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Vinod Thomas shared thisRequest all my IIT M friends to voteVinod Thomas shared thisThree days are left in the IIT MADRAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION elections for the executive committee 2025-27. I have been the Secretary for the last two years and am standing for the post of President this time. Voting ends on July 31, 2025, 5pm IST. If you are an IIT-M alum and haven't yet voted, please vote for me and my team - details below: https://lnkd.in/gmAnxCD6 • Sridhar Boovaraghavan - BTCE '91 for President • Vinod Thomas - BTCE '91 for Vice President • Srinivasa Gopal - BTME '90 for Secretary • Srikrishnan Chitoor - BTCS '91 for Treasurer • Namrata V. - BTCE '95 for Joint Secretary (Overseas) • Amit Kumar Chauhan - MSAM '13 for Joint Secretary (India) • S Rajeev - BTEC '78 for EC Member (India) • Badri Seshadri – BTME '91 for EC Member (Chennai) • K Gopalakrishnan - BTME '00 for EC Member (Chennai) Please go to https://lnkd.in/gZcwb_xz to vote
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Vinod Thomas shared thisI'm excited to be contesting for the Vice President role at the IIT Madras Alumni Association, as part of a passionate team led by my classmate and current Secretary, Sridhar Boovaraghavan. With over 60,000 alumni worldwide, our collective strength can drive real change—through mentoring, thought leadership, and community engagement. Having served as an IPS officer, a Private Equity professional, and now an educator and mentor, I believe I bring a unique perspective to help amplify alumni voices and build a more inclusive, impactful alumni body. Please support our team by voting here: https://lnkd.in/gZcwb_xz For the full manifesto: https://lnkd.in/gmAnxCD6 Together, let’s build an IITMAA we can all be proud of. #IITMadras #IITAlumni #IITMAA #Mentorship #Leadership #GivingBack Sridhar Boovaraghavan Srinivasa Gopal Srikrishnan Chitoor Namrata V. Amit Kumar Chauhan S Rajeev Badri Seshadri K Gopalakrishnan
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Vinod Thomas shared thisRequest all my IIT Madras friends to vote for me and the team.Vinod Thomas shared thisIt is Election Season in IITMAA. The election portal is https://lnkd.in/gZcwb_xz After logging in, you can vote starting at 4pm on July 1st till 5pm on July 31st. Here's why you should vote for us: My last two years as the Secretary have been so fulfilling that I decided to stand for President in the upcoming term to continue what we started. I have assembled a set of like-minded people who also would like to give back to their alma mater by bring alumni together even more. We have adopted the slogan அனைவரின்/ Aṉaivariṉ/Everyone's IITMAA to involve everyone in alumni activities. I have helped energize IITMAA in a variety of ways, including taking it to places that it has never been to in the form of new chapters, now close to 50 worldwide from around 18 before we took over. We now have new chapters in Zurich, Paris, Sydney, Perth, Tokyo, Dubai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar, Vishakhapatnam, Madurai to name a few. We have organized two large alumni conferences (Sangams), one in Hyderabad in 2024 and the upcoming one in Bengaluru in July 2025. Reunions, one of the major items in IITMAA’s agenda are more streamlined with more batches participating. Alumni are now connected to IITMAA like never before. More details are in our manifesto at https://lnkd.in/g3XZbD59 I am confident that with my passion to effect change, bring about improvements and the strong team that we have assembled, we can make truly make it அனைவரின்/Everyone's IITMAA - a community that helps, teaches, learns and plays together. Please support us by casting your vote for our team: • Sridhar Boovaraghavan - BTCE '91 for President • Vinod Thomas - BTCE '91 for Vice President • Srinivasa Gopal - BTME '90 for Secretary • Srikrishnan Chitoor - BTCS '91 for Treasurer • Namrata Vora - BTCE '95 for Joint Secretary (Overseas) • Amit Chauhan - MSAM '13 for Joint Secretary (India) • Rajeev Srinivasan - BTEC '78 for EC Member (India) • Badri Seshadri – BTME '91 for EC Member (Chennai) • K. Gopalakrishnan - BTME '00 for EC Member (Chennai) Please go to https://lnkd.in/gZcwb_xz and vote for us. Thank you. Vinod Thomas | Srinivasa Gopal | Srikrishnan Chitoor | Namrata V. | Amit Kumar Chauhan | S Rajeev | Badri Seshadri | K Gopalakrishnan
