The Art of Speaking

A reflection for those who spend their lives in meetings, negotiations, and high-stakes conversations.

Speaking is one of the most ordinary and most powerful forces we possess. A single word can open a blocked road, unlock funding, calm a tense partner meeting, or shatter trust that took years to build. Yet most of us, even after decades in this work, spend more time making noise than truly speaking.

Osho used to say he was not a speaker. He never prepared lectures. He used words only to create gaps of silence between them. In those gaps the mind stops — and when the mind stops, something deeper becomes possible. For him, speaking was a device for meditation, not a tool to impress or persuade.

In our world of cluster meetings, flash appeals, bilateral negotiations, and endless coordination calls, this insight feels surprisingly practical.

बोलने की कला

बोलना मनुष्य की सबसे आम और सबसे खतरनाक शक्ति है। एक शब्द जीवन बदल सकता है, एक शब्द युद्ध छेड़ सकता है, एक शब्द किसी को जगा सकता है। लेकिन ओशो कहते हैं कि अधिकांश लोग बोलते नहीं, बस शोर करते हैं। बोलने की असली कला तब शुरू होती है जब शब्द मौन की गोद से जन्म लेते हैं।

ओशो बार-बार कहते थे – “मैं वक्ता नहीं हूँ। मैं कोई तैयार भाषण नहीं देता। मैं शब्दों का उपयोग इसलिए करता हूँ ताकि शब्दों के बीच मौन के अंतराल पैदा हो सकें। उन अंतरालों में तुम्हारा मन रुक जाता है। मन जब रुकता है तो ध्यान का अनुभव होता है।” उनके लिए बोलना ध्यान का एक उपकरण था, न कि ज्ञान बाँटने का तरीका।

भक्तमाल: भक्ति की दिव्य माला — अध्यात्म की अमर राह

जय श्री राम! जय श्री कृष्ण! जय सन्तजन!

आज सुबह जब मैं उठा तो माँ को टीवी पर भक्तमाल की कथा देखते और साथ ही पुस्तक भी पढ़ते हुए पाया। वर्षों पहले मैंने भी यह दिव्य ग्रन्थ पढ़ा था। माँ की उस भक्तिमय मुद्रा को देखकर मन में फिर से वही भाव जाग उठे। लगा कि अब इस अमृत को दोबारा स्मरण करूँ और अपने शब्दों में इसका सार लिख डालूँ ।

श्री नाभादास जी महाराज द्वारा रचित श्री भक्तमाल मात्र भक्तों के चरित्रों का संग्रह नहीं है। यह भक्ति के फूलों की वह दिव्य माला है जिसे स्वयं भगवान अपने कंठ में धारण करते हैं। प्रियादास जी की भक्तिसुबोधिनी टीका ने इन संक्षिप्त दोहों को पूर्ण जीवनी और प्रेरणा का स्रोत बना दिया। गीता प्रेस गोरखपुर द्वारा प्रकाशित यह ग्रन्थ आज भी लाखों साधकों का मार्गदर्शन कर रहा है।

भक्त शिरोमणि गोस्वामी तुलसीदास जी

जय श्री राम!  

रात का अंतिम प्रहर था। काशी की गलियाँ सोई पड़ी थीं। गंगा की लहरें धीरे-धीरे किनारे से बातें कर रही थीं। एक वृद्ध संत अपनी कुटिया में बैठे थे। हाथ में माला थी, पर माला के मनके रुक-रुक कर चल रहे थे। आँखें बंद थीं, पर दृष्टि कहीं बहुत दूर थी — त्रेता युग में, अयोध्या की उन गलियों में, जहाँ राम चलते थे।  

वे संत थे — गोस्वामी तुलसीदास।  

उनका जीवन स्वयं एक महाकाव्य था। जन्म से ही असामान्य। कहा जाता है कि जब वे माँ की कोख से आए तो बारह महीने पूरे हो चुके थे। मुख से पहला शब्द निकला — “राम”। परिवार ने इसे अशुभ माना। बालक को त्याग दिया गया। जंगल की ठंडी हवाओं में एक माँ का हृदय तड़प रहा था, पर संसार ने उस बालक को ठुकरा दिया।  

भक्त कबीर: निर्गुण भक्ति के अमर दीपक

जय श्री राम! जय सन्त कबीर!

