Category: Life & Living

Life lessons from the Allapuzha boat race

72nd Nehru cup 2026

At the outset, let me wish, all of you a “Happy Onam – 2026” today.

I attended the “72nd Nehru cup boat race” at Allapuzha, Kerala, on 22nd August 2026. This race happens every year and is a spectacle to be witnessed, to be believed. This was one of my life long dreams and it became a reality in 2026. It was not just about watching a boat race and enjoying the same , it offered me ,a lot of life lessons.

If I have to summarise the key life lessons I learnt from the boat race, they would be the following :

  1. Working hard with a goal in mind: The participants in the race work hard and practise for more than 2 months, before they enter the race. They have to build their physique as much as their mental strength, where the gap between competing boats are in milliseconds, almost like a 100 metres sprint. This is, in spite of more than 100 rowers, rowing in sync ,to win the race.
  2. Life is all about team work : One of the most important lessons we learn from this race is that, the winning team has combined well to make the mark. Individually ,other teams may have excellent rowers but the team that synchronises and reaches the destination ,with collective efforts, is the winner.
  3. Emotions & passion : If you participate in the boat race even as a viewer, you realise that winning the race ,is a combination of emotions and passion, apart from team work, hard work and synchronisation. Life is no different. If we are passionate about our goals and are willing to put our heart and soul into it, nothing is impossible in life. All world -class sportspersons ,prove this in every sport. The musical beats and rhythm, leave you wonder struck
  4. Secularism in action: When we see the participants and the organisations supporting it, we witness secularism in action. We cannot associate any religion, caste or creed to this event. Whatever we witness ,in reality ,is what our law makers envisioned as “Secularism” in the preamble of our Constitution.
  5. Goals versus means : As Gandhiji said – “ The means to the end is as important as the end in itself”. The rules of the game are clear and everyone has to follow it ,while striving to beat others, along the way. There is real time observation, through umpires and hence the means to the end, is as important as winning the race.
  6. Sports unites communities: The boat race is an event held once in a year ,but this is like a festival, which unites communities rather than dividing it. The spirit of the sport ,is always more important than the sport itself.
  7. Winning or losing is part of the game: There are multiple teams participating in the race, from different cities. They compete fiercely but ultimately gracefully accept winning or losing, as part of the game. Just as in life, we may win some and lose some but we need to lead life harmoniously.
  8. Rich cultural heritage : The boat race happening consecutively for 72 years , year after year, is a symbol of our rich and diverse cultural heritage. We not only have to be proud of it but need to preserve and promote it.
  9. Fight to the finish: The boat race had a nail biting finish ,with the time gap between winners and losers, in milli seconds. This teaches us an important lesson in life, that we need to fight till the finish. We may never accept defeat till the race of life, is over.
  10. There is always a next time: We had one winner and many losers in the race. But the competitive spirit taught us ,that there is always scope for improvement and aim to win the race, the next year. Winning and losing is part of the game of life , but never giving up should not be an option at any time.

S Ramesh Shankar

26th Aug 2026

Social Entropy

I heard three incidents in the last few weeks and felt very disturbed. All these incidents were shaking ,the basic foundations of social institutions in India. The rich Indian culture was getting shaken by such incidents and our belief in them , getting shattered.

The first incident was when a young couple got married and went on a honeymoon. There, the wife kills her spouse by hiring goons ,since she wanted to marry her lover. I am not against anyone marrying anyone they love. But, what I could not understand is, to marry someone against her own wishes and then killing her spouse during her honeymoon.

This shook the institution of family and marriage. Her own parents and siblings could not believe how this could happen and have rightly disowned her ,after this incident and supported the late son in law’s family.

The second incident was ,when an elderly couple were admitted to an old age home by their son ,stating that his parents did not like the food cooked by his spouse. His parents in their eighties ,committed suicide by hanging from the fan.

