TWINKLE KHANNA in The Times of India 17 August 2026

 

TWINKLE KHANNA  in The Times of India 17 August 2026

Change belongs to the people who believe they can make a difference. 

Every parent has the same wish that their child will be braver and better than they were. 

Protests have always been a form of political theatre.You can't make a nation sit up if you don't grab their their attention. 

Every generation has a strange habit of making inconveniences sound like virtues. 

Javed Akhtar once said:
"Each generation believes that the one before them is obsolete and the one after, foolish.And yet somehow, our own is the only sensible one."

When Twinkle complained to her sister, "Our children had it too easy - everything is instantly available - these children do not know anything about waiting whereas we had to wait and wait to get what we longed for. Once these kids looked up to us. Now, they only roll their eyes."

The sister snorted,"You sound like Nani,with those stories of her walking miles to go to school. They walked, we waited around  to attain our needs. It's just what we had to do, not a character certificate.When the children want something today, it's all 'Mummy.Mummy,' Otherwise, they think we are dummies" .

You just have to do well

 

Please sit down and note what is required. What matters is what we do, what is required and how smartly we adapt, how we prepare for what is ahead

Don't think about the result or any title. Focus on the process

You just have to do well. 

Title of The Times of India Editorial on 17 August 2026

 

Title of The Times of India Editorial on 17 August 2026

Iran and Ukrain show war is still old people talking and young men dying.

How true

LUCA PARMITANO ESCAPES FROM DROWNING ON A SPACE WALK -THINK AGAIN - ADAM GRANT

 

THINK AGAIN 
Adam Grant
Quoting from folio 205, 206, 207, 208 of Chapter10

As an avid scuba diver, Luca Parmitano was familiar with risk of drowning. He just didn't realize it could happen in outer space. 

Luca had just become the youngest astronaut ever to take a long trip to the International Space Station. In July 2013, the thirty six year old Italian astronaut completed his first spacewalk, spending six hours running experiments. moving equipment and setting up power and data cables. Now, a week later Luca and another astronaut Chris Cassidy were heading out for a second walk to continue their work and do some maintenance. As they prepared to leave the airlock they could see the Earth 250 mile below.

After forty four minutes in space, Luca felt something strange: the back of his head seemed to be wet. He wasn't sure where the water was coming from. It wasn't just a nuisance: it could cut off communication by shorting out his microphone or earphones. He reported the problem to Mission Control in Houston. Chris asked if he was sweating. "I am sweating," Luca  said,"but it feels like lot of water. It's not going anywhere, it's just in my Snoopy cap.Just FYI." He went back to work.

The officer in charge of spacewalk, Karina Eversley, knew something was wrong. That's not normal, she thought. She quickl;y recruited a team of experts to compile questions for Luca. Was the amount of water increasing? Luca coldn't tell. Was he sure it was water? When he stuck out his tongue to capture a few of the drops that were floating in his helmet, the taste was metaliic.

Mission Control made the call to terminate the space walk early. Luca and Chris had to split up to follow their tethers, which were routed in opposite directions. To get around an antenna, Luca flipped over. Suddenly he couldn't see clearly or breathe through his nose - globs of water were covering his eyes and filling his nostrils. The water was continuing to accummulate. If it reached his mouth he could drown. His only hope was to navigate quickly back to the air lock. As the sun set, Luca was surrounded by darkness, with only a small headlight to guide him. Then his comms went down - he couldn't hear himself or anyone else speak.

Luca managed to find his way back to the outer hatch of the airlock, using his memory and the tension in his tether. He was still in grave danger.  Before he could remove his helmet, he would have to wait for Chris to close the hatch and repressurize the airlock. For several agonizing minutes of silence, it was unclear whether he would survive. When it was finally safe to remove his helmet, a quart and a half of water was in it, but Luca was alive. Months later, the incident would be called the "scariest wardrobe malfunction in NASA history."

The technical updates followed swiftly.. The spacesuit engineers traced the leak to a fan/pump/separator, which they replaced moving forward. They also added a breathing tube that works like a snorkel and a pad to absorb water inside the helmet. Yet the biggest error wasn't technical - it was human.