आज जब मन अध्यात्म की गहराइयों में उतरना चाहता है, तब भक्तमाल के उन फूलों में से एक ऐसा फूल याद आता है जिसकी सुगंध सदियों बाद भी ताजा है। वह फूल हैं — संत कबीरदास जी।  

श्री नाभादास जी महाराज ने भक्तमाल में कबीर का चरित्र अत्यंत संक्षेप में पर अत्यंत प्रभावशाली शब्दों में गूँथा है। प्रियादास जी की टीका ने उस चरित्र को और भी जीवंत बना दिया। कबीर न तो पूरी तरह हिंदू थे, न मुसलमान। वे दोनों से ऊपर उठकर केवल ‘राम’ के दीवाने थे — उस निर्गुण राम के, जो मंदिर और मस्जिद दोनों से परे है।

कच्छ के महान् भक्त दादा मेकण

जय सन्त मेकण दादा!  

कच्छ का रण… जहाँ तक नज़र जाती है, वहाँ केवल धूल, धूप और मौत की खामोशी। गर्मी इतनी कि साँसें जलने लगें, और रास्ता इतना भटकाने वाला कि आदमी अपना ही साया खो बैठे। उसी रण के किनारे, एक गाँव था — ध्रंग। और उसी ध्रंग में जिया करते थे एक संत, जिन्हें लोग प्यार से दादा मेकण कहते थे।

दादा मेकण राजपूत वंश के थे। पिता का नाम हरध्रोलजी और माता का नाम पबांबा। बचपन से ही उनका मन संसार से उखड़ा-उखड़ा रहता। बारह वर्ष की उम्र में उन्होंने आशापुरा माता के मंदिर में जाकर कापड़ी संप्रदाय के गुरु गंगाराजा से दीक्षा ले ली। फिर तो वे वैरागी हो गए।  

The Double/Triple Curriculum Trap: Why India’s 12th Standard Results Have Been Sidelined by NEET, JEE, IPMAT, CLAT etc. and the Coaching Industry

As a parent who has watched two daughters navigate the final stretch of school—the elder daughter who completed her 12th two years ago and the younger one currently in 12th—I have lived the questions that millions of Indian families ask every year. Why do entrance tests like NEET, JEE, CLAT,  IPMAT, etc. operate on a curriculum and assessment style that diverges so sharply from the board syllabus? Why has a parallel ecosystem of private coaching become almost mandatory? And does the 12th standard marksheet still carry real value, or has it been reduced to a mere eligibility checkbox?

These are not abstract policy debates. They are lived realities of stress, time poverty, financial strain, and the quiet erosion of genuine learning—and, most painfully, of young people’s mental health.

Lessons from International Humanitarian WASH that India Can Apply at Scale

India’s Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) represent one of the most ambitious WASH transformations in history. As of mid-2026, JJM has taken rural household tap coverage from roughly 17% in 2019 to over 81–82%, with more than 15.8 crore households connected and the mission extended to December 2028 under JJM 2.0. The renewed focus is rightly shifting from infrastructure coverage to reliable service delivery, source sustainability, and community ownership. SBM Phase II continues the hard work of sustaining open-defecation-free status while tackling solid and liquid waste management at scale.

Having spent more than 25 years designing, managing, and evaluating WASH programs in humanitarian and fragile settings across multiple continents, I see clear parallels — and transferable lessons — between the high-pressure environments of conflict zones, refugee camps, and post-disaster responses, and the last-mile realities of rural and peri-urban India. Fragile contexts force rapid learning because failure is immediately visible: people get sick, women walk further for water, systems collapse after the first heavy rain or the first unpaid electricity bill. Those hard-won practices can strengthen India’s national missions.