We were further told that the son had admitted his parents earlier too, forcibly ,in an old age home a few years back and they returned to his house, since they did not like the environment in that home. The roots of “family” as an institution is being questioned. How can one think of admitting his/her own parents in an old age home, when you are in the same city and are capable of taking care of them.

The third incident was when I got news of a friend’s death in a distant city ,two days after his death. When I enquired from some other friends living in the same city ,in his neighbourhood, they were are not even aware of his death. Are we getting so socially alienated ,that we are not aware of a friend dying in our neighbourhood.

We are making a lot of progress technologically and science is taking us to places. Artificial intelligence may make life easier and more comfortable for us ,than ever before. But, what is the use of all this, if we cannot be honest in our relationships. We cannot nurture family, friends or respect our own parents.

Although, I was not personally impacted by any of the above incidents directly, I had no tears to cry. I felt as if my tear glands had dried up like the wells and lakes ,during a severe drought in some states. What is the use of living a life of prosperity ,when we cannot take care of the people, who made us prosperous today.

In the past, if something happens in our village, the whole village would come to know of it and everyone will try their best ,to contribute. I agree that urbanisation has made us alienated and distances have broken relationships. But what is the use of technology, if we cannot be in touch and nurture those relationships.

I am a born optimist ,in general. But, today I would say that I prefer to die rather than live in a society, which tolerates spouses killing one another after marriage ,to marry a lover. I would hate to live in a society, where parents cannot be taken care of ,with love and are sent to old age homes, where they end up committing suicide as they feel unwanted. I regret to live in a community, where I am unaware of my neighbour’s death ,even though I live in the same neighbourhood.

But, being a born optimist, I hope the worst is over and the next generation ,will realise ,that the rich Indian culture ,was always built on the foundations of family, marriage and extended communities ,as social institutions.

Let us look within and contribute ,to bring back the glory ,of the great India culture.

S Ramesh Shankar

27th June 2025

Great things happen within us

“If an egg is broken by outside force, life ends, if broken by inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from inside.”

This quote was very insightful for me. Many of us would have broken eggs for our breakfast, many times. We may have enjoyed an omelette but never thought about our action of breaking an egg from outside and thereby preventing a life to begin.

Every change in an individual or society ,begins from a realisation, from within. Imagine a dacoit, who has killed thousands of ordinary people for years. One day, she realises that it is not fair to kill people ,to make a living, when she loses her mother by an irresponsible act of someone. This insight comes within her and she surrenders to the police and leads a normal life, trying to serve the community thereafter, in whatever ways she can.

The freedom movement in India ,may have germinated ,in the minds and hearts ,of some freedom fighters. They thought it was possible and went ahead to challenge the British and win freedom for the country. This proves, that sometimes, enlightenment could be from within an individual and sometimes it could also be ,from a group of people.

In both these incidents, the awakening came from within and not from outside ,just like an egg breaking from within gives life to a chick and not the other way around.

One of the things, which many thinkers recommend is that, we should spend some quiet time, every day. If we close our eyes and think for ourselves in a blank state , We may get thoughts and ideas from nowhere and there could be some “aha” moments in our lives. This we need to experience, to believe.

Even when a popular leader is suffering from a terminal disease, we have heard of miracles, when mass prayers have healed the leader. The power from within us is more powerful than all external powers put together.

When we speak to a tree to bear fruit, since it has not borne fruit for long and we state we will NOT look after her expressing our anguish, it flowers and bears fruits! This may look amusing but it is true that humans do speak to trees and they respond.

We have also heard of mass prayers in almost all religious groups, when tragedy strikes a community. It could be a plane crash or an earthquake, when groups of people pray together for a common cause, the suffering people, feel better and recover faster.

I have seen a Labrador dog sensing her master’s distress ,without a word being spoken between them. This is the inner voice, which we are speaking and could be very powerful.

We need to remember that the force within us is more powerful than all forces outside us. Generally, We tend to focus on outside influencers and thereby blame others ,for our failures. If we focus within us, we may be able to take full control of our lives and make things happen.

Let us learn to look within us.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd June 2025