When Luca had returned from his first space walk a week earlier, he had noticed some droplets of water in his helmet. He and Chris assumed they were the result of  a leak in the bag that provided drinking water in the suit, and the crew in Houston agreed. Just to be safe, they replaced the bag. But that was the end of the discussion.

The space station chief engineer, Chris Hansen, led the eventual investigation into what had gone wrong with Lucas's suit."The occurrence of minor amounts of waer in the helmet was normalized," Chris told me. In the space station community, the "perception was that drink bags leak, which led to an acceptance that it was a likely explanation without digging deeper into it."

Luca's scare wasn't the first time that NASA's failure at rethinking had proven disastrous. In 1986, the space shuttle, Challenger, exploded after a catastrophically shallow analysis of the risk that circular gaskets called O-rings could fail. Although this had been identified as launch constraint, NASA had a track record of overriding it in prior missions without any problems occurring. On an unusually cold launch day, the O-ring sealing the rocket booster joints ruptured, allowing hot gas to burn through the fuel tank, killing all seven Challenger astronauts.

In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated under similar circumstances. After take off, the team on the ground noticed that some foam had fallen from the ship, but most of them assumed it wasn't a major issue since it had happened in past missions without incident. They failed to rethink that assumption and instead started discussing what repairs would be done to the ship to reduce the turnaround time for the next mission. The foam loss was, in fact, a critical issue. The damage it caused to the wing's leading edge let hot gas leak into the shuttle's wing upon reentry into the atmosphere. Once again all seven astronauts lost their lives.

Rethinking is not just an individual skill. It's a collective capability, and it depends heavily on an organisation's culture. NASA had long been a prime example of a performance culture: excellence of execution was the paramount value. Although NASA accomplished extraordinary things, they soon became victims of overconfidence cycles. As people took pride in their standard operating procedures, gained conviction in their routines and saw their decisions  validated through their results, they missed opportunities from rethinking.

Rethinking is more likely to happen in a learning culture, where growth is the core value and rethinking cylces are routine. In  learning cultures, the norm is for people to know what they don't know, doubt their existing practices, and stay curious about new routines to try out. Evidence shows that in learning cultures, organizations innovate more and make fewer mistakes. After studying and advising change initiatives at NASA, it has been found that learning cultures thrive under a particular combination of psychological safetry and accounatbility.

Adam Grant continues in Folios 209, 210, 211 and 212 under   
I ERR,THEREFORE I LEARN

In performance cultures, the emphasis on results often undermines psychological safety. A study by an engineer turned management professor, Amy Edmondson, had found that the more psychological safety a team felt, the higher was its error rates. It appeared that psychological safety could breed complacency. When trust runs deep in a team, people might not feel the need to question their colleagues or double check their own work. In performance cultures, the emphasis on results often undermines psychological safety. And people tend to censor themselves in the presence of experts who seem to know all the answers - especially if they lack confidence in their own expertise.

A lack of psychological safety was a persistent problem at NASA. 

Before tthe Challenger launch, some engineers did raise red flags but were silenced by managers. Others were ignored and ended up silencing themselves. After the Columbia launch, an engineer asked for clearer photographs to inspect the damage to the wing, but managers  didn't supply them. In a critical meeting to evaluate the condition of the shuttle after takeoff, the engineer didn't speak up.

About a month before tha Columbia launch, Ellen Ochoa became the deputy director of flight crew operations. In 1993, Ellen had made history by becoming the first Latina in space. Now, the first flight she supported in a management role had ended in tragedy. After breaking the news to the space station crew and consoling the family members of the fallen astronauts, she was detrmined to figure out how she could personally help to prevent this kind of disaster from ever happening again. 

Ellen recognised that at NASA, the performance culture was eroding psychological safety. "People pride themselves on their engineering expertise and excellence," she said. "They fear their expertise will be questioned in a way that's embarassing to them. It's that basic fear of looking like a fool, asking questions that people just dismiss, or being told you don't know what you are talking about." 

