When my ten-year-old lost to AI, almost!

More than a year ago, when I decided to start a series on Travel Tips, called Trip Elf: Your Travel Buddy, I remember having a quick chat with Mia, my little princess. She was about to turn nine then. For most of my articles, I used my clicks as the title picture. I wanted something different this time.

Mia came up with a lovely idea. She said, ‘Appa, you give me the storyline, I’ll draw a picture for you’. There was one condition though. I had to promise to her that all the pictures in this series will be hers. Our sweet partnership started with that. Since then, I had written seven stories in the series, and she drew the pictures for most of them. But something was destined to change.

It was time for the next story in the series. I got the points ready and even detailed the content in my mind. All what was required was to put the pen to the paper. But before publishing the story, I obviously needed a title picture from my daughter.

As usual I had given her the plot and discussed the requirements for the image with her. She was all set to create another beautiful image for the next one in my series. After a couple of days, I reminded her about the picture so that I could post the article. That was when an end-of-the-chapter-test came as an impediment for her. She seemed to have already mastered the art of prioritizing her tasks, something as adults, we still struggle.

Since she was unable to provide me with the image, I decided to negotiate with her. As the content was almost ready, I did not want to delay the publishing any further. Hence, I suggested a fallback option as a one-time exception. Copilot! The wonderful world of AI opened in front of us. Interestingly, she did not resist the idea.

Together we explored the prompt engineering experience of AI. After a couple of attempts, Copilot generated a beautiful image fully assimilating our requirement. We decided to use the image. But the instruction from my daughter was quite clear. This is a one-time exception due to time constraint, and it should remain that way.

The story will be published soon with the AI image created, instead of a beautiful art form by my darling daughter! I know it is a one-off as my daughter’s happiness will always be more important than the happiness of publishing another article bypassing her creativity.

Meanwhile, this is a powerful reminder of what is happening around the world today. People find easier alternatives with AI to perform tasks that needed human beings earlier. For me personally, it is also a reminder to keep emotional and social aspects in mind, while trying to take decisions to embrace AI.

If you are one such decision maker in an organisation who decides on the fate of an employee in favour of AI, it may be worthwhile asking these questions? 

 - Is AI worth letting go of someone who trusted you and gave their best?

 - Is there an alternate way of using the AI along with your valuable and loyal employees?

 - Have you really quantified and qualified the effectiveness of AI before letting go the people who helped you build the organization?

In the end, let us all remember this. All of us who knew what the term Y2K means, have survived a similar onslaught of internet. Let me not say, this too shall pass. Instead, we shall survive this as well.

Here is a toast to a world that looks forward to AI along with U & I.

 

Lokah – Redefining Myth!

Years ago, I remember growing up reading story books that dealt with various types of supernatural beings. Among the different types, the one that found its way into the deepest and darkest of emotional chambers in my mind would have undoubtedly been the one about Yakshis, the closest western equivalent perhaps to Vampires!

The stories spoke about Yakshis owning the nights, especially in the routes through deserted places. They will then lure people with their beauty and sensuality, eventually taking in the prey and suck the blood out of them, leaving them dead. The entire plot was good enough to manipulate the scary emotions in young readers’ mind. So, it was, for most of my generation who grew up reading similar stories and fearing all sorts of supernatural beings.

All that was destined to change in August 2025. 

A movie got released in multiple Indian languages. The name was Lokah – Chapter 1, Chandra. It was obvious that the movie was meant to become a franchise if the first one became a hit. The movie started with the lead actor donning a superhero character, a woman who had supernatural powers and was portrayed in a fantastic action sequence.

A few minutes into the movie, the character’s origin was revealed. That was the biggest announcement in the history of myths in Malayalam literature. The character was none other than (warning: spoiler alert!) Kalliyankattu Neeli, the legendary Yakshi ever created in Malayalam. The movie then traversed through paths that were absolutely new for everyone who ever had an exposure to Yakshis through books in the past.

