Jacob Mathews (1984)
They say that “Well begun is half done” and that is the sentiment we at the editorial board have with the inaugural issue of Kattangal Chimes (KC). All of us on the editorial board spent around 6 months working through our “birthing pains” on the first issue. We were happy with our efforts and hope you, gentle reader, were as well. Someone once said, “It is fine to blow your own trumpet- just do it in the company of people who appreciate good music”. Trusting that we are in good company, we decided to move on and have produced the second issue of KC. The feedback from our fellow alums, and an active participation in future issues, will help us in determining the path forward.
We would like to acknowledge with gratitude the response to our first issue- from the alums who wrote in and also sent articles/stories/poems, some of which have been included in this issue.
We decided to more or less keep the same framework in the second issue, as was in the first- unless our audience writes in and requests specific changes- so please do send us your comments and feedback, as that will help us tune the format and content of forthcoming issues, to cater to a broader swathe of our populace. Our intention is for there to be more interaction in the general body of NITC alum.
One of my favorite authors, C S Lewis, in his final completed book before he died (he died on Nov 22, 1963- incidentally, the very same day that John F Kennedy was assassinated) called “Letters to Malcolm” writes and I quote, “Doesn’t the mere fact of putting something into words of itself involve an exaggeration? Prose words, I mean. Only poetry can speak low enough to catch the faint murmur of the mind”. My initial reaction to reading those words was, “Wow! How can someone write like that”! Whilst we know how difficult it is to write well, it will be no exaggeration on our part to state that we look forward to submissions from our fellow alums, be it poetry or prose!
This issue is slated to come out at the beginning of 2026, and we hope the New Year heralds in good tidings for all of us. Some of us on the editorial board also expressed a hope that we could begin to see the birthing of the equivalent of an Honors society at our Alma Mater- something along the lines of a “Phi Beta Kappa” or the like. The ball for this is exclusively in the present student body’s court. We mention this here in the hope that some of us ex-students have relatives who are studying/going to study at NITC and can pass on this encouragement/idea to them.
Another aspect as we begin the new year is to look not only ahead, but also in retrospect at the wonderful families that we have been blessed to be a part of. These families and our parents, in addition to our time at NITC, have helped shape the men and women we have become. Starting my career as an Air-Conditioning Engineer in 1983, I moved on to selling Industrial Valves and joined L & T in 1986. On a work trip to Ranchi sometime in 1987, I happened to visit the British Council Library and chanced upon a book I had not read before. The author was Piers Paul Read and the book was titled “The Professor’s Daughter”. For an otherwise “ordinary” book, the author on the last page wrote something which I think is truly “extra-ordinary” and which has remained with me through the years. He writes, “The family will always be the basic unit of society. Neither political revolution, nor change in the status of women, will alter this. Our attitudes towards the community at large are learnt in the intimacy of the family, and happiness within the family is a source of optimism and accord in the citizens it provides. Since this happiness must come from the parents, the success and permanency of love, between husband and wife, becomes all important to a nation of millions. This love itself may have to combat the corrupt values of a degenerate society: but in every man and woman, there is an impulse to idealism in love. Thus, society can renew itself with each union…” I raise a salute to all our families, and our parents in particular!
May we also strive to be the kind of people who lead lives that show compassion and kindness to all around us. That is a language that all people understand, irrespective of caste, color or creed. Walter Hooper in an interview he gave to the TV Program “Socrates in the City” quoted his mother as telling him, “Walter, if you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything.”
I have often wondered why the appearance of a rainbow in the sky, after a cloudy and rainy day, helps bring hope and cheer to my mind, when I look up to the sky to view it in all its splendor! Something about the various beautiful colors as well as the arc across the horizon helps bring the mind to focus, if for a moment only, on the sheer beauty and majesty of the world we are fortunate to live in. We all know that there are issues and problems to be dealt with, life to be lived, but we can revel in the moment afforded to us to realize that there is a reality that exists which sometimes is beyond our present grasp and understanding.