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Vinod Thomas posted thisThe Tamil Nadu police arrested Badri Sheshadri following an interview he gave to a local media outlet. He allegedly criticized the Chief Justice of India. The right to freedom of speech is a constitutional right of every citizen. So, why is Badri facing repercussions for merely expressing his views? Indeed, the constitution upholds freedom of expression as a foundational right. However, reasonable restrictions can be applied to its exercise. Numerous legislations have been passed to curb the unbridled exercise of this liberty. Preserving law and order constitutes a crucial rationale for imposing limits on the exercise of freedom of expression. Hate speech understandably is an offence under the Indian Penal Code. Defamatory speech too is a criminal offense. Apart from the Indian Penal Code, several minor acts render a variety of expressions punishable. The proliferation of laws constraining speech has effectively diluted the constitutional privilege of freedom of speech. Exercise of the laws restraining freed of expression has become highly political. If you find yourself on the wrong side of the ruling political party, you become an easy target. One of the reasons for Badri's arrest is his alleged objectionable remarks about the Chief Justice of India. Interestingly, the Supreme Court possesses the authority to punish individuals for contempt. Curiously, the Tamil Nadu Police chose to act on its own. Another accusation against Badri pertains to his purportedly inflammatory comments concerning the Manipur riots. Badri happens to be my batchmate from IIT Madras, currently a respected publisher and a political commentator based in Chennai. He is not a politician with mass appeal. How likely is his interview to have any significant influence in distant Manipur? It is doubtful that such cases will withstand legal scrutiny in a court of law. Conceivably, the very elements constituting the offense might not even be present. Nevertheless, the police have the authority to arrest and detain a citizen solely for spoken words, without any overt actions. A multitude of legislations criminalizing free speech and the unchecked power of the police to arrest create a hazardous environment for the free mind. When one's opinion cannot be voiced without the fear of imprisonment, the fundamental right of freedom of expression dwindles to a mere illusion. Without freedom of expression, democracy stands on precarious ground.
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Vinod Thomas shared thisVinod Thomas shared thisI am contesting for the post of Executive Committee Member of the IIT MADRAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Executive Committee Election 2023. Along with me,my friends Sridhar Boovaraghavan is contesting for Secretary,and Shyamala Rajaram for president. Your Vote is Valued.Please support us by casting your vote! All IIT Madras Alumni's can vote. Voting has opened and closes at 5 pm, 22nd July. Please vote at: https://iitmaa.org/
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Vinod Thomas shared thisVinod Thomas shared thisI am contesting for the post of Secretary of the Alumni Association of IIT Madras. Along with me, my friends Shyamala Rajaram is contesting for President, and Srikrishnan Chitoor for Treasurer. My manifesto (link 👇) details the initiatives that I would like to focus on in this term. https://lnkd.in/gSv7DY9x Video: https://lnkd.in/gck9_A-t Please support us by casting your vote. All IIT-M alumni can vote. Voting has opened and closes at 5pm IST, 22nd July. Please vote at https://lnkd.in/gZcwb_xzManifesto.pdfManifesto.pdf
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Vinod Thomas posted this‘As always, NYPD is prepared to ensure that everyone is able to have their voices heard peacefully while exercising their first amendment rights’- those are the words to the NYPD Commissioner before the recent arraignment of Donald Trump. The police chief then goes on to warn everyone against violence and destruction. As a former police officer, I find the balance shown by the NYPD Commissioner impressive. In India, Police officers are trained to focus on protection of citizen’s life and property. There is not enough emphasis on protecting the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the citizens. Maybe, that explains the frequent prosecution of people for social media posts and prevention of political leaders from visiting troubled areas. Recently, Manipur police prevented Rahul Gandhi from travelling to the riot-hit areas of the state. I understand the police concern about the potential aggravation. But the police cannot prioritize one aspect over the other. Police responsibility extends to protecting the life and property of the citizens, as well as their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. They cannot focus solely on life and property to the exclusion of individual freedoms.
