Leaders to know

  • Photo: State Dept./Erik A. Kurniawan/Flickr

    Jokowi

    Perhaps the most important thing to know about the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, is that he flies economy. In a country recovering from dictatorship (which ended in 1998), and struggling with a political class replete with dynastic elitism; a leader whose image and background resonate with the “common man” is truly a breath of fresh air. It was...

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  • Photo: Htoo Tay Zar / Wikimedia Commons

    Suu Kyi “The Lady”

     Issue 15

    “It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” -The Lady Her name, she often jokes, is so hard to pronounce that her followers simply refer to her as ‘The Lady’. Maybe its not that; maybe its...

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  • Photo: Pacific Chillino/Flickr

    Joshua Wong

    The most recognizable face of the current Hong Kong protests is an unlikely 17 year old teenager: whose floppy hair and black-rimmed spectacles mark him out as very ordinary. His accomplishments and initiatives at such a young age, however, speak for the leader he has become, and yet: it is not his achievements or his activism that impress most;...

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  • Photo: Number10/Flickr

    David Cameron

     Issue 22

    The absentminded Prime Minister of Britain is most famous for leaving his briefcase on a train, and leaving his daughter behind at a pub. David Cameron, the youngest British PM in the last 198 years is famous for more than just his careless and clumsy personal life – he is a modernist-Conservative! A groundbreaker in British politics and a...

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  • Photo: Dinodia.com/Wikimedia Commons

    Mahatma Gandhi, Person of the Century

     Issue 19

    As we celebrated the 144th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and the newspapers were full of ads and articles on his greatness, it occurred to us that perhaps in all the focus on his achievements – “gaining India’s independence in a non- violent peaceful way”, we may forget his journey and the lessons he...

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  • Photo: University of Denver/Flickr

    WONDER WOMAN Ramona Pierson

     Issue 19

    Close your eyes. Now imagine you have to cross a street. You don’t know how far that street is and you don’t know if you’re going straight and you hear cars whizzing back and forth, and you had a horrible accident that landed you in this situation.” I’m going to tell you a story. It’s got nothing to do...

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  • Photo: Mark Stewart/Wikimedia Commons (Cropped)

    Xi Jinping

     Issue 18

    As we contemplate another messy transition of leadership in India next year (more on that later) we can perhaps admire the orderly and smooth leadership transitions achieved by our big neighbour China. Xi Jinping is the President of the People’s Republic of China, the world’s second largest economy, most populous nation and superpower in the making. He is only...

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  • Photo: harmonyindia.org

    Beroz Vacha

     Issue 16

    You’ve probably never heard of her – if you have, give your self a huge pat on the back– because she is one of the most amazing and inspiring person I’ve ever learnt about. Beroz N Vacha is 88, and yet she has lost none of the passion, drive or youthful enthusiasm that led her to start working towards...

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  • Photo: Pete Souza / CC

    Barack Hussein Obama II

     Issue 14

    Barack Hussein Obama II (yes he is the second, his father was Barack Hussein Obama too) is the 44th President of the US and the first African American one. He just turned 52 (on 4th August) but he’s been President since 2009 – he became President when he was just 48. Before becoming a Senator and then President, Obama...

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  • Photo: Jan Michael Ihl/jmi.cc

    Dalai Lama

     Issue 13

    His Holiness, the Dalia Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan People – he is the 14th Dalai Lama (Head Monk) . He was declared the political ruler of Tibet in 1950 at the young age of 15 – but unlike the Supreme Ayatollah or the Pope, he was never born with any cross border power or influence...

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