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No one knows the travails an athlete goes through to compete at the highest levels and win laurels.
The athlete ignores the pain to achieve his/her lofty aims
Victory doesnot come easily.
We see an athlete participating in the event only for a short time in the stadium.
But the hard work and the grind behind it is inconceivable.
When a young man or young woman enters an industry, the challenges are many. You are absolutely raw. You must have been a good student to reach that far. But textual knowledge or practicals in the college never equip you to align with the varied demands that confront you..
Graduation in engineering or medicine or management or in any other discipline, does not assure that you know everything. It's a rude awakening. You find you know very little.
You must possess a mindset that prompts you to keep learning. That alone transforms you.
Remember, the paper on which you write is always white. What you put on it makes you a colourful personality.
In essence you have to learn to shed and to absorb
After the final whistle. Messi's eyes glistened as his teammates gathered around him, applauding.
A rumbling chorus of "Ole, ole, ole, ole, Messi, Messi" rose from the stands as tens of thousands of fans jumped as if in worship.
A barrier at midfield proclaimed him "Eternal Captain."
The Argentine soccer federation turned Tuesday's (6th October 2026) game - Messi's 208th - into a farewell billed as "the last tango." Players from 1978, 1986, and 2022 World Cup winning squads returned to see him off.
"It feels like an era ending, knowing he won't play for the national team anymore," said Valentino Ruso as headed to watch the game on TV.
What was otherwise an unremarkable friendly against the West African nation, Benin, became a moment, the soccer crazy country had long dreaded.
When 39 year old Messi bid farewell to international soccer after 21 years, 126 goals, two Copa America titles and a World Cup Championship, scoring a penalty and setting up Argentina's other two goals for a 3-0 victory over Benin, Argentina was facing a once unimaginable reality - a national team without soccer great Lionel Messi.
After the match, Messi spoke to the crowd.
"There are a lot of emotions, a lot of things going through my head. The first thing I think about is my old man," bringing alive the memory of his dear father who recently passed away.
He continued.
"The truth is, I'm talking more than I ever have. I don't want to leave here. I don't want to leave this field."
"It was a huge source of pride for me to wear this shirt all this time, for more than 20 years. Not coming anymore is going to hurt a lot. I swear, I'd love to keep coming my whole life, because playing for Argentina is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you."
When Messi won the third World Cup title for Argentina, it was a moment to cherish.
On Tuesday night in Buenos Aires, there was another one to remember. It was arguably one of the greatest and most emotional farewells in football history.
Neymar puts it succinctly.
"It's not just Argentina that thanks you, the world thanks you for everything you did for football. Thank you for making me love football even more. It was an honour to have played against you and even more so to make history by your side."
The Times of India, 8th October 2026
"This is going to hurt a lot - Both Messi and Argentina Left Confronting The Inevitable As Day Arrives When They Must P0art"
Yesterday evening I witnessed a spectacle. Our grand daughter was working out model question papers while preparing for exam today. Then we saw her Amma admonishing her as she was doing it with the help of data from the mobile phone/ internet. The mother was telling the daughter unless she used her brain she wasn't going anywhere.
Today (09.10.2026), I came across exactly it's reflection in The Times of India.
The title read, "AI use, ups homework scores, but slashes exam marks:study."
It is based on a report prepared by a World Bank team led by Gaurav Nayyar
"The World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intellgence."
'LLM Users Show Lower Cognitive Effort"
LLM (Large Language Model) is a type of artificial intelligence, built on deep neural networks designed to process, understand and generate human like texts.
Manash Gohain articulates.
1. Evidence cited by World Bank suggests that unrestricted use of generative AI can improve what students submit as classwork.
2. But it weakens what they actually learn.
3. Tools such as ChatGPT can reduce the mental effort through which reasoning, writing and knowledge are built.
4. A study revealed that with the use of AI, homework scores improved even as students spent less time on assignments. At the same time monthly in-class examination scores had fallen.
5. The evidence points to both opportunity and risk in education. If students outsource the learning process to AI, it would be problematic.
6. Those who used LLMs for research displayed lower cognitive effort. However mental effort had declined even when output quality improved.
7. Students given unrestricted AI access also performed worse later when the technology was withdrawn.
8. It is warned that if students use AI to complete homework, the "productive struggle" central to learning can disappear.
9. It potentially weakens foundational skills in reasoning and writing.
10. It does not argue against AI in education.
11. The finding is, " AI can augment human capabilities. But it must not replace the processes through which more advanced skill are acquired.
12. As the demand for workers with AI skills grows, new occupations may emerge.
A sane advice.
It's applicable to most.
Generally we feel the time on hand is limited and we fail.
We blame time.
But it's our inefficiency that causes our failure.
We never admit it.
We never realise it.
നിങ്ങൾ കരുതുന്നതിനേക്കാൾ കൂടുതൽ സമയം നിങ്ങളുടെ കൈവശമുണ്ട്
എന്ന ധോനിയുടെ ഉപദേശം ക്ഷമയോടെ പിന്തുടരാനും അന്തിമലക്ഷ്യം ചെറിയ ഘട്ടങ്ങളായി തിരിച്ച് ആസൂത്രണം ചെയ്ത് വിജയം പിന്തുടരാനും സഹായിച്ചതായി ഹോപ്പ് പറഞ്ഞു
മൊഹാലി: ഇന്ത്യക്കെതിരായ മൂന്നാം ഏകദിനത്തിൽ വിജയിച്ചതിന് പിന്നാലെ ഇന്ത്യയുടെ മുൻതാരം എം.എസ് ധോനിയുടെ വാക്കുകൾ ഓർത്തെടുത്ത് വെസ്റ്റിൻഡീസ് ക്യാപ്റ്റൻ ക്യാപ്റ്റൻ ഷായ് ഹോപ്
ഇന്ത്യക്കെതിരെ പുറത്താകാതെ 162 റൺസ് നേടിയ ഹോപ്പ് വെസ്റ്റിൻഡീസിനെ അഞ്ച് വിക്കറ്റ് വിജയത്തിലേക്ക് നയിച്ചു.
