when I was in college I heard this story
which actually changed my life the story
of a man he would go to the beach every
day
thousands of viciously watched a soul
because of the waves at the roarin on
the shore flapping the wings and almost
dying and the versus old man who would
go pick up one fish at a time throw it
into the sea then he would go pick up
another one throw it into the sea he
would keep on doing this he would do
this every day so this group of young
people who were on the beach they walked
up him and said you must be really crazy
man
there are thousands and millions of fish
dying out there
you’re picking him one when you throwing
it into the sea you think you’re making
a whole lot of difference
he didn’t say anything he just went down
picked up another fish throw it into the
sea and he said it makes a difference in
the life of that fish I think this is a
story which changed my life
I said I can do little things which will
make a difference to the lives of people
and I said how much will do it then I
kind of see loaded on the Internet’s
Administrative Service I said this gives
me the power to reach out to people and
to make a difference in the lives of
people in the life of people of this
country once majority of whom were
illiterate but below poverty line we’re
not even having one meal a day so I
decided to get into the indeed
atmospheric service it’s a hugely
competitive examination we’re now almost
a million people write the examination
and one hundred people get selected
my garden that was of course was a huge
miracle because coming from the
background where I am having studied in
a non-electrified village in the
Malayalam medium school son of a school
that was quite a bit of an achievement
and beyond that I was known to be the
dumbest kid in the history of the school
my teachers had written me off my
headmaster to me off they said I will
never pass school but of course a
miracle happened I pass school and then
now a second miracle happened I got into
the Indian Administrative Service well
once I got into the service I decided
when I walked into so the gates of the
Missouri Academy where the Yates Academy
is located I said I’m here to bring
happiness into the lives of people
it’s very easy to say I have now
succeeded I’m Gordon to die yes life is
gonna be beautiful
I said no I want to make the life of
other people beautiful I said whatever
it takes I’m going to do that to bring
happiness into the lives of people I
said if it comes from breaking the rules
I would do that so I never read the
all-india Series rules because I said
I’m going to break them every day
because one of the rules say you shall
not criticize government policy or
action and I said no even a gum action
is corrupt I have the Liberty and the
freedom and the fundamental duty as a
citizen to criticize that sir got into
Missouri Academy finish the training and
of course I was my first job was a sub
collector in a day bugle on Munnar and
that’s why I start her on this huge
journey of discovery just fantastic
because I was completely left free from
the district collector to do whatever I
wanted to there were no telephones those
days no mobile phones so I ran my own
Kingdom I drove through the high ranges
was a very exciting life I organized the
first car rally in Kerala in 1982 I mean
I I love fast cars I love speed of
course till my car crashed totaled four
times on the highway broken into pieces
and of course I slowed not have slowed
down after that but otherwise I used to
love speed and after that of course I
became the district electrocautery in
this district District Collector off a
place is possibly the most exciting job
in the world is possibly the most
powerful job anyway you are in charge of
everything from enforcing law and order
to land revenue to providing drinking
water and sanitation to education and
law enforcement everything is your
responsibility so when I came here I
said let’s sue somethings which is
really different I looked at people I
said whole lot of people are illiterate
how is your life how can you live a
dignified life if you are not literate a
literate so I got to discuss with the
university god the NSS world in tears
but a whole lot of young people and who
decided that we are going to make khat
am Tong the first 100 literate town in
the country about fourteen thousand
volunteers walked completely free merely
to money came from the Government of
India
otherwise everybody walked free and it
was amazing to see young girls would
just school dropouts volunteering
working past midnight coming at five
o’clock in the morning being so much
involved the whole entire city was
involved I mean everybody breathes
literacy so in 1989 what they must
betray the first 100 percent literate
town in India I think possibly I don’t
know if there is any other world which
can prior itself of being a hundred
percent of literate town we looked at
health care we said people have the
right to get health care we got the
entire health department to go down to
the villages right where people live we
got 100 percent immunization for
children and we had seen the quality of
health index in court them this straight
better than the United States of America
we built a cancer hospital in the cot a
medical college campus with contribution
from 8.2 million people I think this
institution presumably has been built
with the largest number of contributors
from anywhere in the world now it’s a
People’s Hospital we decided that the
government exists for people
and everybody has the right to get water
itself in the government but of course
lives of millions of people in this
country
he’s part of the red tape or the
bureaucracy things are not delivered
so I decided one fine day that I will go
down to people but what was my
motivation for doing this one day an
