SHE ALONE CAN PLAY HER GAME

I am saddling you with a real story.

One evening two years ago at around 6 pm the Principal of KUTSeminary, Kannammoola, Trivandrum Rev.MPJoseph had given me a call. He said the CSI Synod Treasurer Adv.Bruce is visiting the Seminary for ascertaining the issues that had been plaguing KUTS for quite sometime. Problems always arise in a dynamic environment.. As I was the Honorary Treasurer of the KUTS the Principal wanted me there since according to his perception I had been well conversant in the subject.

I said yes and reached the Seminary at once.

Adv. Bruce arrived without delay. He reviewed the performance of the Seminary. We presented the events and matters objectively.

Once the meeting was over Adv. Bruce sought the intervention of the Principal for securing an admission for a girl at the St.Thomas Residential School Trivandrum CBSE 11th Standard. I kept quiet. But Achen wouldn't let go. He requested me to intercede. I had a relative at the School. Though my disposition is never to interfere in the official matters of my relatives, something made me say yes.

The girl was the daughter of Mr. J Kanakaraj of Nagercoil. His wife was a teacher in a School there. The grandfather of the girl was a close associate of Adv.Bruce in politics.

When I contacted my relative, he said that with due respect to the system of education prevalent in Tamil Nadu the general policy of the School was not to admit students from the state as the students  there were being showered with elevated percentage of marks.  However their performance at the School was consistently on the flip side. They encountered stress  in coping with the method of teaching at the School. He said it was a general observation. However there were exceptions. The School never hesitated in admitting students from Tamil Nadu who were prepared to work hard.

However my gentle persuasions succeeded. The girl was admitted. The parents had told me that the girl had found out about the school herself.

The girl proved to be a liability in the hostel. She was the worst performer in the class. The parents finally decided to shift her back to Tamil Nadu. But her mother was resilient. She took the initiative in renting a flat very close to the school. She said it was the first time she was leaving the comfort of her home and making it out alone in the world. She stayed with the girl, looked after her very well. Slowly, the girl picked up the broken pieces. She began to do well in studies.

The mother's sacrifice was spectacular.

She brought a scooter to the flat. She kept a scooter at the the Eraniel Railway station. Everyday she rode from Mukkola, took the train and took the Scooter at Eraniel to reach her school. She'd return in the evening. Initially she didn't know the roads in Trivandrum. Many times she lost her way. A fantastic mother who refused to consign her daughter to or in the wilderness.

Her father rang me up yesterday. He was brimming with joy. He conveyed that the girl has passed CBSE 12 with 92%. I was happy. He thanked me profusely.

He added that she could have done still better if she had made an effort.

That kindled something somewhere within me.

I posted him a message this morning.

I am posting it here. I went for the story because the message alone does not make sense.

"Don't know what I had conveyed yesterday had made any sense.

One thing I would like to stress. Your daughter, the name is not coming alive - please tell me again - is a very very smart girl. She has her own space in the world. I reiterate, her own space. The parental function is not to push her into a space that would be ideal for her in their perception, but to assist her discover her own space.

Don't worry if academic pursuits do not reach a high level. Don't worry if she does not land a high profile job. Be happy she is what she is.

I can assure that she'd reach somewhere much to your delight.

Children are never born incapable. They are never born fools. They fall on the way injuring themselves. The grief of the parents on that would seem insurmountable. Be stoic. Bear the unending set backs with stoicism.

Everything is cyclic in the world. Nothing lasts forever. Happiness and sorrows or disappointments are two sides of the same coin. Human beings are open to both.

It's all philosophy, you may percieve. But I have been through all this. I am still doing that. I speak from the wealth of experience accrued or picked up over the years.

Leave the girl alone. But  watch closely from the sidelines. She alone can play her game."

RELIANCE - How Reliance has transformed India's business landscape - from Businessline 7 July 2020

How Reliance has transformed India's business landscape

G Ramachandran  | Updated on July 07, 2020  Published on July 06, 2020

From textiles to telecom, Reliance has transformed many sectors. Much of the credit for this goes to its founder’s spirit

Growth is life. Life is growth. Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani — also known as Dhirubhai — died on July 6, 2002. India has grown since then; so has Reliance Industries. The story of Dhirubhai and Reliance are tightly woven together by the same yarn. New strands are being added rapidly.

