From the desk of Dr Sriya Chakravarti

Qissati, is a memoir that captures 50 stories from 50 years of remarkable leadership by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. This book is a chronicle of experiences from his personal and public life. He calls it “sharing of little wisdom and lots of love.” Qissati gives an essence of many life lessons that leaves readers like me, inspired and at other times, speechless and emotional. Qissati has stories that connect and relate to an individual at a grass root level. Below are few lessons that made a profound impact on the educator in me. Reading these stories made me realize that sometimes you do not know what destiny holds for you, and yet you must walk the path in faith, with a head filled with big dreams and goodness in your heart, to see miracles manifest. Great ambitions and expectation from self, and others is a key take way from Qissati. As an educator, I urge all like-minded colleagues t...

I finished grading exams, moderation, archiving and supporting faculty this week. Phew! what a relief. Whenever the spring semester ends, I feel like the end of an academic cycle. Even though, I teach in Summer,  it is different. Shorter sessions, lesser students, and plenty of other activities for stimulation. As I look back to Spring 20, I am speechless. What a journey it has been. Who knew - Spring 20 would turn out like this. I read a meme somewhere on the internet that said, no one - who interviewed for a position in 2015 would have got the question "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" right. So true, we all have been washing hands, dodging the virus with a mask and gloves like a ninja and keeping our head down in the lock down and working diligently.  These difficult times have challenged most of our assumptions. It has shown - how artificial our world economy is and how quickly it can collapse - like a pack of cards, without warning. Businesses ...