OTIS D'SOUZA, 63 - The art of retiring retirement

 Otis D'Souza is the co-founder of an event mamangement company. He's now an intern at a startup.

He calls himself an intern now. He says it gives him a purpose in life. 

He realised this after he watched the 2015 film 'The Intern' with Robert De Niro in the title role. He found the film beautiful.

His philosophy:

"If you can build the picture in your head, you can build it."

"Never set out to make money. Set out for purpose, legacy and execution."

"I am a professional at making mistakes. Every mistake you can think of, I've made."

"I retired with money, but I hadn't planned for retirement."

"Money is the biggest trap of life."

A 22 year old asked him how to deal with parents who wanted him to live life their way.

He replied, "Honour your parents now. You are 22. Your time will come soon."

He advises young people, "Valuation is the new buzzword. But first look to build value."

He likes the term 'Intern' very much. 

"It means to be of servisce. I'm very proud of being an intern."

He has enough money. What he didn't have was a reason to go somewhere every morning.The internship provides him the opportunity for that..

He prefers the word 'partner' and dislikes the word 'founder.'

When his event management  company made money, he bought a Harley-Davidson. He rode it everywhere from the Himalayas to Mangaluru. He admits , "It tried to kill me a few times."

The retired entrepreneur, met Joshua Salins who owned the startup, HobbyTribe, working from an incubation centre in Bandra. They bonded well. He works as an intern in the start up. He always had a penchant for reinvention.

Otis D'Souza's wisdom comes from a lifetime of missteps. To escape the tedium of studies as a teenager, D'souza , the son of an Air India Pilot, dropped out of school and joined a helicopter company as a cleaner.. After three years, he decided to obtain a degree. He drew  courage from his father who told him, he too could become an engineer if he worked hard..    

He aced every subject in his aircraft maintenance course. 

When he was 30, he joined a college for an MBA. Afterwards he had set up a business that never took off. It was at this point, he co-founded the event management company in 1994. 

And money flowed.

Retirement to Otis D'Souza isn't the end of a career, but the beginning of a different kind of working life.

M. ANNADURAI, 68 - RETIREMENT DIDNOT MEAN STEPPING AWAY

M.Annadurai, 'Moon Man of India,' retired from ISRO in 2018. He had been very busy till the date of retirement. Then, suddenly there was nowhere he had to be. He found it very difficult to sit idle. 

He began to help others build their careers.

He says, "My days now are definitely more satisfying to me."

And adds, "More than infrastructure, we need to invest in bringing up the younger generation.'

He emphasises, "Every day is a gift. Every gift should have a return gift. The return gift is what I am giving back to the system."

He enjoys the satisfaction he derives from his second innings where he helps all those who need an assist..

IT WILL WORK

When  you put your heart and soul into something that you really love to do, whatever it is, it will work.

There is no chance that the universe will not make it work.

It's all about just enjoying the moment and giving it your best.

And, keep in mind, never give up on anything.

Susanne Khan

Trivandrum Times of india
The Times of India
28 October 2026

SOUPS - CHICKEN SWEET CORN SOUP - VEGETABLE SOUP

 CHICKEN SWEET CORN SOUP / VEGETABLE SOUP

Chicken Sweet Corn Soup is high on starch from the corn starch slurry and sweet corn. 

It is richer in protein in comparison with Vegetable Soup.

Its carb content makes it a filling meal soup.

But it may elevate blood glucose. 

However, Vegetable Soup works well with pureed vegetables or vegetable chunks. 

It is a light, yet filling snack rich in micronutrients and fibre.

Both are filling soups, though corn can be a concern for those who have a leaky gut.

Source:
The Times of India 28 October 2026 

DENTAL IMPLANTS NEED A SECOND LOOK

 Dental implants have provided a perfect set of teeth for millions. But around 10-20% of those with implants get a serious infection that can damge the jawbone. The infection  cannot be controlled by antibiotics most often. 

Scientists from Rutgers School of Dental medicine have found why it happens like that. 

According to them, it's because bacteria corrode these implants to release tiny titannium particles that trap immune cells in a perpetually inflamed state.

Eventually, the phenomenon destroys the jawbone.

In mice models, they saw how these titannium cells activated a calcium channel in immune cells that kept the infection alive.

Disabling the channel helped prevent the disease

Source:
The Times of India 28 October 2026 

MOUNTEBANKING

 I came across the word MOUNTEBANKING at the editorial of The Times of India of 30thOctober 2026.

