This is probably the best episode, I don't know! Come on Amit, get the series made! We are here ready to binge it in a day! What an eye-opening episode! Even my 16 year old brother enjoyed it! That's the magic of Amit's storytelling right there!!
Mark this message. These 2 will runs shows that would be a wet dream of intellectuals in the world. Not the subcontinent, but the world. Mark this message. Also, Amit won’t give up his jokes even then. Suit suit karda. Uff.
I have listened to most of the Seen Unseen episodes talked about in this video. Each one is a must listen. But putting all of that together in a narrative was such a great idea. I feel we have a tiny community who like Amit and Ajay care deeply about 90s reforms. We would all want people to know the importance of these reforms and continue the journey left for the betterment of millions of Indians. I hope, we have young Monteks, Manmohans, Krishnans, etc imbibing these ideas, so that years and decades from now, we get back on track by their efforts.
What got done 1947-1961 was only as good as the intellectual capacity of the INC community of 1917-1947. What got done 1977-2011 was only as good as the intellectual capacity available there. We should build knowledge and community, and carry the institutional memory across.
Sometime back in an online forum on the internet, there was a question that was asked, "If you had enough money what documentary film would you like to produce?" To this, I replied, "The Indian version of "Free To Choose" TV series, except in this case, the series will show how the lack of free choice and bad regulation is what is holding India back." The original Free To Choose series broadcast in America was created by Milton Friedman and it advocated for a free-market economy with stories, examples, anecdotes, and debates. "The Reformers" web series that Amit spoke about in this episode reminded me of this. The Indian version of "Free To Choose" can show how bad regulation and government overreach have held back our agriculture( Sharad Joshi's story), education sector( Center For Civil Society's School Choice campaign), urban governance, industrialization, banking, etc... The stories of all the people that you mention in this episode can be woven into these larger story arcs.
There are two ways to approach the Indian public policy landscape. One is a domain oriented or a disciplinary approach. In this we would look at health or defence or finance. There is another approach, which is oriented around the fundamental themes that across cutting and impact upon all the disciplines. This encourages us to think about the fundamental question of freedom and also the cross cutting issues, the cross cutting toolkit which helps us think about all domains. This is the approach taken in the Kelkar and Shah book.
This was one of the best episodes along with the one about independence stories. But it makes me feel at least a little pessimistic because it feels like the space for reforms was created only by the vacuum created by the end of Cong's political domination and BJP's struggle to replace it, as well as the presence of statesmen like PVNR, ABV and MMS. And with the statesmen already losing hold during UPA2, the voting public had no choice but to banish this political alignment. Unfortunately our politicians seem to have strong interventionist as well as cronyist instincts and a strong mandate seems to serve to slow down reforms rather than enable them to move faster.
This was exhilarating! Thank you ...Ajay Shah's humility is disarming. TSATU earlier episodes used to open with similar storytelling full of vivid imagery and evocative words. Magical. P.S. Pankaj Tripathi could play Ajay Shah. He is a brilliant actor and he can be made to resemble Ajay Shah.
Edward Norton Ajay Shah Montek is already taken by the Kohraa Actor P Chidambaram - Vijay Sethupathi K P Krishnan - Denzel Washington P V Narasimha Rao - Manoj Bajpayee Isher Ahluwalia - Bhumi Pednekar
What a lovely conversation! Dunno if this web series will ever be made, but please compile these wonderful anecdotes in a book. There are some priceless gems!
59:38 : Ajay speaks about India being the most ideal post-colonial experience, a culture with intellectual elite who would be instrumental to India's rise. A corollary to this - could it be the very absence of this be the undoing of modern Pakistan? I'm curious because we were a common people made to bear the consequences of colonialism. Would love to see this theme being picked up at some time in the show. On a side note, EIE make sure I have enough rabbit holes to enter at will through the day.
A non IAS being at the helm for 6 years! 😅🎉 what kelkar left out in distribution of oil.।has played a havoc on us over the decade? Of course to his defence he put in the price mechanism which was later tinkered by govts? 😮
Brilliant stories gents. The narration is gripping and evokes a sense of wonder. You could combine it all into one grand series which will run longer than Coronation Street. One slight correction - Sharmistha Gangopadhyay was a teacher who lost her savings by investing in ULIPs which had been mis-sold. The issue was that the product slipped in the regulatory crack between SEBI and IRDAI. PS: Yes, I am that geek who remembers some parts of TSATU better than the host does.
This episode was a joyride and hearing Ajay Shah and Amit Varma is always a delight and fills me with hope (rather than despair). I hope this series takes off! P.S. - Vikrant Massey would make a nice Ajay Shah
What an awe-inspiring episode! The fabulous storytelling of Amit and the eloquence of details by Ajay is such an amazing combination to tell such a monumental story of India's post Independent history❤. Certainly one of the best episodes!