When India was ahead 2-0 in the one day cricket 3 match series against West Indies, the former Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni gave the following advice to Shai Hope, Captain of West Indies.
"You have more time on hand than you perceive."
It worked.
Scoring 162 not out,Shai Hope took West Indies to a 5 wicket victory over India.
To achieve, he says he had followed the target patiently. Further he had split the target to several small pieces and smoothly charted the ride to eventual success.
Pratheekshakal avasanikkunnidathu prayatnam ningale vijayathilethikkumennu shai hope lude Kaalam orikkal Koode theliyichu
Where hope fades, effort leads you to victory. Time has once again proved this dictum right, through Shai Hope, the West Indies cricket captain. He led the West Indies fight back after two losses against India in the three match series in one day cricket.
Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma were on the bench at the Supreme Court of India. They were hearing the petition on the validity of the law on appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) by a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister and the leader of the opposition.
Collegium system
While perusing the arguments forwarded by the parties, Justice Datta, took note of the oral argument made by the Solicitor General drawing a parallel with the Collegium system and stated that this argument has a bearing on the integrity of the institution. “Though not too relevant for the purpose of giving an opinion on the question of whether a reference is called for, which is presently under consideration, his reference to ‘Judges appointing Judges’ seeks to revive an old criticism and, unwittingly, travels beyond the present lis.”
Even though the issue of judicial appointment was not connected to the context of the present matter, however, Justice Datta, deemed it fit to address the issue stating that, “The first instinct too, while writing this opinion, was to be reticent and let such criticism pass. But, on a second thought, it is realised that the judiciary cannot always be at the receiving end.”
Views of Justice Dipankar Datta
The observations were part of his separate opinion in a split verdict on the legality of a 2023 law on appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners and on the executive participation in the Collegium Deliberations for judicial appointments to the High Courts and the Supreme Court
1. The collegium system remains the most viable option for safegaurding judicial independence, despite its "opacity and imperfection"
2. The deficiencies of the collegium could not justify the ushering in of executive participation in collegium deliberations.
3. Judiciary had been relegated to playing second fiddle to the executive in appointments because of the way collegium recommendations were cleared by the Government.
4. The opinion expressed, "Judges appointing judges," was a myth, taking cognisance of the manner in which Government cleared the collegium picks.
5. It was the executive that wielded decisive control and held the reins over appointments at every stage.
6. Referring to Governments's argument that the judiciary had an exclusive say in judges' appointment, he articulated, "Judiciary cannot be at the receiving end," and devoted six pages to the issue.
7.It was further stated that, "Relevant observations in response need to be made, lest silence be misunderstood as a tacit acceptance by the court of such unworthy criticism in circulation."
8. The executive wielded decisive control and held the reins at every level
9. It has become fashionable to blame the collegium for every infelicitous choice, conveniently forgetting that aberrations were exceptions and not the norm and that no system could guarantee infallibility of human choice.
10. The oft repeated phrase that 'judges appoint judges' is a myth, which people have been fed by vested interests through motivated narratives. If the recommendations of the Collegium of the Supreme Court were binding in nature, the same would certainly have been implemented in their entirety. Unfortunately, the records tell a different story.
11. A sweeping generalisation is that the collegium acts as a law unto itself, overlooks the consultative process envisaged under the constitution and the intrinsic role of the executive - both at the centre and in the states.
12. It is undeniable that the collegium system has occasionally faltered and iits functioning has not been entirely free from aberrations. However, vociferous criticism, by itself, does not offer an alternative. While the absence of an outsider may invite scrutiny, executive supremacy cannot be the cure. Criticism may be abundant, but a viable substitute being conspicuously absent, the deficiencies cannot be used as a justification to usher in participation of the executive in the Collegium deliberations.
13. The constitutional quest is not to transfer the primary from one organ to another, but to preserve institutional independence through checks and balances.
14. What is most worrying and needs attention for remedy is that the sanctity of a collegium resolution is lost each time the executive implements it selectively, approving majority of those recommended while withholding at least one. Undeterred by such piecemeal approvals and regardless of the fate of those not cleared by the executive, the collegium chooses to proceed, to avoid a head-on conflict with the executive, left with a hobson's choice to keep the institution running.
15. What it thereby averts, arguably, is a constitutional crisis. But the question is how long can this state of affairs continue if such a selective implementation is allowed to acquire the character of an accepted practice?"
Views of Justice S.C.Sharma
1. SG Tushar Mehta's submission was "not a criticism of the collegium system or regarding the role of the executive in the appointment of judges."
2. It was a submission to the effect that if the constitution bench had held the presence of outsiders in the collegium as violative of the doctrine of separation of powers, a similar independence should be read in the executive and the rules framed under Article 324 be not declared void on the ground that it does not have an outsider in the selection committee or the executive predominates it.
3. The SG had based his argument on the judgement in the National Judicial Appointments Commission case, where a constitution bench held that the presence of even the law minister in the collegium for appontments of SC and HC judges would violate separation of powers.
4. Building upon the constitutional principle, the submission of the SG was that a corresponding degree of constitutional independence must be recognised for the executive as well as the legislature.
5. The SG submitted that the committee constituted under rules framed under Article 324 deserves to be declared legal though dominated by members of the executive.
The Times of India
24 September 2026
Benjamin Netanyahu: Captain Machchhar, I want to thank you for your extraordinary courage. What you did saved many lives. You are being admired in Israel, in India and around the world. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery. Please tell me—how did the incident begin?
Captain Smit Machchhar: Sir, it had been a normal flight. At one point, the co-pilot said that he wanted to pray. That was not unusual, so out of respect I kept looking forward and gave him privacy.
Captain Smit Machchhar: After about four or five minutes, I suddenly felt a very heavy blow to the back of my head. At first I thought something catastrophic had happened to the aircraft. Then the blows continued, one after another, and I realised that the person in the cockpit with me was attacking me.