To combat that problem and nudge the culture toward learning, she started carrying a 3x5 note card in her pocket with questions to ask about every launch and important operational decision. Her list included

1. What leads you to that assumption? Why do you think it is correct? What might happen if it's wrong?

2. What are the uncertainties in your analysis?

3. I understand the advantages of your recommendation. What are the disadvantages?

A decade later, the same lessons about rethinking had to be relearned in the context of spacewalk suits. As flight controllers first became aware of the droplets of water in Luca Parmitano's helmet, they made two faulty assumptions. The cause was the drink bag. The effect was inconsequential. It wasn't until the second spacewalk, when Luca was in actual danger, that they started to question whether those assumptions were wrong.

When engineer Chris Hamilton took over as the manager of the extravehicular activity office, he inaugurated a norm of posing questions like Ellen's. All anybody would have to ask was, 'How do you know the drink bag leaked?'

The answer would have been, 'Because somebody told us."

That response would have set off red flags. It would've taken ten minutes to check. But nobody asked. 

It was the same for Columbia. Boeing came in and said,"This foam, we think we know what it did." If somebody had asked how they knew, nobody could've answered that question.

How do you know? It's a question we need to ask more often, both of ourselves and of others. The power lies in its frankness. It's non judgemental - a straightforward expression of doubt and curiosity that doesn't put people on the defensive. 

Ellen Ochoa wasn't afraid to ask that question. She makes it explicit, " When you are dealing with people's lives hanging in the balance, you rely on following the procedures you already have. This can be the best approach in a time-critical situation. However it's problematic if it prevents a thorough assessment in the aftermath." 

She was an astronaut with a doctorate in engineering, serving in a senior leadership role.

For too many people in too many workplaces, the question feels like a bridge too far. 

When the stakes are high, failure to respond to that question would be nothing but an open invitation to disater.

BOW

 

We were at the air conditioned dining hall of      Meera's  Veg Plaza, the vegetarian restaurant at Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram. We had stepped in for our breakfast. There were six of us. The order was for Poori. The waiter told us it may take sometime. We said we'd wait as it  was a welcome relief from the blazing Sun.

We were there after the Worship at our Church.

As we waited I had a look at Evana's Bow. Simple, in white, it looked beautiful. She said, it was Ann's creation. Ann is her mother. She should know we thought. A Post Graduate in Engineering, Shapes energise her. They challenge her. She creates. It is simplicity in complexity.

Evana agreed  for a few pictures of the sparkling Bow that kept her hair in shape.

 hot Pooris were served on our table soon after the photo session was suspended to be wrapped up later at home.

Ravenous as we were, the Pooris were off our plates in no time.

The Bow.

POPCORN SCHOOL, KUNNUKUZHI, TRIVANDRUM - PRE SCHOOL, PLAY SCHOOL, LP SCHOOL, UP SCHOOL

 

ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

 

Twelve years ago, when the new Principal, an eminent eduacationist, took over the reins of the college, it was in aderelict state. The students were few in number. The faculty positions were half filled. Their salaries were pending for eight months. The teachers had no interest in teaching. The students disliked learning. The results were very poor. 

The Infrastructure that existed was in disrepair. There had been no maintenance for a long time. 

The College was on the verge of closure.

The Principal was not disheartened. 

He conducted a series of meetings with the students, parents, teachers,University authorities and the officials of the local bodies.

Galvanising everyone he went on a fund mobilisation drive. He took steps to appoint more teachers. As funds trickled in, he took up the maintenance of the bulidings. The grind was painfully slow. 

When the mobilisation of resources took a positive turn, he quickly managed pay of the salary arrears of the staff.

The new look college attracted more students. 

He took to task the teachers who disengaged themselves from teaching. He firmly told them they should either do their work or quit.

Fact is, he knew his job.

There was considerable improvement in the University examinations at the end of the year. It brought more courses to the college and more students.

