Top 10 Famous Alumni of Harvard University

My article Published on TopYaps

Harvard University has pumped up numerous accomplished individuals. From prominent leaders, entrepreneurs to great literary experts. The alumni of this soaring institution has always been a prominent name especially in politics, business and literature. TopYaps presents the top 10 famous alumni of Harvard University from the huge list of the celebrated graduates from this renowned academia.

10. Benazir Bhutto:

The first woman prime minister of a Muslim realm, Benazir Bhutto graduated from Harvard with a B.A. degree in comparative government in 1973 before getting into Oxford for International Law and Diplomacy. Daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the founder of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), she inherited leadership of the PPP after a military coup led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq overthrow her father’s government and hanged him on charges of authorizing the murder of an opponent. She won election in 1988 and became the prime minister of Pakistan. She was killed in 2007 in a suicide attack after she returned to Pakistan from an extensive exile.

(img source: heroesofpakistan.com)

9. Al Gore:

Currently a businessman, author and environmental activist, Albert Arnold Al Gore Jr. was the 45^th Vice-President of the United States under the presidentship of Bill Clinton. He is the co-founder of Current TV, senior advisor to Google and a member of the Board Directors of Apple Inc.  His book “An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What Can We Do About It” Won a Grammy award in February 2009 for best spoken word album. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 along with the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change.

(img source: kpcb.com)

8. T.S. Eliot:

One of the most important English poets of the 20^th century, Thomas Stearns Eliot before becoming an elite poet, playwright and publisher went to study philosophy at the Harvard University. The poet earned his bachelor’s degree in just three years instead of the normal four. A year later he started working on his poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock which earned him name and fame. He won many honorary awards in his lifetime including the Nobel Prize in literature for his outstanding contribution to present day poetry.

(img source: guardian.co.uk)

7. Bill Gates:

America’s business patron, William Henry Bill Gates III is  the co-founder, chairman, president and CEO of the pioneer company of computer industry, Microsoft Corporation. One of the wealthiest persons across the world, he has also authored two books, The Road Ahead in 1995 and Business @the Speed of Thought in 1999.

(img source: telegraph.co.uk)

6. George W. Bush:

The 43^rd president of the United States, George Walker Bush holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and till the date is the only American President to earn this degree. The eldest son of the 41^st US President George W.H. Bush, he is the man accountable for pronouncing a global war on terrorism, organizing an invasion in Iraq and Afghanistan and promoting policies on education, health care, social security reform and economy.

(img source: telegraph.co.uk)

5. Barack Obama:

Barack Hussein Obama II, is the 1^st African-American in the United States to become the President of US. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he again created history by winning the 2012 US presidential election by beating Mitt Romney, again a Harvard graduate. The African-American president has now become the first Democratic president after Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) to triumph the majority of the popular vote two times.

(img source: telegraph.co.uk)

4. Mark Zuckerberg:

In 2007, at the age of 23, he was in the list of youngest billionaires of the world. The computer programmer and Internet Entrepreneur, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg founded trendiest social networking site, Facebook, while attending at Harvard University for majoring in Computer Science. From 2010, Zuckerberg has been one among the hundred most influential and people in the world.

(img source: businessweek.com)

3. John F. Kennedy:

Until his assassination, JFK served as the 35^th US President. An ex Lieutenant in the US Navy, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was also a Senator and US house of representative from Massachusetts. One of the youngest presidents of the United States, he continues to rank greatly in public outlook ratings of US president. Enrolled in 1936 in Harvard University, he completed his graduation in  Bachelors of Science with honor in international affairs.

(img source: boston.com)

2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

FDR, till 2012 US presidential elections was the only president to be elected for more than two terms. One of the most favored presidents of the United States, FDR was involved in direct assistance to the individuals. During his tenure, he also brought up new jobs for the unemployed. During the World War 2, he supported countries particularly the Great Britain in fight against the Nazi Germany.

(img source: history.com)

1. John Adams:

The Founding Father and one of the prominent names in the American Revolution, John Adams was also a Harvard Law graduate who had won a scholarship to attend Harvard University at the age of 16. John Adams served on the First Continental Congress and assisted in drafting the Declaration of Independence. He became the first vice president of the US for two terms and then went to become the second President of the United States.

(img source: history.com)

Is India Vision 2020 possible amid the blizzard of corruption?

My article Published on NewsYAPS

“A developed India by 2020, or even earlier, is not a dream. It need not be a mere vision in the minds of many Indians. It is a mission we can all take up – and succeed.” – APJ Abdul Kalam

Did you just have second thoughts about the statement made by the born visionary, people’s president, children’s favorite teacher and one of India’s greatest scientist? When one of our nation’s greatest minds does guarantee of its success why do we find it so difficult to fathom?