Benjamin Netanyahu: And you were already badly injured at that point?
Captain Smit Machchhar: Yes, sir. My vision became badly blurred. At the same time I realised the aircraft was pitching sharply downward. I tried to stop him and also tried to get the cockpit door open so that help could come in.
Benjamin Netanyahu: How were you able to open the cockpit door?
Captain Smit Machchhar: From inside, the door has a mechanism that can be opened by turning the knob. My colleagues outside were trying to enter the code, but the co-pilot was preventing them from getting in. I managed to reach the knob and open the door once, but he closed it again.
Captain Smit Machchhar: Later I was lying on the cockpit floor. I could hear the aircraft rushing downward and people screaming. I felt that I had one final chance. I gathered whatever strength I had left, pushed myself toward the door and opened it again. People outside were ready. They came in, overpowered the attacker and helped regain control.
Benjamin Netanyahu: Your courage and your judgment under such impossible conditions are remarkable. You saved so many lives. What you did goes far beyond one flight—you showed extraordinary human courage.
Benjamin Netanyahu: I would be honoured to welcome you to Israel. I would also like to invite you, together with my friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to take part in our next Independence Day celebration. You are a hero to the people of Israel, to the people of India, and to people around the world.
Captain Smit Machchhar: Thank you very much, sir. I am grateful for your words. I would also very much like to meet the Israeli doctor who helped me immediately after the incident. He saved my life.
Benjamin Netanyahu: You will be welcomed with open arms. Please concentrate on your recovery. You have our respect, our gratitude and our best wishes for a full recovery.
Captain Smit Machchhar: Thank you, sir. I truly appreciate it.
Sharmila Mona Sinha was the third daughter.
In a society where the arrival of a son was treated as family dividend and another daughter as deficit, she absorbed the message early. She wanted to do something about it. She recalls,"I wanted to be a boy and do what boys did."
Last week, she entered the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York - the cradle of the American Women's Right Movement.
She is the second woman of Indian origin to receive the honour after Indra Nui, former CEO,Pepsico.
She absorbed from her grandmother who showed her that challenging status quo was not alien to her family - the grandmother had helped to organise women during India's freedom movement.
She was in the corporate world after graduating in Economics from Smith College in Massachusetts and after an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Over time, Sinha began wondering whether the tools she had acquired in business could be deployed for a different kind of return. Rather than abandoning the language of capital, management and organisational efficiency, she brought it into philanthropy and social change.
Her worldview was shaped by her childhood where she could never shake off the feeling that her parents would have preferred a son, not a daughter Number 3. The care she received was no less than for her sisters, yet Daughter Number 3, as a kid, internalised her parents' ",disappointment."
She is a rarity for the strides she has made. But her words will have struck a chord with the women of the world.
She now works for women. She toils to eliminate discriminating laws affecting women and girls.
Her story offers an Indian lesson about the evolution of feminism. Her Hall of Fame induction is more than another accolade for a prominent philanthropist. It is a long distance answer to the question that confronted the girl in Calcutta.
What might that "wrong" daughter become, if nobody put a ceiling on her?
Four decades later, the answer is inscribed in the National Women's Hall of Fame.
The Times of India 05.10.2026 and its editorial 06.10.2026
Upendra Machchchar reflects.
"The cuts are deep and he is in terrible pain. But when leaders of nations speak to him, he gathers himself and responds with remarkable calm.
As his family we know what lies behind that calm. the stress is immense. But the God who saved him will also decide the course of his life ahead.
Right now, we are one hundred percent positive God will do what is best for him."
For Upendra, the question that keeps returning is what made his son open the cockpit door despite grievous injuries.
"What happened shocked us. But it's his intrinsic nature to place others before him that made him do what he did."
The Times of India, 05.10.2026
Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma were on the bench at the Supreme Court of India. They were hearing the petition on the validity of the law on appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) by a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister and the leader of the opposition.
Views of Justice Dipankar Datta on appointment of the CEC and the ECs
1. It would not be a fallacious metaphor if it is said that since the umpire is picked by the captain of one side and his team wins, even if the decisions taken by such umpire are correct, it has the patina of suspicion.
2. Deliberating on the validity of the law on appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners by a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister and the leader of opposition, he mentioned the flaws.
a. It gave "overwhelming power" to the executive.
b. It made the presence of the LOP ornamental.
c. It undermines the appearance of independence in the selection process.
d. Since independence, governments had tried to control the poll body.
e. Over seven decades, every dispensation wresting office found it convenient to keep institutions which the constitution envisioned to be independent under its control.
f. To enact a law on the lines empowered by Article 324 (2) would have meant freeing ECI from exclusive executive control and inviting trouble for the ruling regime.
g. To the mind of this court, this has not been the failing of any one party or one period.
h. A consistent trait of political power, discernible over the decades, has been to preserve leverage over the very body that is meant to judge its claim to power.
i. If free and fair elections were to be ensured, it was axiomatic that the EC must not only be an independent body, but also be seen to act independently.
j. It was painful to note that not a single party in power entrusted by the people of India to govern this great nation took the initiative of enacting a law of the nature which Article 324 (2) left to the supreme law making body, ie. Parliament, to legislate.
k. Placing its own electoral fortunes in the hands of a truly independent arbiter was not favoured by any political party for obvious reasons.
l. To remain in power, the consistent pursuit through executive action has indeed been simple - influence the composition of the EC, control the process of appointment of the CEC and ECs and thereby temper adverse electoral outcomes.
m. The bottom line of the argument runs like this:- It would not be a fallacious metaphor if it is said that since the umpire is picked by the captain of one side and his team wins, even if the decisions taken by such umpire are correct, it has the patina of suspicion.
n. There can be no gainsaying that free and fair elections, to a large extent, depend on a truly indepndent Election Commission. It is not enough for the EC to be independent, it must also appear to be independent. The minister nominated by the Prime minister to function as the third member on the selection committee chaired by the Prime Minister cannot be expected to defy his own nominator.
o.In such a circumstance, the inclusion of a minister in the selection committee fails to provide the independent counterweight that a neutral selector could and he would merely echo the voice of his leader.
p. Consequently, the presence of the leader of opposition in the selection committee becomes largely ornamental, without furthering the purpose of his inclusion.
