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<keyword id="219890" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anurag-Batra">Anurag Batra</keyword> is Chairman - <keyword id="2817673" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="GBN-Media">GBN Media</keyword> and Chairman &amp; Editor-in-Chief of exchange4Media Group. In this speech, made at a <keyword id="497556" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thinkers">Thinkers</keyword> (<a href="http://www.thinkers.in">www.thinkers.in</a> &lt;<a href="http://www.thinkers.in">http://www.thinkers.in</a>&gt; ) gathering, Anurag wittily highlights some of the things media is doing right in India. He also roots here for the Singapore model that focuses on impact and accountability. Thinkers, a quarterly thought leadership magazine features the brightest thinkers in the areas of economics and governance, philosophy and literature, science and technology, and management. To learn more about the magazine, please visit: <a href="http://www.thinkers.in">www.thinkers.in</a> &lt;<a href="http://www.thinkers.in/">http://www.thinkers.in/</a>&gt;)

Thinkers/Thinkers 50:Anurag Batra says the Indian media is doing many things right for the country today.

​The Oscar fights never go out of fashion in India. We have not made our mark there yet in spite of many Indian connections with movies like Life of Pi and <keyword id="32892" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Slumdog-Millionaire">Slumdog Millionaire</keyword>. But when it comes to selecting India’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film category at the <keyword id="9344" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Academy-Awards">Academy Awards</keyword>, the heat is full on. This time, there were as many as 22 contenders and some entries like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, English Vinglish, Celluloid, Shabdo, Ship of Theseus and <keyword id="6354603" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kamal-Haasan">Kamal Haasan</keyword>’s Vishwaroopam created a lot of buzz. But the final battle royal seemed to have boiled down to just two – Mumbaikar <keyword id="1539946" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ritesh-Batra">Ritesh Batra</keyword>’s <keyword id="1678680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="The-Lunchbox">The Lunchbox</keyword> and Goa-born <keyword id="1602536" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gyan-Correa">Gyan Correa</keyword>’s <keyword id="1602537" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="The-Good-Road">The Good Road</keyword>. However, The Lunchbox lost to The Good Road, which earlier bagged the national award for the best Gujarati feature film. Correa’s flick was picked by a 19-member jury, appointed by the <keyword id="291689" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Film-Federation-of-India">Film Federation of India</keyword> (FFI). 
 
What they tweeted 
A Press release said the decision had been unanimous, but congratulatory and disgruntled tweets followed. Here’s a look at some of the significant ones. 
 
Gujarat chief minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>: Delighted to know that Gujarati film The Good Road has been chosen to represent India at Oscars. My best wishes. 
 
<keyword id="7929" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anurag-Kashyap">Anurag Kashyap</keyword> (the film-maker co-produced The Lunchbox with <keyword id="197931" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Guneet-Monga">Guneet Monga</keyword>): Feeling very, very disappointed, can’t comment on the film I have not seen, but it better make it to final five… I don’t know who the federation is. But it goes to show, why we completely lack the understanding to make films that can travel across borders… I hope and pray I am wrong and it actually is a film that knocks the socks off everyone… We should then make a clean policy, you want to send the best film, then send the national award winner. Or send the one most likely to win... Anyway, disappointment and anger aside… let’s go back to make cinema… 
 
<keyword id="3778" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Karan-Johar">Karan Johar</keyword> (The director-producer turned presenter for The Lunchbox): Really shocked and disappointed… #LUNCHBOX had every factor working in its favour... we may have just lost our golden chance… SAD!!! 
 
Ritesh Batra (Director, The Lunchbox): Congrats to The Good Road. Hope it makes it all the way, else it will be a lost chance by FFI-appointed jury that lacks vision. Hope I am wrong… 
 
The Good Road and The Lunchbox: Head-to-head 
Some industry experts are not too enthusiastic and feel that The Lunchbox would have been a better Oscar choice for several reasons. So here is a head-to-head for our readers, along with some lesser-known facts. 
 
Auteur cinema is gaining prominence. Written by Correa himself, The Good Road is a documentary-style collage of stories woven around the highway where the protagonists lose their way, struggle on their personal quests and evolve in a way that touches the heart. The Lunchbox, on the other hand, brings to life the ever-present Mumbai dabbawalas (tiffin carriers) and a bitter-sweet story of bonding that starts with a misplaced lunchbox (according to a Harvard University study, the delivery system is so excellent that just one in a million lunch boxes will go to a wrong address). Each film reflects its director’s vision instead treading the beaten path. 
 