मेरे जीवन में हनुमानजी

 विश्वास, साहस और कर्म की मेरी अपनी यात्रा

“असफलता ही सफलता की सीढ़ी है।”

मेरे जीवन में यह केवल एक motivational quote नहीं रहा। यह एक ऐसी सीख है जिसे मैंने बहुत कम उम्र में सुना, जीवन में कई बार गिरकर समझा और समय के साथ अपने भीतर उतारा।

और अगर आज मैं पीछे मुड़कर देखता हूँ, तो मुझे लगता है कि इस पूरी यात्रा में एक शक्ति लगातार मेरे साथ रही है—हनुमानजी।

The Reality of Localisation: Hard Truths from the Field

Localisation has become one of the most repeated commitments in the humanitarian sector. Donors demand it. UN agencies report against it. Clusters put it in every workplan and strategy. After more than 25 years coordinating and delivering large-scale WASH responses — including as Cluster Coordinator and Manager in Ethiopia, Palestine, South Sudan and other complex settings — I have watched the gap between the language and the reality grow wider, not smaller.

This is not a diplomatic reflection. It is an attempt to say clearly what many of us discuss privately after the meetings end.

Managing Partnerships in WASH Cluster Coordination: Lessons from the Field

Over more than 25 years in humanitarian WASH — including roles as National WASH Cluster Coordinator and WASH Manager with UNICEF in Ethiopia, Palestine, South Sudan and Amhara, and earlier coordination work in Cox’s Bazar and beyond — one constant has remained central to effective response: the quality of partnerships.

Cluster coordination is, at its heart, the art of bringing diverse organisations together around a common purpose. The IASC Reference Module for Cluster Coordination at Country Level makes this explicit: clusters exist to strengthen partnerships, improve predictability and accountability, and ensure that humanitarian action is collective rather than fragmented. The Global WASH Cluster reinforces this through its Partner Engagement guidance and Minimum Requirements for National Coordination Platforms, emphasising collaboration, local capacity strengthening, and inclusive participation.

The Real Story Behind a Major Flash Appeal

Developing WASH Components as Part of Humanitarian Response Plans

Flash appeals and humanitarian response plans often appear as polished documents — clear figures, clear logic, priority activities, funding requirements, and neat tables of needs and gaps. What is less visible is the intense, imperfect, and highly political process that produces them.

Having coordinated WASH clusters and responses, and led the development of WASH components for major appeals and response plans in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Nigeria and Palestine, I have seen how much of the real work happens off the page: in hurried bilateral meetings, tense inter-sector negotiations, late-night drafting sessions, and careful navigation of government, donor and partner interests.

How I’m Using AI in Humanitarian WASH Response – Lessons from 25 Years in the Field (and Why Data Privacy Must Come First)

Over 25 years of leading WASH responses across South Asia, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and beyond, I’ve seen technology both accelerate life-saving work and create new risks when used carelessly. Artificial intelligence is now entering our sector at real speed. From coordinating large multi-partner WASH responses in Tigray, Amhara, Gaza and the West Bank, Cox’s Bazar, South Sudan, and during the El Niño drought and cholera outbreaks in Ethiopia, I’ve started to explore practical ways field and coordination colleagues can put AI to work — without losing the human judgement that remains at the heart of what we do.

But as we adopt these tools, one issue has become impossible to ignore: data privacy.

Navigating India’s Water Crossroads: My Reflections on the Sector in 2026

India’s water story has always felt deeply personal to me. We are a country of 1.4 billion people living with just 4% of the world’s freshwater. Every summer shortage in a city, every farmer waiting for the monsoon, every drying well in Punjab or Rajasthan is not just a statistic — it is a reminder of how closely our daily lives, food security and economic ambitions are tied to water.

As I look at the sector in mid-2026, a few themes stand out strongly to me. These are not abstract policy points; they are the issues that will decide whether India manages its water future with foresight or continues to lurch from crisis to crisis.