Don’t mean to nitpick but PVN “knew” languages. He wasn’t really able to do much in most of them. Doesn’t take away from the man who achieved more than he or anyone else imagined.
Such beautiful episodes make my friday nights even better , love the content you're creating and keeping doing for atleast 10 seasons Fabulous and We have got to know so much absoluttely amazing!!!
Splendid splendid conversation!! Made my Sunday afternoon. Thanks Amit and Ajay. The human stories being innovations and institutions is fascinating. The parts of Montek Ahluwalia returning to India, Isher Judge's Breakfast compliment to Ajay, Padma Desai's book Breaking Out, KP Krishnan and his love for swimming, the transition of power from Rao to Vajpeyi... I could go on and on. The conversation had me fully hooked. Need a Book + web series pls 😊😊 And if I maybe greedy, more such conversations unraveling the human being and mind situated in a moment of history, which we now consider seminal.
THIS SHOW IS GOLD. People often say that with internet, information has become more democratised, it has become accessible, and every common person can now learn a lot. But honestly, most of the content is often incomplete, misleading or simply propaganda. The knowledge of RUclips shorts and the tons of content creators is entertaining, but is like junk food to me. For real knowledge, thoda kasht karna padta hai. You know what guys, you may never reach 1 million subscribers etc(I guess you are not aiming for that anyway?), but this show is like the most premium luxury dining wrt the junk food i mentioned earlier. I feel so lucky to stumble upon this show. I absolutely disagree with Amit ji's point about the post 2015 period being a bad period wrt reforms, but man what a lovely lovely episode this was. I so wanted to know the stories about the people behind these reforms, and you guys did a fabulous job. Though Ajay ji please tell more insider stories, I love the economics and the treasure of knowledge you give, but I love the fun insider stories even more 😂😂(btw that Dry cleaning story I first heard on ThePrint, Shekhar ji told it).
Wonderful storytelling! So interesting to hear about these characters, without whose hard work our lives would be completely different today. Thank you for recording this and bringing it to us.
May I request Subtitles or Translations for the Non-English Jokes and References (if possible and sensible) for the barbarous Readers in foreign and far away Lands? I hate to miss the point of the Cup Joke. Great Episode as always! Every Read is a treat.
Sir, any insights on at what stage is primary, secondary education sector reforms in pipeline or is it just pipedream? Also can you please answer how much do politicians and economists meddle in stock markets with their insider information on policies that they have ? (if not possible, atleast a rating on 1-10 scale). Thanks for a juicy conversation👍👍
Hi Amit, You have provided 3 examples so far 1. Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh sharing prime ministers residence (and sharing daily breakfast) for a few days after change of power 2. Narsimhao Rao letting Vajpayee(and thus BJP) take credit for nuclear testing at Pokharan 3. Jaitley acknowledging the work done by Chidambaram/Manmohan Singh on inflation targetting regime of RBI and supporting it What has changed since then, that in the current political climate, none of the political parties can even consider doing any of the above? Is it all down to how social media makes the dialogue so divided? And will it just keep getting worse from here?
Gandhiji and Nehru and the others competed in the battle of ideas and persuaded others that decency is better than aggression. That's what's required now.
Part of it is indeed the polarisation effect of social media, and the way in which extreme expressions are incentivised. And part of it, I feel, is also the individuals involved.
Every episode has a fair reading list in the Amit Varma standard of show notes. Does that work? (Assemble this picture across multiple correlated episodes).
This is probably the best episode, I don't know! Come on Amit, get the series made! We are here ready to binge it in a day! What an eye-opening episode! Even my 16 year old brother enjoyed it! That's the magic of Amit's storytelling right there!!
Mark this message. These 2 will runs shows that would be a wet dream of intellectuals in the world. Not the subcontinent, but the world. Mark this message. Also, Amit won’t give up his jokes even then. Suit suit karda. Uff.
George Clooney plays Ajay Shah.
I have listened to most of the Seen Unseen episodes talked about in this video. Each one is a must listen. But putting all of that together in a narrative was such a great idea.
I feel we have a tiny community who like Amit and Ajay care deeply about 90s reforms. We would all want people to know the importance of these reforms and continue the journey left for the betterment of millions of Indians. I hope, we have young Monteks, Manmohans, Krishnans, etc imbibing these ideas, so that years and decades from now, we get back on track by their efforts.
I hope you're right. The long game...
What got done 1947-1961 was only as good as the intellectual capacity of the INC community of 1917-1947. What got done 1977-2011 was only as good as the intellectual capacity available there.
We should build knowledge and community, and carry the institutional memory across.