Both Correa and Batra did it hands-on. It was real-life research for both the directors. Correa got into a truck and went on a journey, getting to the core of things before he created his story. Batra worked as a <keyword id="415857" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dabbawala">dabbawala</keyword> for a week to get the hang of it. 
 
But they come from different industries. That’s right. Batra studied Economics and worked as a consultant for Deloitte. He left the job to join the Graduate Film Program at New York University, but dropped out after a year and a half due to fund crunch. Correa is from the advertising space but decided to have a go at film-making. 
 
In spite of debacle, The Lunchbox gets a bite of the global pie. According to media reports, it has already been sold to 30 different territories globally and could be the first Indian film with 3 foreign producers – ASAP Films of France, Rohfilm of Germany and Cinemosaic of America, along with <keyword id="66984" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="NFDC">NFDC</keyword>, Sikhya <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="entertainment">Entertainment</keyword>, Dharma Productions and DAR Films from India. It can also be the first Indian movie to be released across 100 screens in Germany. Incidentally, the film was made on a shoestring budget of $1.5 million. On the other hand, NFDC produced The Good Road, but it doesn’t have an <keyword id="1878880" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="American-distributor">American distributor</keyword> yet. 
 
But what about Oscar compatibility? The Lunchbox might have got a favourable push at the Oscars, had it been chosen. For one, <keyword id="16207" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Irrfan-Khan">Irrfan Khan</keyword> is a familiar name (his roles in The Warrior, Mighty Heart, Slumdog Millionaire and The Amazing Spider-man certainly helped) and the movie has already received some rev reviews at Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and India. Moreover, <keyword id="6411012" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sony-Pictures">Sony Pictures</keyword> Classics will be distributing the film in the US and that could have been another plus. The Good Road has one Oscar connection, though. Its sound designer Resul Pookutty has already won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. 
 
Bottom line: Till date, only three <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> movies made it to the nomination stage of the Oscar. These include Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), <keyword id="7999" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mira-Nair">Mira Nair</keyword>’s Salaam Bombay (1988) and <keyword id="17233" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ashutosh-Gowariker">Ashutosh Gowariker</keyword>’s Lagaan (2001). The Good Road belongs to the art house pack, but going by the poor track record of other ‘arty’ films (Salim Ahamed’s Abu, Son of Adam in 2011, <keyword id="82569" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Anusha-Rizvi">Anusha Rizvi</keyword>’s Peepli Live in 2010 and <keyword id="33044" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kalpana-Lajmi">Kalpana Lajmi</keyword>’s Rudaali in 1993), will Gollywood’s (a concoction of Gujarat and Bollywood) tryst with Oscar produce something more fruitful this time? Also, will it be possible for the Lunchbox team to push the movie at the Oscars even without the government’s backing? Let us wait and watch how ‘independent’ our independent cinema is in reality. 
 
