'A lot of parents tell their children, "You are not good enough. The neighbour's child is so good. Why can't you be like him?"' 'I want to tell all parents and children that all of us are created with absolute brilliance.' 'My life is an example. From 42% in my board examination, I became one of the IAS toppers.' 'Every child should have his or her own dream to chase; not their parents' or not somebody else's.'
'It is our duty to keep space sustainable and free of debris.'
This is the story of a man who fought racism and casteism throughout his life to become a professor of Bharata Natyam at the premier centre for performing arts in India, the Kerala Kalamandalam.
'Unfortunately, most of our students use AI to replace knowledge when they should be using the AI tools to enhance their knowledge.' 'I am sorry to say, even those students who have opted to study AI have no idea what AI is.'
'I want to tell everybody there is nothing in the world that you can't do.' 'If you apply your mind, you can do anything and everything.'
'I tell young entrepreneurs if you don't have a great idea, if you don't have a good business model, don't think of a start-up.'
'You can focus on Vande Bharat but focus on the common man too.' 'You can have both. They are mutually exclusive.'
'The noise that we are hearing is because the five big IT players are not hiring significantly.'
As we celebrate women achievers who are excelling in their careers, here are incredible tales of hard work and perseverance to inspire you this week.
Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com travels to Pullampara to discover how it became India's first digital literate village.
'You need hard work along with talent to reach exceptional heights.'
'If people want to work 90 hours, we should let them work.' 'If people want to work 30 hours, you should let them work 30 hours.' 'But they should not expect the same level of success and attention.'
'It is the responsibility of industry to take the very bright talent whose knowledge of software engineering basics is very high, and then give them additional skills.'
'I am optimistic about the Budget because of the fiscal discipline the government has committed to.'
'80% of start ups fail because they don't have a support system to help them in the very early phase.' 'It's not just an idea that takes an entrepreneur through the initial three years of journey.' 'What plays a definitive role in making a start-up successful is idea+team+capital+mentors+access to a larger ecosystem.'
'To access our satellite, you don't need any IQ test, you don't need to write an examination.' 'You can be a Class 1 student, an engineering student, a 60-year-old person, anybody can access our satellite.'
'The first job you pick up may not be your ultimate dream job.' 'When the situation is no job or any job, my advice to them will be, pick up any job at the moment.' 'You should use that job as a learning experience.' 'It is easier to find a job when you are working somewhere than when you are sitting at home with no work.'
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
During her long career, writer-journalist Shobha Warrier has come across people of varied hues, many of whom left a lasting impression on her. Warrier narrates the fascinating stories of some of them in her recently-released book The Little Flower Girl and the others, Diary of a Journalist.
'Studying was never an important part of our life, surviving was.'
The 1994 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) espionage case, in which former space scientist Nambi Narayanan was falsely implicated, was allegedly created by a then special branch officer of Kerala police to justify his illegal detention of a Maldivian woman in India after she spurned his advances, the Central Bureau of Investigation has told a court in Thiruvananthapuram.
The brilliant Adoor Gopalakrishnan looks back at his journey that started 40 years ago, in 1972.
'How can the voting percentage be higher than the actual polled votes?'
'Whenever the hike in voting percentage is more, the NDA gains more, and when the hike is negligible, the NDA falls.' 'I have established this in UP, Haryana and Jharkhand.'
'If an employee has a contract with the employer that he cannot moonlight, you should honour that contract.'
'Today when I see them talking to people from different countries confidently, I realise that education does not come from classrooms alone but from life experiences too.'
'To attribute motives to the individual election commissioner or the Election Commission as a group is very unfair.'
'Don't get stressed if you are not able to do your work.' 'If you feel you do not have the skill or capacity to do some work, accept it.'
'Everything about farming is enjoyable and relaxing.'
'Otherwise, the minorities would not have acknowledged his leadership quality. I am happy the BJP is working towards achieving a secular image,' Vellappally Natesan, the OBC leader in Kerala who has created a controversy by supporting Narendra Modi, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
'The Railways decided to go for kavach three years back, but the progress has been very slow.'
'These are the two core skill sets that are required for any job, in any profession.'
'Kamala likes south Indian food.' 'She likes a special rasam which her husband also likes, she likes coconut rice, she likes puri aloo...'
While the Congress and DMK headquarters bore a desolate look with party supporters shocked at their dismal performance, the AIADMK and BJP offices were in a celebratory mood. Ladoos, drums playing and dancing on the streets were seen outside the party headquarters. Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com presents the different scenes.
'Corporates decide the development and social needs of the people in Gujarat. It is not that Modi is the new inventor of Gujarat.' Social scientist Dr P Radhakrishnan, whose new book Political Villainy, UPA's Fall, AAP's Surge hit the stands recently, discusses the implications of the 2014 election.
'To those who have just finished engineering or MCA or BSc, BBA, I will say they should take up whatever internship opportunities they are getting.' 'They should look for opportunities to learn the latest tools.' 'They should think innovative and try to solve problems. Only when you sharpen your skills, you will remain relevant.'
'All the tournaments I played in recent times had a lot of bad moments, but the Candidates was a perfect tournament... Everything about the World Championship was very depressing.' Enjoying a break at his Chennai home, Viswanathan Anand, the former World chess champion, speaks to Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
'When I asked whether they would choose a government job that offered Rs 30,000 a month or a private job that offered them Rs 3 lakh a month, without exception, everybody said, "I would rather have the government job!"'
Professor P Radhakrishnan, a sociologist from the Madras Institute of Development Studies, draws the difference between the LTTE and the ordinary Tamils of Sri Lanka.
'While some women allow themselves to be exploited so that they can climb up the ladder, there are many voiceless and silent people who get exploited by men in powerful positions.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances