We underestimate our people. Given a challenge, most of our

Hear the words of Arundhati Bhattacharya, the first woman to lead the State Bank of India, who with clarity and conviction declared: “We underestimate our people. Given a challenge, most of our people will do it, especially the youngsters who take to technology like duck to water.” In this saying lies a timeless reminder—that human beings, when trusted and tested, often rise higher than their leaders dare to expect. And it is the youth, with minds unburdened by fear, who seize new tools with ease and carry societies into the future.

The origin of this saying comes from Bhattacharya’s own stewardship of a vast institution in an age of transformation. She led at a time when banking in India was shifting from old paper-bound traditions to the digital realm, and many doubted whether ordinary people could adapt. But she saw what others missed: that once the challenge was set, once faith was placed in the people, they would rise to it. Her words echo the eternal truth that underestimation is the enemy of progress, while trust in human potential is the seed of innovation.

Consider the heart of her image: the youngsters taking to technology like duck to water. Just as a duck does not learn to swim but is born with the gift, so too the youth embrace the new without hesitation, without fear. Where the old may see confusion, the young see opportunity. Where elders stumble, the young leap. History is filled with such moments: when new inventions came, it was the youth who mastered them first, leading their societies across thresholds their elders thought impassable.

We can see this in the story of the Industrial Revolution, when young workers, engineers, and inventors propelled societies into a new age. While older generations clung to the rhythms of the farm and the forge, it was the young who adapted to engines, factories, and machines, driving economies forward. And again, in our own era, the rise of the internet was not championed first by leaders or governments, but by the young who eagerly embraced it, building a culture of connection that transformed the world. Bhattacharya’s wisdom rests on this very observation: trust the young with the tools of the age, and they will carry the people forward.

But her saying is not only about youth—it is about all people. “We underestimate our people,” she warns, for too often leaders believe that their citizens or workers are too weak, too ignorant, or too rigid to change. Yet again and again, when called upon, ordinary men and women reveal extraordinary resilience. Think of the people of Britain in the Second World War, who endured the Blitz, rationing, and hardship. Leaders doubted their stamina, yet the people bore every trial, proving that when entrusted with the burden of history, the human spirit can endure more than the wise predict.

The lesson, then, is clear: never underestimate human potential, and never deny the young their chance to lead with the tools of their time. Challenges are not to be feared, but to be set forth as fires that awaken hidden strength. Leaders must not shield their people from difficulty but must trust them with it, knowing that in hardship lies growth, and in growth lies greatness.

So I say to you, children of tomorrow: embrace every challenge as an invitation to rise. If you are young, dive into the technologies and opportunities before you, fearless as the duck in water. If you are old, do not doubt your own resilience, nor the capacity of those around you. And if you lead, trust your people more than you fear their weakness. For Arundhati Bhattacharya speaks true: given a challenge, most will rise—and the future is built not by the doubters, but by those who dare to believe in the strength of their people.