The Quiet Water Waste in India’s High-Rises

One aspect of India’s urban water crisis that I find particularly striking — and often under-discussed — is the behaviour inside high-rise apartments.

In many Indian cities, a growing share of the middle and upper-middle class now lives in multi-storey buildings. On paper, this looks efficient: shared infrastructure, denser living. In practice, it frequently drives higher per-person freshwater consumption. People flush toilets more freely, clean floors and vehicles with running water, take longer showers without any sense of limit, and leave minor leaks unattended for weeks because the cost is buried in a common maintenance bill or a flat monthly charge. When water does not feel expensive or scarce at the individual level, restraint disappears.

When War Has No Frontlines

Escalating Conflicts, Civilian Harm, and Changing Warfare - Reflections from 25+ years in the field

After more than twenty-five years designing and delivering WASH programmes in some of the world’s most complex crises — from the Northern Sri Lanka conflict, Rohingya response in Bangladesh and the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia to Gaza, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Northern Syria — I have watched the nature of conflict change in ways that keep me awake at night.

Today we are living through a level of armed conflict not seen since the Second World War. The number, intensity, and geographic spread of crises have grown relentlessly. Sudan, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Lebanon, Myanmar, Haiti, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and the growing risks in South Sudan and the Sahel are not isolated emergencies. They form a connected landscape of violence that is systematically destroying civilian life and the systems that sustain it.

The Humanitarian Reset: Can the Aid System Adapt Before It Breaks?

In March 2025, as humanitarian needs soared and funding collapsed, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher issued a stark call: the system needed a fundamental Humanitarian Reset. A year and a half later, that reset remains one of the most closely watched—and contested—reform efforts in the aid sector.

At its core, the Reset is a collective commitment by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) to make humanitarian action faster, fairer, more accountable, and more locally led. Its vision is clear: a system that is “locally led and globally supported, rooted in communities and driven by greatest need.” The framework rests on four pillars—Define, Deliver, Devolve, and Defend—supported by enablers around data, innovation, financing, and partnerships.

Private Sector Partnerships in Humanitarian and Development Work: Beyond the Logo on the Banner

In my more than 25 years of professional life, I have often felt that the humanitarian and development sector could benefit from greater corporate efficiency and culture. Procurement systems, logistical reach, technical skills and even marketing approaches used by the private sector can add significant value to the effectiveness of our work.

In the sector we frequently speak about private sector partnerships in polished language — shared value, leverage, innovation, scale. The reality, in my experience, is both more promising and more complicated than the usual narratives suggest.

From emergency response to long-term resilience: HDP Nexus in practice

In humanitarian work, the most visible moment is usually the peak of a crisis — the surge of needs, the rapid scale-up, the urgency of saving lives. Yet after more than two decades of coordinating and leading WASH responses across Ethiopia, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Nigeria and other contexts, I have come to believe that the real test of our work often comes later: when the emergency begins to downgrade.

That transition — from acute response to longer-term resilience — is where the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus stops being a framework on paper and becomes a practical discipline.

Working with governments is the real lever for scale in WASH.

 Over the years, I’ve learned that the most sustainable impact doesn’t come from delivering services alone — it comes from enabling government systems to own and expand them.

In Ethiopia, while coordinating the WASH Cluster at national and regional levels during successive drought, cholera, and conflict responses, a core part of the role was aligning partners with government priorities, strengthening national and regional systems, and gradually shifting from pure emergency coordination toward resilience and institutional capacity.

What does “quality” really mean in WASH programme delivery?

In emergency settings, the pressure to act fast is intense. But after more than two decades coordinating and leading WASH responses across Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Palestine, South Sudan, and beyond, I’ve learned that speed without quality rarely delivers lasting impact.

25 years in WASH — what I wish I knew earlier

Looking back on more than two decades of coordinating and leading WASH programmes across Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Palestine, South Sudan, India and beyond, there are a few lessons I wish someone had told me earlier in my career.

1. Speed without ownership is temporary.
I have seen toilets turn into storerooms and water systems fall into disrepair simply because communities were not genuinely involved. Technical quality matters, but without real community engagement and ownership, even the best-built infrastructure fails.