8-year old lady comes to my house she’s
held by a young lady and she came in
home and shouted at me and says hi this
is the third trip to the collectorate
you are never not here twice when I came
I had to change buses
I’ve to get help and finally the punch
line she says the government is giving
you a car why don’t you come and see me
in the village now that triggered a huge
idea we decided the entire district
administration will go down to the
villages but with preparations you would
receive petitions in advance examine
them for 15 days and then go down to the
village and dispose of everything
whatever they ask for must be given so
this became a huge success and we went
down to every panchayat in the district
and of course three four years back it
won the highest even award for good
government taxes so the district
collector has amazing ability as a POW
and the money to try out innovative
ideas to reach out to people and I see
firemen the districts are like the fire
of percent my job is to ensure that
people’s grievances are taken care of
that they are solved and they are solved
right there where they live so this was
a huge success now it’s just been
adopted by various states well after
that I went down to Delhi as
commissioner Delhi Development Authority
my job was to enforce the law
Lord of land belonging to the government
was being encroached upon thousands of
acres and when I did the survey I found
it was the biggest political leaders of
Delhi who are encroaching on land and
the top ten were the biggest political
leaders of Delhi and I picked up the
number one and everybody was so scared
his building was 200,000 square feet and
then he was a mafia leader I said norm
we have a very simple rule we will take
on the biggest mafia leader first we got
ready we went on demolished this 200,000
square feet building here long in the
biggest mafia leader was demolished in
36 hours reduced to – to dust and of
course everybody said wow this is
fantastic
what were the next five years 36,000
employees off the DDA I didn’t do it and
I I was there all the time me together
we destroyed the Mafia we demolished
14300 ten illegal mansions belong to the
biggest richest most powerful people in
Delhi now simple question is lot of
people say wow this is fantastic this is
a miracle no there’s nothing in it all
that you need is a mic ball you must
have the courage to say God has given me
this job I’m here in the job to enforce
the law and my job is to ensure that the
justice is justice prevails that
criminality is not allowed to flourish
very simple thing we did it inevitable
things in America but I don’t think so
well I also set up an NGO to fight
corruption in general Shakti when the
place hit Delhi we went around cleaning
garbages because all the municipal
employees run away and when I went to
the fourth cleaning program in Easter
day we were just fifteen of us my wife
some my small little boys and some
general Shakti volunteers I had
demolished three houses belonging to the
local member of the assembly they came
in attacked to 300 people with Pilates
and swords and sticks the metres of
Natalie my wife was left in a pool of
blood they thought she was dead well
luckily a police vehicle came
we picked her up and she survives with
32 stitches well that’s part of life
that’s part of my job I don’t see
anything great in me having done that
these are hustles which one has to face
when one is in public life and if we are
responsible citizens and TV you know
gets you thinking
well should we be scared when there is a
public issue our policy has been
position has been very symbol now we
just go out and just do it
if we get beaten up well that’s part of
the job well after spending 27 years and
is Administrative Service I decided to
quit why cuz everybody says politics is
dirty and I said sorry no politics has
to be clean and I had to prove that
politics can be clean I quit and I
conduct the elections from this
constituency where this function is
being organized now and I went on the
32nd day as an independent member of
parliament people elected me why because
they said when he was a district
elective and I was a district collector
I was with the people so people never
forget poor people ordinary people they
never forget whatever you do so I won
went to the assembly but I decided from
day one I am going to be a different
kind of politicians by enlarge
politicians in India spend time
attending marriages and funerals I said
sorry I’m not a marriage funeral MLA my
job is to be the voice of the people and
the assembly my job be simmering
development of the constituency and I
became the only MLA without a driver
living in a tiny little room here
morning 6 o’clock I would be out every
day we used to go to a different village
along with the electrode opportunities
of people panchayat members and we would
meet people sitting under the trees and
in the evening after me or all the
suggestions from people after touring
around the whole village we will sit
down and say now what is your top
priorities we would list all five of
those and my job would be to chase these
projects to get the money and implement
on them and of course in
as a member of the assembly I got 350
crores into my constituency which is
about ten times what the Chief Minister
of Kerala God as a politician I found it
people love you as a number of
Parliament if you are with them and if
you do their work and if you people
perceive you to be there a personal life
doing the kind of work which they want
they love you well in 2011 I decided to
resign from the assembly because I said
I want to be national politics
country was not going in the right
direction I said we need somebody who
can lead the country I pretend doing the
National Party and I’ve been working in
that party for the past six and half
years when I was made the Minister for
