me) with the goals of…