Reaching a CSR Manager in India Should Not Feel Like Joining a Secret Society

A reflection after decades in the international development sector, now looking to contribute at home.

I have spent a long career working across international organisations, including the UN, in the social development space. After recently retiring from those roles, I am exploring how best to settle and contribute meaningfully in India. What I am observing from this new vantage point is both familiar and surprising.

भारतेन्दु बाबू हरिश्चन्द्र - जीवन और अवतार-वंदना

बनारस की गलियाँ थीं। गंगा बह रही थी। शाम का समय था। एक युवक अपनी छत पर बैठा था। उम्र पच्चीस-छब्बीस की होगी। माथे पर तिलक, आँखों में एक अजीब सी चमक और हाथ में कलम। वे लिख रहे थे — पर लिखते-लिखते कभी मुस्कुरा देते, कभी आँखें भर आतीं।  

पड़ोस की बुढ़िया ने पूछा — “बाबू जी! आज क्या लिख रहे हो?”  

युवक ने सिर उठाया। मुस्कुराए और बोले — “माई! हिन्दी लिख रहा हूँ… भारत लिख रहा हूँ… और कभी-कभी प्रभु को भी याद कर लेता हूँ।”  

वे युवक थे — भारतेन्दु बाबू हरिश्चन्द्र।

ताला लगी कब्र (अंतिम और सबसे गहरा किस्सा)

मुल्ला बूढ़े हो गए। मौत का समय नजदीक आया। उन्होंने वसीयत लिखवाई। लोग सोच रहे थे—अब यह आदमी कुछ गंभीर बात कहेगा। हर आदमी मौत के समय गंभीर हो जाता है। लेकिन मुल्ला, मुल्ला ही थे।

उन्होंने वसीयत में लिखवाया—“मेरी कब्र पर कोई दीवार न बनाई जाए। कोई छत न हो। सिर्फ एक दरवाजा बनाया जाए। दरवाजे पर एक बड़ा ताला लगाया जाए। और उस ताले की चाबी समुद्र में फेंक दी जाए।”

वैसा ही किया गया। आज भी वह कब्र वैसी ही है—अकेला एक दरवाजा खड़ा है, ताला लगा हुआ है, चाबी समुद्र की गहराई में कहीं पड़ी है। लोग आते हैं, बंद ताला देखते हैं, उदास होते हैं, हाथ जोड़ते हैं, लौट जाते हैं। कोई यह नहीं सोचता कि दीवार तो है ही नहीं—बगल से निकल जाओ।

यह मुल्ला का आखिरी मजाक है और सबसे बड़ा उपदेश भी। क्योंकि धर्म के साथ भी यही हुआ है। ईश्वर के पास कोई दीवार नहीं। कहीं कोई रुकावट नहीं। प्रवेश वहीं से है जहाँ तुम खड़े हो। लेकिन आदमी ने दरवाजे बनाए, ताले लगाए और चाबी खो दी—या यूँ कहो कि पुजारियों के हवाले कर दी। और अब पूरी दुनिया उन बंद दरवाजों के सामने खड़ी है। कोई कहता है चाबी काबा में है, कोई कहता है काशी में, कोई येरुशलम में। लड़ाइयाँ हो रही हैं, खून बह रहा है, सिर कट रहे हैं—एक ऐसे ताले की चाबी के लिए जो एक ऐसे दरवाजे पर लगा है जिसके चारों तरफ दीवार ही नहीं। और मुल्ला कब्र में लेटे हँस रहे हैं। वे मौत के बाद भी सिखा रहे हैं—“बेटे, बंद दरवाजों को इतना गंभीर मत लो। बगल से देखो—दीवार कभी थी ही नहीं। धर्म कोई दरवाजा नहीं जिससे गुजरना है। धर्म वह खुला मैदान है जिसमें तुम पहले से खड़े हो। तुमने आँखें बंद करके एक दरवाजा कल्पना कर लिया था।”