READING HAS BUILT ME UP

 

I have been reading since I was a child. I can't remember a time when I wasn't reading. Papa had nurtured my love for books, newspapers and periodicals.

Reading has given me the courage to be who I am. It helps me make sense of the world. It allows me to step into lives apart from my own. It builds empathy in me. It helps me express myself with clarity.

Books have sparked my imagination. Reading is invaluable as it assists us in understanding people and their emotions. Growing up with books has instilled in  me an impetus to familiarise myself with the art of storytelling.

Reading has enlarged my horizon. It has developed my personality.

I love books that explore relationships, identity and complexities of life. Fiction has been the platform that has brought them alive.

There was a time when I used to read three books a day. I had been searching for a job. I was staying at home. My siblings had been away in their college hostels. After Papa left for his work, Mummy and I were the two at home. I would be immersed in my books - fiction, western and thillers -  and Mummy on  finishing her tasks in the kitchen would spend hours together reading the bible, praying  and singing spirituals in praise of  God. The exact count of books I had been through those two years is beyond recall.

Later on my favourite spot for reading  became my travels. When you travel you have to spend a long time over it.  And it  helps you catch up with  reading as nothing can replace the experience of getting lost in a good book.

One thing I am sanguine. 

Reading has transformed me.

Reading has built me up.

I composed this, drawing inspiration partially from the reflections of Indian actors Andrea Jeremiah and Kalyani Priyadarshan in Trivandrum Times, The Times of India of June 19, 2026 on the influence of books and reading  in their lives. For me, they were depicting my own life. I have taken the liberty of interjecting what I had been through here apart from reframing a few  words,  phrases and sentences in the articles.

ASK WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO, NOT WHAT DEGREE THEY HOLD

 ASK WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO, NOT WHAT DEGREE THEY HOLD

The things worth doing rarely fit neatly into a planning cycle.

The deepest shift needed in selection of people for recruitment is the simplest.

We have to stop asking what certificate someone holds.

We have to start asking what they can actually do. Project based assessment, demonstrated competency, applied evaluation- these have been on the reform agenda for years. They keep getting deferred as they are hard to standardise. That difficulty is exactly why they matter

The things worth doing rarely fit neatly into a planning cycle

Ipsita Gauba in Times of India 18June2026

ARGENTINE FOOTBALLING TRADITION

 

Argentine footballing tradition

It is flexible with their formations and tactics, keen on passing and fluidity.

It is also capable of fast sprints and hoofs, if circumstances require it.

A system has been created by Argentine players where in one match alone we are just as likely to see a hundred touches in 20 minutes followed by 20 minutes without touching the ball. 

It is a cobweb of synchronized players who can slip in and out of different roles.

Each one  thinks and acts all the time.

The entire squad is like a brain in action, neural networks triggering each other, creating infinite relationships.

Marcela Mora y Araujo in Times of India 18June2026

IN FOOTBALL YOU HAVE SPLIT SECONDS

 

In football you have split seconds to make important decisions, 

and 

intelligence is the ability to make the right choice at speed.

When I found this in the newspaper I started thinking.

It applies everywhere.

When you drive, when you cook, when you write an exam,

when you work in a bank, when you teach, 

when you spend your hard earned money

when you prescribe a medicine

when you conduct a surgery

the list is extensive. 

there is no end to it

To an extent, you can premeditate

but you can't go far

I have found taking a decision itself 

is the most challenging task in the world

You can go wrong

And you can't board a time machine

and travel back in time

What is lost is lost forever

Your gains are transient7

the bar is raised forever

Inch by inch

till you falter

Still there is no way out

You, you have to decide

Quick

WHY MESSI CAN STILL BE MESSI

 

Why Messi can still be Messi?
Because, even close to 40, he still possesses the footballing intelligence to make right decisions at speed.
Let's enjoy it while it lasts
Messi feels like he's closer to closing night just as he has put three past, Luca Zidane, Zinedine Zidane's son.
Let's enjoy that he's still playing, that he's bowing out playing.
Marcela Mora y Araujo in Times of India 18June2026

"It's an advantage to have Messi because of how he handles the group and pushes it forward.
Because of whom he is.
He doesn't care about individual records. He prioritizes the group and for us it's incredible"

Rodrigo De Paul 
Argentina 

And Messi says:
Everything I am experiencing is bonus. I've been fortunate enough to achieve all my dreams or even more than I ever dreamed of achieving, both professionally and personally.

Times of India reports on 18June2026
Messi is the first man to appear in six world cups
It is a tale of perseverance, heartbreak, redemption and enduring excellence.
While his left foot has set the bar and benchmark of footballing excellence,it's amazing that he began his 16 goal journey with his right foot,
The world waits for him, to get another moment of thrill

GAYA IN BIHAR

 

                                                     GAYA IN BIHAR           

Gaya achieved yet another distinction when Shubham Kumar, son of a hardware shop owner, achieved the No.1 rank in this year's (2026) JEE, Advanced. He resides in the densely populated Nadiraganj, 3 km away from Patwa Toli, known as the IIT factory. 

Around 200 of the 1000 households in the village boast of an IITian.

Shubhman had moved to Rajsthan's coaching hub, Kota for coaching.

However, most of the students in Gaya are attending coaching at the free coaching centres at Gaya itself. It is a silent revolution in South Bihar. The free coaching centres provide space, material and mentorship to hundreds of students.

Students who have cleared IIT return the favour by supporting newer batches, creating a cycle of mentorship and empowerment.

The local community has embraced the idea of collective progress.

Parents have no hesitation to invest in children's education despite financial constraints. Former IITians happily support upcoming students.. 

Villagers work in powerlooms to fund tuition and educational requirements of their children. They are committed to ensuring that the past or poverty doesnot bar talent from flourishing.

Gaya was earlier famous for the enlightening of the Budha. It had also been well known for the ancestral salvation of the Hindus. But, during 1990s, the Magadh region of which Gaya was a part was notorious for bloody clashes between the Ranveer sena, a defunct private militia of upper caste landlords.and landless labourers supported by Maoist factions. Massacres had marred the lanscape for a long time. 

What is visible today is that families once trapped in a cycle of violence and fear are nutruring engineers and doctors now.

Gaya is a symbol.

The magical transformation in Gaya is before us. We can see that  former students from the free coaching centres who have made it big in the world have no hesitation in lending a hand for  the upscaling of their own brethren. 

Guess what will happen if Gaya is replicated everywhere? 

From fear to IIT dreams, Gaya's quiet revolution
writes Manoj Chaurasia in Times of india of 12 June 2026

RAM MANOHAR LOHIA IN GOA

 

Ram Manohar Lohia in Goa on June 18,1946

"Even if we cannot at once attain our freedom, we must at least think and speak of freedom and build up the strength to strive for it.

Our hope is the strength of the people, that is ever piling up. It will create freedom, no matter the unending trials we may have to crisscross."

(Redone in part)

The Indian Army had liberated Goa from the Portuguese on December 19, 1961.