Year by year the college progressed well. At the end of the 12th year, the college occupied the prime position in the University. As there was a big rush for admission to the courses at the college due to its stepped up performance, it could not accommodate everyone who sought admission there. 

It was a great turn around.

Recently, in a meeting of the students and the parents at the college to honour the students and teachers for their incredible effort in rewriting the history of the college, there was a concerted request to the Principal to  bring out a book on the struggles of the past twelve years.

They maintained that 12 years is not a period to be cast off to the dust bin of history.

They were particular that the good and the bad must find a place there.

They said what was needed was the journey of St. John's when the honourable Principal was a part of it. According to them History if not recorded will fade away with no traces.

When everyone joined together in the exhortation the Principal had agrreed to commit himself into the project with the belief it would be  worth putting his time and effort into the venture  as such an initative would lead many others to follow in the path of St.John's.

Now the entire community is awaiting the release of the book on St.John's with bated breath.

TAKE REST - THIS IS A FORWARD FROM SOMEONE - VERY SENSIBLE - DO NOT KNOW WHO AUTHORED IT - WITH OWN INPUTS

 We had lived through the experience when Ammachi fell ill. 

It was covid time. It was the most difficult time in our lives. The people at the admission counter were rude. We felt they were finding fault with us for bringing Covid to the world.

Once we succeeded in getting over with the long admission process, Ammachi was wheeled straightaway into the ICU. They brusquely told us one bystander alone was permitted. Leaving her daughter there at the lounge, we stood waiting at the courtyard in front of the hospital

After a few days Ammachi was shifted from the ICU to the Payward.

Here the doctors are regimental. Pulmonologist looks after the lungs. Cardiologist looks after the heart. And if we have any complaints apart from their field of specialisation they refer the patient to the appropriate specialist.

Each one would visit and prescribe medicine. The poor invalid bears the brunt of the onslaught of all the specialists. And the medicines. The cost rockets

Two weeks later, the Pulmonologist said the patient would be discharged on that day. 

The patient found herself unable to stand and walk. Two weeks on the bed had weakened her muscles. 

Instead of referring the patient to a physiotherapist at the initial stage, the pulmonologist brought in the specialist when matters went out of hand. 

The patient was looked after well at home. But she remained bedridden. It took a few weeks for her to bid us 'au revoir'

We learned the hard lesson, 'specialisation is harmful' for the sick and the disabled.

TAKE REST - THIS IS A FORWARD FROM SOMEONE WHO IS VERY SENSIBLE

 Realities of Life!

"Take Rest"  

In old age, if a person remains bedridden for a long time and their children keep saying only "Take rest... don't hurry...", that's often where the most dangerous situation begins.

"For an elderly person, lying in bed is easy; but getting up again is extremely difficult. Many times, the illness doesn't kill a person, the bed does."

I am Dr. Song Yuanming, age 54 years.

For the last 27 years, I've been working in the Geriatrics (Old Age Medicine) department of a renowned hospital.

During this time I've treated over 16,000 patients and written more than 2,400 critical condition certificates.

Today I won't use medical terminology. I'll just share three true incidents that happened before my eyes.

All three stories are extremely important for everyone's parents.

First Incident (2019 – Autumn)

Patient: 81-year-old retired teacher Mr. Sun

He had a femoral neck fracture.

Surgery was successful.

On the third day, the doctor said,  

"Start trying to walk with the help of a walker."

But his son said,  

"Dad is so old... what if he falls again? Let him rest."

In the last 27 years, I've heard the words "take rest" at least 500 times.  

And every time I got goosebumps.  

Because for someone over 80, these three words often lead to death.

Mr. Sun listened to his son.  

He stayed in bed.

- Day 7 – Cough started.

- Day 12 – 38.7° fever; CT showed Hypostatic Pneumonia in lungs.

- Day 18 – Admitted to ICU.

- Day 23 – Passed away.

He did not die from the fracture.  

Nor from surgical complications.  

But from pneumonia caused by prolonged bed rest.

The bone healed...  

But the lungs failed because of the bed.