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Vinod Thomas posted thisI admire Paul Graham, the renowned venture capitalist and founder, for his exceptional insights and eloquent writing style. In one of his 2016 essays, titled "How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub," Graham discusses strategies to develop Pittsburgh as a thriving centre for startups. Paul Graham emphasizes the significance of a young population in fostering entrepreneurial activity within a city. Trendy cafes, affordable rentals, bike friendly roads etc are among Graham’s recommendations for Pittsburgh. He emphasises the pivotal role of high-quality educational institutions in attracting talent and fostering the startup culture. Paul Graham’s ideas are immensely relevant for an India aspiring to be a developed nation before it turns 100. To become a developed nation, India needs hundreds of robust cities that offer attractive career opportunities for its youth. If our cities fail to provide captivating prospects, our youngsters will seek cities in other countries that do. In the decades to come, many developed nations will face population decline and will open doors for educated young people. Cities worldwide will engage in a talent competition, and it is imperative that we emerge victorious to secure our rightful position in the global landscape. The industrial companies of yesteryear do not suffice anymore. If you must attract talented youngsters, the businesses must be high productivity and high growth. The cities will thus have to host high growth, high productivity ventures, in other words startups. How is that possible? Each of our cities should become a hub for a new high growth industry. The industry can be chosen based on the strengths of the city and its existing business base. The city government should support startups within that industry. The city can leverage local educational institutions to support the startups and supply talent. There are many examples of cities playing an active role in developing world class innovation centers. China’s Zhongguancun became home to nearly 9000 technology firms, including Baidu and Sina, with active support of the city government. The City of Sydney in its ‘Tech Startups Action Plan’ promises to work with industry members, educational and cultural institutions, and other levels of government to ensure Sydney is a global startup capital. Stockholm emerged as one of the most active startup ecosystems with the focused involvement of the city government. If a hundred cities can nurture a hundred industries and establish themselves as active hubs for startups in that industry, we will be well on the way to be a developed nation by the 100th year of our independence. #startups #innovation #work #indiaat100
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Vinod Thomas posted thisOver the past year, I have been actively involved in managing a few colleges in Kerala, including two engineering colleges. This has given me a ringside view of higher education in Kerala. What I saw has not been pretty. Faculty recruitment interviews were particularly distressing. Most candidates with advanced degrees in engineering proved woefully deficient in even the most rudimentary concepts. The quality of education they received was evidently poor. The current batches do not appear to be any more fortunate - nearly 50% of the engineering students across the state fail to graduate. Poor quality is not the only problem. University takes years to approve courses in fast developing fields such as AI, robotics, IoT etc., depriving the students of the opportunity to take up in-demand careers. The effect of poor education has far-reaching consequences. We churn out unemployable youth. Any business requiring in-depth understanding of the subject will have difficulty finding talent. Only job opportunities will be in industries, where the requisite skill can be taught by the employer in 3-6 months. It is no wonder that we have very few innovative businesses coming up! Another important and potentially disastrous consequence is that the students and their parents realize that the education in Kerala does not open doors to high quality careers. They do their best to avoid a mediocre future. Even at the cost of mortgaging their homes, students leave for foreign universities. This worrisome exodus leaves the once-thriving small towns and villages of Kerala hollowed out, devoid of their vibrant youth. Eventually, Kerala will become a desolate colony of elders who rely on the remittances of their children employed in developed nations. The palatial homes dotting the countryside will remain dark. The trend is already visible in many villages and towns in Kerala. There is no redemption from the inexorable descent to loneliness, unless serious steps are taken to retain the young talent to create world-beating businesses here, at home. High quality education is the first step. Poor quality education is not unique to Kerala. Almost every state faces the same challenge. Creating a transformative educational system that empowers our youth and propels our nation towards development is the need of the hour. Every student should receive high-quality education, that opens doors to promising careers.
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Sravan Kumar B. Thank you for your support
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisAs you learn stuff, two seemingly contradictory things happen: 1. You understand more. 2. You realize that you know even less than you had previously assumed. Yet somehow, it is still fun to know more and more, while seeing your acknowledged circle of ignorance becoming larger and larger. Such is life. 😇
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisI acquire land for a living. Today I caught myself making a list of why it's getting harder - and realised this is a conversation worth having here. So here it is! The most misleading part of a land search is sometimes the first look at the map. So much space! Surely finding a site for a logistics park cannot be that difficult? The government's India Industrial Land Bank lists 4,523 industrial parks and nearly 1.35 lakh hectares available as of December 2025. That sounds like plenty until you ask the question I spend my time asking: available for what, and on what terms? Is there a large, contiguous parcel in the right location, with the right zoning and infrastructure, and clean title that can actually be transacted and turned into a working facility? The World Bank's India Country Economic Memorandum describes how fragmented holdings and inconclusive titles constrain land-intensive manufacturing. Anyone aggregating land for logistics will recognise the friction. On a map, all those acres look rather more cooperative than they do on the ground. Then comes the price. Cushman & Wakefield's June 2026 Chakan figures put quoted serviced industrial land values up 28.4% year on year, against 3.7% growth in quoted warehouse rents. This is the new reality & this divergence matters when a warehouse rent still has to pay for its land and construction. And that land isn't waiting politely for us… a captive manufacturer or data centre may offer a much higher price for the same land intensifying competition. Perhaps the more useful question isn't "Where is all the land?" but "How do we get more value from land that can actually work?" That could mean compatible uses where permitted, phasing infrastructure around committed demand, or rethinking the format for the location. The map can show us the acres. It cannot make the investment case for us. 😊 #IndiaLogistics #Warehousing #LandAcquisition #IndustrialRealEstate
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisSix years ago today, I walked away from Edelweiss. It was my last professional role. Since then, every day has been devoted to a single pursuit: building an institution. Not a company. An institution. Looking back, I have come to appreciate that entrepreneurship is often romanticized. Institution building never is. It is years of uncertainty without applause. It is making payroll before paying yourself. It is hearing “not yet” far more often than “yes.” It is rebuilding after setbacks that nobody sees, carrying responsibility that cannot be delegated, and continuing to show up when conviction is the only thing left in abundance. It is watching opportunities slip away because you refused to compromise on governance. It is choosing reputation over revenue, long-term trust over short-term wins, and process over personality—even when the easier path is right in front of you. Over these six years, I have realised that institutions are not built by extraordinary moments. They are built by ordinary days repeated with extraordinary consistency. The vision that led me to leave has not changed. India deserves investment institutions that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the finest in the world—not because they are the biggest, but because they are trusted. Institutions whose culture outlasts founders, whose governance outlasts market cycles, and whose purpose outlasts generations. Six years is hardly a milestone in that journey. If anything, it has been an apprenticeship. The destination was never entrepreneurship. It has always been institution building. And that journey is only just beginning….
