Stranger ran past school screaming 'Run, Water'

 

Stranger ran past school screaming 'Run, Water' 

It saved 370 kids, teachers

Vishant Agarwala reports from Nuwakot, Nepal  in The Times of India of 31st August 2026

"The big flood is coming, run...' 

An unidentified man sprinting past Uttargaya Public School in Betrawati, across the river and a few km from Trishuli Bazaar, shouting those words gave more than 370 pupils and their teachers the warning they desperately needed. 

Within minutes, children were scrambling towards the forested hill behind the campus as the surge cut across roads and normal escape routes. The school routine had barely begun on Wednesday. Hostel students were at breakfast when the cry rang through the compound. There had been no siren, automated message or official alert before the children began running.

The warning that reached Uttargaya came from a stranger outside the compound - shouting loudly enough for teachers to act. Older pupils from Grades 7 to 10 themselves, and the staff helped younger children through mud, carrying some in arms when they could not keep up. 

English teacher Somlal Dangol said,"No one could have imagined a flood this massive was coming. That's why they didn't run far at first - and by the time they saw it, they could no longer escape along the main paths."

Grade 10 student Sujal Lama had finished his morning tuition and was heading towards the school's breakfast when the warning spread. He initially thought the river would not rise very high. Sujal said on Sunday, "If I had gone to eat, the flood would have caught me," . He ran towards the forest, spent the night there and was given food by the teachers once he had gathered enough courage - his teachers said 'bravado' - to return towards the building.

Class 8 student Rashmi Tamang recalled the struggle uphill. "We managed to climb up even though we were covered in mud, but many children couldn't even run," she said. 

For one family a parent's attempt to reach the school ended in tragedy. Nawaraj Tamang rushed towards Uttargaya after learning about the flood to find his Grade 10 son Ayush.

Before leaving, he told his mother, Mungsi Tamang, tha he was stepping out to bring Ayush home. Nawaraj was swept away before he could reach the school. Ayush escaped into the forest and survived.

Vice Principal Pawan Sharma and teachers were scattered with groups of children on higher ground, with communication channels disrupted. Sharma said,"Relatives of students are calling continuously, but I don't even have the records of those children with me any more." 

LOOK AT THE COLOUR OF THE HIBISCUS FLOWER

                                     LOOK AT THE COLOUR OF THE HIBISCUS FLOWER

                                                 THE SB PRESS FAMILY AT TUTORS LANE

                                                                   TRIVANDRUM

                                                                GIFTED US A STEM

                                                   SEE HOW IT HAS SURPRISED US

THE CREEPER FLOWERS

 

                                                            THE CREEPER FLOWERS

POOKALAM AT TRAVANCORE FRESH SUPERMARKET VANDITHADAM THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 2026

                                                                 HAPPY ONAM

                POOKALAM AT TRAVANCORE FRESH SUPERMARKET VANDITHADAM                                                                             THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

                                                                         BY

                                                                  THE STAFF

THE MAKING OF A POOKALAM BY ENTHUSIASTIC LITTLE CHILDREN

                                                              HAPPY ONAM

                THE MAKING OF A POOKALAM BY ENTHUSIASTIC LITTLE CHILDREN 

Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, New York - Becka Jill Konnayil - welcomes the incoming class of 2026

 

Good afternoon, everyone - esteemed faculty members, families, friends, and most of all, to the incoming Class of 2026: congratulations and welcome.

I am Becka Jill Konnayil, a fourth-year medical student here at the Renaissance School of Medicine, and it is my honor to share this special and deeply personal day with all of you.

I still remember the first time the meaning of the white coat was explained to me. I was just starting college as a pre-med, and a close relative stopped by to explain the weight of the career I had decided to pursue. I listened, but truthfully, standard pre-med optimism blinded me to the sheer scale of the journey ahead.

But when I sat in your seats back in 2023, that conversation came back to me. The coat hanging off my arm felt heavy with the future - yet I still clung to the quiet security of being just a medical student, not yet the one holding the scalpel or writing the orders.

They say the further you get in this career, the coat gets both heavier and lighter at once. A few years from now, you will all be doctors, and your words and actions will carry more weight than ever.

I wish I could tell you medical school is a walk in the park. It isnt. There will be dark moments - nights when you question whether you are meant to be here. Take it from someone who has been in your shoes: you are. You've already earned your place. You have already made it through things you thought would break you.

So on the hardest days, remind yourself why you chose medicine in the first place - for the people. People facing physical illness, psychiatric conditions, the weight of injustice, or a system that failed them and needs someone to show up anyway.

That lesson became very real for me three months ago when my father suffered a massive heart attack.

He needed ECMO - mechanical life support for the heart - and spent seven weeks fighting for his life in Stony Brook's cardiothoracic ICU, cared for by the very team that trained us.

I started CPR on him immediately at home, before the ambulance arrived. I don't think I fully processed what I was doing at that moment - training just took over.

Later, once he was stable, his CT surgeon, Dr. Allison McLarty, walked my mother through everything that had happened at home that day. My mother just nodded - she knew. 

Dr. McLarty paused, looked at her, and simply said: 'That’s how we train our students.';

Those words have echoed in my head ever since. It captures the entire promise of the training you are about to receive right here at Stony Brook: to recognize a person in need, in any setting, at any hour, and to know what to do. Not because you are expected to be perfect. In medicine, there is no perfection. But because you will have been trained to show up.

That is what I hope you carry with you from this room. On the hard days—when imposter syndrome kicks in—remember that you are meant to be here. This school will help make you into the doctor you’re meant to be: one that patients, families, and your team can depend on - truly, a good doctor.

And RSOM's idea of a good doctor is more than clinical skills. 

In addition to robust training, you will also be provided with the resources to be curious past what is required. 

In medicine, we talk a lot about gaps: gaps in research, gaps in the system, and gaps within ourselves. 