Views of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma
a. The petition challenging the 2023 law on appointment of the CEC and the ECs raised substantial questions of law.
b.The substantive constitutional questions should be systematically referred for an authoritative pronouncement.
c. It required consideration by a larger bench.
Outcome
While Justice Datta did not find a reference to a Constitution Bench necessary, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, puisne judge on the Division Bench held in favour of sending the case to a constitution bench reasoning that several questions of substantial importance were at stake.
Due to the differing opinions on whether to directly process or refer the matter regarding the inclusion of a Cabinet Minister in place of the CJI, the two judge bench delivered a split verdict.
The Bench requested the Chief Justice of India to constitute a five judge Constitution Bench to settle the issue.
When her teammates from the gold winning quartet of the women's 4x400 relay in 2014 Asian Games moved away from the track, M R Poovamma, the debutant at that games, chose to stay.
Many laughed and some questioned why she was still running. Some said she would not last. She answered them not with words, but with performances. At an age most Indian athletes would move on from elite competition, Poovamma, 36, was among India's oldest at the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games. She was part of the quartet that won the women's 4x400 relay gold for India. It was the lone Gold India won in athletics at Nagoya. With the silver in the mixed 4x400 relay a couple of days earlier, she now has six Asian games medals altogether.
She believes the secret to her longevity lies in discipline and fitness.
To a query whether this was the end, she replied, "Why should I give up when I am performing well? "
"That I am competing even after all these years, with nothing to prove, should be an inspiration to youngsters."
"I have the LA Olympics and the 2030 Asian Games on my mind, which I may go to with my future child."
"I am in good form and retirement is not on my mind."
She insists age has little bearing on what an athlete can achieve.
"Age for me is just a number."
"It is said that in India, there is so much talk on an athlete's age."
"The only thing that should be factored in is fitness and performance."
"That's the measure in most countries."
"I have always believed that it is important to be physically and mentally fit.'
"With that, you also need to stay motivated."
Poovamma, who had represented India at the 2016 and 2024 olympics concludes, "I have nothing to prove. I led a very disciplined lifestyle thanks to the support from my husband Jithin Paul, from my entire family and especially from my mother. She ensures I don't have to worry about household chores and can stay focussed on my training."
M R Poovamma does convey to us how we must look at life and how we must tackle life's challenges.
Congratulations to, Anup Bagchi and Anup Kumar Saha who have been appointed as MD &CEO at HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank respectively.
They have excellent track records.
They are brilliant
They both are alumni of IIT and IIM.
We wish them the very best in their challenging assignments
However, the question persists.
Not withstanding a few greats, unless you are from IITs or IIMs it's very difficult to ascend to top positions. And to get into these premier institutions, an aspirant from the remote villages of the country stands little chance. He doesn't even know the existence of such opportunities. You have to be city bred or you have to belong to major towns to cross the stringent admission processes that demand a high level of competence.
Further even if you have similar qualifications from elsewhere you are treated badly in the sense you'd be recruited to positions lower down the scale.
When people from places like Kandankary, Agaly, Kanthalloor, Mankulam, Kunjithanny - these are places in Keralam - or places more remote than them in the whole of India are able to prove themselves one better than those from India's premier institutions like IITs and IIMs and reach the top postions, we can truly state that the country is a developed nation. Till then equality in opportunities will remain a rainbow.
Anup Bagchi will be the MD & CEO of HDFC Bank from October 27, 2026.
He is the first outsider to head HDFC Bank since it was set up in 1994.
He will have to focus on loan growth and credit-deposit dynamics in the existing competitive environment. Further he will be tasked to extract synergies from the HDFC merger.
He succeeds Sashidhar Jagadishan who took over from Aditya Puri in 2020. Jagadishan had completed the merger leading the bank through the pandemic. During his tenure the digital operations of the bank had been expanded.
Colleagues describe Anup Bagchi as a big picture manager. He prefers to give teams both a destination and a route to reach it. He is a firm leader. But he is known for persuasion than theatrics. The approach has shaped his mangement style.
He is regarded as unusually grounded for someone who has occupied senior positions across a large financial conglomerate (ICICI group). He relishes holding meetings with executives in the common canteen rather than behind glass doors.
Bagchi has tended to travel light. During his transfers between ICICI group businesses, he is known to have moved without taking large teams with him.
Warren Buffett stepped down on September 18, 2026 as Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway at 96, a journey he began in 1970. Early in Buffett's career, a member of a prominent Omaha family predicted over lunch that the young upstart would be broke within a year. Seventy years on, Bershire is up 6099.294%. The returns were the by-product. The character was always the point.
These are the six traits that made him great.
1.Rejection is not a verdict
Buffett was certain of a seat at Harvard Business School. He had urged a friend to join him there, before he had even been accepted. A 10 minute interview ended it. He later called Harvard's rejection the pivotal episode of his life as it had guided him to his hero Benjamin Graham's classroom at Columbia.
Rejection today arrives faster and more publicly. Peers announce promotions you didn't get. Layoff lands by email.
Buffett's example is, a closed door is a measure of the target, not the archer, so re-aim
2. Audit your mistakes
He learned it at a very young age.
Don't anchor on your purchase price. Don't grab a small profit to quiet your nerves.. Don't manage other people's money unless you are certain. Most of the people treat a loss as bad luck and move on. Buffett treated it as tution and kept the notes.
3. Keep an inner score card
His father, Howard, judged himself only against his own standards. Buffett called him "a 100% inner scorecard guy" warning that anyone who lives for the world's opinion "will wind up with an Outer Scorecard."
