Vin

[The Kaipullai @thekaipullai]

The year is 1948. India has just become free and is trying to have a tryst with destiny. And in a country with endless possibilities, you are a 27-year-old man from an affluent family.

You have also studied in prestigious institutions like Loyola College and College of Engineering Guindy and have been given a scholarship from the Govt of India to go to the USA and study Dairy engineering.

You go to the USA and realize that studying metallurgy and nuclear engineering is more useful and interesting than studying techniques of extracting milk from cows. You follow your instinct and successfully complete your course.

You are now a nuclear engineer. And in a world that has just gone nuclear, the opportunities you have are limitless. The world is at your feet.

Then the Govt of India becomes a reverse Lannister calls in its debt. They want you to work for them for a limited period as an obligation to whatever they did for you.

You have no choice but to come back.

You hope you are sent to glamourous locations like Bombay or Madras where you can spend your obligatory time in comfort and luxury. You are an America Return Nuclear engineer after all.

But the Govt of India cares as much about your designations and qualifications as a Nokia 3310 cares about a drop. So, they play a cruel joke upon you.

They send you to a small decrepit town in Gujarat which doesn't even have electricity. Your accommodation is a rundown Garage and the only sign of life around you are the mosquitos, who are trying to taste your blood.

The town is called Anand. And the only Anand you have there is its name. Else it is all despair.

You, an affluent gentleman from south India, who doesn't speak a word of Gujarati, who has never lived in a village, are now stuck in a god foresaken village in the middle of nowhere. And You want to get out of this god forsaken place on the first chance you get.

Then something happens.

You start going around the town. You start speaking to people. You understand their way of life. You understand what they want. Without you realizing you start falling in love with the place. You want to do something for them.

And then you create a revolution.

A revolution that has changed the face and fate of India.

A revolution whose gifts we are still reaping 65 years after it started.

And You are the one who started it all.

You are Dr Verghese Kurien.

Operation Flood was, is and will be one of the greatest movements India has ever had.

We went from a country that used to import milk powder from New Zealand and other countries to becoming the largest milk producing country in the world, in 30 years.

It gave livelihoods to close to more than 100 million farmers over the years and has lifted more than 50 million people out of poverty and starvation. If you count the people emancipated by Operation flood, it would be the 30th largest country in the world, ahead of Spain, South Korea and Argentina.

Today, we move the global dairy market and it is singularly because of Dr Kurien.

And he didn't stop at dairy.

He realized that India was heavily dependent on Southeast Asia for its edible oil needs. So he got all the oilseeds growers together and started Dhara, India's own edible oil brand.

He so thoroughly disrupted the edible oil industry that for a brief period of time, he significantly reduced our dependance on palm oil.

Unfortunately, our babus intervened and as they usually do, destroyed it all. But that's the story for another day.

When Karnataka's Cocoa farmers went to him to seek salvation from Cadbury's oppression, he created Amul Chocolates and created a big dent in their market share. He also ensured Cadbury treated the farmers with a lot more respect and fairness, now that the farmers had option.

When Indira Gandhi complained about farmers not getting fair price for their vegetables, he started Safal, a vegetable selling co-operative under the NDDB umbrella and made it a success.

Now most of this is known.

But what we don't know more about was Dr Kurien the innovator.

Dr Kurien and his friend JJ Dalaya were the first in the world to synthesize buffalo milk and convert it to powder. This allowed us to store and supply milk during times of deficiencies.

He was the first to create condensed milk or as you call it, Milkmaid / Mithai Mate, from buffalo milk and ended Nestle's monopoly in this segment for good.

He was also the first to pack a dense substance as oil in a Tetrapak, something that their own Swedish engineer's thought was impossible. He made it possible.

I can keep going on and on.

In today's world, words like Legend, GOAT, superstar are thrown around very very loosely.

People who hit balls with a stick, give useless expressions on a giant screen and make cringy unwatchable 30 sec videos on some apps or crack some vulgarly unfunny jokes are given these epithets today.

So, what would you call a guy who saved India from hunger and starvation? What would you call a guy who prevented India from malnutrition and stunted growth? What would you call a guy who made a basic commodity like milk, accessible to a billion people?

We don't have words for that. Maybe we need to invent some.

One more very commonly misplaced word today is disruption.