tourism information technology and
electronics having great fun my job is
very simple I’m supposed to market India
as the Minister for tourism and last
year in 2017 has been a fantastic year
for me and for the country because the
10 million mark in foreign tourist
arrivals which is an increase of fifteen
point three six percent power the past
year our receipts from the foreign
tourists have gone up by twenty point
two percent and our domestic tourism
he’s done very well it’s also growing by
about ten percent the total number of
pubs last year or the most accepted by
people traveling within India has been
about 1.8 billion we provide jobs to
twelve point three six percent of
India’s total employment bracket we
contribute about six point eight percent
of the GDP of India and I believe this
is to just a tip of the iceberg in guys
the most incredible country so five
thousand-year-old civilization with
everything a thousand year kilometers of
seacoast backwaters tropical forests
deserts mountains 70% of Himalayas is in
India it’s an incredible country it’s a
living civilization with the Living
philosophy I want all the whole world
come to India not just to see not this
experience the new what we have proven
these transformational experience where
anybody who comes to India should go
back and say wow I am a different person
now so just recently in the Berlin
international tourism festival
India won the first prize for the first
time for the best Pavilion in Asia
Oceania and Australia region and we’ve
done very well
but we believe now we can do much bigger
things and that’s all objective I want
to double the tourists inflow in three
years I would double the tourist income
in three years and all this is possible
now what’s my take away from bureaucracy
and from politics simple
I believe all these excuses being made
by part by bureaucrats saying sorry we
can’t do it because the political
interference let me tell you I’ve had
never never had any political
interference from any politicians I’ve
been able to do whatever I wanted to
I’ve been able to dream thanks for the
country as a bureaucrat and do it so no
excuses we can do it as a politician my
election
I spent no money very little money paid
no money to anybody he proves that
politics can be clean there is still a
whole lot of space for honest people for
honest politicians people who dream
there is a big space for such politics I
think that’s where we want a whole lot
of young people to say yes politics is
also another great barrier that’s really
the forum where we can make the biggest
difference to the world now
fundamentally if you ask me finally
what’s the one thing which I believe in
it’s very simple I’m created with the
difference
I must dream my own dreams I must chase
my own dreams I have a bike morning to
keep that and if you really make the big
effort everything succeeds everything
works thank you [Applause]
which actually changed my life the story
of a man he would go to the beach every
day
thousands of viciously watched a soul
because of the waves at the roarin on
the shore flapping the wings and almost
dying and the versus old man who would
go pick up one fish at a time throw it
into the sea then he would go pick up
another one throw it into the sea he
would keep on doing this he would do
this every day so this group of young
people who were on the beach they walked
up him and said you must be really crazy
man
there are thousands and millions of fish
dying out there
you’re picking him one when you throwing
it into the sea you think you’re making
a whole lot of difference
he didn’t say anything he just went down
picked up another fish throw it into the
sea and he said it makes a difference in
the life of that fish I think this is a
story which changed my life
I said I can do little things which will
make a difference to the lives of people
and I said how much will do it then I
kind of see loaded on the Internet’s
Administrative Service I said this gives
me the power to reach out to people and
to make a difference in the lives of
people in the life of people of this
country once majority of whom were
illiterate but below poverty line we’re
not even having one meal a day so I
decided to get into the indeed
atmospheric service it’s a hugely
competitive examination we’re now almost
a million people write the examination
and one hundred people get selected
my garden that was of course was a huge
miracle because coming from the
background where I am having studied in
a non-electrified village in the
Malayalam medium school son of a school
that was quite a bit of an achievement
and beyond that I was known to be the
dumbest kid in the history of the school
my teachers had written me off my
headmaster to me off they said I will
never pass school but of course a
miracle happened I pass school and then
now a second miracle happened I got into
the Indian Administrative Service well
once I got into the service I decided
when I walked into so the gates of the
Missouri Academy where the Yates Academy
is located I said I’m here to bring
happiness into the lives of people
it’s very easy to say I have now
succeeded I’m Gordon to die yes life is
gonna be beautiful
I said no I want to make the life of
other people beautiful I said whatever
it takes I’m going to do that to bring
happiness into the lives of people I
said if it comes from breaking the rules
I would do that so I never read the
all-india Series rules because I said
I’m going to break them every day
because one of the rules say you shall
not criticize government policy or
action and I said no even a gum action
is corrupt I have the Liberty and the
freedom and the fundamental duty as a
citizen to criticize that sir got into
Missouri Academy finish the training and
of course I was my first job was a sub
collector in a day bugle on Munnar and