Find the gaps that matter to you and work toward filling them. 

Never lose that spark of curiosity - it’s what keeps us striving for improvement.

And the best part is you never have to do it alone. The people sitting near you right now, the ones you have known for only a few weeks, will become the ones who understand your highs and lows - exactly what a hard week feels like without you having to explain it or the celebration after every test regardless of how it went. 

Keep them close, and root for them the same way you will want them rooting for you.

So, to the incoming Class of 2026: welcome. We - the students walking ahead of you, the faculty who trained us and will train you, your families and friends who are prouder today than you may ever fully understand - we are all genuinely glad you are here.

Medicine needs exactly the kind of person you already are. And somewhere down the road, in a moment you can't yet predict, this school will have quietly made sure you know exactly what to do.

Once again, congratulations on arriving at this destination, and welcome to the start of another beautiful journey.

Thank you.

RIGHT TO QUESTION NOT DEFIANCE - UJJAL BHUYAN, SUPREME COURT JUDGE

 

At the convocation ceremony of the National Law University, New Delhi, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, Hon'ble Judge of the Supreme Court of India, dissected defiance and dissent.

He said, "In a democracy, the right to question is not act of defiance. It is an essential expression of citizenship, liberty and constitutional responsibilty. If we want a democratic society that respects liberty and difference, that culture has to begin somewhere. It can only begin in our Universities. A university ..should be one of the first places where the habit of thinking freely begins."

"In a constitutional democracy like India, govt must listen to citizens, give space for dissent and have institutions that are accountable to society and do not treat every dissent as a threat."

"A university should be a space where an idea is not accepted merely because it is familiar and where students do not hesitate to ask difficult questions simply because the answer may be uncomfortable."

"India's constitution guarantees free speech, thinking and believing differently.'

"Intolerance begins to undermine that framework when disagreement or dissent is no longer treated as a legitimate difference of opinion but as something that must be silenced, rejected or punished. The ability to live with disagreement is, therefore, not merely a social virtue. It is the very essence of a liberal constitutional democracy."

"The maturity of a democracy is reflected not merely in how it treated opinions that are popular, having the majoritarian mandate, but also in how it responds to opinions that are difficult or incovenient."

"The freedom to express an opinion, to disagree with the prevailing view and to participate in public life would be meaningful  only when there is space for dissent."

"A democracy becomes meaningful not when everyone speaks the same language of thought, but when different voices can coexist, be heard  and be treated with dignity."

"Tolerance under our constitution does not ask us to surrender our individuality. It recognises that a free society  would contain different opinions, beliefs and ways of looking at the world."

He concluded quoting the 1986 judgement in Bijoe Emmanuel case by Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy, "Our tradition teaches tolerance. Our philosophy preaches tolerance. Our constitution practices tolerance. Let us not dilute it."

The Times of India 31 August 2026

SPORT KEEPS EVOLVING - FEDERER

 

Federer said

We all leave the court eventually.

But the sport keeps evolving.

When rephrased it reads:

We all  leave our life eventually

But life keeps evolving.

SNAKING GHOST

 

The Times of India reports on 31st August 2026
Vishant Agarwala
Rebuilt after 2015 quake with India aid, School now swallowed by floods seeks help again 
Trishuli Bazaar (Nepal)

Three warnings came within minutes the day it flooded - an accountant rushed in saying water was gushing in, a teacher relayed a phone call from upstream saying the area had been "swallowed", and a parent arrived on a scooter to take his daughter away. 

Principal Rajendra Dawadi immediately ordered around 900 students at Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School out. 

 They escaped before the river wiped out the 76-year old campus.

Now, Dawadi, teachers and students agree on one thing. Classes must restart at earliest. But the school must never be rebuilt beside the river. It has to be on higher ground.

"The children - even some of our teachers and domestic staff - are scared of the river ...it is a snaking ghost," Dawadi. told TOI on Sunday. "When they look at it, they feel afraid."

Tribhuvan Trishuli, the oldest School across flood hit Rasuwa, Dhading and Nuwakot districts, had 1643 students. 

The flood destroyed virtually everything it owned, including an 18-room, three storey block built with assistance from the  Indian embassy after the 2015 earthquake. 

All that remained of the School's property were two buses, one of these provided by India.

"Everything is washed away," Dawadi said. *After previous disasters Indian Govt. helped us.  We are hopeful this time too Indian govt.  will help us re-establish our school."

Close to a thousand people, including the children, had been inside the school when warnings arrived. Thirty girls were in the residential hostel. When they asked Dawadi where they could go because their homes were far away. He told them to follow him uphill.

Dawadi ordered a non teaching employee to ring the bell. The teachers began clearing the classrooms. Staff helped students suffering panic attacks. One girl was being examined by a nurse in the infirmary. All students who were inside the school survived.

Two staff members remain missing, Dawadi said.. Non teaching employee Chulrim Lama had been behind him during the evacuation. He may have turned back towards the school, possibly to close a door.  Lower secondary teacher, Santos Parihar, was believed to have been in his room in the teachers' quarters.

Dawadi said India's association with the school went back to before the 2015 earthquake. The proposal for the 18 room building had already been accepted before the quake. The three storey block was subsequently constructed with the embassy's assistance.

Students described the terror of watching their school disappear.

"We were getting ready for the morning assembly when teachers started screaming for us to run up the hill. I  left my backpack and books behind in the classroom. Looking back down from the ridge and seeing the river wash over our playground was terrifying. I am just glad all my friends made it safely." Class 10 student Sunita Tamang told TOI.

