Ideas that have Worked

Ideas that have Worked brings together twenty fascinating and enlightening essays by some of India’s leading industrialists, statesmen, bureaucrats and social workers about how they have overcome challenges and developed indigenous, innovative technologies that have paved the way for the nation’s progress. Dr. A.P.J. Kalam talks about the challenges and success of India’s space programme and identifies five mega projects and could transform the country into a developed nation, even as N.R. Narayana Murthy recounts how he and his team built Infosys Technologies into a world-class, Fortune 500 company. Ratan Naval Tata describes the hard work and determination that went into designing and manufacturing the indica, India’s first indigenous car, while Mukesh Ambani elaborates on his dream of India assuming global leadership of the knowledge economy by 2005. Alok Sharma tells us about the two years that it took to organize the Kumbh Mela, the largest religious gathering on earth that brings together an estimated 20 million people on a singly day, and Vilasrao Salunkhe describes the evolution of the Pani Panchayat, a landmark experiment in the area of water conservation which has transformed the lives of the farmers living in drought-prone villages of Maharashtra. Based on a series of lectures organized by the Department of Administration Reforms and Public Grievances (Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions), Ideas that have Worked reveals how some of the most progressive minds in India have thought of the box, pursued their dreams, and in doing so shaped the country’s destiny.