DVG’s Timeless 30-Point Advice to Indian Youth

This is the full text of a letter that DVG wrote in 1971 to a disconcerted young college student seeking advice on entering public life.

Editor’s Note

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT of D.V. Gundappa’s advice to young men who wished to enter public life to offer national service or generally wanted to contribute to national life in some meaningful way.

DVG has mentioned the backdrop that occasioned this letter. It was first published in the October 1971 issue of the Public Affairs journal t…