The latest Neeli, while she possessed similar traits of a blood thirsty Yakshi from the past, surprises the audience with softer emotions such as love and care. The movie even portrayed a small girl who was listening to her grandfather about Neeli, asking the question, if Neeli was a superhero? The whole plot was turned.

As the movie ended, from a scary supernatural being, Neeli now donned a positive persona. The one to be loved, instead of to be afraid of. The one that only took the revenge against the terrible human beings than good ones since Neeli had a soft corner towards good humans.

It is amazing how Dominic Arun and Santhy Balachandran, co-writers of this script were able to give a total makeover to a once super scary persona of Neeli as a Yakshi, to someone to be absolutely adored and loved.

I can’t help but imagine this. If a movie was able to bring such a mindset change to a myth that is centuries old, can the corporate world use this same technique for changing some of the deep-rooted beliefs and facilitate a mindset change if we truly need an organization culture change?

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Results!

It all started with a seemingly innocent question from the Principal to us, the parent representatives of The Millennium School (TMS). 'Why don't you plan a Parent Day event so that we bring our families closer?' We shook our heads and agreed. Little did we know that we were signing up for the biggest ever initiative undertaken by the Parent Care Group (PCG), the grade-wise representatives, in the 25 year old history of the school!

Discussions started and plans were drafted. Date of the event was fixed as 01 Nov 2025. As we were about to shift things to top gear, there was a proposal from the GEMS group to have an event for the families across all schools as part of the Family First initiative by Mr Sunny Varkey, the chairman of GEMS group. The date proposed was a week before our planned event. The most logical thing followed. We merged these two events and decided to have the first edition of Family First event on 25 October 2025. It just so happened to coincide with the culmination of Silver Jubilee celebration of TMS.

Preparations were soon in full swing. PCG engaged Parent Focus Group (PFG), the class-wise representatives and connected with the entire parent community. Messages were passed about the event. All the while the school team was preparing at their end as well. Everything was set for the day.

After days and endless hours of collaboration, the event finally arrived and what a day it turned out to be! From amazing indoor and outdoor games, to story reading, puppet shows, mehndi art, zumba, yoga, mural painting and what not? The grand finale was a fashion show where families, teachers and to top it all, the senior leadership team themselves entertaining the whole school with a ramp walk that set the stage on fire!

The highlight of the day was a time capsule that was filled with artefacts from the silver jubilee year including heartfelt messages for future generations, placed in a lead box and sealed, to be opened only by the year 2050!

We walked out of the gate of the school with hearts filled with happiness and minds filled with a resolve to do even greater things together for the school.

Am sure, when a child in the year 2050 opens the time capsule and learns about us they will possibly be reminded of what Einstein said about Gandhiji, 'generations to come will scarce believe that such a man as this one, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth'. They will then add, such were our predecessors in TMS, who not just walked the earth in flesh and blood but also had a heart filled with care and love for the school and the wellbeing of their children.

Here is a toast to the next 25 years... 

Let the dogs bark!

Nothing could have been more exciting for a child in late 80s, when a dad said, ‘let us go and have an ice cream!’. This was all the more true for a small town like Changanacherry in Kerala where entertainment still meant going across to your neighbour’s house and play with your friends in their backyard instead of looking at a digital screen and searching for happiness in the incessant number of reels on the social media that keep us jailed in the Boolean world.

The shop where we got ice cream was a tiny room, roughly a ten-by-ten square. They had only three types of ice creams there, a cup, a ball, and a chocolate stick, all in Vanilla flavour. That itself was like heaven for people in that small town. This was when dad came up with an idea of a full-fledged ice cream parlour in Changanacherry. 

The shop was to sell more than fifteen flavours of ice creams and even more interesting were the sundaes which were a mix of flavours served in fancy glass bowls laced with syrups and other accompaniments like caramelized nuts, Tutti Frutti, cherries and what not?! Brilliant idea for those times. 

We are talking about more than three decades in the past. A business model such as this, obviously needed significant investment. Dad presented his vision to his known circle. Soon, two groups of opinion makers were formed, one that fully supported him and the other vehemently opposed him. The resistance was quite stiff that he had to use his entire charisma to pacify them. Many remained unconvinced and continued to discourage him from proceeding further. 