Reliance has come a long way since its past. It began as fibre. It is now growing itself into fiber — Jio Fiber. Some parts of the fibre in its digital network are not visible. But the wireless fiber is present inside the fabric or the network that Dhirubhai’s son, Mukesh Ambani, is weaving.

Unusual beginning

Dhirubhai began with yarn and then fabric. It was Reliance’s “Only Vimal” that grabbed the nation’s attention. Dhirubhai understood what India needed; and what Reliance needed. He took off on a backward integration adventure, blitz and binge. His yarn needed fibre.

Natural fibre needs organic chemicals, soil, water and manure. Dhirubhai knew cotton’s yield limitations. Cotton is an expensive fibre in the task of providing adequate lengths of fabric to clothe the millions. India needed inexpensive fabric. Dhirubhai chose inorganic chemicals and synthetic fabrics.

India needed style, too. Reliance understood style. It had to flourish as a customer-facing business-to-consumer (B2C) business. There is a big management lesson here for storytellers and strategy experts.

India had won the Prudential Cricket World Cup in 1983. The first three editions were held in England in 1975, 1979 and 1983. All three were sponsored by Prudential, a British global insurance group born in 1848.

Dhirubhai seized the moment and won the right to sponsor the 1987 Cricket World Cup in India, for the country and for the world. Reliance’s route to substance and style in its massive B2C entrepreneurial effort was cricket. The 1987 Championship was played in India and Pakistan. The final was played at the magnificent Eden Garden in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on November 8, 1987.

Dhirubhai handed the Reliance Cricket World Cup to Allan Border, the captain of the winning Australian team. Border batted extremely well and got two wickets. The first one remains unforgettable — he got the wicket of Mike Gatting, the captain of the losing team from England. Gotcha!

It is not a coincidence that Reliance’s door to a borderless world was opened by Allan Border. The 1987 Reliance World Cup was the last cup that could be sponsored. Reliance had arrived as a B2C company.

Growth of the business

Now, it is on to bigger adventures. Reliance Jio and Jio Fiber are the latest and the biggest. Perhaps, they are equal; so let’s unify them. Reliance Jio Fiber is the latest and the biggest.

Hence, fibre and fiber are the same as well. Yarn, thread, fibre, fabric, fiber and network are all the same, depending on how you see them. Fibre to fiber is the manifestation that determines what we see. Fibre to fiber is the determination of what the manifestation is.

Dhirubhai and Reliance make up a fine yarn, a story, an elaborate narration of a real adventure. A yarn becomes an epic when the hero goes the long distance. When Dhirubhai passed away in 2002, Reliance had entered the communications and information business. Refining was in its backyard.

It had taken deep a backward integration, as far back as possible. It became the world’s largest refiner of crude oil. That deep backward integration then pushed it into deep forward integration. Reliance is now in the big business of fuels.

A yarn becomes an epic. Then an epic becomes a saga. Reliance has become a master of deep backward integration and deep forward integration. Reliance owns the fabric and the network — end-to-end. There are no loose ends.

Reliance is B2C on the outside, but B2B (business-to-business) on the inside. Its managerial activities and the accomplishments through cost centres, revenue centres and profit centres are breath-taking, buzzing and borderless.

ESPN Cricinfo says that Allan Border is the epitome of the fighting Australian. Dhirubhai was the epitome of the fighting capitalist. Reliance is the epitome of the efforts of capitalism.

There is the extraordinary past. There is the gargantuan present. There is an exciting future. We can make whatever yarn we wish to make of these. All three are about the flow of time in its long journey. It is as if time wraps itself along the Reliance warp.

The warp in a fabric is the yarn that goes the distance. It goes metres and metres to make up the tale and the bale. The weft is the yarn that defines the moment.