that’s why I start her on this huge
journey of discovery just fantastic
because I was completely left free from
the district collector to do whatever I
wanted to there were no telephones those
days no mobile phones so I ran my own
Kingdom I drove through the high ranges
was a very exciting life I organized the
first car rally in Kerala in 1982 I mean
I I love fast cars I love speed of
course till my car crashed totaled four
times on the highway broken into pieces
and of course I slowed not have slowed
down after that but otherwise I used to
love speed and after that of course I
became the district electrocautery in
this district District Collector off a
place is possibly the most exciting job
in the world is possibly the most
powerful job anyway you are in charge of
everything from enforcing law and order
to land revenue to providing drinking
water and sanitation to education and
law enforcement everything is your
responsibility so when I came here I
said let’s sue somethings which is
really different I looked at people I
said whole lot of people are illiterate
how is your life how can you live a
dignified life if you are not literate a
literate so I got to discuss with the
university god the NSS world in tears
but a whole lot of young people and who
decided that we are going to make khat
am Tong the first 100 literate town in
the country about fourteen thousand
volunteers walked completely free merely
to money came from the Government of
India
otherwise everybody walked free and it
was amazing to see young girls would
just school dropouts volunteering
working past midnight coming at five
o’clock in the morning being so much
involved the whole entire city was
involved I mean everybody breathes
literacy so in 1989 what they must
betray the first 100 percent literate
town in India I think possibly I don’t
know if there is any other world which
can prior itself of being a hundred
percent of literate town we looked at
health care we said people have the
right to get health care we got the
entire health department to go down to
the villages right where people live we
got 100 percent immunization for
children and we had seen the quality of
health index in court them this straight
better than the United States of America
we built a cancer hospital in the cot a
medical college campus with contribution
from 8.2 million people I think this
institution presumably has been built
with the largest number of contributors
from anywhere in the world now it’s a
People’s Hospital we decided that the
government exists for people
and everybody has the right to get water
itself in the government but of course
lives of millions of people in this
country
he’s part of the red tape or the
bureaucracy things are not delivered
so I decided one fine day that I will go
down to people but what was my
motivation for doing this one day an
8-year old lady comes to my house she’s
held by a young lady and she came in
home and shouted at me and says hi this
is the third trip to the collectorate
you are never not here twice when I came
I had to change buses
I’ve to get help and finally the punch
line she says the government is giving
you a car why don’t you come and see me
in the village now that triggered a huge
idea we decided the entire district
administration will go down to the
villages but with preparations you would
receive petitions in advance examine
them for 15 days and then go down to the
village and dispose of everything
whatever they ask for must be given so
this became a huge success and we went
down to every panchayat in the district
and of course three four years back it
won the highest even award for good
government taxes so the district
collector has amazing ability as a POW
and the money to try out innovative
ideas to reach out to people and I see
firemen the districts are like the fire
of percent my job is to ensure that
people’s grievances are taken care of
that they are solved and they are solved
right there where they live so this was
a huge success now it’s just been
adopted by various states well after
that I went down to Delhi as
commissioner Delhi Development Authority
my job was to enforce the law
Lord of land belonging to the government
was being encroached upon thousands of
acres and when I did the survey I found
it was the biggest political leaders of
Delhi who are encroaching on land and
the top ten were the biggest political
leaders of Delhi and I picked up the
number one and everybody was so scared
his building was 200,000 square feet and
then he was a mafia leader I said norm
we have a very simple rule we will take
on the biggest mafia leader first we got
ready we went on demolished this 200,000
square feet building here long in the
biggest mafia leader was demolished in
36 hours reduced to – to dust and of
course everybody said wow this is
fantastic
what were the next five years 36,000
employees off the DDA I didn’t do it and
I I was there all the time me together
we destroyed the Mafia we demolished
14300 ten illegal mansions belong to the
biggest richest most powerful people in
Delhi now simple question is lot of
people say wow this is fantastic this is
a miracle no there’s nothing in it all
that you need is a mic ball you must
have the courage to say God has given me
this job I’m here in the job to enforce
the law and my job is to ensure that the
justice is justice prevails that
criminality is not allowed to flourish
very simple thing we did it inevitable
things in America but I don’t think so
well I also set up an NGO to fight
corruption in general Shakti when the
place hit Delhi we went around cleaning
garbages because all the municipal
employees run away and when I went to
the fourth cleaning program in Easter
day we were just fifteen of us my wife
some my small little boys and some
general Shakti volunteers I had