With additional input from Agencies 
Image courtesy: Indiatimes

‘Good Road’ Tops India’s Oscar Race; Will ‘Lunchbox’ Get The Global Pie?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>CEO Michael Corbat sent out an internal memo on Tuesday announcing the firm's new class of managing directors.</li><li>The MD distinction, the highest title at the firm, was earned by 220 employees across the bank - 137 from the firm's Institutional Clients Group, which includes its dealmaking and sales and trading teams, and 25 in its Global Consumer bank. </li><li>Business Insider got ahold of Corbat's memo congratulating the 220 new MDs.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Managing director is the highest title at Citigroup, and 220 employees recently earned a promotion to that elite group across the firm, according to a company-wide memo CEO Michael Corbat sent out Tuesday. Individual divisions began announcing newly promoted MDs last Friday, including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citigroup-announces-137-new-managing-directors-in-trading-dealmaking-2019-12">137 in the firm's Institutional Clients Group</a>, which houses its dealmaking and sales and trading teams, and 25 in its Global Consumer bank. Another 58 promotions came in other areas of the firm, such as risk management, legal, and HR.Women represented 28% of the promotions, up from 25% last year. "This well-deserved honor is a significant career milestone for these individuals, and we can all take pride in their contributions to our firm. Please join me in congratulating them," Corbat wrote in the memo, which was reviewed by Business Insider.A company spokeswoman confirmed the contents of the memo.In November, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-announces-2019-managing-director-promotions-class-2019-11">Goldman Sachs announced</a> a class of 465 new managing directors, of which 29% were women. At Goldman the coveted MD promotions are announced once every two years and put recipients one step <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-ceo-solomon-offering-buyouts-to-partners-shrink-senior-ranks-2019-9">below partner</a> at the investment bank. Bank of America also and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barclays-managing-director-list-56-new-mds-corporate-investment-bank-2019-12">Barclays also announce</a> MDs in the fourth quarter, while Morgan Stanley's new class is typically unveiled in January and JPMorgan Chase ushers in its cohort in Spring.Here's the full list of all newly promoted managing directors at Citigroup, as well as their business line:<table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td width="280" height="20">Name, Business / Function</td><td width="270">Name, Business / Function</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Gautam Abroal, ICRM</td><td>Armin Lindtner, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Vijay Albuquerque, Markets</td><td>Temmy Lizarzabal, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Roberto Armenteros, EIO&amp;T</td><td>Mauricio Lopez Lajud, Mexico Consumer</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Rohit Arora, EIO&amp;T</td><td>Armando Lopez, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Scott Athey, Finance</td><td>Ken Loughran, Internal Audit</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jane Bachmann, Private Bank</td><td>Kate Luft, APAC Consumer</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jorge Baez, Mexico Consumer</td><td>Krishna Majithia, Risk Management</td></tr><tr><td height="20">James Balkwill, Private Bank</td><td>Srini Manthripragada, ICG O&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Rahul Banerjee, GCB</td><td>Eros Marshall, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Ambrish Bansal, TTS</td><td>Faisal Masood, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Sandeep Batra, APAC Consumer</td><td>Shalini Mathur, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Lorraine Berge, ICG O&amp;T</td><td>Waleed Matin, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">John Bekian, ICRM</td><td>Mark Maxson, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Pavan Bellur, BCMA</td><td>Dennis McCarthy, U.S. Consumer</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Charley Bensaid, Markets</td><td>Aoiffe McGarry, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Karen Bernhard, Mexico Consumer</td><td>Patsy McGuire, HR</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Vishal Bhardwaj, GCB Operations and Fraud</td><td>Shweta Mehrotra, HR</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Sharon Blackman, Legal</td><td>Jason Miner, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Brad Bloom, Markets</td><td>Minae Mizuno, Internal Audit</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Michael Boghosian, U.S. Consumer</td><td>Lora Monfared, U.S. Consumer</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Gregor Bollen, Private Bank</td><td>Ajit Moorthy, HR</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Darren Brighton, Markets</td><td>Joydeep Mukherjee, Global Commercial</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Brian Carlstead, Markets</td><td>Rapheal Mun, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Andre Carvalho De Sanctis, TTS</td><td>Eric Natelson, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Aman Chadha, TTS</td><td>Danny Nathan, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Padmaja Chakravarty, Legal</td><td>Mike Newton, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Aaron Chandrasakaran, BCMA</td><td>Gilbert Ng, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Victoria Chant, Markets</td><td>Kenichiro Nitta, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Bryan Chao, Markets</td><td>Isobel Nordstrom, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Gary Chen, Global Commercial</td><td>Meghan O'Connor, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Selene Cheng, Markets</td><td>Alex Oechler, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Manik Chhabra, Global Commercial</td><td>Liam O'Gara, Finance</td></tr><tr><td height="20">George Clayton, Risk Management</td><td>Jason Osborne, GCB</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Lisa Cochran, GCB Technology</td><td>Justin Palamara, ICG O&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Francisco Conceicao, Holdings</td><td>Anthony Pantina, Risk Management</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Natasha Condon, TTS</td><td>Lee Pelayo, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jason Cramer, U.S. Consumer</td><td>Marco Antonio Dias, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Tom Curley, HR</td><td>Joe Pergola, ICG O&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Trudy Curtis, TTS</td><td>Kim Persaud, Risk Management</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Scott Damassa, TTS</td><td>Krista Phillips, GCB</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jiten Dave, HR</td><td>Kristina Pi, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Roberto de Andrade, Private Bank</td><td>Jennie Platt, U.S. Consumer</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Terry