Second Incident (January 2021)

Patient: 78-year-old stroke patient – Mr. Li

After ten days his condition stabilized.

I told his daughter,  

"Now the most important thing is rehabilitation."

- Sit him up at least twice a day.

- 30 minutes each time.

- If possible, make him stand.

- Walk him a little.

The daughter was very devoted.  

She hired a 24-hour caretaker.  

Food, medicines, bath, diapers...  

Everything was perfect.

But one thing didn't happen...  

He was never moved.

She was scared—  

It will hurt...  

He'll get tired...  

He'll fall...

When the caretaker tried to sit him up, she'd say—  

"Don't force him... let him rest."

Three months later...  

His other leg also became non-functional.

This was not a second stroke.  

It was Muscle Atrophy (rapid weakening of muscles).

With prolonged bed rest—  

- 1.5 to 3% of muscle is lost every week.

- Nearly 40% muscle is lost in three months.

Result—  

Hemiplegia → Complete paralysis  

"Can still stand" 

Later. 

"Will never be able to stand again."

He lived for another 14 months.  

During this time he developed three bedsores.  

The largest wound was so deep that the bone was visible.  

While dressing, he would grip the towel tightly to bear the pain...  

Tears would flow from his eyes.

Every time the daughter would cry and say—  

"Dad... take rest..."

These words...  

The softest...  

But proved to be the cruelest.

Third Incident (2023)

Patient: 83-year-old Mr. Zhao  

Had hip replacement surgery.

His son was an engineer.  

On the second day he came to me with a notebook.  

"Doctor, please write a 7-day rehab program."

I made a plan—  

- Day 1 – Ankle exercises (20 times every hour)

- Day 2 – Leg raises (10 × 4)

- Day 3 – Stand for 2 minutes with walker

- Day 5 – Walk 10 steps (4 times)

- Day 7 – Walk 8 meters

Did he feel pain?  

Yes.  

On the third day while standing, there was sweat on his forehead...  

His lips had turned white.

But his son did not say—  

"Take rest."

He just said—  

"Dad... just stand for 30 seconds... I've set the timer."

Just 30 seconds...  

He clenched his teeth and completed it.  

And those 30 seconds became the most effective medicine of his life.

On the 14th day...  

He walked out of the ward on his own feet.  

Slowly...  

But on his own feet.

Among 184 patients that year, his recovery was the best.

5 Lessons Learned from 27 Years of Experience

1. Staying in bed for more than two weeks = rapid muscle loss.  

   Bed is not rest...  

   It can be the beginning of destruction.

2. The first 72 hours are the 'Golden Period'.  

   Whether movement starts in this time or not decides the rest of life.

3. The three most dangerous things  

   - Pneumonia  

   - Blood Clots  

   - Bedsores  

   These often prove more fatal than the original illness.

4. Wrong kind of service  

   Doing every single task for the patient...  

   Can make them more disabled.

5. True service means...  

   Trying to get them back on their feet.  

   Even if you have to be a little strict for it sometimes.

Final Message

I was asked—  

"What are you most afraid of?"

I replied—  

"I'm not afraid of serious illness."  

"I'm afraid when someone says— 'Take rest.'"  

Because in that moment...  

The will to try is already gone.

I've told my family too—  

"If I'm ever bedridden... never tell me 'take rest.'"  

"Wake me up... make me walk... set a timer... and say—  

'Dad... just 30 more seconds!'"

For All of Us

May God ensure such a time never comes for our parents.  

But if it does—  

Don't say "take rest".  

Say "I'll help you stand up."

Maybe those 30 seconds...  

Could change their entire life.

Because...  

Walking to the toilet on your own feet—  

Is the most precious freedom in old age.

Preserve it... starting today. 

SPORTS DAY AT ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

 

Immanuel Thomas had submitted a request for the grant of Rs.12000.00 for conducting the annual sports day events at the college with an authorisation from the Principal.

I work there as its Accounts Officer.

But to my consternation I found the request erroneous.

Financial instruments require the signature of the Principal at the institution.