I didn't know what it was. I checked. This is what I found.

Mountebanking is the act of acting as or engaging in the behavior of a mountebank—a charlatan, quack, or fraudster who uses showmanship, empty promises, and trickery to deceive people.

Historically, the term comes from the Italian montimbanco (someone standing on a bench or platform to hawk fake medicines). In modern commentary, it is sometimes used metaphorically to describe institutional breaches of trust, such as financial fraud, internal bank staff misusing credentials, or confidence tricks that bypass internal security systems (like the "maker-checker" verification process).

Key Concepts

Origin: From the Italian montare ("to mount") + banco ("bench").

Literary/Classic Meaning: A trickster or fake doctor selling bogus cures with flashy storytelling.

Figurative/Banking Context: A breach of trust where institution staff or individuals exploit internal loopholes, unauthorized account modifications, or diverted funds to deceive clients.

There was a quote from Bertolt Brecht on top of the editorial. It read:

"It is easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up a bank clerk"

Let me reproduce the editorial which is poignant.

MOUNTEBANKING

Branch level fraud dents customers' trust in banking services, which are the backbone of a modern economy.

Banks pay interest, advise on investments, provide lockers, but for ordinary folks they are first and foremost a safe place to park funds.. A PNB branch in Greater Noida, outside Delhi, has broken this trust. Its rural customers, newly enriched through sale of land, have been allegedly conned out of Rs.35 Cr. The culprits appear to be bank staff, who closed FDs and transferred funds to unrelated accounts without authorisation. Mountebank is an old fashioned synonym for charlatans. We christen this breach of basic trust by a bank, mountebanking. Unfortunately mountebanking isn't rare.

Recall the case from Kota, Rajasthan, last year when a former ICICI Bank relationship manager was accused of siphoning Rs.4.6 cr from customer accounts over two years. How? She changed the phone numbers linked to accounts, so customers never got transaction alerts. There was a case from Delhi in 2024, when an ICICI branch manager allegedly duped an NRI out of Rs.13.3 cr. He created fake accounts, issued debit cards and cheque books for them and diverted her money. In 2023, Bank of Baroda staff reportedly stole Rs.22lakhs from 362 customers by linking unauthorised numbers to their accounts.

None of these is a high tech scam. Rather, they're confidence ricks or failures of bank's internal systems. they happen when the so called "maker-checker" system, which require two different persons to authorise a sensitive transaction, breaks down. It may happen, among other things, due to collusion or when banks use offline processes meant for network outages or when a staffer misuses login credentials of a former employee.

Often, the intention isn't to rob customers, but to profit from their money and return it unnoticed. The ICICI Kota RM bought shares with embezzled funds, but ran up losses. Sometimes, performance pressure from banks leads to such cheating. In the BoB case, staff were pushed to onboard customers to the bank's mobile app, which gave them a chance to introduce unauthorised numbers. It's true that banks repay customers after such frauds, but every such case shakes people's faith in the banking system. And usually, it's newly banked rural folk, or senior citizens - these are the most vulnerable groups - who are affected. RBI and Department of Financial Services must do  more to curb such fraud, with stronger checks and stricter punishments.

RASHMIKA MANDANNA AND VIJAY DEVERAKONDA GOES CANDID ON LOVE

 

Rashmika Mandanna, wife of                          Vijay Deverakonda puts a question, "If I'm not in love with the man I'm marrying, why would I marry him?" 

She reveals she proposed to Vijay 100 times. 

She says, while she really  knew what she wanted, Vijay wanted to think through the practical aspects of life. 

According to her, what mattered was  not the number of times she proposed, but it was arriving at the decision to choose each other for life. 

"That didn't change our love in any way. I'm all heart and he is the thinker - and we need that in each others' lives." 

Addressing criticism over her repeated proposals, Rashmika responds, "And yes, I am OBSESSED with my man. When did that become a bad thing?" . 

She concludes, "Find a man who loves you so beautifully that even after you're married, you'd still want to tell him, "Let's get married'". 

"I would do it a thousand times.  100 is nothing. It's really that simple." 

Vijay posted, " For all those who are concerned - we are both gloriously happy. I am blessed. If it's me and her, against the whole world - so be it."  

Vijay and Rashmika are newly weds. 

They are well known Film Stars from South India

Trivandrum Times of India
The Times of India 
27 October 2026