Dennis, TTS</td><td>Tommaso Ponselè, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Dipali Devaskar, ICG O&amp;T</td><td>Laura Posse, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Carol Dewar, EIO&amp;T</td><td>Enrico Prato, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Allegra Digia, HR</td><td>Jennifer Pu, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Todd Domecq, Retail Services</td><td>Kim Pulliam, GCB Operations and Fraud</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Sara Domingos, Internal Audit</td><td>Rakesh Purohit, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">David Dong, Markets</td><td>Colm Rainey, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Cormac Donohoe, Markets</td><td>Rajakumar Ramalingam, TTS</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Samantha Dorfman, EIO&amp;T</td><td>Shellie Rayford, Internal Audit</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Nitesh Dugar, BCMA</td><td>Ben Rayner, ICG O&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Santosh Dujari, TTS</td><td>Robert Redshaw, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Emma Duncombe, HR</td><td>Oliver Rey-Beckstrom, Global Commercial</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jaya Dutt, Markets</td><td>Francisco Abreu, Global Commercial</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Berry East, Finance</td><td>Juan M. Rincon-Cortes, Legal</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Alvaro Echeverry, ICG O&amp;T</td><td>Amar Rizvi, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Belinda Ellington, Legal</td><td>Frank Rodrigues, ICRM</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Rachid El-Mohammadi, Markets</td><td>Diego Rojas, Finance</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Brad Epstein, BCMA</td><td>Miguel Romo, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Eliza H Eubank, Risk Management</td><td>Andrea Rossato, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">El Ezzine, Markets</td><td>Bill Rys, Global Public Affairs</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Rob Famulare, Markets</td><td>Luca Sabbatini, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Mark Fisher, Risk Management</td><td>Prosenjit Saha, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Caryn Freiberger, Markets</td><td>Anand Sairam, Finance</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Ed Fresco, Internal Audit</td><td>Marcelo Santos, Finance</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Andrea Galvis, Markets</td><td>Matteo Sardo, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Pranjal Gambhir, BCMA</td><td>Ganesh Sarpotdar, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Chris Gartin, BCMA</td><td>Zoltán Schwardy, Global Commercial</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Serene Gay, APAC Consumer</td><td>Mauricio Schwartzmann, Mexico Consumer</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Leo Gazzo, TTS</td><td>Rafa Serrano, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Ryan Gilliam, Legal</td><td>Kashif Shabbir, ICRM</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jason Gordon, Retail Services</td><td>Vaibhav Sharma, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Deborah Gowland, Markets</td><td>Scott Slavik, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Paddy Green, Markets</td><td>Mohannad Sleiman, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Harpreet Grewal, APAC Consumer</td><td>Fabrizio Sommazzi, Internal Audit</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Peter Grinups, BCMA</td><td>Elissa Steinberg, Finance</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Daniel Gutierrez, Markets</td><td>Tim Stisser, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Onjada Haggard-Richardson, Private Bank</td><td>Lee Street, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Andreas Hamm, EIO&amp;T</td><td>Sunder Subramanian, ICG O&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Adam Harper, Private Bank</td><td>Will Taing, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Mario Hernandez, Internal Audit</td><td>Wei Tang, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Justin Herrmann, Risk Management</td><td>Mayuri Tateishi, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Lorraine Hogan, Internal Audit</td><td>AlexTaylor, HR</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Niall Hornett, Markets</td><td>Prashant Thakker, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">John Hutcheson, BCMA</td><td>Alex Todd, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Tanaaz Irani, APAC Consumer</td><td>Nagib Touma, ICRM</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Rich Iseman, TTS</td><td>Neil Toy, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Yuka Izumi, BCMA</td><td>Matt Turnbull, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Andrew James, Private Bank</td><td>Jacob Turner, Legal</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Dawid Janas, TTS</td><td>Rudy Vela, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Anurag Jodhawat, Markets</td><td>Mike Vondriska, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jessica Johnson, Finance</td><td>Martin Watson, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Alex Juricev, BCMA</td><td>Brad Wayman, U.S. Consumer</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Georgia Kaliora, Markets</td><td>Milly Webb, ICG O&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Sietske Kalse, Markets</td><td>Chris Welland, EIO&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Mayank Kaul, Risk Management</td><td>James West, ICG O&amp;T</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Kaan Kesedar, BCMA</td><td>Graham Westgarth, Finance</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Yoon Kim, BCMA</td><td>Chris Wetherbee, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Tokiya Kishie, Markets</td><td>Scott Wexler, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Jasmin Koelbl-Vogt, Legal</td><td>Martin Wilkie, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Robert Kong, Markets</td><td>Dan Willett, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Patrick Kosiek, BCMA</td><td>Jeffrey Wool, Legal</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Neeraj Kumar, BCMA</td><td>Whitney Xun, Private Bank</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Sampath Kumar, Internal Audit</td><td>Ruo Yang, BCMA</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Anubhav Kunwar, ICG O&amp;T</td><td>Yuri Yermakov, Risk Management</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Marta LaRusso, Risk Management</td><td>Yi Yong, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Alfredo Lelo De Larrea, Private Bank</td><td>Tony Yuen, Markets</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Tammy Levine, U.S. Consumer</td><td>Sophia Zhu, ICRM</td></tr><tr><td height="20">Cori Lin, GCB</td><td>Matt Zimmerman, Markets</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/banking?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=wallstreet&amp;itm_campaign=banking-2"></a>

Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat sent out an internal memo congratulating the bank's new class of managing directors - we got the entire list of 220 names

In the land that gave birth to the great Buddha and <keyword id="1373219" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Aryabhata">Aryabhata</keyword>, it is baffling to see the paucity and lack of acceptance of <keyword id="497556" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Thinkers">thinkers</keyword>, who in fact have the capability to endow and enrich the fabric of our society. 
 
“You and I are not what we eat; we are what we think”, said Walter Anderson in The Confidence Course, 1997. When I was in business school almost 20 years ago, there was this saying or shall I say quip, “Those who can do, do and become managers and entrepreneurs, those who cannot do become teachers, and those who cannot do and cannot teach become consultants .” Can we say the same about thinkers ? 
 
What are the similarities between thinkers and consultants ? When I was part of the management consulting team of my business school, the joke about consultants was, consultants are people whom when you ask the time, they look at your watch, tell you the time and take the watch away. Thinkers are not the same. Thinkers are original. Thinkers contribute a fresh angle or a fresh perspective or a never-thought-of before approach to fundamental aspects of our lives and humanity. Thinkers, dare I say, change the world. 
 We in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> do not encourage thinkers and the <keyword id="38321" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="thinking">thinking</keyword> culture because to sustain thinkers we need to give them an environment where they can blossom by challenging existing paradigms; where they are left alone and allowed to experiment. Thinkers are like <keyword id="6369738" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="RD">R&amp;D</keyword> heads at pharma companies; sometimes it takes them a lot of time to find their eureka moments. 
 
When you think of a thinker, you think of an erudite person, with a beard, sipping tea and reclining in his chair or leaning forward on his table and in a “thought mudra”. India is facing so many dilemmas; only sustained, systematic thinking followed by action can make sure India and Indians realise their dreams. The words of Voltaire have never rung more true, than they do today: No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. 
 
The Indian government and our great institutions have to encourage the thinking culture. What is a thinking culture? In my view the thinking culture is where very exceptionally talented professionals from various walks of life are left to do their own thing without expecting much. It’s like drug discovery. 
 
The thinking culture nurtures contrarian and sometimes impractical ideas. The thinking culture encourages individuals to think of ideas that may not be practical at first glance. Let’s do a reality check. How many think tanks exist in India? Do we institutionally provide funding to think tanks? The answers to both will be bleak at best. 
 
We have to stop looking at think tanks and thinkers as irritants or people challenging the status quo. We have to make thinkers the starting point of our plans, our ideation, and our futuristic goals. When will that happen in India? In the land of Buddha and the land of Aryabhata, whichever way you look at it, we need more thinkers in India. When I think of thinkers, I think of the following words: “...the thoughtful excitement of lonely rambles, of gardening, and of other like occupations, where the mind has leisure to must during the healthful activity of the body, with the fresh and wakeful breezes blowing round it...” said Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827. 
 
Are institutions and authorities afraid of thinkers in India? In my view involving thinkers in governance would lead to better governance. “Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man,” said Bertrand Russell. 
 
Some of the thinkers quoted were great doers also, they visualised and they achieved. It is said, “Thinkers think and doers do. But until the thinkers do and the doers think, progress will be just another word in the already overburdened vocabulary of the talkers who talk”. The Thinkers50 is a celebration of ideas, of action led movements, and individuals whose thoughts will shape the future of India. 
 
(The author, Anurag Batra, is Chairman - GBN Media and Chairman &amp; Editor-in-Chief of exchange4Media Group. This article was contributed to Thinkers, a quarterly thought leadership magazine that features the brightest thinkers in the areas of economics and governance, philosophy and literature, science and technology, and management. To learn more about the magazine, please visit: <a href="http://www.thinkers.in/">www.thinkers.in</a>)

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Thinkers/Thinkers 50:Anurag Batra says the Indian media is doing many things right for the country today.

thinkers50

‘Good Road’ Tops India’s Oscar Race; Will ‘Lunchbox’ Get The Global Pie?

Sanghamitra Mandal

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