THE SULTAN OF ROCKETRY

Today, our country hold a respectable position in the field of space science and rocket technology. The Space era started growing in India under the inspirational leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. He succeeded in instilling the faith and motivation in others and this has taken Indian space research thus far.

However, another interesting point is the fact that rocket technology took shape in India much earlier than this. The sultan of Mysore, Tipu Sultan was the one who used this against the British. The Rocket technology was used to fight the opponents in the warfare by the Mysore Sultan and this, without any doubt troubled the British. The sultan was the one who laid the seeds of rocket technology in our country.

The British, took a few samples of those 'rockets' back home. In an effort to unravel the mysteries, they disassembled the samples and this probably helped the space age to evolve. It took many more years for our country to master this technology.

After all, though the basic principle of rocketry is Newton's third law, which is well explained in just a single sentence ('For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction' ), it takes lot more effort to make it a reality. That calls for the need of Engineering and a strong leadership to marshall the troop .

THE VETERANS

Veterans in any field deserve respect, for they are the ones who have been there for long and possess the treasure of experience. Experience makes one wiser. So, the veterans are the 'wise heads'.


The Indian Cricket team today has one of the strongest batting line ups (at least on paper !), the terrific trio of veterans in the middle order being one of the significant reasons. The wall (Rahul Dravid), the little master ( Sachin Tendulkar) and the very very special laxman have taken the responsibility of the middle order of Indian batting lineup on their shoulders for almost a decade and a half.
        In the autumn of their careers, they would love to don the role of nurturing youngsters so as to build a team for the future.

A look at the Mollywood film industry (I am more exposed to malayalam film industry as it is my mother tongue.) would show two stalwarts decorating the throne. The Big M s of Mollywood (Mammooty and Mohanlal) have been doing this for the past three decades or so. They, who too were once nothing more than raw talent, had to through tough phases and working under directors of immense calibre, polished the talent in them.
      But, recently there were some rumours that they were not giving the youngsters a chance. As already said, youngsters wouldn't get a greater stage to groom their careers than when working with the seniors. And more importantly, if any young actor is good enough to replace the 'old' superstars, they cannot be neglected for long.


Experience gives wisdom.
And the wise men guide others forward !

Veterans are to be valued and
youngsters are to be nurtured !

THE NEWSMAKER 2011

The program organised by manorama news channel (malayalam) to find out the newsmaker (among the keralites) of the year 2011 was over when they declared the business magnet Kochouseph Chittilappilly to be the chosen one.


The process involved seeking public opinion and talks with the shortlisted candidates. After the primary round which saw many familiar names surfacing, four candidates were shortlisted for the final round, which involved the Kerala Chief minister Shri  Oomen Chandy, IT minister Shri P.K. Kunhalikutty, film actor Shri Salim Kumar and Shri Kochouseph Chittilappilly.

Among the above four, the chief minister was obviously in the news for many reasons ranging from the palmolein case to the mullaperiyar issue and more.

The year 2011 was one that Salim Kumar would cherish . An actor who was more or less constrained within the tag of a 'comedian' stunned many by doing something which even many frontline actors couldn't. Probably, director lal jose's 'achanurangatha veedu' was the film which gave the new dimension to  Salim Kumar's career. However 'Adaminte Makan Abu', fetched him the Kerala state award and made all the keralites proud by winning the national award for the best actor. Moreover, he drew inspiration from the story of the film and decided to sponsor one financially constrained person to go on a Haj trip. A benevolent gesture indeed !
And those probably brought his name to the final round of newsmaker contest.

However, it was Shri Kochouseph Chittilappilly who was chosen to be the newsmaker and rightly so. He caught the media attention mainly because of two instances. One of them was when he decided to donate his kidney. He is said to have enquired about the consequences of  the same and finally made the decision. He, being financially well placed, was not in any sort of compulsion to do the same.
A deed worth applauding !

Kochouseph Chittilappilly

He also found a place in the news when he raised his voice against the 'nokkukooli' (which means the labourers were supposed to be paid even if they do not work). The labourers told him at one of his worksites that anyone except Shri Kochouseph Chittilappilly , would not be allowed to carry the loads, if they themselves were not given that 'privilege'. However, Kochouseph Chittilappilly, who already had some labourers appointed in for the same, did not panic. He faced them boldly by carrying the load himself, thereby raising the voice against the labourer's daylight robbery.
Again a social cause !

Though the other three were also good competitors, I thought Shri Kochouseph Chittilappilly had the edge over others, considering the nature of the deeds that he was involved in. And many more probably thought it that way.
And that makes him the newsmaker 2011.

INSPIRATIONS

Every single person draws inspiration from others in many different ways. Some motivate us to march forward, while some others make us wiser and throw a new ray of hope. The impact that each person has on others would be different.

When I went through the initial orientation part in the 'Wings of Fire' by honourable Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam sir, I started pondering over the 'inspirations' and that resulted in this post. It is interesting to read how a few people with a different outlook could instill faith and curiosity in a village boy who later became one of the most respected scientists of the country and also became the President of India. He also talks about the broad mindedness of his father and neighbours which enabled them to sail past the boundaries of religion with ease and treat all of them as equals. The professors at various institutes, played their roles to perfection by helping him in his quest for knowledge with a strong desire to 'fly'.

Years later, the missile man of India is the inspiration for many youngsters with his uncompromising quest for knowledge, and his humbleness even after conquering great heights. I was fortunate enough to see kalam sir a couple of times. The first of them was when he visited our school about 9 or 10 years ago. He, being the chief guest was offered a chair on the dias. But we saw him talking to our principal and others, without taking the seat on the dias. We didn't know what was happening. A few minutes later, he came down to us and said he wanted to sit between us and not on the dias ! A chair was then placed amidst us for our guest and he started talking to us. He always loves to talk to students.  Probably he wanted to nourish the young buds and develop the curiosity in those young minds.

I too have been inspired by many in many ways. Some traits of certain people attract us, which some personalities influence us immensely. This is true for everyone. To list all of them is next to impossible and so the list is cut short. The great wall of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid is a person I admire. He knows what he is capable of, and what he is not. He always stays within himself and never gets affected when others do something more stylish. He remains unaffected, which is extremely attractive.

To express things briefly is very difficult. Hence to convey a message in simple, brief words needs a great understanding and experience of the matter. For that matter, I find many quotations interesting. Many of them convey a good message or motivates others. They do help us to look at things from a different perspective.  Einstein once said that he possessed no special talents except that he was passionately curious. These words, simply includes all that is needed to convey the message. The talents needed for a scientist cannot be described in simpler words.
 
The motivations that one has in life influences his character, the thought process and his deeds.
They ignite the inner spark to give the firepower.