Pragmatism, Philosophy and Courage: The 16th General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Lecture

Vedika Mane

Bangalore: “Stop accepting someone else’s judgement about you and think about what got you to perform poorly,” Mr Bharat Goenka, vice-chairman of Tally Solutions, said here recently. He was delivering the 16th General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Lecture, organized by the General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Trust.

Telling “The Tally Story”, by which name the lecture went, Mr Goenka said, “people should pay you because they want to and not because they have to.” The lecture was held in an outdoor setting at Bishop Cotton Boys' School and also live-streamed.

A technocrat at heart, Mr Bharat Goenka established his enterprise, Tally Solutions, in 1986 under the guidance of his father, Late S.S. Goenka. He has won several awards including the Padma Shri for his contribution to trade and industry.

The General K.S. Thimayya Medals this year were awarded to Tanveer Ahmed, Arham Farheem, and Mohammed Faraaz for their courage and help they provided during these uncertain times to a number of families. They were hailed as Covid Warriors and received a standing ovation from an audience that was moved by their acts of selfless service for those afflicted with Covid-19.

General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Trust was established in August of 2009 and is managed by a board of trustees composed of the old students of Bishop Cotton Boys' School Bangalore. The objective is to undertake activities to pay tribute to and to propagate the memory of General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya, Chief of the Army Staff from May 7, 1957, to May 7, 1961, and an Old Cottonian (1918-22).

The event was hosted by Mr. Karan Joseph, and the other trustees, including Mr Romil Turakhia (managing trustee), Mr Timothy Franklyn, and Mr Lokessh Ahuja. The lecture was organized keeping in mind the standard operating procedure guidelines provided by the government to maintain social and physical distancing with a limited number of guests.

Prof. Edwin Christopher, PhD, Principal, Bishop Cotton Boys' School, addressed the audience on the late General and his dedication and sacrifice for the country.

The medal winners over the years have belonged to all walks of life, and the speakers have included soldiers, scientists, teachers, journalists, doctors, environmentalists, and members of the civil services, to name a few. The objective of the trust is to give back meaningfully to the school and motivate and inspire the present students of the Bishop Cotton Boys' School.

One of the most important things they do for their Alma Mater is to recognize the members of the teaching, administrative, and support staff and give them cash awards of one lakh rupees each from a corpus of funds with contributions from prominent Old Cottonians. The donees over the years include retired gardeners, carpenters, cooks, ground staff, helpers, and bus drivers who have held the hand of so many young Cottonians.

The Donees for this year were Ms Rajeshwari (helper), Mr Diwakar (accounts), late Colonel John Ellis (principal), late Mary Sigamany (teacher), late Ayappa (helper), and late Vasco (pantry staff). During the past five years, the trust has handed out 49 lakh rupees to deserving retired staff members.

The 16th lecture took place in an outdoor amphitheatre setting at Bishop Cotton Boys' School