The outer scorecard displays, likes, followers and a screenshot of gains on the stock you .skipped.
He didn't get into the dotcom boom. He was ridiculed for that. After two years he was proved right. In an era that rewards looking right, he optimised for being right.
4. Want less; be patient
The Buffett family motto might have been "spend less than you make" and "don't go into debt." He lived for decades in the house he bought in 1958. He took a hamburger over anything fancier.
It isn't a statement on thrift. He never converted future income into present obligations. A man who needs little money is never forced into a bad decision to get more of it. Desperation is expensive. Someone carrying fixed costs cannot afford to wait, and waiting was Buffett's entire edge.
5. Be sceptical of incentives
Buffett remembered a question put to him, "What stock do you like," forever. The rule he framed for himself was,"praise by name, criticise by category." He was sceptical of incentives. "Don't ask the barber whether you need a haircut," was a line that had been most useful to him. His principle was to listen politely and then ask who gets paid if you say yes to those who solicit business promising quick returns
6. Find your Charlie Munger
Everyone needs at least one sparring partner sharp enough to say "that's a dumb idea," and trusted enough to be heard.
Buffett's most valuable partnership began with long phone calls to Charlie Munger, lawyer at Los Angeles. When Munger's wife asked why he paid such attention to this Omaha fellow, Munger replied,"That is no ordinary human being."
For six decades, Munger's real job was not to agree with Buffett. It was to tell him when he was wrong. Buffett credited him with the habit of studying failures, instead of admiring successes.
Krishnan Ranganathan writes in The Times of India of October 1, 2026.
The early signs of heart disease never look like a medical emergency to most. The seemingly ordinary symptoms can be the body's first indication that something is seriously wrong - - - A persistent bout of fatigue. Breatlessness that seems easy to blame on a hectic schedule. Discomfort in the jaw, back or shoulders that is dismissed as muscle strain.
Recognising heart disease symptoms early can save lives and prevent cardiovascular deaths. Heart disease remains world's leading killer where one in three lives are lost due to its rampage.
While advances in treatment have improved the outcomes, awareness remains still a challenge. People, at first, tend to ignore the symptoms that arise. The cardinal neglect delays diagnosis. And precious time is lost even as quick intervention could make rapid differences.
The burden of cardiovascular disease is quite large. CVDs claim about 17.9 million lives annually which is one third of all the deaths worldwide with more than four in five resulting from heart attacks and strokes.
Many cardiovascular signs develop silently. Elevated blood pressure may remain sans symptom for years together. Cholestrol level goes up unchecked. Diabetes damages nerves and hides the warning signs. Consequently, significant cardiovascular damage occurs before symptoms prompt medical attention.
Cardiovascular disease may arise silently. But the symptoms should not be overlooked. They include - unexplained breathlessness, unusual fatigue, dizziness, sweating, nausea, pain spreading from the chest to the arm, shoulders, back, neck, or jaw.
Symptoms may be atypical in women and people with diabetes, making them easier to miss.
The risk can be obviated by regular blood pressure checks, consistent physical activity, a balanced diet, adequate sleep, effective stress management and giving up smoking.
Women may experience atypical fatigue, breathlessness, nausea, heaviness in the chest or pain radiating to the jaw or back, symptoms often mistaken for stress or acidity.
Adults, as the advance in age, may appear weak, dizzy or less active.
Emergency cardiac care doesnot begin at the hospital. The initial response can make significant difference in a cardiac emergency.
Knowing the warning signs, knowing when to call for help and knowing the difference betwenn a heart attack and a cardiac arrest can turn an ordinary bystander into the first link in the patient's chance for survival.
Heart disease is often preventable. But prevention has to begin with awareness.
Recognising symptoms, knowing the risk factors, getting screened and acting on unusual warning signs improve outcomes manifold.
Fact is, efficient management of health condition reduces cardiovascular risk to a great extent.
Warnig signs not be ignored
A stent opens a narrowed artery. It does not remove the risk behind coronary artery disease. High blood pressure, high cholestrol, diabetes, smoking, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet can continue to affect the heart and the blood vessels.
The coronary stent is a small mesh tube placed inside a narrowed or blocked artery to restore blood flow. It is inserted through a catheter, usually via the wrist or groin. The procedure is called PCI - Percutaneous Coronary Intervention. Recovery continues after the procedure with medication, lifestyle changes and follow up, playing major roles.
After a stent, taking care of the self is important.
Adherence to medication is crucial.
A stent may address a blockage. Protecting the heart, however, is an ongoing process. Smoking must be avoided even if medicines are consumed with discipline. Parting with the drugs leads to formation of clots inside the stent.
Lifestyle changes are unavoidable to keep the heart healthy.
Stenting is not always the primary option. It is resorted to only after lifestyle modifications and drugs. However in an emergency with 100 percent blockage, stenting is carried out at once.
The coronary stent brings significant relief to a large number of patiens. It eases the symptoms. It assists the patients to return to an active and healthy life.
It marks the beginning of an ongoing approach to heart health driven by the active role of drugs, lifestyle changes and regular follow up.
It secures the heart. The quality of life leaps beyond barriers.
It is resilence all the way.
Indebted to 'A stent is not the finish line' by Nayanthara Rajeev in, A Lifetime in every Beat, World Heart Day Special, The Times of India on 29thSeptember2026
Know exactly where you go wrong.
Address
In real life mistakes and errors are normal occurrences.
The winners locate them fast.
They are not led by false ego.
They retract at once.
They win
When you are under pressure and if there are butterflies in your stomach, never let them fly all over the place. Make them fly in formation.
Your journey is not for the fainthearted.
When you trail, you must fight and survive.
Draw from your bucket of amazing experiences.
Keep your focus on what you are striving for.
Though you know very well you could be outwitted and outfought, keep those distracting thoughts off.
Try your best. Fight with all your heart.
Believe you can do it.
Asian Games. Nagoya. 2026. Badminton.
