On 8 September 2026, the birthday of Mother Mary, three miracles happened in my own personal life:
For quite some time a thought has been doing the rounds in my own mind, with regard to vocation promotion. In particular, vocation promotion by myself, close at home! I've been asking myself if I'd feel comfortable and confident to invite my own nephew or niece to join the Salesians, as a Priest or Brother and Sister.
To be honest, I am neither comfortable nor confident in offering that invitation. Nonetheless, I would still not mind speaking about this possibility to them, but with a rider: Join, only if you are willing to be true to your basic values and not fold up to the pressures which are in plenty and enticing too!
Looking back and counting my blessings, especially those which have helped me keep myself steady and strong, I count the values inculcated in me by my parents and the context in which this was done as one of the most powerful one. While my parents hard work and determination was inspirational, their struggles were not hidden from my brother and I. Their example and the financial situation of the times helped me grow without being shy of engaging in hard manual work.
While I have no doubt about the values my nephew and niece witness at home, I seriously wonder if they are used to living a hard difficult life, not just without moaning about it, but joyfully embracing it as an opportunity for growth. That they may actually embrace the challenge is a possibility; but I also fear our present comfort level in the religious life is too enticing and tempting.
Some old friends who meet after a long gap, or those who care about me most, knowing my present responsibility in the Province, at times ask how is it going?
Like every responsibility, this role too has its ups and downs. But I firmly believe and have lived out this responsibility like every and any other responsibility I've taken up. This task is no different or special to me. I've never craved for position or honour; so I don't have to constantly carry that burden of retaining the post or seeking approval. But love giving tasks I take up, my best - at least most of the times!
So, honestly, this role is just another of the responsibility. I'd be giving my best, in any responsibility I would have been engaged with. The only question I care about is, if I've giving this task my best. And that I can state, proudly, that I am!
Two aspects I've grown and learnt over the last couple of years in this office as the Economer:
Mood and mode of challenging: Challenging, confronting and pulling up people for various reasons is something I was used to. In fact, everyone considered me a task-master. That hasn't changed much. But what has evolved is the ability to pause before jumping to action, and the self-reflection to ensure that I'm doing the confrontation for the right reasons and the good of all concerned. The pause gives me time and space to calm myself and evaluate my reasons (not justify them). The self-reflection has taught me to do the confrontation keeping in mind the larger picture and the greater good, rather than for the sake of 'teaching him a lesson'. Not confronting at all has not been an option for me. But whenver I've done the confrontation right, for the right reasons, I've not had any guilt or regret. If at all there was regret, it was mostly because I did not do the confrontation right or for the higher good; but not for the point which needed to be challenged.
Picking my battles: Not all fights are worth the effort and energy. If there is something that I see as the greater challenge and I can prevent that into turning out to be a major issue later, I'd prefer to use the 'word in the ear' technique rather than go out guns blazing about a smaller issue right now. Not that the small issue at hand is right or that I do not condemn it, but if the larger good can be achieved then this small issue will automatically be taken care of or even overlooked, if the greater good is achieved. This has helped me conserve my energy for some productive works rather than dissipate it in mere fire-fighting.
The joy of having successfully completed a task is good. But the joy of having completed a task of which you had no clue or knowledge about and which you discover so much in the process of fulfilling it, is truly great!
Such was one of my experiences yesterday. I observed an SMS that I received on the office phone a month ago and I could not make head or tail of it. So began my attempt to understand what it was all about. It was about an application that we had submitted in 2020, six years ago. The government had not decided to act upon it and also grant a concession for completing the process within a stipulated time. It was about the Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) of the Telangana govt.
Yesterday I completed the process of reducing the quoted fee by more than half. All of this because I discovered, through a long and passionate follow up, that the calculation was wrong - although that miscalculated figure itself was far FAR below the present day rates.
Another instance of me surprising myself! From the classroom to the courtroom. From being a lecturer to being an administrator. From philosophy to economics and law.
And the journey continues!
After long - really a very long time - feel a sense of excitement about the various tasks being carried out. I think, today I practically touched every field of work that I have ever involved myself in (except Philosophy!!!).
