Rama Prabha

Rama Prabha Social and Economy, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture

THE BEER I NEVER FINISHEDMy father never drinks.My husband never drinks.My son WILL never drink.When I was a child, my m...
04/04/2026

THE BEER I NEVER FINISHED

My father never drinks.

My husband never drinks.

My son WILL never drink.

When I was a child, my mum said that all drunkards must be shot dead.

Because of the generational trauma she went through due to men drinking and the implications they brought to the family and the community.

I grew up hearing about this. Every single day.

And I grew up watching her two brothers succumbing to health issues from drinking.

We often analyze this at home.

Why do people drink to the point of destroying their lives?

Then we saw something.

Drinking is very addictive, especially if your digestive system is poor.

It impacts your mood so badly, and brings you to a new low the next evening.

Which results in you drinking again to avoid that depressive feeling.

Which then brings you to a hell of no return.

So we resolved that to avoid the fate of a drunkard is to NEVER drink in the first place.

Then when I turned twenty, I went to the London School of Economics and Political Science to study.

I went there because I was one of Malaysia’s best brains and had multiple sponsorships.

My first day at LSE was Freshers’ Day where new students congregated across the Main Building, on Houghton Street.
They distributed beers.

What a wild idea, I thought. To drink beer on the first day at university.

I sat there. Still new. Still very out of place.

It was cold.

And there wasn’t anything else to do.

So I took the glass of beer.

I took a sip. I looked around.

It was bitter. Nothing like Teh tarik. Nothing like Milo. Nothing like orange juice. Just bitter and cold.

But with a beer glass in hand, it felt like I no longer looked out of place. Like I automatically fit in.

Like this might be the beginning of some new era.

Before I took my second sip, I analyzed myself.

The government just paid me half a million to come here. So that I can taste beer?

Wow.

I knew back home, in rural Malaysia, people drank because they fell for peer pressure. They fell for the shops that benefitted from labour paydays. They fell for alcohol’s momentary numbing effect.

But here I am.

Brilliant mind. Brilliant future.

I should be the last person on this planet to drink.

I looked at my beer glass.

Will it be okay to abandon this glass with everyone looking?

But I have no other choice.

I had to.

I sat up, smiled at the strange faces around me.

Smiled again as a sign of peace. No offence, folks, I thought to myself.

And walked away.

As I paced away from the crowd, I saw a huge off-grey building beckoning me.

The LSE library. One of the biggest in the world.

Ehhmmm.

That’s more like it, I thought.

And I glided in, through the double doors. Onto its vast halls that spread to infinity.

Three years passed just like that.

Before I knew it, I was walking out of the same doors.

Snapping my final photos of my favourite university.

I had just graduated with a First Class Honours, returning home as LSE’s faculty topper, and having drunk ONE SIP of a BEER.

But you know what.

This story doesn’t end here.

Twenty years later, my eldest daughter graduated with a First Class Honours from LSE, under UoL.

And two years after that, my second daughter also graduated with a First Class Honours from LSE, under UoL.

Well, I too raised my children telling them that all drunkards should be shot dead.

----------------------

in the pic: Circa 1999, while taking my parents on a Europe trip which I paid for (thanks BNM for the generous scholarship). My mum snapped this.

Post SPM: Time to rethink your children’s education plansCongratulations to all the students who aced their SPM examinat...
02/04/2026

Post SPM: Time to rethink your children’s education plans

Congratulations to all the students who aced their SPM examinations. Whether you go on to earn placements in scholarships, matriculations or universities of your choice, or you don’t, just remember that life will reward you for every ounce of effort you put in, one way or another.

Many people will be at crossroads, specifically parents, as to how much to spend on their children’s tertiary education. For those who earned their places on merit, this is not an issue, as you have just done your parents the biggest favour you can at your age.

HOWEVER, for those whose parents are stepping forward to pay for their expensive degrees or similar forms of qualifications, or for those taking out loans from third party establishments, remember, this moment will weigh on everything you do for the rest of your life.