Rise and rise

Let us imagine Dhirubhai walking along with us in this moment. He would be very happy. Reliance is now in three game-changing industries: fuels and feedstock; mobile telephony and broadband; and retail. Reliance has served India by bringing optimism and opportunities in gigantic barrels. It has served the citizens of India. It has over 2,00,000 employees and supports the enterprises of over 20 million self-employed Indians.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown six times since 2002, or from $0.5 trillion to $3.2 trillion in 2020. Reliance earns $18 billion in revenues. Its revenues have risen 12-fold since 2002. Its market capitalisation has grown at least ten times in the same period.

Reliance exports petroleum products. Its Jamnagar refinery has a capacity of 1.24 million barrels per stream day. Reliance Retail is set to become the biggest retailer in India. It has over 3,800 retail outlets.

Reliance owns a clutch of powerful brands — Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends, Ajio and Jio Mart. Reliance has disrupted many businesses with Jio Platforms. In merely four years, Jio has added 387.5 million subscribers and has over 34 per cent of the market. Jio earns $2.4 billion in revenue.

Reliance is a celebration of the owner-driven public company. The Ambani family owns more than 45 per cent of the shareholding. This extraordinarily big inside holding is the perfect antidote to ‘agency costs’. The other shareholders of Reliance admired Dhirubhai. He belonged to them. They belonged to him. They were cut from the same cloth. They wore the same clothes.

Reliance has combined enterprise, leadership, ownership and management. Its ownership and management practices have for long been the envy of many European and American corporations. Reliance’s corporate ownership and management practices have been discussed since the time it chose to issue its global depository receipts in May 1992. The world’s most demanding shareholders — the institutional shareholders, in particular — knew of Reliance’s strengths since 1993. Twenty-seven years later, more and more of them are rushing to invest in Reliance.

The writer is founder of CreaSakti

CAN DO WILL DO MUST DO

CAN DO

WILL DO 

MUST DO

An exhortation I found somewhere way back in 1996. It got stuck in my being since then, for ever. 

I look at it this way.

CAN DO

It  means I can do it. But I may not do it. Means nothing is ever going to happen.

Accomplishment would be level zero.

WILL DO IT

It means I'll say I will do  it. But I may or may not do it. Perhaps I'll never do it. 

The status quo remains. I'd never move or budge even an inch. I remain doing nothing.

Accomplishment, level zero.

MUST DO

I reach a state where I'd never let go without doing it. I'd tell myself I must do it. I'd keep at it till I accomplish,attain or  achieve. 

Accomplishment, level 100 percent. Even much higher. 

It is upto each individual to make a choice 

where he's/she's going  to be, where you'd like to be. 

Your choice makes you or mars you.

You may not become the number one in the world or in your field. But you'd leave a rich legacy behind because of your unparalleled achievements.

Good luck

Academics generate scholars. Scholars build the society.

Quoting from 

The Hindu 22 June 2020 Page 5

Recommendations of expert committee on Higher Education in Kerala

Summing up:

1. Upgradation of institutional facilities to encourage research based academic writing and critical reading of texts.

2. Hone the reading - writing skills of students.

3.Reshape pedagogical practices to ensure both teachers and students are co- learners, rather than mere recipients and providers of knowledge.

3. Reengineer the current scenario where teachers' employment is the sole purpose of running higher education institutions.

4.Reduce the overbearing focus on examinations.

5. Evaluate students on the basis of creative learning.

6. Emphasise the development of soft skills.

7. Needs holistic thrust on emerging fields of study

8. Focus on a paradigm shift to research based learning .

The gist as I see is, the maxim, learning by rot, is to be cast overboard.

The intelligence and the extraordinary capabilities of the students have to be recognised and encouraged to play the prime part in their acquisition of knowlege.

The role of the teachers is to assist them in their quest.

The teachers have to excel. They have to constantly keep on learning, upgrading and reorienting themselves to stay relevant.

Teachers are reincarnation of the Gods to the students. They believe teachers can never go wrong. Students assimilate the mannerisms and the pronunciations of the teachers. They carry it on into successive generations.

The challenge on the teachers is at once onerous and enormous.

The teachers must desist from decimating the students who dare to raise WHY and HOW.

Encourage them tò enlarge their horizon and fill the gaps in their build up.

Academics generate scholars. Scholars build the society.

If humans evolved from apes, why do apes and monkeys still exist?

If humans evolved from apes, why do apes and monkeys still exist?