Almost completed a script for a 60 sec video on the theme of solar energy production, keeping in mind for a school ... in line with my own responsibility of administration. But with my media experience! Feel good about it. Of course, the video itself is not started. But the concept, and it taking the shape of a script is greatly fulfilling.
Then there was the issue of property tax and its nuanced loopholes and solutions as well. Great lengths of discussion and learning about it today.
Land matters is something that is becoming something of a common topic everyday! More problems and in a way, more possibilities as well. Talking about it with people of interest, gave me a possibility which never occurred to me before. That was exciting!
Then there was a large chunk of the day spent on moving forward a project on digital documentation. As I confessed in my mail to all those involved, having people so excited about it and breathing down on our necks (in a very very positive manner) propels the rest of us to action. Besides the adventure of the work itself, there is also the thrill of working with like-minded passionate people. Oh, it is a great adrenalin boost!
Being the economer, not a day goes by without doing some math! So it was!
Today I have been discussing with various people, about various issues, legal and land matters. It has been very diverse and complicated. During one such conversation after supper at table, here in Vijayawada, I remembered an incident nearly four years ago.
I had just taken charge as the Economer and one day along with Thathi and KP Mathew found myself in Mallepalli, Nalgonda. We were doing a land survey of a plot of land promised to us Salesians. As I was assisting the surveyor, with his tape and digital pole, at one point I noticed Thathi smiling. When asked what he was amused at, he replied, "Instead of some chalk you are now holding tapes and poles!"
Well, at times I chuckle to myself. From what to where have I come, in these part four years! From being a teacher of philosophy to a financial administrator! That too with no background whatsoever about matters related to law, land, administration and finance! That said, do I have any regrets? None at all. Because I know what I am here for is not to do what I want to, but what God and the Congregation wants me to. Mine is not to ask what and where, but to do with my whole heart whatever it is that is asked for the good of all, especially the young.
Three years ago, I was asked to take up this task of being the Economer of the Province. At first when told, it did not make any sense to me. All my Salesian life I was being prepared and had been working in the formation line, that too teaching Philosophy. Now all of a sudden, one is asked to take up a task, which is astronomically miles away from teaching philosophy!
The first time that the actual reality of taking on a totally different responsibility hit me was when measuring land at Mallepally. Thathi was still around. It was not even a month after taking charge and both of us were at Mallelpally, assisting in the land survey. While assisting, at one point, it was just Thathi and myself at one end of the measuring tape and he smiled. When asked what that smile meant, he replied, "Instead of a chalk you are now holding a measuring tape!" Of course, he was kidding and he knew the context even before his tenure as the Provincial.
Even this morning was a crude reminder of the same 'change of line'. It struck me that the toilet pipeline of the second floor need not come down right to the ground level and run under the basement of the dining hall and kitchen to exit at the other end of the building. Now that there evidently is some issue with its free flow, why break our head (again) digging up and investigating that 'underground' pipeline. Why not run the sewage pipe along the first floor parapet and get it down at the other end of the building. There is no toilet or bathroom on that side of the building, neither on the ground floor nor on the first floor!!
And I said to myself, what lovely philosophical thoughts are these!!!
That said, I hold no regrets! Being a Salesian has helped me see the great value of diversity and the utility of being a jack of all trades!
In my office I have two first degree relics of Don Bosco. A biretta worn by Don Bosco. And half a brick from the bedroom of Don Bosco's room, at Becchi I guess.
The biretta is worn and torn - hence needs no other verification to state that it was used by Don Bosco!! Both these relics have been encased in a glass box.
Usually we build a wall or room around a glass case. But in this case we have a glass case around a brick!
Jokes apart, this particular encased set has been in my office since the time I took charge three years ago. In fact, when I took charge, there were several religious articles in the office, which I reverently handed over to my predecessor or found a new devotee to take them in. The only thing that 'somehow' stayed back in the office is this particular set of relics.
When some people visit my office and they ask what it is, and hear me say what it is, they are quite taken up. It is only at these moments that I realise the worth of these relics. For the rest of the time, they sit in the corner of room and I carry on my work, totally oblivious of their existence in the same room.
