‘Redesign the World: A Global Call to Action’ review: A radical form of humanism, the Sam Pitroda way

The telecom innovator offers new ideas to change the future, in which people and the planet are at the core of all ideologies

When Sam Pitroda says it is time to redesign the world, you sit up and take notice. He explains why he feels that way in his latest book which is a global call to action. Pitroda has devoted a major part of his life to public service using his vast technical knowledge. He is the founder, investor, chairman of six start-ups and five nonprofit foundations. He holds over 100 patents and 20 honorary PhDs. He is the man who laid the foundation for India’s telecommunication revolution in the 1980s. To go back to the 80s, it was a period of acute shortages. Many young people will not know how many years we had to wait for a telephone which was seen as a luxury item among many other necessities. Pitroda, born in a small village in rural India in 1942, had never used a telephone till 1964. He worked hard, got his masters degree in physics, specialising in electronics, from Baroda’s Maharaja Sayajirao University and then there was no looking back.