World Women’s Day was observed, nay celebrated this week witnessing spirited calls in the cause of welfare of the girl child as well as women by people in high posts in the government and others who counted in society at large across the country. The air has already been abuzz in many regions of the land, including Karnataka, with the top brass in administration echoing the urgency and need for imparting skills in the nation’s youth, particularly the masses coming out of schools, colleges, polytechnics, industrial training institutes unable to get started in life by getting employed and earning adequate income. The corporates too have pitched in to bring a sense of reality to the intentions of the government by participating in udyog melas to identify and take the promising youth into their fold with a will to work. Mysuru too has hosted many such events in the recent past, at one of such occasions a top executive of a city-based company rightly reminded the target group to also steadfastly imbibe dil (courage).

India’s image on skill front has been written by chroniclers in golden letters portraying the generations of a distant past excelling in as many as 64 kalas or arts and crafts, some of which have endured to this day, in spite of being systematically threatened and made to die during the rule over the land by aliens, as depicted in the pages of history.

The avowed intent of the policy-makers, past and present, to transform the nation into an inclusive society has triggered mixed reactions from different circles among the literati. By hindsight or otherwise, one benefits from the lessons thrown up by the manner of actions adopted over years by the powers that be. In this context, one is prompted to reproduce a report originating from South Africa, leaving the readers to draw their own inferences: When South Africa got freedom from white rulers in 1990 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, his supporters, mainly African Tribes, demanded Reservations in education sector, government sector and in private sector. In his recorded reply, the African leader asserted that Reservations and the products of Reservations will destroy the whole nation.

The famous statement of Nelson Mandela is displayed at the entrance of the University of South Africa. How relevant are his prophetic lines to today’s India requires skill, will and dil to put India back on track of its past glory. The role of courage for pursuing the task on the part of present and future policy-makers and administrations cannot be overstressed.