The poser, simply out of curiosity, was from the brother, not an evolution denier , of Sutanu Satpathy, teacher in a Delhi College.

The quote is from an article by Sutanu Satpathy in The Hindu Sunday Magazine of 17 May 2020.

It took me to a message from the Pulpit of CSI Christ Church, Trivandrum, Kerala, India by Rev. T M John almost two decades ago.

He said for God a moment, or a milli or nano second is or can be millions of years in our parlance.

That kind of solved a constant puzzle in my mind.

Genesis narrates how God created the world and everything in it in a span of six days leaving the seventh day or the weekend to take a well earned rest.

While it was a good story, it held no rationale. Creation as described in the Bible was superseded by the Theory of evolution that had Science backing it up. Man has reasonable questions. Never accuse him of blasphemy for his curiosity.

The message awakened me. It struck me God's six days are millions of years for the human being.

Science transcends.

When we ritually or religiously broadcast God's ways are mysterious we never inculcate it. How many really mean it, is a mute question.
There are routine messages singing in praise of evolution in Genesis ignoring Science.
Can we wish away the truth? Can we nullify Science?
But who do we turn to when a virus threatens to evict human beings lock, stock and barrel from their chosen abode? Who chose it for their sojourn in the first place? How?
Here is the mystery.
Here is the resolution.
Everything is in God's power. Nothing is beyond God.

IKIGAI - The Japanese Secret to Long Life - MY TAKE AWAY

 IKIGAI 

By Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

It unlocks the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.

IKIGAI is Japanese. Pronounced ikieguy, it may broadly be translated as LIFE TO BE WORTHWHILE.

Iki is life
Gai comes from Kai
Kai is the realisation of hopes and expectations.

IKIGAI is a reason for being, for being alive.
It encompasses joy, a sense of purpose and meaning and a feeling of well being.

The work is extraordinary

Excerpts

Microflow : 

Enjoying mundane tasks

When you carry out mundane tasks - like doing the laundry, mowing the lawn, attend to paperwork, work as an elevator- escalator- lift operator for years together with an ever present smile or any such tasks - always enjoying doing them, it is called MICROFLOW. Our ability to turn routine tasks into moments of Microflow,- into something we enjoy is key to our being happy, since we all have to do such tasks

MOMENTARY DIGRESSION

I was dumbstruck with the simple yet terrific narratiive.

We often face in accordance with our own brilliant evaluation gargantuan tasks in everyday life. It may or may not be. Negotiating them is Herculean we consider.

My solution to that as I evolved and continue to evolve has been to slice the tasks up into minute pieces or particles and tackle them one by one. It helps me resolve the issues that plague me without leaving a mounting backlog.

I can honestly say I have been pretty successful in the effort.

I have suggested the formula to whoever I meet.

Acceptance is theirs.

Quote  from IKIGAI

After two hours on the road, we're finally able to stop worrying about the traffic.

We realised time seems to have stopped there as though the entire town were living in an endless here and now.

Yuki's still driving at the age of eighty eight and takes great pride in that. Her co-pilot is ninety nine.

We have to drive fast to keep up with them on a highway that is more dirt than asphalt.

Yuki says food is the least important thing. Food won't help you live longer. The secret is smiling and having a good time

Even Bill Gates washes the dishes every night. He says he enjoys it - that it helps him relax and clear his mind and that he tries to do it better each day following an established order or set of rules he's made for himself: Plates first, forks second and so on.

It's one of his moments of Microflow.

The book speaks of a noted Physicist. He was invited by a Super Computing firm to work on a project. Unfortunately they didn't have any assignments for him when he reported for duty. In order to keep him busy they asked him to work on a mathematical problem. The brilliant man caught on at once. He said it was baloney. And he asked for some tasks.

They asked him to go, buy paint from a store and paint the walls. He happily went on doing it.

The investors who were visiting the firm's office remarked, "They have a Nobel Laureate painting their walls."

TOWARDS A LONG CONTENTED LIFE

Japanese culture accepts the essence of impermanence, the fleeting nature of the human being and everything we create.

We have to accept we have no control over certain things - like passage of time and the ephemeral nature of the world around us.

We have to understand life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by people you love.