Who in the current status quo can perform these roles..... What's happening 'unseen' now in the background today?
Fantastic episode.
Rajat kapoor as Ajay and Dhritiman Chaterjee as N K Singh
Sometime back in an online forum on the internet, there was a question that was asked, "If you had enough money what documentary film would you like to produce?" To this, I replied, "The Indian version of "Free To Choose" TV series, except in this case, the series will show how the lack of free choice and bad regulation is what is holding India back." The original Free To Choose series broadcast in America was created by Milton Friedman and it advocated for a free-market economy with stories, examples, anecdotes, and debates.
"The Reformers" web series that Amit spoke about in this episode reminded me of this. The Indian version of "Free To Choose" can show how bad regulation and government overreach have held back our agriculture( Sharad Joshi's story), education sector( Center For Civil Society's School Choice campaign), urban governance, industrialization, banking, etc... The stories of all the people that you mention in this episode can be woven into these larger story arcs.
There are two ways to approach the Indian public policy landscape.
One is a domain oriented or a disciplinary approach. In this we would look at health or defence or finance.
There is another approach, which is oriented around the fundamental themes that across cutting and impact upon all the disciplines. This encourages us to think about the fundamental question of freedom and also the cross cutting issues, the cross cutting toolkit which helps us think about all domains. This is the approach taken in the Kelkar and Shah book.
This was one of the best episodes along with the one about independence stories.
But it makes me feel at least a little pessimistic because it feels like the space for reforms was created only by the vacuum created by the end of Cong's political domination and BJP's struggle to replace it, as well as the presence of statesmen like PVNR, ABV and MMS. And with the statesmen already losing hold during UPA2, the voting public had no choice but to banish this political alignment. Unfortunately our politicians seem to have strong interventionist as well as cronyist instincts and a strong mandate seems to serve to slow down reforms rather than enable them to move faster.
This was exhilarating! Thank you ...Ajay Shah's humility is disarming.
TSATU earlier episodes used to open with similar storytelling full of vivid imagery and evocative words. Magical.
P.S. Pankaj Tripathi could play Ajay Shah. He is a brilliant actor and he can be made to resemble Ajay Shah.
Please right your book first (Dr?)Amit! Dr Ajay Shah has already done his part in service of the republic. 🙂
Edward Norton Ajay Shah
Montek is already taken by the Kohraa Actor
P Chidambaram - Vijay Sethupathi
K P Krishnan - Denzel Washington
P V Narasimha Rao - Manoj Bajpayee
Isher Ahluwalia - Bhumi Pednekar
So Amit, when are you and Shruti Rajgopal going to write the script for this web series?
What a lovely conversation! Dunno if this web series will ever be made, but please compile these wonderful anecdotes in a book. There are some priceless gems!
59:38 : Ajay speaks about India being the most ideal post-colonial experience, a culture with intellectual elite who would be instrumental to India's rise. A corollary to this - could it be the very absence of this be the undoing of modern Pakistan? I'm curious because we were a common people made to bear the consequences of colonialism. Would love to see this theme being picked up at some time in the show.
On a side note, EIE make sure I have enough rabbit holes to enter at will through the day.
The Hollywood actor that Ajay was told he resembles is probably Kevin bacon
I would say more like Billy Bob Thornton
@16:13 Iheard this story from Shekhar Gupta too when he also was talking about 1991 reforms in one of his videos.
A non IAS being at the helm for 6 years! 😅🎉 what kelkar left out in distribution of oil.।has played a havoc on us over the decade? Of course to his defence he put in the price mechanism which was later tinkered by govts? 😮
Brilliant stories gents. The narration is gripping and evokes a sense of wonder. You could combine it all into one grand series which will run longer than Coronation Street.
One slight correction - Sharmistha Gangopadhyay was a teacher who lost her savings by investing in ULIPs which had been mis-sold. The issue was that the product slipped in the regulatory crack between SEBI and IRDAI.
PS: Yes, I am that geek who remembers some parts of TSATU better than the host does.
Great detail, thanks! My memory is horrendous. 🙂
This episode was a joyride and hearing Ajay Shah and Amit Varma is always a delight and fills me with hope (rather than despair).
I hope this series takes off!
P.S. - Vikrant Massey would make a nice Ajay Shah
What an awe-inspiring episode! The fabulous storytelling of Amit and the eloquence of details by Ajay is such an amazing combination to tell such a monumental story of India's post Independent history❤. Certainly one of the best episodes!
Don’t mean to nitpick but PVN “knew” languages. He wasn’t really able to do much in most of them. Doesn’t take away from the man who achieved more than he or anyone else imagined.
Hi , waiting for the day you discuss on climate finance.
We have some plans to do climate themes.