Finally a cheque was issued for the amount sought.

I submitted a report to the Principal in the evening.

Alex Kurien

"I do not know if you have noticed the alteration Immanuel  made in the request for Rs.12000.00

There was no head or tail in the final sentence.

I called him. He sat in front of me. I explained the oddity.

I asked him to tell me in Malayalam what he had meant by that sentence.

It was perfect. I asked him to write that down. 

Then I asked him to write its translation underneath.

Initially he said it was difficult. I encouraged him to try.

He wrote in English. I saw him fumbling with the final part. I understood it was beyond him. I filled that in for him. He wrote. The translation was perfect. All this was done in his own notebook. 

I asked him to strike out the last two lines in the request and copy what he had in his notebook there.

It looked very good..

He said he would remember this episode in his future life.

I replied I could easily have paid it off and carried on with my work -  there was a lengthy report  - 20 pages draft typed by the typist to finalise and the Times of India of 14 August 2026, I couldn’t read in the morning at home as I had  woken up a little late  - but I couldn't do that because I thought I'd then be failing in my mission and vision.

If you can't set right someone who doesn't know, there is no meaning in our existence.

Immanuel went away, perhaps cursing me or thanking me. 

But if we use the terms before and after, I believe he'll be an altered personality after the gruelling or refreshing time he had with me today.

The casualty was I could read the TOI only now.

It's folio 8 is wonderful.

A lesson in what happens  when serious matters are disposed off casually.

In 1947 it caused one million deaths.

Gandhi's vision too is there

Please don't miss the folio 8 of TOI 14.8.26

Regards
Alex Kurien

WHEN EXTRANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS OVERTURN MERIT

 

When a Corporate entity had a vacancy  as MD & CEO there was Mathew Zacharia, a highly competent and well qualified official  to assume its leadership. Of course, there were many who had been vying for the position. The Board left the final decision to the Chairman. 

But against everyone's expectation the Chairman ignored Mathew Zacharia and placed the mantle on someone less talented.  

The employees were aghast.

Samuel George, a senior official commented, "It was a wrong choice. It was dirty politics that had pushed aside the claims of the right candidate. The Chairman had certainly erred in his judgement for obvious reasons. However the one who was the victim hadn't really lost.  The loser is the organisation."    

Naturally, Mathew Zacharia was devastated.  It took time for the wound to heal. 

Samuel wrote to Mathew Zacharia. They were good friends. 

"Dear Mathew,

I find it extremely difficult to absorb the shock. I can understand how you feel. 

Let me add something more                                                                                                        

God knows what He is doing                                                                                                        I have witnessed this in my whole life. He puts you through paces that we abhor. But He doesn't retract. He knows what He is doing. When the table is turned enabling us to reach  heights we perceive is beyond us we learn God had put us through the heavy lifting and hard grinding to equip us take on the challenges without blinking our eyes.                                        He sustains us.                                                                                                                              We grow in stature                                                                                                                      In Christ we become much more than we would ever have been.                                                Because Christ is in us.                                                                                                            Remember in the Mahabharata, both Arjun and Duryodhan had approached Krishna for support. Duryodhan took the troops. He was happy. Arjun was happy Krishna was with him and the Pandavas.                                                                                                                        I hope the message is clear  

Regards
Samuel "                                                                                            

                                                                                                                  …

St. Andrew’s Church, Bangalore Restoration of 156 years old Parish Hall

 Network Leadership: A parish case study

 We are talking about an ‘empirical turn,’ in social sciences.

·       Parish case study at St. Andrew’s Church, Bangalore. A church with over 160 years of history, located in the central business district (CBD) with over 850 families, drawn from different walks of life.

 The story of a parish hall, 156 years old.

Our parish hall had stood since the 1860s. Restoring it was on paper, beyond us. The specialist work alone would have consumed years on budget.

What made it possible was not a grant. It was a network.

A heritage structure recovered without a single paid consultant- carried by volunteers from inside and outside the congregation.