PRINCIPLES FOR HAPPINESS

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are, something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

Washington Burney - Two hundred years ago.

Still true and will remain true forever

HIGHLIGHTS

ANTIFRAGILE - ANTIFRAGILITY

I came across the term for the first time. It revealed my lean vocabulary.

Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same. The antifragile gets better when harmed. They gain from disorder.

Hydra of Greek mythology is an ardent example

Fragility erases everything in its wake.

RESILIENCE

Resilience is the ability to deal with setbacks. The resilient stay focussed. Flexibility is their strength. They adapt to change and reversals of fortune.


CYNICISM

Cynicism aims to eliminate all feelings and pleasures from life. Negative emotions surge, well up and swell.

ASCETICISM

The ascetic believes in giving up, driving away all the pleasures of life.

STOICISM

Stoicism centres on the idea there is nothing wrong with enjoying life's pleasures as they do not take control of your life as you enjoy them. You have to be prepared for the disappearance of those pleasures

QUOTE

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Theodore Roosevelt

To put it further
Embrace the wisdom of knowing when enough is enough.
Remember, someone will always have more fortune, fame and stuff than you do.

INVALUABLE TAKE AWAY FROM IKIGAI

TEN RULES FOR A GOOD LIFE

1. Stay active. Don't retire.

2. Take it slow

3. Don't fill your stomach.Restrict to 80%

4. Surround yourself with good friends.

5. Get in shape for your next birthday.

6. Smile.

7. Reconnect with nature.

8. Give thanks.

9. Live in the moment. This moment exists only now and won't come again.

10. Follow your IKIGAI. There is a passion inside you, a unique talent that gives meaning to your days and drives you to share the best of yourself until the very end. If you don't know what your IKIGAI is, your mission is to discover it.

BLIND, STRONG, ARDENT, EXTRAORDINARY

We were attending the  Malayalam worship at C S I Christ Church, Palayam,  Trivandrum Kerala, India on 5th January 2020.
We could witness  blind, strong, ardent and extra ordinary faith in action as the worship progressed.

Three of our friends inspired us.

One. Thampy.
We saw him alighting from the car to take a seat in the porch at the Church. It took him a lengthy excruciating five minutes to reach a chair though he was assisted by his companion to cover a stride of five seconds for him when he was fit. What happened to him, we had no idea. We suspected a stroke. Somebody was holding him and helping him move. He had a walking stick. It was of no help. He found it extremely difficult to navigate the short hop. Excruciating for him. Excruciating for the people who knew him. He had been jovial. He had been agile. It was obvious he was in pain.
.
Two. Mrs.  C T John. She had treaded the path slowly leaning on her walking stick.  We wondered how she had climbed the steps. But she did it with a smile. Afterwards we saw C T John bringing a foot rest from the car and placing it under her feet where she sat. We saw her lifting her feet and placing them on the foot rest. The simple act displayed the love and affection C T John had for his wife. The chemistry was wonderful and beyond known parallels.

Three. We saw C D Kurien sitting there with a walker in front. We felt sad at the frailty of the human being. We had admired C D Kurien when he drove an imported sedan while he was younger and cars were a rarity at the Church. Obviously he was more than well off. And he was generous to causes advocated or promoted  by the Church. He still is.

Later we saw the priests,  C Y Thomas Achen and Reji Achen coming down to the porch to assist eight celebrants partake in the Holy Communion as they couldn't move up to the altar. It pained us.

And among those who had moved up there were many fighting a limp.

Well, age is catching up with an aging congregation.

The Vicar had mentioned during the worship that the Church had to seriously think of Palliative Care. He had also reminded that we never employ our talents like our brethren in sister Churches.

It is painful the number of disabled in the Church in diverse phases are steadily mounting. The bell rings or tolls for everyone. The timing is uncertain and unpredictable. The maker decides.

What the impaired looks to is not alms or sympathy. It is fellowship and companionship they strive for. They look for a nod, a smile, a Hi or a listener.

The gesture by the priests to come down to them to share Holy Communion tells them the Church would never forsake them or discard them.

It makes their life. It makes their life meaningful. It makes them active.

The Church then fulfils its vision and its mission.