Class 12 student Rohan Shrestha remembered hearing the flood before seeing it. "The roar of the river sounded like a low thunder before we even saw the mud coming. The teachers moved fast getting everyone out of the hostels and to higher ground. The school is covered in mud now,  We don't know when we could go back to class. However we are looking after each other in the temporary camp," he said

For Dawadi , restarting classes quickly was as much about restoring a sense of normalcy as  education

Today, it's 31st August 2026 - FATHER WRITES TO SON

Today, it's 31st August 2026

I often think of June 12,2002

How happy I was to drive you to your job. A privilege many parents do not ever get.

Happy you have taken a decision to quit after after 24 years 2 months and 19 days.

What next is certainly uncertain. You have to begin anew.

Yet, what you are doing is what I wanted to do when I was your age or much earlier. Like I told you, I did try. Nothing worked out. The force that brought me to Trivandrum, chose to confine me to my organisation and Trivandrum itself 

A look at my ancestral family.

Thalavady

Pappachayan used to say, Johnychayan relished jumping into the dark. He changed jobs many times. But he did well in life.

My Papa, went into the unknown when he boarded the deck on the ship to Singapore at a very young age. The War tormented him. His parents' selfishness or lack of vision prevented his return to Singapore. At the end he could not be what he could have been in life.

Niranam

They were just ordinary people except Babychayan, Mummy's twin brother. He was ambitious. He worked hard to go up. Go up he did.

For me I knew from day one, the job I had, was not my line. But destitutes had no choices. I stayed on. I don't mean to say I didn't do well. But assuming a role unsuited never brings out the real you.

I think I came into my own after I left my organisation.

Choices we make. We may err. But that's life.

You can never put the clock back or rewind life.

Make the best of what is ahead.

As I suggested going into academics may bring out the real you

But again that's a choice difficult to make. 

Life is always like that. The uncertainty makes it exiting. The predictable is never there. 

The challenge is exacting. 

But I know you can. We know you are capable.

Fight like you always did

HOW SHOULD LEADERS COMMUNICATE DURING A CRISIS

In the event of the onset of  a crisis like Coronavirus pandemic or a major war or natural calamities out of the blue, two questions arise.

How should leaders communicate during a crisis?

How should leaders give people a sense of security in the present and hope for the future?

Preaching the virtues of their plans and prosecuting alternative proposals could reduce uncertainty. 

Making a political case might rally the base around shared goals.

But the most instructive example had come in 1932 from the Governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In an early speech in the spring, as his state and the nation faced an unprecedented crisis - the country was reeling from the Great Depression - he announced, "It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try a different method. But above all try something."

He delivered his "try something" message in the commencement speech at a small University in Georgia when unemployment was very high. It was the great depression. In the most memorable line from the speech, FDR argued that "the country demands bold, persistent experimentation."

One of the Governor's own advisers described the speech as an act of political stupidity.

The New York Times eviscerated the Governor's speech with the comment "something unspecified is no better than nothing."  Trashing the speech, it stated that the Governor was "indefinite, abstract, irresolute" whereas other leaders were "precise, concrete, positive"

It is easy to see the appeal of a confident leader who offers a clear vision, a strong plan and a definitive forecast for the future. 

But in times of crisis as well as times of prosperity, what we need is a leader who accepts uncertainty, acknowledges mistakes, learns from others and restructures plans. FDR was offering exactly that. The critics were wrong about how his proposed approach would unfold. He wasn't preaching, prosecuting or appealing to politics. He was speaking with a confident humility

FDR's principle became a touchstone of his leadership. 

Although economists still debate which of the resulting reforms lifted the country out of the historic depression, FDR's trial and error method of formulating policy was indeed popular. 

The Americans elected him President four times.

Adam Grant
Think Again

GANDHIJI, SATYAGRAHA, ROWLATT ACT, DALIT REPRESENTATION - PRECURSOR TO RESERVATIONS FOR SCs/STs IN INDEPENDENT INDIA

 While we were in school, we had a subject, 'Social,Studies.' It was a compendium of History, Geography, Economics and whatever the compilers of the Text Books deemed fit to be placed there. It was an Avial or a Masala. We had no idea what it was all about. Nor did the teachers. They did real teaching. They would read out page by page. I guess no one understood anything. Come exam time, we would mug up whatever was possible and threw up all that into the answer sheets. Curiosity had no place here. Those who memorised best and had the ability to put it on the answer sheets verbatim went places. Pity the rest. They were the majority. They were declared unworthy to go further up.

Gandhiji, Satyagraha and Rowlatt Act had mystified us. Another was the division of Bengal in 1905 that was later annulled

The Times of India of 14 August 2026 gave me a real insight into Gandhiji, Satyagraha, Rowlatt Act and Dalit reservation - the Precursor to Reservation for SCs and STs in independent India for the first time. The writer, Alok Sharma,  had exercised great pain in sifting through the volminous data available at the TOI Archives.

Satyagraha

Gandhiji had been in South Africa for twenty one years. He employed Satyagraha as a method of resistance repeatedly to draw attention to the discriminatory laws against Indians. On his return to India he deployed his most potent weapon 'Satyagraha' aginst the British. 

It was Satyagraha that finally drove the British exit India

Rowlatt Act

The Rowlatt Act classified Dalits as a minority, whose representatives  would be elected only by Dalit voters, just as Muslims, Christians and Sikhs would elect their own representatives. Gandhiji believed this would divide the Hindu society. B.R.Ambedkar supported it as a safe guard for Dalit representation. Opposing a separate electorate for Dalits, proposed under the Communal Award of August 1932, Gandhiji announced a fast unto death from Pune's Yerwada Jail on September 13 through a letter to the British Prime Minister. It had truly altered the course of India's political history. He was already under  imprisonment at the Jail for partaking in  the Civil Disobedience Movement. The fast was set to begin on Sept 20.

His week long fast led to the Poona pact. It was  negotiated by Madan Moham Malaviya and Ambedkar.  Gandhiji accepted it.

The pact abandoned a separate electorate but reserved seats for Dalits within the general electorate. 

It  became a milestone in Dalit representation.