1.      Map the gifts

2.      Invite, don’t recruit

3.      Hand over real authority

4.      Open the circle wider

Who stepped in:

·         Architects

·         Structural engineers

·         Management professionals

·         Chartered accountants

·         Craftsmen

·         Friends of other faiths

 

What makes the network hold

Four habits that sustain:

1.      Know your people

2.      Give real authority

3.      Keep the door open

4.      Be transparent

 The pictures after restoration are presented

Rev. Prof. Dr Dexter S. Maben                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            At The Kerala United Theological Seminary (KUTS)

Kannammoola, Thiruvananthapuram

 

Rev Dr Jacob Verghis Centre for Biblical Studies

Workshop on Christian Leadership

10^th & 11^th August 2026

 

 

THINK SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE EXPENDING RESOURCES IN THE CHURCH

 

I had been granted a few minutes to interact with the head of a Church. 

After the quick exchange of pleasantries I made my presentation 

"I felt you had to know

Basically I am a professional. Banker. Financier..

What I have observed in the Church is, no one bothers about ROI - Return on Investment or ROE - Return on Expenditure.

They go for fancy projects because of ignorance or a detestable human trait - self gratification. 

Resources are precious. Hard to source. You have to think several times before expending it. 

In many Churches or church related institutions leakage of income is never plugged.              They mask it with the beautiful and respectful word 'Grace.'

In  the church we have everything. Material resources, highly talented faithful.   

But we relish mismanagement. 

Jesus's parable on talents comes up here.

If only we lend our ears to it miracles would cascade.

My point is simple.                                                                                                                        

We must go for maximizing the utilisation of avaliable resources right in front of us.

The adage, "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush," reminds us why things go wrong.

I concluded.

Regret, I took up so much of your precious time.

I was only unfolding the torment within. 

Because I am concerned"

CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE TAKES YOU FAR

 

Think of your people.

The question is, are you deploying or developing them?

This is the question for every leader.

The answer decides whether you deserve to be in business.

You have to be the teacher, mentor or partner

Nurture with collaboration those who join up with you

Please grasp, real freedom is found in sharing the same platform

You have to amplify opportunities, resilence and growth for generations to come.

Teach them, they need creative intelligence to go far

You must support the people in their growth

Representing KUTS or your own organisation is not to be taken lightly

It's a moment you will cherish for the rest of your life

Ultimately, moments like those become shared memories

To be savoured

And cherished forever

Sequel to TRIPLE KNOT - Muppiricharadu - posted on August 5, 2026

 As I had been busy for almost a week I could begin anew from Folio 18 only yesterday. Each page memerised me. I went on uninterrupted. At last I reached the conclusion at Folio 122. There was pathos. There was ethos. One could see the sharp build up of emotions that swayed you.

The author, Rosy Philip, has done a great job of picturising the Syrian Christian family of the  1950-1990 era. But she has not confined it to one community alone. Through Vinayan she has thrown open what happens in another community as well. Though human beings have good traits, she shows us the other side of the coin as well. 

It's a good read where you can't put it down without finishing it.

The story is indeed touching. It relates to what happened in several households around us in the 1950s to 1990s.

Male chauvinism is explicit. Women have no identity whatsoever even if they are employed and earn a decent income. They are mere playthings for the opposite gender.

The translation is excellent. It doesn't look like a translation at all. It seemed it was the original itself. Chandrika has done a wonderful job. She weaves the story through incidents that look real.The sentences are crisp. The language employed is stylish. The description of nature leaves us in rapture. The rains, the mist, the moss and the mildew - we feel we are directly confronting them. The view of the Elenjical House in its splendour and its lost glory stuns us. The diction is rich. I could learn a few words from the novel. 

Vinayan, Zachariah, Sr Nirmala -Nimmy, Ranjit, Mariachechi, Annammachedathi, Ranjit,  Mother-Auntie, Mother-Stern, Fr.David, Babychayan, Jameskutty, Aby and Mili - it's a long list of characters who play their part well. They are embedded in our mind. 

Sara and her mother in law are a pair we can't ever forget. 