Three points. It separated P.V.Sindhu from what could have been her third Assian games Medal. It is very difficult for her to shake them off. Sindhu lost in the quarter final to China's Chen Yufei, 21-11, 18-21, 10-21.
Sindhu says, "My Asian Games campaign is over. I am hurting. Three points from closing out the match. I keep coming to those three points."
"I had my chance. Letting it slip hurts."
"My team and I are working on closing those three moments. We'll fix it."
The circumstances make the defeat hard to swallow.
"Three matches in 18 hours. Back at 3 am. Out again at 8.30 am. It took a toll. But after a camp that gave me every reason to believe, I wanted so much more."
"One painful result cannot define a journey that means so much."
"I am hurting. That's okay. I am glad it still means enough to hurt this much. I still want this."
"That feeling keeps me going.'
This is the truth. Fail or Lose, it hurts. But it keeps you going.
This is the greatest lesson we can have in our lives. Go back to the drawing board. Unmindful of failures we have to keep going. It takes us to our goal.
Malayalis leaving Kerala is not new. Most of those leaving are Christians. That will one day make us a micro-minority here.
I asked an educationist about it. His answer stayed with me.
"Because Jesus's vision of the Kingdom of God is a universal vision, and therefore Christians tend to feel more at home wherever they go, even the remotest parts of the globe, as compared to other communities."
Never give up because of rejection.
BEWARE
UNSOLICITED CALLS PURPORTED TO BE FROM PRAYER GROUPS
Recently I have been receiving unsolicited calls from two phone numbers. A lady tells me on all occasions that it was from a prayer group. She enquired if I had any matters or issues that required their prayer support.
My response on all occasions had been there was nothing.
Then she asked me whether I was a Christian.
I replied it was none of their business
Yesterday the person called again and said it was from a prayer group.
I asked, what they wanted.
She said, "Chetta (elder brother), we want nothing from you."
She said she wanted to convey a munnariyippu (warning)
I replied I was disinterested.
I blocked the number
There was another call today. She said it was from a prayer group.
She said it was to enquire if there were any matters for prayer support.
I asked where this call was from
She said, "Chetta, it is from Keralam."
I replied she should stop bothering me
I blocked that number too
They had at once sent a WhatsApp voice message from the first number I had blocked already
I didn't open it. Blocked it again
I checked True Caller
The first number 7902501949 name given is LUXY JOHN
The second number 9495548254 name given is LUXY LUXY
I have filed a complaint through Sanchar Saathi Portal.
They have acknowledged it
When Dr. Thomas Varghese learned how Becka Jill Konnayil's father had survived a massive heart attcak he posted:
Lucky for her, her father survived. A few months back one of our church members had syncope and was pulseless. I detected it and the physician started CPR, he still comes to church!
It’s a part of life some we can save, some we lose and a part of us dies with them.
It’s both horrible and immensely satisfying…. We just pray the latter comes in often.
Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Duttonn, colleagues of Adam Grant, had found that in every line of work, there were people who became active architects of their own jobs.They rethink their roles through job crafting - changing their daily actions to better fit their values, interests and skills. One of the places Amy and Jane studied job crafting was in the University of Michigan health care system.
If you visited a certain floor of the hospital, it wouldn't be long before cancer patients told you how grateful they were for Candice Walker. Her mission was not only to protect their fragile immune systems - it was also to care for their fragile emotions. She called the chemotherapy centre, the House of Hope.
Candice was often the first one to console families when their loved ones were through treatment. She showed up with bagels and coffee. She would make patients laugh by telling stories about her cats drinking her milk or showing them that she had accidentally put on one brown sock and one blue sock. One day she saw a patient on the floor of an elevator writhing in pain and the staff members nearby weren't sure what to do. Candice immediately took charge, rushed the woman into a wheelchair and took her up in the elevator for urgent treatment. The patient later called her, 'my saviour.'
Candice Walker wasn't a doctor or a nurse. She wasn't a social worker.either. She was a custodian. Her official job was to keep the cancer centre clean.
Candice and her fellow custodians were all hired to do the same job. But some of them ended up rethinking their roles. One cleaner on a long term intensive care unit took it upon herself to regularly rearrange the paintings on the walls, hoping the change of scenery might spark some awareness among patients in comas.
When asked about, she said, "No, it's not part of my job, but it's a part of me."
Adam Grant, in 'Think Again' presents a student who had approached him for advice.
She had explained to him, when she chose Wharton, she had focussed too much on getting into the best school and too little on finding the best fit. She wished she had picked a college with a more carefree culture and a stronger sense of community. Now that she was clear on her values, she was considering a transfer to a school that would make her happier.
A few weeks later she told Adam Grant that a moment in class had helped her rethink her plan. It wasn't the research on happiness they discussed, the values survey she took or the decision making activity they did.
It was a comedy sketch he showed her from 'Saturday Night Live'
The scene stars Adam Sandler as a tour guide. In a mock commercial, advertising his company's Italian tours, he mentions that customer reviews sometimes expresses disappointment. He takes the opportunity to remind customers what a vacation can and can't do for them.
"There is a lot a vacation can do.. Help you to unwind. See some different looking squirrels. But it cannot fix deeper issues, like how you behave in group settings."
"We can take you on a hike. We can't turn you into someone who likes hiking."
"Remember, you are still gonna be on vacation. If you are sad, where you are and then you get on a plane to Italy, the you in Italy will be the same sad you from before, just in a new place."
When we pursue happiness, we often start by changing our surroundings. We expect to find bliss in a warmer climate or a friendlier dorm. But any joy that those choices bring about is typically temporary.
Ernest Hemingway said, "You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another."
Our happiness depend more on what we do than where we are. It's our actions - not our surroundings - that bring us meaning and belonging.
The student decided not to seek a transfer.
Instead of where she went to school, she would rethink how she spent her time.
She might not be able to change the culture of an entire insitution, but she could create a subculture.
She started doing weekly coffee chats with classmates and invited the ones who shared her interests and values over for weekly tea sessions.