Spending huge sums of money, time and effort on tertiary education should begin with one thought: Will it be worth it?

Everyone wants their child to have a great life, better than them, and if possible, on par with the best.

But most parents are not aware of what they are getting into. They think that with one prestigious degree, their children’s lives are sorted for good.

In today’s reality, that is hardly the case.

And one of the biggest reasons for this is that the lifestyle that they have raised their child with isn’t exactly aligned with the resilience needed to dedicate one’s life to work and duty.

If your child is used to upper-middle class lifestyles – tuitions, talent classes, frequent dine-ins, daily takeaways, lots of recreational travel, generous smartphones and gadget allocations, etc – it becomes a challenge for them to tune their body, mind and soul to exist purely for work and duty throughout their adult lives. Which is why we see a lot of complaints, discontent, unhappiness and stagnation across today’s youth when it comes to career progression.

Back in the 60s, 70s and even 80s, before expensive middle-class lifestyles became common, people can just roll their children into any factory or mill or office or quarry or even onto a ship for that matter, and these children would gratefully adopt the discipline and simplicity and humility needed to serve in that environment for the rest of their lives.

Today, however, with too much of a lifestyle modification, there is an expectation that their future jobs will enable them to live at the socioeconomic comforts and status provided by their parents during childhood. So entry-level jobs, which are mostly tedious, long-hours and mundane, quickly become unbearable.

As a result, after spending on their degrees, a lot of children come back home saying that they can’t find the ‘right’ jobs, or that their jobs are too ‘difficult’. And with a fancy degree in hand, they feel that they have attained an elite status and deserve a job that aligns to this status.

This dilemma is something that parents must ponder upon before pawning their jewellery, mortgaging their houses, and taking out loans for tertiary education. When providing degrees or higher education to your children, managing future expectations becomes a very very important aspect to avoid regrets. Do your children have the discipline, simplicity and humility needed to later work in any position they are offered to?

So, as parents and children navigate their days and weeks after the results are out, remember that a whopping 366,435 or 94.29% have an SPM certificate (we will discuss hyper-inflation of grades in another article). Any of these kids can pursue a diploma, degree and even a PhD, given the democratization of education we have today and the myriad of creative pathways that exist for anyone, and we mean anyone, to earn any qualification they desire.

Wrong decisions will not only waste one’s youth, but also have direct consequences on other life decisions. People with huge loans suffer from indebtedness to parents or the funders, leading them to delay starting their own families. People are left childless and alone in later life due to being bogged down by such indebtedness, especially those from communities without sufficient political or economic leverage to land highly paid positions.

On the contrary, those who opt for lighter education/training pathways to their careers marry early and go many steps ahead in building their own social network and safety net, while saving themselves from the trap of debt and indebtedness.

For parents specifically, going for the glory of professional titles and then holding your children back from establishing their own lives -- marrying in their twenties, starting a family --- because you need some payback and some social upgrade from your children’s income, is especially unfair. Young people should use their youth for themselves – learn on their jobs, start building their own wealth, marry and start having children who will be there to take care of them as they age.

After all, there are many who complete their expensive degrees and are stuck looking for jobs. Some have jobs but are knackered 24/7 with no way out. Others have jobs but still struggle to buy a decent house, well into their 30s, and others have health issues for being stressed/living unhealthily away from the family for too long. And lastly, some just quit altogether and build something they could have built after SPM.

So think carefully, wisely and think with your children’s future and happiness and long-term welfare in mind.

Explore many alternative pathways for economic success – short courses, night/weekend classes, on-the-job trainings, online education, professional certificates, etc.

Remember, this is not just an era of the Internet and AI, but it is also an era of hyper-capitalism, super inflation and too much marketing.

Assess your children’s ability to withstand today’s employment challenges and INVEST GRADUALLY in higher education, at a pace that will not stress them or disappoint them, and keeps them free from monetary enslavement as they embark on life’s best times.