Dad was one of the most optimistic people I had ever come across in my life. He heard everyone, weighed all pros and cons, and went ahead with the decision to launch the business and called it Adens with a tagline that read, 'A Sweet Den for All'. That was how on 22 December 1991, history was written in the small town of Changanacherry where the people of the town witnessed a brand-new experience of exciting their taste buds with variety of ice creams! 34 years later, the business still stands tall even though dad now oversees the operations from heaven as my brother runs the show. 

Many years after Adens was launched and running as one of the biggest success stories from that part of the world, one day I asked dad how did he overcome the resistance from many people during the planning days. His answer was a simple yet powerful proverb.

Let the dogs bark, but the caravan moves on...

God bless his soul!

 

Punctuality – A Deadly Lesson!

Yesterday evening a sad news came in one of my college WhatsApp groups. It had a picture of a professor who taught us during the graduation days, quarter of a century ago and the message was about his passing. May his soul rest in peace.

A barrage of memories came rushing on how he used to take classes those days when faculties were not burdened with political correctness. They freely spoke their mind and acted as they wished. Getting reminded of maintaining decorum in the class, with a pellet hitting your head in the form of a chalk piece or at times even the eraser itself or notebooks flying through the air and out of the door since homework was not done, were all accepted norms then. They all contributed to the beautiful nostalgia that we cherish today.

Those were the days when faculty and student relation was laced with respect and love, something only next to what we experienced back home with our parents.

On the contrary, I recently heard from some of the professors in colleges now, where they had to think twice before making a remark in the class fearing what students and parents will think and react about the correctness of their remark.

That reminded me of one of our other professors, Mr D who taught us during our MBA days back in the then Christ College, Bangalore. It was the initial days of the classes and our first experience of getting exposed to a professional course that taught Business Management.

He had a unique way of delivering his lecture. The campus at Christ was lush green. On one end of the campus, there was a Birds Park where literally we could see birds visiting in groups due to the thick foliage. The garden had a gazebo with ample chairs that could accommodate a whole class. 

We were given clear instructions by Mr D, for us to be seated at the Birds Park before the beginning of the class. He would join us right on dot when the class time was meant to start. On day one, we all followed this to the T. Day two, one of our classmates was late by a minute.

As soon as the student came up, he gave an excuse on why he was late. We could see a clear change to the professor's demeanour. His face became stern and when he spoke, the voice was deep with a scary tone.

Mr D made a statement, which remained etched in our minds till date and became the Magna Carta for everything to do with punctuality in our life. 

He said, 'You can only have two reasons to arrive late to my class. Either you must be dead, or you are dying!'

This and many more timeless reminders from our dear teachers from yester years, keep us on our toes in our daily life, even decades after leaving college and working in a professional environment in the corporate world.

Salute to good old days!

The Chutney Manager

By virtue of hailing from Kerala, also known as land of coconuts, it is quite natural for us to have coconut in many of our dishes. Chutney or coconut dip is one of the most common dishes that is paired with famous breakfast items such as dosas and idlis. As was destined, last weekend, I decided to take a bold step in preparing a coconut chutney myself in combination with wheat dosa. It was an unusual attempt considering the fact that we have a master chef at home, in the form of my sweetheart.

As the established practice many novice chefs resort to, I searched and found a recipe online and followed the instructions. Since some of the ingredients were either unknown to me or not available, I decided to ignore them and managed with the rest. All went well except for the initial roasting of shallots which got slightly burned, or so I thought. At the end, the final product turned out to be so good that even the master chef was majorly impressed with the culinary skills of the rookie! Who knew, maybe the burnt shallots gave a smoky flavour to the dish, which might have added an accidental twist and tickled the tastebuds.

A few days later when the breakfast menu again had dosa and chutney, the master chef herself prepared it. A huge surprise awaited me, as soon as the dish was ready. The master tasted the dish she made and then bowed down to this humble being stating, she still felt the chutney I made last time was better than hers! I was in seventh heaven. What a glorified way of getting an appreciation. A tribute par excellence!