Anything and everything are disruption now. The development of an app, delivering grocery or food in 10 minutes or writing an additional line of code are all what passes off as disruption today.

That is not disruption.

Disruption is where you create something that changes the lives of people forever. Disruption happens when what you create, rewards people for Generations.

Disruption is where you help poor farmers break the vicious circle of poverty and throw them 354 steps up the economic ladder

Disruption is not how you change how people do certain things; Disruption is when you change the people themselves.

Dr Kurien was India's first and the greatest disruptor.

Dr Kurien is India's true GOAT.

So, Happy Birthday Dr Kurien. India is grateful that we had you walking on our soil. Thank you!!

P:S: The attached image is that of the recreated Garage that Dr Kurien first stayed. Garages have a unique connection to the world of tech, as a lot of tech companies started from there and are worth some bajillion dollars today.

This is a Garage that lifted 60 million Indians out of poverty.

With all due respect to HP and Google, this is the greatest Garage of them all.

[SheetalArcher @ArcherSheetal]

When I started competing, I had a small dream - to one day compete alongside the able-bodied and win medals ♥️ I didn’t make it at first, but I kept going, learning from every setback.

Now, that dream is one step closer. 🌟

In the Asia Cup trials, I secured Rank 3 and will now represent India in the Asia Cup - in the able-bodied category. 🇮🇳

Dreams take time. Work. Believe. Repeat. 💫

[Joy Bhattacharjya @joybhattacharj]

Exactly sixty nine years ago, Elvis Presley took a polio vaccine shot on the Ed Sullivan show on national television.
That one moment changed the public perception of vaccination in the US. The number of children taking vaccines shot up from less than 1% to more than 80%. There were more than 28,000 Polio cases in 1955, the US has been polio free since 1979. They say that with that one shot, Elvis did more for American healthcare than any other human.
The show was on the birthday of the man who developed the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk, one of the greatest figures of the 20th century. One of the reasons polio was almost eliminated so quickly is that Salk never patented the vaccine, allowing all to manufacture it for free.
When asked why he did not patent, his reply was it was like wanting to patent the sun.
Amazing man!

[𝕲𝖚𝖗𝖚 𝕭𝖗𝖚𝖓𝖔 🇮🇳 @spinesurgeon]

Congratulations, Dr. Vinitha!
Heartiest congratulations on being part of history — the first successful bilateral lung transplantation in a Government Medical College, at Government Medical College, Kottayam.

Special appreciation to the entire CTVS, Pulmonology, Cardiac Anaesthesia, and Critical Care teams for this remarkable achievement — and especially to Dr. Jayakumar Sir, whose vision and leadership made this milestone possible.

It is truly inspiring to see how your dedication and the advanced trainings you’ve undertaken at AIIMS, Harvard, SickKids, Cambridge University Hospitals, and other premier centres have translated into establishing a life-saving program within the government sector — one that will benefit countless common people.

Proud moment for all of us and Government Medical College, Kottayam.

[Keh Ke Peheno @coolfunnytshirt]

Doordarshan era 80s kids first tryst with Sitcom (or comedy of any type) was "Ye Jo Hai Zindagi".

Kishore Kumar singing a title song of a TV serial was a big thing, since he was more superstar (singer) that the star actors of that era!

[Dilip Kumar @kmr_dilip]

In the last decade, over 50+ telemedicine startups in India raised more than $2 billion and most have shut down. The pitch was- India has too few doctors, too many patients, and a broken healthcare system. Technology would fix it. But it didn’t.
Here’s a breakdown.

[Collin Rugg @CollinRugg]

Retired circus elephant seen mourning and trying to comfort her partner of over 25 years after she had collapsed and passed away.

Jenny and Magda were performing partners in Russia for over 25 years.

When Jenny passed away this week, Magda refused to let veterinarians near her for several hours as she hugged the elephant.

"In the first minutes after the tragedy, she lightly pushed her friend and tried to lift her, and then began to hug her," news outlet Baza reported.

"Magda said goodbye to Jenny for several hours and did not allow veterinarians near her."

So sad.

