Sam Pitroda, known as the father of Indian telecom revolution, has been in the midst of a major controversy for a remark on how Indians across the regions look different. While one can understand Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking it up for his electoral gain, suggesting it showed the racist Congress mindset, what was unpalatable to me was Congress leaders – particularly Jairam Ramesh, known for his deep intellectual understand – distancing themselves from what Pitroda had said. While I personally don’t see anything wrong in what Pitroda had said, I felt his was a rather rugged – perhaps a crude common person's – way of describing national unity. Be that as it may, my interactions with him -- among them one-to-one several decades ago, another as part of a civil society group in Ahmedabad -- suggest he is insightful only when he comments on information and communication technology (ICT). The year was late 1989 or early 1990, I don’t exactly recall. At that time VP Sing...