A few months later she reported that she has formed several close friendships and was thrilled with her decision to stay.
The impact didn't stop there. Her tea gatherings became a tradition for welcoming students who felt out of place. Instead of transferring to a new community, they built their own community.
They weren't focussing on happiness. They were looking for contribution and connection
As we get older, we become more focussed on searching for meaning. We mostly find it in actions that benefit others.
The test of meaningful work is to ask, "If this job doesn't exist, how much worse off would people be?"
It is near midlife this question often begins to loom large. At around this time, in both work and life, we feel we have more to give - and less to lose - and we are especially keen to share our knowledge and skills with the next generation.
When people talk about the evolution of self esteem in their careers, the progression often appears like this:-
The sooner you get to Phase 3, the more impact you have and the more happiness you experience.
The message is, one should think about happiness less as a goal and more as a by-product of mastery and meaning.
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher's statement is worth mentioning here.
"Those only are happy, who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness - on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way."
Never stay in a role, relationship or place you hate unless you have no other alternatives. When it comes to careers, instead of searching for the job where we'll be the happiest, we might be better off pusuing the job where we expect to learn and contribute the most.
Passions are often developed, not discovered.
In a study of entrepreneurs, the more effect they put into their start ups, the more their enthusiasm about businesses climbed each week. Their passion grew as they gained momentum and mastery. Interest doesn't always lead to effort and skill. It follows them.
By investing in learning and problem solving, we can develop our passion. Build the skills necessary to do the work and lead the lives we find worthwhile.
As I read through the editorial folio of The Times of India of 23rd September 2026, attention was drawn to a quote from Andre Maurios atop the editorials.
"Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words - - I do not know"
Beneath that there was the intriguing title, 'Talk More, Please.'
It aroused my curiosity. Let me place here what I absorbed.
It is the full text.
TALK MORE, PLEASE
People now talk a lot less than they did 20 years ago. That might have social and emotional costs.
Humans have been talking for at least 200000 years. But it looks like we aren't practicing enough of late. In 2005, psychologists ran an experiment to test the belief that women out talk men. They found it was bunk. In fact, the most loquacious participants in the study turned out to be some men, averaging 47000 a day.- roughly half the length of a typical modern novel. But the overall average was around 16000 words, with no significant difference between the sexes. By 2019, it had fallen to roughly 12000 words.
Nobody knows for sure why we became less talkative, but the top hunch is that we became too engrossed in our digital lives. Navigation apps made stopping and asking directions unnecessary. E-comm silenced shopping. We enter elevators, nose in phone, and ride the subway without acknowledging other riders.
"Can't talk, please text," is our permanent status. Small talk, incidental conversations with strangers, and outer -circle interactions with acquaintances and neighbours are unnecessary and avoidable. We have optimised our leisure time, taking morning walks plugged into music or podcasts.
This "efficiency" has cost us many millions of words each over the years. And it matters because we are social animals. Yes, small talk seems wasteful, but research shows we actually come away happier from it. Speaking those few words to a neighbour or rank stranger, makes us feel more connected. You may discuss the weather, but the real communication occurs through tone, gestures, body language or facial expressions. You can't harbour hatred for someone after lamenting onion prices with them. So, small talk makes the world a less hostile place.
We look at each other and think, " I know you. We've spoken before. You're not out to harm me. We can get along."
The 4000 daily words we don't speak now were part of our social budget. We still talk to family, close friends and work teams more or less as we did before, but on everyone else we are shutting the door. For what? To watch more reels, or soak in rage on X? It's not a good bargain. Maybe, if we dug ourselves out of our phones and said more hellos, we'd feel more emotionally and socially secure.
Our identities are open systems. So are our lives. We don't have to stay tethered to old images of where we want to go or who we want to be.
The simplest way to start rethinking our options is to question what we do everyday.
It takes humility to reconsider our past commitments, doubt to question our present decisions and curiosity to reimagine our future plans.
What we discover along the way can free us from the shackles of our familiar surroundings and our former selves.
Rethinking liberates us to do more than update our knowledge and opinions.
It's a tool for leading a more fulfilling life.
A successful relationship requires regular rethinking. Somehow being considerate means reconsidering something as simple as our habits. At other times being supportive means opening our minds to bigger life changes - moving to a different country, different community or a different job to support our partner's priorities. When we are willing to update our ideas of who our partners are, it gives them freedom to evolve and the relationship room to grow.
Whether we do check ups with our partners, our parents or our mentors, it's worth pausing once or twice a year to reflect on how our aspirations have changed.
As we identify past images of our lives that are no longer relevant to our future, we can start to rethink our plans. That sets up happiness for us - as long as we are not too fixated on finding it.
Here is the story of a young man who had been dating a woman for just over a year.
Although it was the most fulfilling relationship he had ever had, he was still questioning whether it was the right match. He had always imagined himself managing a woman who was ambitious in her career or passionate about improving the world. However he was feeling that his girlfriend had seemed less driven and more relaxed in her approach to life.
He met Adam Grant and sought his opinion. Adam Grant asked him how old he was when he formed that vision of a partner and how much he had changed since then.
He replied that he had held it since he was a teenager. He had never paused to rethink it.
As they conversed, the young man started to realize that if he and his girl friend were happy together, ambition and passion might not be as important to him in a partner as they had been in the past. He came to understand that he was inspired by women who were highly motivated to succeed and serve because, that was who he himself had wanted to be.
Two and and a half years later he reached out with an update. He had decided to let go of his preconceived image of who his partner should be. He said," I decided to open up and talk to her about how she's different from the person I'd imagined being with. Surprisingly, she told me the same thing. I wasn't who she imagined she'd end up with either - she expected to end up with a guy who was more creative - someone who was more gregarious."
"We accepted it and moved on. I'm thrilled to have left my old ideas behind to make space for the full her and everything our relationship could bring."
Just before the pandemic, he proposed to to her and they were now engaged, writes Adam Grant.