We are a great nation, aren’t we? Our accomplishments are astonishing. We are the number one in milk production. We are the first in remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of rice and wheat in the world. We have the fastest growing economic growth rate. Four of the richest Indians are worth an astounding $180 billion. 38 percent of Doctors in the US are Indians. 36 percent of NASA scientists are Indians. The ISRO is the major threat to NASA’s domination on space study. Our communication systems are the most developed in the world. The Indian media have been hailed as the most proactive in the world. The IT sector here is growing at an unbelievable pace. Outsourcing is India’s business. Our Biotechnological sector is the fastest budding in the world. Bollywood is the biggest entertainment industry in the world. We have so much. Why then is it so hard for us to believe that our nation, India, can achieve the objectives of vision 2020?

Many of us may question astonishingly, “How can India progress with its illiteracy, poverty, dilapidated infrastructure, electricity deprived villages and with its ever growing corruption rate?” Although all others are achievable but it is the last one which disrupts everything; even the thought of achieving other goals. Corruption is a disease which has slowly spread its wings in the country and there is no brainer that corruption in India is at its peak. Not a single section of society is spared from it. Recent instances such as 2G, CWG and Adarsh Society Scams are clear examples of lingering corruption in all strata of Indian society. Corruption indeed hinders India’s dream to become a developed nation.

Considering corruption, turning India into a developed nation by 2020 is very much a difficult task if not impossible. Comparing it from an East-West perspective, the West is measured as more process oriented. There an average citizen or government employee will tend to follow system and will look for a methodical way to work things out. It is not shocking that over a century ago, Swami Viivekananda during his US visit found their country had an outstanding organization system which was lacking in India. No wonder this lacuna persists even today.

And why not? Officers and Government officials in India are ripping off the country’s future through “corruption” or “grease payment”. Here the real beneficiaries do not receive their dues from the government because of corruption and favoritism. The selfish leaders reap the electoral benefits of poverty alleviation programs like widow benefit schemes, old age pensions, housing schemes etc. though the manipulation in selection of beneficiaries. Often have the anomalies been reported. Lately, there has even been a public interest litigation on it. In this scenario how can we achieve the objectives of Vision 2020?

How many times have we read in the newspapers or watch in news channels about some recently built building, retainer wall or a certain section of the flyover collapsing? Many a times, right? In fact so many times that we have stopped counting. Well, this happened because of nepotism, favouritism and other forms of corruption involving contractors and supporters of our so called leaders. In such a situation, how come an average Indian envision Vision 2020? For him or her, the chances of India to be strong, stable and successful in 2020 indeed seems to be dim.

In one of his recent speeches,  Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam gave the remedy of this vice too. He said, “There are only three members of the society who can remove corruption. They are father, mother and elementary school teacher.” The inference of his annotation is simple. According to him the prevalent problem of corruption in India can be eradicated, if every child is brought up with a strong moral character – making “children” and “youth” the foundation of “Corruption Free India”. That reminds me of Theodor Geisel. He always said, “Adults are obsolete children and obsolesce is not only unfortunate, it is unnecessary.”

So when can the Vision 2020 function and bear fruit? A prominent Indian once put it powerfully, “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” Legendary words spoken by the nation’s foremost prime minister on August 15, 1947, just after midnight. What Jawaharlal Nehru addressed to, of course, was the birth of Independent India. What we want to witness today is the birth of India as an independent society — vibrant, colorful, boisterous, open and above all, ready for change.

India’s growth may be chaotic, frenzied and largely unplanned but India can easily rise above all ifcorruption eradicates. Now if you are wondering who is responsible for the change, I would say its “You.” As a parent, as a teacher, as a concerned youth of the empowering nation you can indeed change the corruption scenario to make the Vision 2020 possible.

With that note, I would like to recall Rabindranath Tagore’s vision for our country –

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high. Where knowledge is free. Where the world has not been broken up into fragments. By narrow domestic walls. Where words come out from the depth of truth. Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit. Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action. Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”

Source: My Article Published on NewsYaps

(img source: thehindu.com)

The Little “Pee Donor”

Pee Pee Pee, where do I pee, asks a little child on his way to Wai

My bladder is hurting and I am losing my control,

But I will wait dad, till the dam comes after several tolls

I might be tiny, I might be small,

But I want to be a responsible boy, way before I become tall.

Not just me but all my mates,

We will all together help our state from its merciful fate.

“Little drops make an ocean” once said our Ma’am Gurjeet,

Don’t you think dad, we surely can lend our hand to the noble cause started by uncle Ajit.

All you young kids come together, let’s take a vow,

That, we shall bank our pee and send to uncle Ajit anyhow.

So what, if we can’t be a blood donor or an eye donor,

Be glad because even at this age, we all surely can be a “Pee Donor”

Image Source: welcometothemotherhood.com

For all my readers staying outside India – Wai is a place in Maharashtra, India. The poem is a reply to a politician who commented, that, should he urinate in dam, if the state is suffering from drought. No, wonder he apologized but…..