KJ Alphons’ ‘The Winning Formula’: Dreaming the big dream

In his class 10th board examinations, KJ Alphons scored barely 42 per cent marks. All it took this hugely underperforming child to become one of the country’s most respected bureaucrats was deciding to press the switch. In his latest book, the effective administrator and anti-corruption crusader shares his inspiring journey, along with 39 other stories of people and initiatives that touched many lives.

Known by the moniker ‘Demolition Man’ for tearing down more than 14,000 illegal buildings in Delhi, Alphons calls it a ‘lived book’. “Whatever I have written in this book, I have lived,” he says.

From winning the best district collector award multiple times for his path-breaking initiatives to featuring in Time magazine’s list of 100 young global leaders to receiving the best MLA award, there are many lessons from his life. In the preface, however, he says “You might think I am exceptional. I’m writing this book to tell you that I am not. Yes, I’ve done things others considered impossible. Whatever I have done with my life, you can do it better than I did... Dream the big dream. You have to work hard to make those dreams a reality.”

The book is divided into 52 chapters, each for a week of the year. While 13 are anecdotes from his own life, there are some he came across during his diverse careers, while others he drew from newspaper headlines. There are lessons for all — students, parents, teachers, elderly, etc. For instance, ‘How to make the best use of time’ gives tips to optimise time while in ‘Kids, don’t be photocopies’, he pleads every child to have his or her own dream to chase; not the parents’.

Just like traditional story-telling, there’s a moral/thought at the end of each chapter — something to ponder over and reflect. The narrative moves back and forth, capturing the journey of this bureaucrat-turned-politician — be it tossing the bureaucratic rule book to ensure that a child gets medical treatment in spite of opposition from a religious group, bearing the brunt of land mafia, or making Kottayam India’s first fully literate town.

Then, there are inspirational stories. How P Vijayan rose from a child labourer to one of the most decorated police officers; doctor couple Regi George and Lalitha Regi went on to work for the uplift of the tribals of Sittilingi valley in Tamil Nadu; Dr Surya Kant Suri, a super specialist from Royal College of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in London, decided to work at the Madangir slum near Saket.

For posterity, Alphons pens down the names of the 12 unsung rat hole miners who moved mountains to rescue 41 tunnel construction workers trapped in Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand last year. How one person can make a difference comes through the life of Assam’s Jadav Payeng, a farmer who has been planting trees for more than 40 years and has turned barren land into 1,360 acres of lush forest. There are many more such extraordinary stories of ordinary people.

Justice Kurian Joseph, in the foreword, calls this book “more than a collection of inspirational tales; it is a roadmap for personal and professional growth”. Shashi Tharoor says, “The book, sometimes playful, sometimes poignant, instructive and illuminating, is bound to make you reflect on your thoughts and actions, learn and unlearn in equal measure, paving the way to an inspired life.”