demolished three houses belonging to the
local member of the assembly they came
in attacked to 300 people with Pilates
and swords and sticks the metres of
Natalie my wife was left in a pool of
blood they thought she was dead well
luckily a police vehicle came
we picked her up and she survives with
32 stitches well that’s part of life
that’s part of my job I don’t see
anything great in me having done that
these are hustles which one has to face
when one is in public life and if we are
responsible citizens and TV you know
gets you thinking
well should we be scared when there is a
public issue our policy has been
position has been very symbol now we
just go out and just do it
if we get beaten up well that’s part of
the job well after spending 27 years and
is Administrative Service I decided to
quit why cuz everybody says politics is
dirty and I said sorry no politics has
to be clean and I had to prove that
politics can be clean I quit and I
conduct the elections from this
constituency where this function is
being organized now and I went on the
32nd day as an independent member of
parliament people elected me why because
they said when he was a district
elective and I was a district collector
I was with the people so people never
forget poor people ordinary people they
never forget whatever you do so I won
went to the assembly but I decided from
day one I am going to be a different
kind of politicians by enlarge
politicians in India spend time
attending marriages and funerals I said
sorry I’m not a marriage funeral MLA my
job is to be the voice of the people and
the assembly my job be simmering
development of the constituency and I
became the only MLA without a driver
living in a tiny little room here
morning 6 o’clock I would be out every
day we used to go to a different village
along with the electrode opportunities
of people panchayat members and we would
meet people sitting under the trees and
in the evening after me or all the
suggestions from people after touring
around the whole village we will sit
down and say now what is your top
priorities we would list all five of
those and my job would be to chase these
projects to get the money and implement
on them and of course in
as a member of the assembly I got 350
crores into my constituency which is
about ten times what the Chief Minister
of Kerala God as a politician I found it
people love you as a number of
Parliament if you are with them and if
you do their work and if you people
perceive you to be there a personal life
doing the kind of work which they want
they love you well in 2011 I decided to
resign from the assembly because I said
I want to be national politics
country was not going in the right
direction I said we need somebody who
can lead the country I pretend doing the
National Party and I’ve been working in
that party for the past six and half
years when I was made the Minister for
tourism information technology and
electronics having great fun my job is
very simple I’m supposed to market India
as the Minister for tourism and last
year in 2017 has been a fantastic year
for me and for the country because the
10 million mark in foreign tourist
arrivals which is an increase of fifteen
point three six percent power the past
year our receipts from the foreign
tourists have gone up by twenty point
two percent and our domestic tourism
he’s done very well it’s also growing by
about ten percent the total number of
pubs last year or the most accepted by
people traveling within India has been
about 1.8 billion we provide jobs to
twelve point three six percent of
India’s total employment bracket we
contribute about six point eight percent
of the GDP of India and I believe this
is to just a tip of the iceberg in guys
the most incredible country so five
thousand-year-old civilization with
everything a thousand year kilometers of
seacoast backwaters tropical forests
deserts mountains 70% of Himalayas is in
India it’s an incredible country it’s a
living civilization with the Living
philosophy I want all the whole world
come to India not just to see not this
experience the new what we have proven
these transformational experience where
anybody who comes to India should go
back and say wow I am a different person
now so just recently in the Berlin
international tourism festival
India won the first prize for the first
time for the best Pavilion in Asia
Oceania and Australia region and we’ve
done very well
but we believe now we can do much bigger
things and that’s all objective I want
to double the tourists inflow in three
years I would double the tourist income
in three years and all this is possible
now what’s my take away from bureaucracy
and from politics simple
I believe all these excuses being made
by part by bureaucrats saying sorry we
can’t do it because the political
interference let me tell you I’ve had
never never had any political
interference from any politicians I’ve
been able to do whatever I wanted to
I’ve been able to dream thanks for the
country as a bureaucrat and do it so no
excuses we can do it as a politician my
election
I spent no money very little money paid
no money to anybody he proves that
politics can be clean there is still a
whole lot of space for honest people for
honest politicians people who dream
there is a big space for such politics I
think that’s where we want a whole lot
of young people to say yes politics is
also another great barrier that’s really
the forum where we can make the biggest
difference to the world now
fundamentally if you ask me finally
what’s the one thing which I believe in
it’s very simple I’m created with the
difference
I must dream my own dreams I must chase
my own dreams I have a bike morning to
keep that and if you really make the big
effort everything succeeds everything
works thank you [Applause]
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