It was the precursor to reservations for SCs and STs in independent India.

The explanation is clear. No one would ever miss the truth. Only hitch is, it took 60-65 years to reach us, the weaklings. 

Learning never ceases.

Live Sisyphus And Not Abyss Of Absurd

Vijay Hashia discusses 'Surrender to the Absurd' in The Times of India of 26 August 2026:

Live Sisyphus And Not Abyss Of Absurd

He begins by referring to the recent tragedy involving 18 year old Kunal Murlidhar Chandvade, triggered by his stubborn demand for an Apple phone. His father could not reportedly afford it, It led to the fatal  fall from the cliff where the whole family lost their lives. They were attempting to save one another.

According to Crime records Bureau, annual suicide rate in India is 12.2 to 12.3 per 100000 with young adults aged 15-30 at high risk. The reasons include academic stress, a traumatic and negative familial environment, conflicts, depression and anxiety disorders among others.

This is the abyss of the 'absurd.'  In his philosophical essay, 'The Myth of Sisyphus,' Albert Camus calls suicide a surrender to the 'absurd.' It occurs when the mind develops  the notion i that life is not worth living. The surrender then is meek.. He asserts why we must continue struggling like Sisyphus pushing his boulder endlessly uphill, without promise that the struggle  will ever reward or resolve anything and without losing life's hope.

The boulder remains unmovable for Sisyphus and his pushing it is a resolute act against the absurdity of existence. 

Retreating and withdrawing from pushing the boulder, he says, is succumbing. And there is one act of dignity left, and that is to continue struggling resolutely even beyond limits of endurance.

Allowing an 'absurd' moment to dictate life's value and meaning is yielding, he says. 

A targedy of misfortune ought to have an explanation. A devastating loss ought to contain some rationale. We instinctively  search for  justification, responsibility, fate or circumstance and we ask why that happened and where the fault lies.

But the world is not irrational nor is the human being incapable of reason. The 'absurd' emerges from the collision between our insatiable desire to understand and the world that does not respond to it. We demand absolute meaning. Existence gives us only contingency, uncertainty and death. 

For Camus, faith is consolation disguised as a deep philosohical choice, giving up on reason. He admires boldness to face life honestly without building philosophical theories around it.  For Soren Kierkeggaard and Lev Shestov, when logic fails to explain suffering, one turns to faith  rather than explanation. Nietzche accepts life's cruely but advocates embracing it fully

No faith, theory or doctrine of fate can make any such tragedy suddenly occur.

Gita, Chapter 2, says, from contemplation on sensory objects arises attachment, from attachment arises desire, from desire arises anger, from anger arises delusion, from delusion arises loss of memory and destruction of intellect and finally the ruin. Upanishads counsel us to enjoy life and the world through detachment and renunciation without greed.

Today thought patterns have shifted towards acquiring material possessions, social media, brand consciousness, self centredness, manufactured personality traits for approval and a craving for social acceptance has engulfed young minds.

The remedy begins at home, where children are allowed to speak early and vent small frustrations.  The role of the  elders is not to enforce order through writs. The development of the psyche of the children become wholesome when they consent to accept advice when in need and without compulsion.

Nothing is worth losing a life. 

It must be lived on, endured through any eventuality and carried forward with resilience and courage.

DOLLY PARTON SIGNS OFF - STARS AND STRIPES FLY HALF-STAFF

The Times of India on 26 August 2026;

Dolly Parton, queen of country music whose songs spoke to millions dies at 80

Dolly Parton had been the country music icon to the legion of her followers. Her soaring vibrato vocals, poignant songwriting and sparkling costumes had defined her. The rise from her log cabin in the Tennessee mountains to the  pinnacle of stardom and acclaim was an unbelievable journey of grit. . 

Known for her curvy physique, massive blonde wigs and skin-tight outfits that served her self deprecating wit, she was among the most beloved personalities in music and beyond - the rare celebrity  whose appeal transcended generations, geography and politics.

She wrote hundreds of songs. They included classics like 'Jolene' (1973), 'Coat of Many Colours' (1970 - written on the back of  a dry cleaning receipt in 1969),  'I Will Always Love You' (1974) and 'Here You Come Again' (1979). Her songs sold more than 100 million worldwide. It generated more than 1 billion online streams. Dolly Parton, who plucked bejewelled banjos, guitar and dulcimers with her long fingernails during performances was  a generous philanthropist. In addition she was a successful businesswoman. Among her projects, there was a theme park in the Smoky Mountain foothills near her birthplace.

Her career was forever influenced by her upbringing. She was one of the 12 children born into what she called a 'dirt poor' Tennessee family. 

Her first musical performances were in a church. Her grandfather was a preacher there.

When she was ten years of age she was learning Guitar and singing on local TV shows.

After graduation from her school, she followed her uncle, Bill Owens, a song writer to Nashville, with a suitcase of songs. 

Fred Foster, who produced Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson and more saw her potential and got her songs cut by other artists. 

Her partnership with Porter Wagoner, a pencil thin pompadoured star with flashy rhinestone outfits, was key to her career. She honed her acting skills on his syndicated TV show. He advocated for her to get a record deal at RCA. 

She got her first No.1 solo single  with 'Jolene'. She reached the Top 5 with the ballad "Coat of Many Colours".It narrated how her mother sewed together scraps of clothes to make a coat she wore 'so proudly.' Her peers mocked her all along for being poor.

The song, with its biblical references and ode to maternal love, was made into a children's book and TV movie.

In 1973, she had the hit, 'Jolene.' The song skyrocketed her to fame. It was the familiar country music, standard with its steady churning. As she sang,'Jolene,' with the repeated delivery of the title where she pleaded to the woman not to steal her man, the song took wings taking her to the top of the country charts.  It was later released on the international platform. Jolene opened up new audiences for her. 