Ammachi's words echoes in Sara's mind forever.

"Don't let him beat you even once. I was not able to stop father. Once started, it will continue."

Sara finds to her horror, the contemptible man hurts a female body only when his senses are overpowered by liquor. He befriends liquor not only to harm, but even to enjoy a female body. 

'Triple Knot' truly is a message to the world at large. It tells us what should be and what should not be...
..........................

John Kurien, former CGM, NABARD critiques

Having read two vivid anecdotes of yours,  after  going through "Muppidicharadu,"  I was transported to the realm of having read the novel itself .

Hats off for the review or let me say factual appreciation of the arduous  task of a translation which you have considered as equal to the original.

BIGWIG OF KADALAAR

Seems although the bigwig of Kadalaar, had a great escape courtesy the munificence of somebody important, his whereabouts are unknown. He is not permitted to meet anyone at all. 

For all practical purposes it is confinement.

To put it mildly, he escaped from confinement to find himself confined

AJIT PRABHU CO-FOUNDER & CEO QUEST GLOBAL WRITES TO HIS PARENTS

I was going through a conversation with Ajit Prabhu, co-founder and CEO of Quest Global, in the Times of India of 12 August 2026.

I found  the letter he has written in it to his parents striking.

We had brought up our children providing them  a large number of comics. We knew reading alone would bring the best out of them. We furnished  the comics to get them cultivate extra reading. They did exactly that. A relative once recalled he had always been envious of them when he had seen them postured on top of  a mountain of comics.

They did not become engineers or doctors. But they learned how to negotiate life. They have struck out on their own individual paths. They still read. They manage themselves well.

I felt if they were going to write to us on how they had come up, they would certainly write  a similar letter like the one Ajit Prabhu wrote to his parents. It is  quoted.

"Dear Amma and Appa,

You wanted an engineer. I became one.But the engineer you see today wasn't shaped solely in classroom. He was made at home, nurtured by the two of you, long before I ever set foot in Karnataka University.

I carry my degrees with pride. But what I carry more deeply is something you gave me first, a love of learning and a sense of curiosity that was never asked to stay small.

I was the boy who paid 25 cents to read comics, he couldn't afford to buy and built a small business so I could read more of them. Those stories of Tintin crossing continents and heroes solving impossible problems gave a young boy from Hubbali the belief, anything was possible.

Here is what I have learned since then. The hardest problems in this world aren't solved by people who only know engineering. They're solved by Polymaths - people who have an interest in music, poetry, sports, history (and even comic books) and bring that passion into the lab with them. 

Curiosity is the engine. Discipline is the anchor.

As I think about the future generations, I know that the children who will solve the world's hardest problems are not the ones who will be asked to narrow themselves. They will be the ones who are allowed to dream big and have great aspirations. Just as you made space for the parts of me that did not fit neatly into a syllabus.

So when I think of the comics, cricket, the books that had nothing to do with my exams, I don't see wasted time. I see the making of a polymath engineer.

I see the two of you. 

Thank you for encouraging my curiosity and never making me feel my interests outside the classroom didn't matter. I am who I am, because of you. A proud creative polymath engineer.

With all my love, your son.

Sd/-

Ajit Prabhu
Co-founder &CEO, Quest Global Engineer
and everything that made him one"

How wonderful it is, when the children recognise and acknowledge the contribution of parents in their upbringing.

POLYMATH

 

A polymath is a person with deep, active knowledge and skill across many different and unrelated subjects. Also called a "Renaissance man" or "polyhistor", a polymath does not just casually know facts about various topics; they master and create work in multiple distinct fields. 

Famous Examples

Leonardo da Vinci: Mastered painting, engineering, anatomy, and invention.
Benjamin Franklin: Excelled as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, and diplomat. [

Key Traits of a Polymath

High Curiosity: Driven by a strong urge to learn how different things work.
Cross-Disciplinary Thinking: Combines ideas from separate fields to solve unique problems.
True Mastery: Reaches a high level of proven skill, rather than just knowing surface-level facts.