In pursuit of the next big idea to guide and transform the world

In the run-up to the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2024, thought leaders and experts share their views on the theme of this year's event

- Manish Tewari

The eternal aspiration that freedom and justice must reign was encapsulated in the Magna Carta negotiated between King John of England and the rebel barons. It is "the ultimate ideal" that inspires.

The said compact ordained that no free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land and to no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice. Cinched on June 15, 1215 it laid the foundations of due process and these immortal words became the Grundnorm of classical jurisprudence.

In 1789, the rallying cry of the French Revolution - Liberty, Equality and Fraternity - ignited a million minds and immeasurable mutinies for epochs thereafter. It epitomised the fundamental impulse of liberation struggles that people are the sovereign and should be masters of their destiny. Not some decadent ruler feudal lord, imperialist or colonialist and not essentially in that order.

The quintessential square of inspiration thus consists of the ability to dream the impossible, the vision to articulate that dream, the pragmatism to execute the vision and the grit to persevere with it in the face of adversity.