Dolly Parton was considered a feminist role model for holding the reins of her own career, writing her own songs, owning her her content and looking after her finances in an entertainment world dominated by men. 

She married Carl Dean, an asphalt paving contractor, in the mid 1960s. They were together until he died in 2025 at the age of 82.

In her first major film role, she played alongside Fonda and Tomlin as office workers who were rebelling against their tyrannical boss in '9 to 5'. 

Critic Roger Ebert called her a "natural born movie star'. The title song '9 to 5'  earned her two grammy awards. 

With 55 Grammy nominations and 11 wins, Dolly Parton is the third  most nominated woman in Grammy history, only behind Beyonce and Taylor Swift

The Malayala Manorama on 28 August 2026 reveals, she was under treatment for cancer.

At 80, she has succumbed to the ailment that plagued her.

When we had been young, her songs had memerised us. We had no TV. It was the Radio. .

Sad she is gone. 

Grateful to Dolly Parton for making our lives livelier as we struggled to make a living.

She gave us hope.

The Times of India on 5th September 2026 reports:

When a nation mourns someone who never governed it

Stars and Stripes flew half-mast as America officially mourned Dolly Parton for very good reasons

 

Of all her thousand songs, Dolly Partons's "I Will Always Love You" felt the most poignant at her passing.

And America's been singing that back to her, even in the stiffest, most formal language available to a republic. Trump ordered the Stars and Stripes to be flown at half-staff (the Americanism for half-mast)  across federal buildings, military installations and diplomatic facilities for a week.

What makes this extraordinary is that, usually, the US flag is only lowered  for Presidents, statesmen, soldiers and national catastrophe.

Why did the machinery of state now bow to a woman who sang about 9 to 5, sex, faith and the humiliations of being human? 

Because she somehow made America sound  like itself.

Because those who govern are not the only ones that count

Because the people who give a country its jokes, its stories, science and even its vocabulary for love are national treasures, no less.

Because she has entered people's lives more intimately than most statesmen.

All this is to explain why the Stars & Stripes  at half-staff for Dolly feels more than a ceremonial gesture.

The flag is the symbol of America as a political entity.

Lowering it reiterates  that a country singer who never had a desk in government did indeed  mean much to America. 

It transmits that the flag itself grieves the parting of  Dolly Parton, the immortal icon of America.

THE MIGHTY DOLLAR

 The Mighty Dollar

America's most powerful weapon is its currency that it deploys in every major conflict

What missiles, bombs and a naval blockade couldn't do in six months, US now hopes to achieve with tougher sanctions on Iran. It's described "Operation Economic Outcast'  as the "single greatest financial offensive ever."  Leave aside the hyperbole, what it really means is that US will go after everyone having any financial dealings with Iran. The idea is to financially starve Iran into submission. Will it work? That's debatable, but the fact that "economic warfare' has become US's "nuclear option" in every conflict, from Cuba to Russia, is a testament to dollar's continuing strength 82 years after Bretton Woods.

It was in 1944 that 44 Allied nations agreed to peg their currencies to dollar, which was pegged to gold at the time. And the system continued, rather expanded, even after US dumped the gold standard in 1971. In fact, it's become so big that it's considered too big to fail. and that implied sense of safety makes it even more indispensable in difficult times, although enough central bankers would relish it supplanted. 

So, how big is dollar? In 2016, 65.4% of forex reserves were held in it globally. Euro, the second biggest reserve currency, had 19.1% share. By 2025, dollar's share had slipped to 57,7%, and euro's had risen to 20.1%, but in absolute terms, dollar holdings globally grew from $5.5tn to $6.7tn in the same 10-year period. More importantly, around 90% of global forex transactions still occur in dollar. Commodities like oil, gold and coffee are all priced in dollar. And most dollar transactions are routed through American banks which is why America can weaponise dollar so effectively. It can stall payments, and freeze assets, like it did with over $300bn worth of Russian central bank assets in 2022.  And that's what it 's threatening to do to Iran's financial partners.

America's action against Russia had rattled central banks, and there had been many discussions to devise alternatives over four years, but there is no immediate threat to dollar's dominance. Simply because no country other than US, offers the scale of economic, political and financial stability, as well as openness of financial markets and currency convertibility. Dollar is simply the most efficient way to deal financially, outside your own country's borders. Euro or some other candidate might become world's preferred reserve currency one day, but that day is probably decades away.

The editorial in The Times of India 26 August 2026

TRUE SPORTSMANSHIP

 

To train and perform at  your best is not the only task in sports or in any other job. 

To  retire with grace, courage and hope is also a part of true sportsmanship

It applies everywhere else too.

P.H. KURIAN IAS PASSES AWAY

P.H.Kurian, IAS, former Additional Secretary, Kerala passed away on 26 August 2026. 

He was 67.

The 1986 - batch civil servant belonged to an agrarian family in Kottayam.

He had always employed power for people's welfare. The instinct to put people ahead of procedure ran throughout his career.  As Revenue Secretary, he led relief efforts during 2018 floods. As IT Secretary, he laid foundations of Kerala's startup ecosystem and drove investments to the state.

Dr. V. Venu, former Chief Secretary and longtime colleague writes:

"He was the textbook example of how an IAS officer ought to perform his duties. He was thorough with the rules and always interpreted them in a way that benefitted the common man."

"He was open and transparent with everyone, from commoners to coworkers and businessmen. That gave him an insight other officers rarely get."

PH Kurian's most defining moment came in 2012 when he served as the Controller General of Patents, Government of India.

Bayer, the German Pharmaceutical giant was selling its cancer drug Nexavar at over  Rs.2.80 lakhs for a month's dose. The medicine was out of reach for a majority of patients.

It was then that Natco Pharma sought a compulsory licence for Nexavar's generic version. It offered to sell the drug at Rs.8800.00 a month. After an 18-hour hearing over three days, Kurian wrote a 62 page order in Natco's favour. It became India's first compulsory licence that drew global attention. 

Irked, US had placed India on its Priority Watch List over the ruling

The irony is, it was Cancer that took him away.

Excerpts:
'From pharma fiat to leading '18 relief ops, Kurian was 'textbook' bureaucrat'
M.S.Vidyanandan, The New Indian Express, 28.08.2026

ANDRE AGASSI's Memoir OPEN

Andre Agassi's memoir OPEN conveys the turbulence that tormented him  on the final appearance at the the US Open in 2006. 

He was 36. He was on the court. He was very tired. He was in excruciating pain. But he knew well  that to step back from what he had been trained for years together is not that simple.

He penned:

"As this last piece of identity falls into place
I slide to my knees and in a whisper say
'Please let this be over'
But
I'm not ready for it to be over"

Realising that the human connection he has found on the way is worth more that anything else in the world, he addresses his fans at the stadium 

"You  have given me your shoulders
To stand on, 
To reach for my dreams
Dreams 
I could have never reached
Without you."

TUKARAM MUNDHE I.A.S - 25 TRANSFERS IN 21 YEARS

Tukaram Mundhe is the real life Singham. 

The IAS officer from the 2005 Maharashtra Cadre has faced 25 transfers in his 21 years of service.

If you are upright, you have to be happy it wasn't 50 transfers or more. You have to be happy you are still in service. You have to be happy you are still around.

Every once in a while, we get to witness the resounding impact of a firebrand government officer who lives up to the ideal image of how a public servant should function.

Tukaram Mundhe, Commisioner of Maharashtra's Food & Drug Administration (FDA), had assumed charge only in May 2026. Spearheading high profile statewise raids,  inspection of eateries and food manufacturers and looking for evidence of  adulterated food and unhygienic practices, he has won accolades from the general public. They want him retained and not transferred.

But one Mundhe every now and then isn't what we need.

More than just celebrating the work of one upright public officer, the people, the judiciary and the media need to closely look at all the actions of all officers occupying important positions, especially  jobs that directly affect people's lives. 

Mundhe's clampdown has brought to the focus that several eateries in Maharashtra and leading food brands have been found to be violating the food safety laws.  There is a general sense of shock at the names involved. Had it not been for for Mundhe, these establishments and companies would have continued their business as usual.

Mundhe's efforts shouldn't have been exemplary in the first place. It should have been the default situation of food regulation in India.

However, we get the the administration we deserve.

Mundhe is a product of the Indian Adminstrative Service. It is India's elite public service. It selects the most meritorious students who crack one of the most rigorous exams. Yet officers like Mundhe tend to be the exception rather than the rule. It definitely is not a good sign of governance when things depend on one individual officer to correct the system. 

Mundhe had revealed the true potential of his department in setting things right within weeks after taking charge, disrupting the status quo. Of course nothing like this had happened when Mundhe's predecessors were in charge.

The questions are,"Why is it so difficult for most officials to instil accountability in their departments?" "Why are poor quality products  sold in India by companies that sell better quality products in other countries?" "Why do Indians faced with administrative apathy, learn to become fatalist in their beliefs and approach to life?"

One official becoming a sort of messiah is not what India's administration needs. It needs a majority of its public servants to provide honest, consistent and diligent service. Then routine inspections will not be replaced with once in a blue moon raids.

Going by his track record, Mundhe will soon be replaced. But this time, the state food commosioner will be under compulsion to raise the bar and not lower it.

Excerpts from:

WHAT HEADLINES ON TUKARAM MUNDHE TELL US

That we laud Maharashtra's FDA chief for doing his job, shows low public expectations from administrators.                                                                                                                              
We should demand more, and also know that lone crusaders often get tagged as "high-handed'

Kiran Kabtta Somvanshi in The Times of India of 26 August 2026

Why India, Pak rang in I - day with no clue about borders

In his report in The Times of India of 14 August 2026, Jayanta Kalita delves into the Archives of TOI and narrates the events that led to the birth of India and Pakistan.. The post overlaps with relevant inputs from the internet  as well as personal inferences

Why India, Pak rang in I - day with no clue about borders

If there ever was a man unfit to undertake an exercise of humongous proportions and significance - drawing a line through 175000 square miles (453247 sq km) of land, determine the fate of millions of people and carve two sovereign nations out of British India - it was none other than the British lawyer, Cyril Radcliffe.

On a sweltering afternoon in July 1947, the 48 year old British barrister stepped off a plane at Delhi's Willingdon airfield (now Safdarjung airport). He had never been to India before. He spoke none of its languages. He had no training in cartography. He had little understanding of the intricate, centuries old social and cultural landscape he was about to redraw.

He was mandated to divide colonial India into two nations. The exercise split communities, set off one of history's largest and bloodiest mass migrations and left territorial disputes that haunt South Asia to this day.

Radcliffe drew the partition map in secrecy. He relied on outdated census data, flawed maps and an ink pen for the surgical strike. He masked his incompetence through working  behind the  shuttered windows of a secluded bungalow on the grounds of the viceroy's estate - now Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

Even as the British Empire was making a hurried retreat - it was desperate to leave India before a civil war erupted on its watch -  the Partition was sealed under the June 3 plan, spearheaded by Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of British India. The plan established two Boundary Commissions - one for Punjab in the west and another for Bengal in the east - both chaired by Radcliffe.

Their mandate appeared deceptively simple. Draw the boundaries of the two new dominions along areas where Muslims and non - Muslims formed contiguous majorities. But Radcliffe had found himself wedged between the fiercely competing political demands of  Indian National Congress and  Muslim League along with the irreconcilable claims over territory put forth by them  and the unforgiving deadline of Mountbatten - August 15, 1947. 

Radcliffe never visited the border lands he was tasked to divide. He was reportedly wary that his presence could fuel panic among communities already living through a hypercharged and highly volatile political crisis.

