hidden image

Daring to be Great and Heroic

P. A. Joseph P. A. Joseph
21 Aug 2023

There is a unique kind of bird namely thorn bird. The botanical name is phacellodomus ruber. It is found in some parts of South America like Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina. The bird builds a large and complex nest of twigs and thorns. When the bird grows into maturity, it goes in search for a thorny tree, pierces itself with thorns, sings the most beautiful song ever heard, and dies while singing. Some people say it is a mythical bird. Any way its last message of lovely song is beautiful.

Rambai, 106 years young sprinter, took up athletic two years ago, and set world record of 100 m, and 200 m and topped in shot-put at the 18th national open athletic championship  competition held  in Dehradun. After the event, her grand daughter, aged 41, offered to massage her leg but Rambai declined and asked her to serve someone older.

Kalpana Chawla, born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, Haryana, had her school studies in the home state. When she was 20 she pursued her studies in the US, took American citizenship, had her higher studies there and took PhD in her favorite subject aeronautics engineering. She was the first Indo-US woman flying in the space. During her historic flight in the space- shuttle she had respectable and lovely chat with the then Prime Minister I. K. Gujral who invited her and team members to India. She spent 15 days 22 hours and 20 minutes in the space. While returning, she died, along with seven crew members, when the spacecraft disintegrated on February 1, 2003. 

These stories inspire us to have something to believe, something to visualize, to dream, to prioritize, and even to “prayerise”. I should wake up in the morning with a preoccupation to do something planned in the process of my daily schedule.

Nothing on earth is more powerful than the human mind, both mine and yours. I/we don’t lack any idea and the potential. There are tremendous ideas in the universe, only I need to accept them and make it my own. In the process of selecting ideas, I should have the courage to delete all the negative forces, and all dangerous viruses. I do not get glory in doing something wrong. I need to be right morally, ethically, and spiritually. For a right objective, I should not take a wrong procedure. If I sow positive seeds I will gather positive results, and on the contrary if I sow negative seeds I will reap only negative results. 

Recent Posts

Once a unifying sport, cricket has been hijacked by politics and power. The BCCI now mirrors the regime's arrogance. Global bullying and stoking jingoism domestically have turned the gentleman's game
apicture Mathew John
03 Nov 2025
ML Satyan, a prophetic voice of conscience, lived and wrote for the poor and the Church's renewal. Fearless yet compassionate, he blended faith with activism, challenging hypocrisy and comfort while i
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
03 Nov 2025
The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of voter lists reeks of hidden motives. By demanding fresh citizenship proof and ignoring its own past rolls, it is disenfranchising minorities and
apicture Joseph Maliakan
03 Nov 2025
The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal to update the 2026 voters' list has sparked political tension. Evidently, it is a BJP-backed bid to disenfranchise minorities
apicture Isaac Gomes
03 Nov 2025
Migrants form the invisible backbone of India's cities, yet they remain politically voiceless and socially excluded. They are denied fair housing, healthcare, and even voting rights, written out of In
apicture Fr. John Felix Raj & Prabhat Kumar Datta
03 Nov 2025
Once a Modi admirer, Sonam Wangchuk now languishes in jail under the National Security Act. The people of Ladakh, once promised empowerment, are silenced, jobless, and disenfranchised. They were betra
apicture Chhotebhai
03 Nov 2025
The Taj Mahal, a timeless symbol of love, is now a target of hate-fueled revisionism. Despite overwhelming historical evidence, right-wing propaganda persists in recasting it as a Hindu temple.
apicture Ram Puniyani
03 Nov 2025
Trump missed the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he had ardently longed, making no secret of it and loudly claiming he had prevented 7 wars. The fact remains that he has been supporting the inhumanity of
apicture Thomas Menamparampil
03 Nov 2025
I am in for correction. With a word like 'reaction,' we have no power to stop in the middle. We have to see things through to the very end. Moreover, it never works alone but in a chain. Reaction cann
apicture P. Raja
03 Nov 2025
From Harappa's drainage to Hampi's aqueducts, India once built cities in harmony with nature and purpose. Today's chaotic urban sprawl betrays that legacy. A single monsoon is enough today to expose t
apicture Pachu Menon
03 Nov 2025