Nonetheless, I am beginning to realise and appreciate their presence and come to believe that Don Bosco himself is present, in a way, with me, assisting me to carry on my weird task and responsibility. Or else, how does one explain a lecturer of philosophy handling finance and administration at this wide and large scale! Although relegated to a corner and barely noticed or even consciously revered, I suppose these relics - and through them, Don Bosco himself - is in a way guiding and leading me. That's quite a morale booster and immense source of strength.
After much thought and delay, I finally decided to get a new phone for myself. This would be the second phone that I'm purchasing and the fourth one I'd be using, since the time I starting using mobile phones since 2007.
It was when I started working as the Province Secretary that I got my first mobile in 2007. It was a Nokia handset. And three years later when I was transferred to Kondadaba, I left the phone with my successor.
While at Kondadaba, I decided not to get one, because there was no need. Besides, the network was very poor. However, one of the parishoners gifted Fr KT Jose a phone and him not very comfortable to 're-learn' using a different model of the phone, preferred to get a phone of the same model and type that he was already using. So, he passed on that Nokia (again) phone to me. That would have been in 2011 or later.
I had it with me till 2016. Even though the last one year of its use, the speakers had given way and I could use it only it with the wired earphones. That was in Ramanthapur. And in 2016 when I left Ramanthapur to fly to the UK, the community gifted me with a Samsung J5 (or something of that number).
I used that Samsung phone for most of my time in the UK. And while extensively using e-bay, came across a second hand i-phone. I bought that for GBP 42 (approximately Rs 4,000)!!! It was the iphone SE 2016 edition. I bought it in 2021. That phone was great! Small in size and very smooth in its operations. No wonder why people are crazy for iphones - besides the brand craze! However, for more than a year now the battery has been draining very fast. From recharging it thrice or four times a day, about two years ago, today I need to practically keep it for charging after every call. If not for that one single drawback, I'd be more than happy to continue using the phone.
Given the fact that I never watch(ed) videos, or listen to music or use maps or the camera or anything fancy on any of my phones, I would say my phone use has been extensively and exclusively AS a phone - calls, documents, whatsapp and my daily alarm!!
Today I start using my latest phone, Vivo T4x 5G. Surprisingly I discovered that it was released on my birthday this year!!!
Today, after a very long period, we went out as a community, to a water park. Playing in the swimming pool, having a good time, especially on the slides, watching children and their eagerness to play in the water. Nonetheless at some moments it struck me that young couples and children would have found it hard to understand why 'old men' like myself are also having fun!!
In fact the realisation that I am not 'their' age, that I'm almost double the age of most of those who were there in the theme park hit me quite strong on a couple of occasions. But that didn't make me feel any 'older'; in fact, I felt happy to realise that contrary to my bald head and greying hair, I still am quite young!!
Thanks be to God for this grace of being and feeling young at heart; being a Salesian! That's one of the amazing quality of being a Salesian: being with the young and being so focused on them, one never ages!!
Yesterday during the council meeting, the secretary fumbled at a point while reading the minutes or report. He fumbled while reading numerical digits running into lakhs. He was not really familiar with lakhs and crores and therefore was struggling to understand and read those numbers.
I chuckled to myself at that moment as I was reminded of my own exact predicament when I was the secretary myself, years ago. What amused me was not the memory of my own struggle, but the fact that I was now sitting at that very same table, 18 years later as the financial head (Economer) having to handle and read those numbers everyday!!
Of course, not always are those lakhs and crores appearing in our bank accounts, but more often as debts and payments!!!
What I am driving at is that you need to explore new horizons constantly, whether as part of the thesis or beyond it. Each will influence the other! Even in your readings for the PhD, what are the ideas that have caught your attention? If there are, let them lead you into unchartered territories!
... Do not put blocks to yourself. I would say, there is nothing to discern here, except being solicitous about completing what you have started. I suggest what my doctor told me: eat well, sleep well, relax… and enjoy what you are doing.And of course, the gentle reminder, about faith!