Mountbatten's Ploy and a Million Deaths

Radcliffe finally submitted his boundary reports on August 12. Making a calculated decision, Mountbatten locked the maps in a safe and suppressed the announcement. India and Pakistan declared independence on August 15 and 14, respectively without knowing where their international borders actually lay.

Like much of the country, villagers in Punjab's Gurdaspur and Bengal's Nadia and  Dinajpur raised the Tricolour on August 15, 1947, believing they were finally living in an independent India. Days later, many discovered that a new boundary line had placed their homes and villages in a different country.

It was only on August 17, two days after the British flags were lowered and the victory parades concluded, that the Radcliffe line was publicly revealed.   

The result was chaos. The confusion was profound

Families woke up to discover that their fields belonged to one country and their homes belonged to another. 

Police stations, courts and revenue offices suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of the divide. Entire pockets were left without a functioning administration. In the vacuum, panic spread quickly, followed by violence. Within days, an estimated 15 million people had fled across the borders.

Mission over, Radcliffe left India on August 18, 1947 - just a day after his boundaries were published. 

Horrified by the violence that followed, in which around one million people are estimated to have died, he burned his field notes. He refused his 3000 Pounds Sterling fee and vowed never to return to the subcontinent.

World War One was one of the deadliest conflicts in the history of the human race, in which over 16 million people died.

World War II was the largest and most violent military conflict in human history.. 70 million to 85 million people had died during World War II. This total includes roughly 21 million to 25 million military deaths and 45 million to 55 million civilian deaths, driven by combat, genocide, famine, and disease. 

A cavalier approach  means  a careless, dismissive or overly casual attitude toward serious matters, important rules or other people's feelings. It shows a lack of proper concern and a tendency to ignore potential risks or consequences. 

No doubt, Radcliffe's approach was cavalier. He proclaimed it loudly with his deeds. He was the perfect fit for the British who hated the Indians for driving them out of India. Retribution is what the British longed for. They had, for almost two centuries, lorded it over India with their 'divide and rule policy'. They left India after dividing it into two nations, that were to remain, perpetually at loggerheads. It suited their interests, especially business interests. It suited the interests of the Arm Merchants who invented the first World War. With the carrot of independence dangled by the British, the Indians unwittingly fell for the trap. India that had been one for centuries together was carved into two. Later the two became three with the inception of Bangladesh. Imagine what a super power India would have been if the British had been unsuccessful in dividing the great nation.

Radcliffe awarded the Muslim majority tehsils of Gurdaspur district to India. It was bitterly protested by Pakistan. The decision gave India its only vital land corridor with the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Chittagong hill tracts, a region with a predominantly indigenous Buddhist population with ethnic ties with India's Northeast was awarded to East Pakistan to secure the hinterland for the Chittagong Port, creating long term ethnic displacement in the area.

The worst was the validation of the centuries old land gambling stakes, between the Kingdom of Cooch Bihar and the Mughal empire in the east, by the Radcliffe line in Bengal. Local legend had implied that the complex system of border enclaves between Cooch Bihar and Mughal territories (or Rangpur) originated from chess or dice games where regional rulers wagered local villages and pockets of land as stakes.  The result was a bewildering constellation of enclaves - 111 patches of Indian territory inside East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and 51from the the other side inside India.

For the seven decades that ensued, tens of thousands of residents in these enclaves lived as virtual non citizens They were unable to access basics like electricity, healthcare or state protection.

For any job you need a person who is well versed on the demands of the job. If he doesn't know anything about it he is trained well and then is placed on the hot seat. It enables him to perform well. Radcliffe might have been a very good and clever barrister. But he didn't know any thing about the onerous task he was assigned. It is like placing one who doesn't know driving on the driving seat or placing someone with no idea of accounting as the accountant of a reputed Institution. He would blindly affix his signature on all the documents presented  before him - exactly what the people who put him there desperately needed. Radcliffe was merely a signing machine. He happily did that and had sent one million to their deaths.   He  cannot absolve himself from the senseless act that displaced15 million people who never knew what had hit them

Cyril Radcliffe did exactly what the British desired. 

With his cruel intervention, he finished India, the great country, for good.

 

HAZARDS

 

The Video on Kezia Liz Mejo winning Miss India Universe 2026 was forwarded to a close friend, a Pastor.  His Church has a universal presence.   

A few lines were inserted.l

"Incredible 

India Miss Universe

Her mother hails from Kadammanitta - the Kalleli MarThoma Church. 

The family is in Abu Dhabi.

Ann's elder sister Vinaya and her mother were contemporaries as they grew up.

Ann is our daughter in law

Look at what one can achieve even if you are from a village sans the paraphernalia of a major city or a developed locality.

You can, if you believe"

He responded:

"I am too happy with every achievement...

But remember Rachel Gupta & Milla Magee too."

(The inference was, they had relinquished the crowns they won due to circumstances they disfavoured)

I replied:

"Hazards. 

Remember the Church has been confronted with hazards for years together.

Like the prophets we cry out, "Oh! God. Don't you see this?" "Where are you?" "Why do you remain silent?"  "Are you still there?" "Don't you have concern for your people?" "Why do you let the evil doers enjoy a free run?"

" It seems the answer is at the conclusion  of 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy.

" We could see something like, "Mortals are mere playthings for the Gods."

But we don't have to give up.

History tells us evil never reigns forever.

KERALAM THROUGH THE EYES OF A GREAT VISIONARY

An official of the Indian Railwys voices his views on Kerala and its rail requirement.

 Kerala functions almost like one linear urban and economic region, with substantial intercity movement

A dedicated largely elevated high speed rail corridor designed to minimise land acquisition and environmental disruption would be the most practical model

If only the administration listens to this great visionary........

