A VERY RELEVANT POST FOR ME, written by Roshan. I had to archive it here for two reasons
1. Clear focus and goal is what we need in life
2. An example on how to utilize your talent to solve world problems given the situation, if you want to. Do your best.
Thanks a lot Roshan for the research and the links.
Tanu
***************
In Roshan's Words - Here is the link to his blog
The chart of the yield of wheat in developing countries looks so amazing. One person who deserves the credit for this is Norman Borlaugh. It’s sad that he passed away over the weekend. The world, especially India and Pakistan, seemed to have forgotten this great soul. But for him the “Green Revolution” in the 60s and 70s would not have been possible. His obituary must have been frontline headline news all over the world, but not much was said about him.
His biography found at these links inspires everybody:
http://www.worldfoodprize.org/borlaug/borlaug-history.htm
http://www.rockfound.org/library/98borlaug.pdf
India and Pakistan not only fought a war during 1965, but also fought a stiff competition in acquiring Borlaugh’s limited stock of high yield variety of wheat from Mexico. Exporting out of Mexico via United States on the sea route ran into trouble because of Mexican border patrol and US customs. It is said India chartered Boeing 707s to import 16 thousand metric tons of wheat from Mexico before Pakistan did. Meanwhile a misspelling in Pakistan’s check delayed their shipment. Borlaugh and his team members in India and Pakistan are said to have literally worked close to the battlegrounds where the war was fought. Despite all the hurdles and skirmishes, both India and Pakistan became self sufficient in food production towards the end of 60s and Borlaugh was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his outstanding work in India and Pakistan in the year 1970.
It is interesting to note that Borlaugh, an American, did all his work in developing countries during a period that saw a boom in American economy. That means he could have possibly found a good job in the US, and lead a comfortable life. But he chose otherwise. Environmentalists opposed his idea of intensive cultivation that used genetically modified plants and inorganic fertilizers. This is what he had to say to them – “Some of the environmental lobbyists of the Western nations are the salt of the earth, but many of them are elitists. They've never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for fifty years, they'd be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were trying to deny them these things.”
What can we learn from this great personality?
• Have a core purpose in life, make it a vision and execute it – Borlaugh’s core purpose was to eliminate hunger. He did his best by helping produce more food.
• Prepare to sacrifice – Borlaugh gave up the comfortable life and worked hard in the fields in rural areas of developing countries where the amenities weren’t that good.
• Think about how you can use your knowledge, talent and creativity to solve a world problem – Borlaugh was an expert in plant pathology and genetic sciences. He applied it effectively to cultivate high yielding varieties.
• Have team of people that follows you and you lead them – Borlaugh had teams of students and partners in the scientific community to help him. He could not have done the green revolution alone. M.S. Swaminathan is one such scientist in Borlaugh’s team who carried along his ideas and experiments in India.
• It’s OK not to get recognition. Just focus on your job – Even though Borlaugh received Nobel prize in 1970, he did not get the recognition that he rightly deserved in his home country. He got US Congressional Medal in 2006. Shouldn’t he have gotten it in the 70s?
• There are always hurdles to your plans. Have a strategy to deal with them – Environmentalists lobbied against his revolutionary ideas. As a result his dream of setting a Green Revolution in Africa drew flak from Rockefeller and Ford foundations. However, he did continue his project with other anthropologists like Sasakawa and Jimmy Carter.
1. Clear focus and goal is what we need in life
2. An example on how to utilize your talent to solve world problems given the situation, if you want to. Do your best.
Thanks a lot Roshan for the research and the links.
Tanu
***************
In Roshan's Words - Here is the link to his blog
The chart of the yield of wheat in developing countries looks so amazing. One person who deserves the credit for this is Norman Borlaugh. It’s sad that he passed away over the weekend. The world, especially India and Pakistan, seemed to have forgotten this great soul. But for him the “Green Revolution” in the 60s and 70s would not have been possible. His obituary must have been frontline headline news all over the world, but not much was said about him.
His biography found at these links inspires everybody:
http://www.worldfoodprize.org/borlaug/borlaug-history.htm
http://www.rockfound.org/library/98borlaug.pdf
India and Pakistan not only fought a war during 1965, but also fought a stiff competition in acquiring Borlaugh’s limited stock of high yield variety of wheat from Mexico. Exporting out of Mexico via United States on the sea route ran into trouble because of Mexican border patrol and US customs. It is said India chartered Boeing 707s to import 16 thousand metric tons of wheat from Mexico before Pakistan did. Meanwhile a misspelling in Pakistan’s check delayed their shipment. Borlaugh and his team members in India and Pakistan are said to have literally worked close to the battlegrounds where the war was fought. Despite all the hurdles and skirmishes, both India and Pakistan became self sufficient in food production towards the end of 60s and Borlaugh was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his outstanding work in India and Pakistan in the year 1970.
It is interesting to note that Borlaugh, an American, did all his work in developing countries during a period that saw a boom in American economy. That means he could have possibly found a good job in the US, and lead a comfortable life. But he chose otherwise. Environmentalists opposed his idea of intensive cultivation that used genetically modified plants and inorganic fertilizers. This is what he had to say to them – “Some of the environmental lobbyists of the Western nations are the salt of the earth, but many of them are elitists. They've never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for fifty years, they'd be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were trying to deny them these things.”
What can we learn from this great personality?
• Have a core purpose in life, make it a vision and execute it – Borlaugh’s core purpose was to eliminate hunger. He did his best by helping produce more food.
• Prepare to sacrifice – Borlaugh gave up the comfortable life and worked hard in the fields in rural areas of developing countries where the amenities weren’t that good.
• Think about how you can use your knowledge, talent and creativity to solve a world problem – Borlaugh was an expert in plant pathology and genetic sciences. He applied it effectively to cultivate high yielding varieties.
• Have team of people that follows you and you lead them – Borlaugh had teams of students and partners in the scientific community to help him. He could not have done the green revolution alone. M.S. Swaminathan is one such scientist in Borlaugh’s team who carried along his ideas and experiments in India.
• It’s OK not to get recognition. Just focus on your job – Even though Borlaugh received Nobel prize in 1970, he did not get the recognition that he rightly deserved in his home country. He got US Congressional Medal in 2006. Shouldn’t he have gotten it in the 70s?
• There are always hurdles to your plans. Have a strategy to deal with them – Environmentalists lobbied against his revolutionary ideas. As a result his dream of setting a Green Revolution in Africa drew flak from Rockefeller and Ford foundations. However, he did continue his project with other anthropologists like Sasakawa and Jimmy Carter.
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