I had the honour of being invited to speak at two international conferences in Chicago and Baltimore in June 2019. Long haul flights to the US are always tiring and the one-stop is always helpful to rest your legs. I stopped over in Tokyo, Japan to break the monotonous journey. It has been a long time since I had been to Japan. The Japanese experience is always nice except for the expensive cost of living.

In Chicago, I had the opportunity of getting close to the corridors of power. It was a pleasant experience meeting Raja Krishnamoorthi, the US Congressman serving Illinois’s 8th congressional district. Born into a Tamil speaking family in New Delhi, India, Raja’s parents moved to the US when he was just three months old. He attended Princeton University and the Harvard Law School. There is one thing we both share in common; we admire President Obama and his words: the audacity of hope.

His commitment towards education, job training and workforce development is reflected in his efforts. In June 2017, the House unanimously passed the Thompson-Krishnamoorthi Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. Raja is also a co-author of the College Transparency Act. Eloquent, humble and committed to serving the people, Raja is considered to be one of the rising stars in the US. He was gracious to write a few words for my 16th book, the Reflections of an Entrepreneur.