When we are willing to update our ideas of who our partners are, it can give them freedom to evolve and our relationships room to grow.
It simply means you are staying open to who your partner might become instead of having fixed ideas of what your partner should be.
In the absence of caoch and mentor Jaspal Rana, Manu Bhaker finishes fifth in the women's 10m air pistol event in the Asian Games at Nagoya
Jaspal Rana was one of the most decorated shooters in Asian Games history with eight medals including four Gold across three editions.
He was the coach and mentor to Manu Bhaker who had won two bronze medals in 2024 at the Paris Olympic Games.
Ever since Jaspal Rana's untimely death in June 2026, the 24 year old Manu Bhaker had maintained a dignified silence.
She spoke to the media after she completed her event in the Asian Games.
"I remember what he (Jaspal Rana) said, not once or twice, but all the time. It just stays with you. When a person has been a big part of your life, it just stays. It is very natural.'
"Of all the things he said, what I remember the most is about the process. He was just so adamant about the process - that at any given point in your life, you have to be able to give your best performance and follow your process."
"Life is very unpredictable. So, live your life to the fullest. Be kind to everyone."
Deciding to leave a career path is often easier than identifying a new one.
Herminia Ibarra, management professor, finds that as people consider career choices and transitions, it helps when they think like scientists.
The first step towards this is to entertain possible selves.
Identify some people you admire within or outside your field. Observe what they do at work day by day.
The second step is to develop hypothesis about how these paths might align with your own interests, skills and values.
The third step is to test out different identities by running experiments - doing informational interviews, job shadowing and sample projects to get a taste of work.
The goal is not to confirm a particular plan.
It is to expand your repertoire of possible selves.
It keeps you open to rethinking
Identity foreclosure can stop us from evolving. It is the opposite of an identity crisis. Instead of accepting uncertainty about who we want to become, we develop compensatory conviction and plunge into a career path. Very often students who are most certain about their career plans at twenty turn out to be the ones with deepest regrets by thirty.
Identity foreclosure is a Band-Aid.
It covers up an identity crisis. But fails to cure it.
Do not get trapped in an overconfidence cycle, taking pride in pursuing a career identity and surrounding yourself with people who validate your conviction. By the time you discover it was the wrong fit, you'd feel it's too late to think again..
The stakes seem too high to walk away. The sacrifices of salary, status, skill and time would appear to be too much.
To put it straight, it's better to lose the past two years of progress than to waste the next twenty years of your precious life.
Passions are often developed, not dscovered.
Happiness depends more on the frequency of positive emotions than their intensity.
We must savour our moments of joy than ruminating about why our lives aren't more joyful.
Indian roads demand something Indians are not properly trained to handle - Equality between strangers.
A traffic signal in any modern society means that people with unequal money, class and muscle mass have to accept the same rules. A Fortuner and an Alto must stop behind the same white line. This is disappointing for a man who bought an SUV and who srongly believes higher ground clearance is synonymous with higher hierarchy. His philosophy of a public road is private property with other people on it.
Hence, the constant restlessness to prove, to himself and to everyone around him, that he is a VIP, a very important person, stranded among VOP - very ordinary people.
This phobia of ordinariness turns his car into a low grade art installation. The windows are blacked out, the number plate has an official looking red strip, and the rear windscreen displays the ultimate Indian brand: caste. You might mistake this for a thoughtful gesture towards overworked caste census workers, saving them from the trouble of going door to door.
Every slight inconvenience injures his ego. Every driver who refuses to move aside becomes a junior artist wandering into the hero's frame. The back ground music consists of popular songs that scream, "We will go where we want, turn as we please and break every traffic signal."
Caste supplies the most important assurance behind this VIP performance. He wants to announce the protection available to him, where the surname announces the possibility of ten men arriving after one phone call, if you dare to say anything to him.
In that sense, the Delhi- NCR man is the freest of all men in the world.
In a viral Thar reel, the driver who drives proudly on the wrong side explains with the calmness of a meditation practitioner, "The biggest benefit of a Thar is, you can drive on the wrong side and no one will flash their dipper or say anything."
The car has five star safety.
Everyone, outside it, is on their own.
Recently, a video from Pune showed a Fortuner fitted with a button operated device that concealed its number plate. My first reaction was reluctant admiration. At least the man had worked to hide his identity. Across NCR, so many vehicles don't have any number plates at all.
It's no surprise that lane discipline remains such an unfinished project in India.
Civic sense demands a small surrender.
It asks a man to believe that a stranger's claim to the road is as valid as his own
But surrender is not something the NCR man practices.
He has spent his whole life learning to occupy space, not share it - or in some cases collecting rent from it.
This attitude is so difficult to fix because, for this particular variety of men, the white lines marking traffic lanes are the bars of a cage and a traffic signal turning red dares the bull inside him to smash through whatever stands ahead
Life is a marathon race, not a sprint. It is about becoming better by the day, not overtaking others. There will be ups and downs. Don't fear downs. Do not turn your overconfidence into arrogance.
Enjoy the journey.
It applies to both sports and life. It is all about the willingness to put in the effort to prepare. It is not about winning. Understanding what it takes to win is crucial.
I have been a runner. It's a hobby I took up 18 years ago. I would advise everyone and that includes students as well, to run for themselves with a clear target in mind.
The world is full to the brim with possibilities, though it is rapidly changing, disruptive and increasingly led by AI.
I am urging the young generation to keep learning and use social media to their benefit.
It may be unnerving to read through the negative stories about job losses due to AI or any other factors. But a number of new sectors are opening up.
The art of the possible is becoming clear every day with AI and it is going to throw up so many things we have not imagined today. New industries will come up in the next five years and we may not even know their terminology yet.
He winds up quoting:
1. Tennis legend, Billie Jean king
"To earn the right to feel the pressure is a privilege."
And:
2. Tanzanian marathon runner, Juma Ikangaa:
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."
Venkadesan.S, The Times of India, September 20, 2026