Video: Daily Mail

[Robert Sterling @RobertMSterling]

I don’t want to connect my coffee machine to the wifi network. I don’t want to share the file with OneDrive. I don’t want to download an app to check my car’s fluid levels. I don’t want to scan a QR code to view the restaurant menu. I don’t want to let Google know my location before showing me the search results. I don’t want to include a Teams link on the calendar invite. I don’t want to pay 50 different monthly subscription fees for all my software. I don’t want to upgrade to TurboTax platinum plus audit protection. I don’t want to install the Webex plugin to join the meeting. I don’t want to share my car’s braking data with the actuaries at State Farm. I don’t want to text with your AI chatbot. I don’t want to download the Instagram app to look at your picture. I don’t want to type in my email address to view the content on your company’s website. I don’t want text messages with promo codes. I don’t want to leave your company a five-star Google review in exchange for the chance to win a $20 Starbucks gift card. I don’t want to join your exclusive community in the metaverse. I don’t want AI to help me write my comments on LinkedIn. I don’t even want to be on LinkedIn in the first place.

I just want to pay for a product one time (and only one time), know that it’s going to work flawlessly, press 0 to speak to an operator if I need help, and otherwise be left alone and treated with some small measure of human dignity, if that’s not too much to ask anymore.

[Raghav Sachar @raghavsachar]

Wishing everyone a very Happy Republic Day! Today marks the day when our Constitution came into effect and on this occasion, I’m proud to share something special with you all. I’ve created a unique rendition of our "National Anthem", performed on 11 different instruments, as a tribute to the spirit of our nation. Let’s take a moment to honor this proud occasion and celebrate the joy of being Indian. Share this with your friends and family and let’s spread the pride together.
Happy Republic Day!

Special thanks to Honourable Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis Ji for appreciating this rendition 🙏

Instruments used:

1- SOPRANO SAXOPHONE
2- HARMONICA
3- CLARINET
4- GLOCKENSPIEL
5- TENOR RECORDER
6- HANDPAN
7- ALTO SAXOPHONE
8- SEABOARD
9- PICCOLO
10- GEOSHRED
11- SANTOOR

@instagram @narendramodi @Dev_Fadnavis @pmooffice8 @autotunestudio

[Viswanathan Anand @vishy64theking]

Throwback Thursday!
Today, parents follow their kids on streams with engines. In my day, we sent a postcard... all the way from Finland to relay the result... Our team coach Kameswaran sent the card to inform my parents we had arrived safely! Me practicing cursive about playing GMs... It's amazing how a memory is kindled by looking at these. Finding a post box to post a card is definitely more Rizz than 😍.
What's your nostalgia?

[Machiavelli @TheRISEofROD]

This has to be one of the greatest film scores.

[Varsha Singh @varshaparmar06]

Thread on the Crazy things from the past 🧵

1. Seats of an airplane, 1930

[𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘆 𝘃𝘀. @im_all_id]

There are two quantities of popcorn: not enough and what have I done

[Jamie Kay @TheRealJamieKay]

Which one are you choosing?

[Raghav Sachar @raghavsachar]

11 INSTRUMENTS IN A MINUTE!

We all have an emotional connection and multiple memories with this song as well as the movie #DilChahtaHai. Here is an attempt to create another everlasting memory with this multi-instrumental performance. Sit back and experience the timeless magic on 11 different instruments.

(Use earphones / headphones for an immersive experience)

Do use this audio in your reels and don't forget to tag me in it.

#DilChahtaHai #AamirKhan #dimplekapadia #AkshayeKhanna #SaifAliKhan #MultiInstrumental
#raghavsachar #musicwithraghavsachar

[Raghu @IndiaTales7]

What do you think is the Worst job in the World ?

A thread 🧵

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

The most comprehensive video about kitchen organization you will see today.
https://t.co/2mORTEr6nw

[davidlowemusic @davidlowemusic2]

25 years ago, I composed the @BBCNews Theme Tune, which is broadcast around the world everyday. From the precise beeps of time to the powerful bass and dramatic drums for the headlines. This how I did it…

#BBC #BBCNewsThemeTune #MusicProduction #Composer #SoundDesign #25Years

[Heritage Girl @HeritageGirl7]

Traditional Sarees from different states of Bharat

1. Pochampally Silk Saree - Telangana

[James Lucas @JamesLucasIT]

27. This scene is unreal.

Chimpanzee uses wildlife photographer JC Pieri’s hands to drink water and then washes them at the end as a thank you.