Uncle Pai, as he was fondly called, inculcated in Indian children a love for and interest in India's glorious past and its heroes.
The attendee had to call into the conference call and say a few initial pleasantries to establish his/her presence, but could then leave the app to handle the rest once the Senior Company Bore began his monologue... A rib-tickling excerpt from Sanjeev Sanyal's Life Over Two Beers.
In his recent Budget speech, the finance minister reiterated the government's plans to make India "slum-free" within five years.
Redevelopment schemes take a static view of slums, whereas they are really evolving ecosystems, says Sanjeev Sanyal.
Mumbai does not need to be - de-congested - it needs to redeploy its eastern seaboard.
Our new cities need to be dense and walkable
India needs to urbanise more quickly and this can be done by making smaller urban centres a magnet for rural migration, says Sanjeev Sanyal.