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisHer name was Lini Puthussery. She was 31 years old. A nurse at the Perambra Taluk Hospital in Kozhikode Kerala. She had been working there for six years. She had two sons. Ritul was five years old. Sidharth was two years old. In May 2018 the Nipah virus arrived in Kerala. Two brothers and a relative were brought to the hospital with symptoms nobody had seen before. Lini was on night duty when they arrived. She cared for them through the night. They died soon after. Confirmed Nipah positive. By Friday Lini herself had fallen ill. She was shifted to the ICU at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. When she learned she had contracted the Nipah virus she asked the hospital not to allow her two sisters to visit. She did not want them exposed. From the ICU she wrote a note to her husband Sajeesh. “Sajeesh I am almost on my way. I don’t think I will be able to see you. Sorry. Please look after our little ones and take them to the Gulf. They should not be alone like our father. Lots of love.” She died on May 21, 2018. Her body was cremated quickly to prevent the spread of infection. Her family could not say a proper goodbye. She did not hesitate when the patients arrived. She did not ask who would care for her sons if she fell ill. She showed up for her shift and did her job. May 12th was International Nurses Day. Her name was Lini Puthussery. She deserves to be remembered.
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisIt was a real pleasure meeting His Excellency Nik Mehta, British High Commissioner to Singapore, at his official residence this evening. A wide ranging conversation on the UK's enduring appeal as a destination for Asian capital. Singapore and the UK share deep institutional bridges, and there is real momentum building around long term, patient capital flowing in both directions. Grateful for the warm hospitality, and looking forward to advancing several of the ideas we discussed. #SGUKpartnership #UKSingapore #PrivateMarkets #CrossBorderInvestment #Lensbridge
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisThis Anthropic engineer wrote the monumental blog post "Building Effective Agents". In just 14 minutes, he teaches you how to build AI agents the right way - more than most developers figure out in months on their own. Coupled with this Claude Managed Agents Guide 🤖, you will be able to deploy production-ready multi-agent systems in a day: https://lnkd.in/daSFNGt7 Pure signal. From the people who actually built it. P.S. check out How to Build an AI Agent from Scratch (With Working Code) 🤖: https://lnkd.in/dP6r5gHb
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisTurning up is half the game. Today my father completed 70 years since he joined the service. Still working. Mom won’t have it any other way either - he’ll drive her crazy pottering around at home. He didn’t pass on the brain genes; I can only hope he passed on his stamina genes!
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked thisI grew up worshipping intelligence. In college, the most admired guys were the ones who could ace exams without studying too much. We did not care much about sloggers, but if you had raw intellect, you were put on a pedestal. Alas, I was wrong. In the past few years, folks I have personally known and admired for their brilliance and achievement, have sold their souls for crumbs of power. Some, including a guy I knew for his mathematical genius, has become outright evil. When faced with clear right and wrong, a common man often speaks up, even when somewhat uninformed. But the intelligent often stay silent, hiding their cowardice behind 'technical neutrality.' Even in Silicon Valley and New York, the smartest (and the richest) are crawling before clowns in positions of power. And people with the brilliance to send rockets beyond the moon are unable to find empathy or kindness for a fellow being. I no longer care if someone is a genius. What matters is whether people have the decency to treat fellow humans with dignity? Can they see individuals as human beings, regardless of their race, community, or religion? Do they have the guts to speak up when they see something wrong? If not, then I don't care about 160 IQ; a 100 IQ, with a dose of humanity is so much better. *** I run HabitStrong, which offers programs for calm productivity and digital de-addiction: www.habitstrong.com
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Vinod Thomas liked thisVinod Thomas liked this1st Nipah Virus death!! Deeply saddened by the untimely demise of a 25-year-old nurse in a private hospital in Barasat due to physical complications after recovering from Nipah infection. Her passing is an irreparable loss to the healthcare community. #nipah
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