Core Academic Unit

Some people wait for the perfect conditions to chase their dreams.
He chased his—with nothing but free railway WiFi.

From a coolie uniform to an IAS badge, his journey reminds us of a simple truth:

👉 Dreams don’t fail. People quit too early.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞?
One pleasant morning, Emperor Akbar and Birbal were enjoying a stroll in the royal gardens when Akbar saw a flock of crows perched on a tree. An idea struck him.
Akbar turned to his witty minister and asked, "Birbal, you are known to be the wisest man in my court.
𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦?"
The other courtiers who were present exchanged nervous glances.

This was an impossible question that required counting every bird across a vast empire.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Birbal looked up at the sky and then calmly replied, "𝐉𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐡 (𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝), 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐲-𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦."

Akbar was stunned by the speed and precision of the answer.
A skeptical smile played on his lips. "And what if I decide to test this number, Birbal?"
Birbal smiled back confidently and gave his famous strategic reply:

↳"If Your Majesty's count reveals 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 than this number, it simply means that 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.

↳If the count reveals 𝐟𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 than this number, it means that some of our crows have 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬."

Akbar was delighted by the minister’s brilliance.

3️⃣ 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲, 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

🎯 Strategy: 𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞
Birbal didn't try to solve the impossible task (counting every crow). Instead, he used a strategic deflection that acknowledged the impossibility of the task while still providing a definitive answer.

👑 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞
The entire court was waiting for Birbal to falter. By answering immediately and with absolute certainty, Birbal projected immense confidence and control over the situation.

🗣️ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞
Birbal's answer wasn't just a number; it was a clever piece of communication that pre-empted every potential counter-argument. He provided reasons for both possible outcomes (more or fewer crows), making his initial answer impossible to disprove without confirming the underlying challenge.

THE “FIVE TALENTS PRINCIPLE"*

An old fable Reveals the #1 Rule of Growth in Business

A master was leaving on a long journey.
Before he left, he entrusted three of his servants with resources.

One received five talents of silver.
Another received two talents.
The last received one talent.

A talent was not a coin.
It was a lifetime’s worth of wages…a massive investment.

The master expected them to do something with it.

The servant with five talents went immediately to work.
He invested.
He traded.
He multiplied.

He turned five into ten.

The servant with two did the same.
He doubled what he had.

But the servant with one talent?
He dug a hole and buried it in the ground.

No action.
No risk.
No effort.
No return.

When the master returned, he praised the first two servants:

“Well done. You have been faithful with little.
I will put you in charge of much.”

But the one who buried his talent?
He lost the very thing he was afraid to lose.

Not because he failed…but because he never tried.

The tale teaches a truth modern entrepreneurs still ignore:

If you don’t use what you’ve been given, you lose what you could have gained.

The servants weren’t judged on how much they started with.
They were judged on what they did with it.

Today we call this:

• Return on investment
• Stewardship
• Skill multiplication
• Taking initiative
• Growth mindset

The master never blessed the buried talent.
He blessed the applied talent.

The “Five Talents Principle” teaches this:

Your next level is hidden inside your current level.
If you don’t maximize what you have, you never unlock what’s next.

What you already possess is enough to multiply:

Your idea.
Your network.
Your skills.
Your voice.
Your opportunities.

Don’t bury it, Build on it.

Because in God’s economy and in business,
faithfulness is not holding onto the seed.
Faithfulness is planting it.

Use your talent to multiply & stay blessed forever.