Shri. P. Kunhalikutty states negativism has been the bane of Kerala

  

According to a statement by Shri. P. Kunhalikutty, the Honourable Minister for Industries and Information Technology, Government of Kerala, negativism has been the bane of the State.

Negativism anywhere by anybody is bad. In the Keralam context almost all here, are adept in weighing the pros and cons. 

Here the cons almost always outweigh the pros. 

Kuzhapamilla is our beacon. Pessimism is the guiding angel. Optimism is taboo. 

Once you cross the borders of Keralam the attitude shifts. 

Let me quote a superb example. There was Tamilian GM in the Kerala Office of a Pan India organization. Naturally, his office was staffed solely by Malayalees. One day this GM asked a simple question. "What is wrong with you Malayalee people. When you put up something to me for the final decision, you are all outlining the negatives first and then you follow it up with the positives. What I am asking is, why can't you put the positives first and the negatives, second. Why can't you reverse the order?" 

The implication is plain. Come whatever may, we are not interested in a positive outcome. 

As it is, we have an assured income - through salaries, wages, freebies, nokkucooly or anything else. We won't let anything scuttle it. 

We don't care if progress is stifled. 

We have to be safe. 

It is heard John Hopkins went straight to Singapore, when our people objected to their campus at Mattuppetty. If it is true, John Hopkins did not lose. 

Who lost is a mute question. 

For the people who matter Mayo Clinic is there. The state meets the expenses. 

For the rest it is apna, apna. 

Guess what happens to the people who don't matter, the haves and the have nots here. 

They have the wonderful opportunity to bid au revoir fast from this world of torments, torture, paucity and manipulations

FORMATION OF MUVATTUPUZHA DISTRICT

 

The Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala rently declared that the Government is contemplating the formation of Muvattupuzha District. 

It has been long overdue.

At present the areas upto Neriamangalam comes under Ernakulam District, we believe.

The area is vast. Exercising proper control over such a huge landmass is humanly impossible. Naturally the development of the area has suffered over the years. It remains backward.

Ernakulam district minus the proposed Muvattupuzh District has more than enough on hand. It has the Eloor Industrial area, Nedumbasserry Airport, Cochin Port, Infopark, Kochi Metro and a host of developmental initiative. Ernakulam District with its prent size is bursting at the seams. It certainly is unwieldy.

It is indeed good, the formation of Muvattupuzha District is being contemplated.

Coupled along with that Tiruvalla needs to be separated from Pathanamthitta District. If Kuttanadu and Chengannur are added to it to form another district it would work wonders  for the comprehensive development of the area. 

As it is Kuttanadu and Chenagnnur are parts of Alapuzha District. It is a very difficult trek for the people of Kuttanadu and Chenganuur to reach Alapuzha. But their proximity to Tiruvalla makes it easier for the people to access the District Head Quarters to approach the authorities for their needs. In the present juncture it is a herculean task for the administration at Alapuzha to look after the far way Kuttanadu and Chengannur. The consequence has been the backwardness of the area.

Tiruvalla at present is the most developed place in Kerala. Its needs are complex. It is imperative, it is carved out of Pathanamthitta. The district with its hilly tracts  has much more than it can chew.  

WHERE NECESSITY ENDS AND INDULGENCE BEGINS

 Excerpts from 'Politicians Paid More For Less Work' by Prabhu Chawla in the New Sunday Express of 23.08.2026

Aristotle believed that the strength of a republic ultimately rested on the character of those who governed it. 

Montesquieu warned that political power, left unchecked, had a natural tendency to expand beyond proper limits.

Edmund Burke, while defending the independence of elected representatives, reminded them that they owed their electors not merely their jobs but their judgement.

Nearly two and a half centuries after Burke, India's democracy has arrived at a rather different question. How much should the people have to pay for those who exercise power in their name?

John Locke believed that the purpose of government was to preserve the rights  of those who entrusted it with power. Burke saw representative government as a solemn understanding between the elected and the elector. 

Neither imagined that democracy would one day acquire the institutional paraphernalia of a corporate establishment, with its own hierarchy of salaries,allowances, vehicles, houses and privileges.

It is the truth that a facility meant to enable public service can easily become a perk which, once granted, has a remarkable tendency to become an entitlement. The citizen is meanwhile expected to accept that public expenditure must be restrained, subsidies must be rationalised and government departments must economise. The contrast is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.

Governments change, parties change and political rhetoric changes, yet once power is acquired, the political class appears to rediscover a common fraternity. Better cars,better houses, better salaries and better facilities for those who occupy legislatures. The citizen is perpetually reminded of fiscal prudence and the legislator, rather more often, of what the public purse can provide.

The real issue is whether the compensation attached to public office bears any relationship to the responsibilities discharged by those who receive it. 

The paradox is that the political class has become more expensive while the legislature itself has become less deliberative. 

State assemblies have, on an average, been meeting only for a fraction of an year. But when legislative time diminishes while political privileges expand, the citizen is entitled to ask whether the two trends can coexist. 

However there is an irony. The Indian voter is perhaps the most unforgiving auditor of political performance. Sitting legislators are routinely defeated. Anti-incumbency remains one of the most powerful weapon in Indian electoral politics. Yet the citizen has no effective mechanism to demand an account of what happens with the deployment of public funds. What is urgently needed is the establishment of  a credible compact between privilege and performance.

The danger that looms large is that political privilege will gradually become normalised across segements until nobody remebers to ask where necessity ends and indulgence begins. The language of public service can then become a convenient vocabulary for private comfort, while the tax payer is left to finance an increasingly elborate architecture of poiwer. 

Democracy cannot be adjudged by how generously it treats those who govern. It must ultimately be judged by how responsibly those who govern treat the money, institutions and the trust placed in their hands.

While going through the entire article, it was felt parallels could be drawn with the happenings in a Church for the past couple of years. It is left to the viewers to discern.