The Principal's Dumbest Child

The Principal's Dumbest Child
In a small town in the north of Kerala where there was no electricity, lived a school teacher with his wife and nine children. He adopted another two children to make a happy family of eleven kids. Life was disciplined for this World War veteran.
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Every day in the morning, he made sure that his children worked in the fields before leaving for school and did the same in the evening. He felt children needed to have the feel of the soil as they grow.
But one day, the principal of the school where his children studied called this teacher and his wife. One of the child had lagged behind in studies and the principal was determined that he will not make through the 10th standard examination. So he wanted the child to repeat the class with his juniors. The principal concluded by adding this sentence, "This is the dumbest child." But this child managed to file the SSLC examination forms, and to everyone's dismay, he passed the exam with 42%. That must have been the joyous moment in the teacher's life.
However, this dumb boy was not as happy as others with the results. He went by the river-side, paced blankly for a long time, and asked a question to himself, "Why am I born? What is the difference between me and the dogs in the street?" Instantaneously, the answer came out from within, "I am born to change the world." Well, that is exactly what he did in his next years of life. Now the principal's dumbest boy grew to be a young man with dreams to achieve big in life. He had just one thought to add to his dreams, "I am going to be a topper." As decided, he became a topper in all the three papers of the Indian Administrative Service Examination in 1977-78. This dumb child is none other than the bureaucrat-turned-politician, Mr. Alphons Kannanthanam.
As a collector, when he was posted in Delhi as an officer in BDA, he took a very risky and strange decision which no other officer would have ever dared to do. He ordered the demolition of all the illegal structures in Delhi. This included the 200,000 sq. ft. building of a politician, Mr. H. K. L. Bhagat, and 14,310 mansions of many other big shots. All the demolition work was over within 36 hours. The next day newspapers carried the headlines - 'The Demolition Man Comes to Delhi'.
While in service, he has had a very fulfilling life without confining himself to the four walls of his office or home. Even today he parties almost every night and drives his car on his own even after being an MLA. This shows his simplicity.
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The accomplishments of Mr. Alphons Kannanthanam are many. One of the note-worthy achievements is that he raised Kottayam district in Kerala to a 100% literate district. The idea was thrown to him by none other than Mr. D. C. Kizhakemuri, founder of DC Books. This was the first time a district is acclaimed with 100% literacy in India and maybe even abroad. He even formed Jana Sakthi. This was done to erase corruption in the society. While in service, he won many accolades. He has even given 36 lectures on global meltdown. He is also the author of the best seller "Making a Difference". This book has been translated in Hindi as well as in Malayalam.
PGDM 2008-10 students of DC School of Management & Technology Media School, Trivandrum, were privileged to have him with them and listen to his talk for atleast 3 hours. He gave examples from his life and shooted some themes to be kept in mind by every student: -
Practise what you talk.
When people say something is impossible, I say it is possible.
Learn the art of being grateful.
Communication is very essential.
Convert dreams into reality.
Develop the ability to think out-of-the-box.
Develop the ability to respond.
Have the courage to do things.
His words were highly motivating and all that he discussed with the students have been out of his own experience in life. His energetic breathtaking talk left everyone awestruck. All that can be concluded from his talk is that it's time we follow his footsteps and 'Take Over the World'.