It didn't stop there. The liberal compliment was followed by the statement of the century. My sweetheart declared to the family that since Appa makes the best chutney in the house, henceforth, all days when chutney is on the menu, it will be Appa who will be the official chutney master.

Suddenly, I heard alarm bells going off. Warning lights flashed in dozens. Before I could even rush to a safe zone I was trapped in an impossible-to-escape dungeon. The name board of the place read, Death by Appreciation!

The only comparable experience in a corporate workspace is when a colleague or a boss showers you with compliments for a job well done, which in the first place was theirs to do. You will then be trapped to do similar or other jobs, the pain of which will be drenched in an avalanche of appreciation.

Allow me to dedicate this piece to all such 'true strategists' of the modern world. From this day, they will be known as The Chutney Managers!

 

Gulf Air & Scissors

If you have read the title of this story, you may be wondering what has a scissors got to do with Gulf Air? For a ten-year-old boy in the early 90’s the airline played a critical role in a barter transaction for something important to him. The interesting fact was that the airline itself had no clue that it was going to be a party to a life changing decision the boy was about to make.

Before I took the story any further, I had to take you back to my tiny state of Kerala in India. While the state of Kerala is one fifth the size of state of Washington, even in early 90s we had a considerable number of expats from the state, especially in the Middle East. One of them was my uncle and family who used to visit us once in a year from Muscat, the capital of Oman.

Uncle and family used to take the most famous airline from Middle East during those times, Gulf Air. Emirates was still in its infancy then. One of the most awaited events for my brother who was four years elder than me and I, after uncle reached my home, was unpacking of the bags. Those were the days when gifts from abroad were attributed very high value. It was the era before liberalisation in India, and we were yet to have foreign merchandise freely available in our country.

Among the gifts uncle came home with that time, was a pair of beautiful stainless-steel scissors with a transparent brown handle. The best part was the cutting action by the scissors which was so perfect that it was altogether a new experience for my brother and me. I was a bit jealous when my uncle extended that scissors as a gift to my brother. While I do not remember what exactly the gift was, I received that year, I definitely remember that I got something priceless that day.

Uncle’s eldest son was just two years younger to me, and we used to share similar vibes on our interests. He clearly knew my love for aviation and I appreciated anything unique that came with a Tflight. In this case, it was the inflight magazine of Gulf Air. Every year when he arrived at our place, he showed me the latest edition of the prized possession from the flight that time. He was quite generous and allowed me to have the only copy he managed to get from the flight. Thirty-five years later, all these sounded silly. But during those days, the magazine meant the world to me. I wonder what the editorial team at Gulf Air would have thought if they knew they had a die-hard fan of their magazine across the Arabian Sea in the tiny coastal land of Kerala!

Days went by and my wish for the beautiful looking pair of scissors only got stronger. I pleaded with my brother to give me the scissors, and I told him I would give him anything in return. I saw a diabolic twinkle in his eyes. He looked at the magazine from Gulf Air I was carrying as if it was the first edition of The Bible itself! He then looked at me and the scissors. No words were exchanged. The message was loud and clear.

I was in a dilemma. An incredibly special piece of equipment on one side. An absolute rare specimen of a magazine on the other side. The choice was quite tough. I had to take a decision quickly, else if my brother changed his mind, I may lose the scissors for ever. I took a deep breath and did some quick calculation. I realized that the barter is not as bad as it looked.

Another year and I was sure I will get the next in-flight magazine, but there was no guarantee that I will get a scissors of that calibre even though India started talking more about liberalization from 1991 onwards. With great difficulty, I agreed with my brother and took the possession of one of the most beautiful and useful tools I ever had in my life.

Happy and proud to say the same pair of scissors is still a part of my life and works like a charm. I must also add that, since this incident I lost count of the number of in-flight magazines that went through my hands. In fact, we all have reached a point in our lives, where I now hardly see anyone yearning for an in-flight magazine anymore. Many other material things took the position of prized possessions.

Good old days!