Such beautiful episodes make my friday nights even better , love the content you're creating and keeping doing for atleast 10 seasons Fabulous and We have got to know so much absoluttely amazing!!!
India would be better place if more people watch and listen to this instead.
Amazing episode!
Rajkumar Rao could play Ajay Shah
Splendid splendid conversation!! Made my Sunday afternoon. Thanks Amit and Ajay.
The human stories being innovations and institutions is fascinating. The parts of Montek Ahluwalia returning to India, Isher Judge's Breakfast compliment to Ajay, Padma Desai's book Breaking Out, KP Krishnan and his love for swimming, the transition of power from Rao to Vajpeyi... I could go on and on.
The conversation had me fully hooked. Need a Book + web series pls 😊😊
And if I maybe greedy, more such conversations unraveling the human being and mind situated in a moment of history, which we now consider seminal.
Amazing episode! Thanks for doing this. Eagerly awaiting the series 😊
THIS SHOW IS GOLD. People often say that with internet, information has become more democratised, it has become accessible, and every common person can now learn a lot. But honestly, most of the content is often incomplete, misleading or simply propaganda. The knowledge of RUclips shorts and the tons of content creators is entertaining, but is like junk food to me. For real knowledge, thoda kasht karna padta hai. You know what guys, you may never reach 1 million subscribers etc(I guess you are not aiming for that anyway?), but this show is like the most premium luxury dining wrt the junk food i mentioned earlier. I feel so lucky to stumble upon this show. I absolutely disagree with Amit ji's point about the post 2015 period being a bad period wrt reforms, but man what a lovely lovely episode this was. I so wanted to know the stories about the people behind these reforms, and you guys did a fabulous job. Though Ajay ji please tell more insider stories, I love the economics and the treasure of knowledge you give, but I love the fun insider stories even more 😂😂(btw that Dry cleaning story I first heard on ThePrint, Shekhar ji told it).
Wonderful storytelling! So interesting to hear about these characters, without whose hard work our lives would be completely different today.
Thank you for recording this and bringing it to us.
May I request Subtitles or Translations for the Non-English Jokes and References (if possible and sensible) for the barbarous Readers in foreign and far away Lands? I hate to miss the point of the Cup Joke. Great Episode as always! Every Read is a treat.
Sir, any insights on at what stage is primary, secondary education sector reforms in pipeline or is it just pipedream? Also can you please answer how much do politicians and economists meddle in stock markets with their insider information on policies that they have ? (if not possible, atleast a rating on 1-10 scale). Thanks for a juicy conversation👍👍
@dhruvrathi should depict this video more graphically
Danish Hussain plays Ajay Shah...
Suits had a strong smell of petrol, naphthalene or of Indian cooking. Brings back memories.
Hey Amit you can be a great story teller too! :-)
A tv series on recent history: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Bates_vs_The_Post_Office
I’m loving this vibe yaar. The warm lighting, the books, the wooden shelf, chest and kursi, feels like home ❤
One of the best episodes undoubtedly.
Book on the transcription of your dialogues for us gentle readers.
Hi Amit, You have provided 3 examples so far
1. Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh sharing prime ministers residence (and sharing daily breakfast) for a few days after change of power
2. Narsimhao Rao letting Vajpayee(and thus BJP) take credit for nuclear testing at Pokharan
3. Jaitley acknowledging the work done by Chidambaram/Manmohan Singh on inflation targetting regime of RBI and supporting it
What has changed since then, that in the current political climate, none of the political parties can even consider doing any of the above? Is it all down to how social media makes the dialogue so divided? And will it just keep getting worse from here?
Gandhiji and Nehru and the others competed in the battle of ideas and persuaded others that decency is better than aggression. That's what's required now.
Part of it is indeed the polarisation effect of social media, and the way in which extreme expressions are incentivised. And part of it, I feel, is also the individuals involved.
Great insights and stories, really enjoyed this one. Thanks
Such an inspiring episode. Thank you for doing this. ❤
Jim Sarbh as Ajay Shah
Although we'll need some The Irishman level visual effects, Naseeruddin Shah could play Ajay.
Tom hanks for Ajay
This was so much fun!
Brilliant episode indeed!
Unseen came to the stage and seen went to the green room. Nice.
Multicam
Didn't know Ajay Shah was associated with the Berkeley Lab (LBNL)!!!
That's not this Ajay Shah. It's a common name.
@@ajayshah5705 Lol! I was referring to the logo on your coffee mug. I've only heard about the one who's a card carrying economist.
Oh yes
A huge enthusiast about these organisations!
Can you guys do a reading list?
Every episode has a fair reading list in the Amit Varma standard of show notes. Does that work? (Assemble this picture across multiple correlated episodes).