24/03/2026

This year, The Fast Mode was at the left, right and center of MWC 2026.

Despite the ongoing Iran-US war and the fiasco some of the team went through being stranded in the Middle East (will share more some other time), our team made it huge at the show, anchoring major conversations, panel sessions and showcases.

We are working around the clock now on both ends: research and development in Agentic AI where we will be helping tech giants with their inroads into autonomous production environments; and our next big event which is to be unveiled soon. 24 hours sometimes is not enough.

Well done to the entire team! Please get your bags washed for your next assignment.



Ugadhi 2026Firstly, thanks to our Big Boss for giving us the day off. Probably one of the few companies worldwide to giv...
19/03/2026

Ugadhi 2026

Firstly, thanks to our Big Boss for giving us the day off. Probably one of the few companies worldwide to give a day off for Ugadi.

Ugadi is our native festival, rooted in family and tradition. It’s a tad more glamorous now, with social media tempting us to show the exciting facets of our daily lives in the best light possible. Guilty as charged, but hey, we are always too young to be too wise.

Anyways, as you might already know, Ugadi is the Telugu New Year. There are close to 80–90 million Telugu people, including the critical diaspora that makes up global Telugu voice… and the Telugu soul .

So how do we define Telugu?
Not by traditions.
Not by language.
Not by religion.
Not by surnames.
Not by castes and clans.

We define Telugu by the nativity that comes with being part of the civilization that traces its roots back to the fertile plains of the Godavari and Krishna river basins.

We define Telugu by the native traits of people who, for centuries, have learnt to thrive in a not-so-dry and not-so-humid part of the Indian subcontinent, where millet, rice, and chillies compete with mango, banana, and sugarcane plants to dominate the sprawling farmlands.

We define Telugu by the ability to tame the Bay of Bengal and embark on distant voyages (like what our ancestors did).

We define Telugu by the tenacity to create our own economic success, and share that success with everyone around us.

We define Telugu by the soft-spoken nature and the quest for peace, no matter where we are.

We define Telugu by being self-reliant and self-sustaining.

We define Telugu by being honest, hardworking, and ethical.

We define Telugu by our love for the state and country.

And finally, we define Telugu by being able to stand up tall and say, I am Telugu.

As a proud Malaysian with a beautiful Telugu heritage, I feel there is no better way to thank God for the continuing peace and prosperity around us, and for the opportunity to build the same for our future generations.

Meeku mariyu mee kutumbaniki Sri Parabhava Nama Samvatsara Ugadi Subhakankshalu
(Wishing you and your family a very Happy Ugadi)

Best birthday gift: Telecoms Leadership AwardAs a Malaysian-born, receiving the GSMA Women Digital Leadership Award 2025...
28/09/2025

Best birthday gift: Telecoms Leadership Award

As a Malaysian-born, receiving the GSMA Women Digital Leadership Award 2025 at the Digital Nations Summit in Kuala Lumpur just days before my birthday is one of the best moments of my life.

Here’s the story of my journey in tech.

After graduating from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 1999 with a First Class Honours, like most LSE-ians, I started my career in central banking. I was drawn to policy-making and strategy, and five years into my career, I was headhunted to join a management consulting outfit (the IA group) that was a spin off from the Big Four. This progressed into various stints at other management consulting firms like Frost & Sullivan and Ethos & Company. My love for strategy work also meant that I often found myself becoming a vertical expert in a matter of weeks, sometimes in areas I don’t know ever existed. It also meant that I was working myself to the bone, sometimes up to 15 hours a day.

In 2008, I decided to set up my own practice in strategy, shortly after my third child was born. In 2011, I was asked by an (extremely talented and ambitious) tech founder to help him on the strategy of his newly created brand, The Fast Mode. It was a tech media brand that was focused on deep tech narratives. Despite my consulting experience, transitioning to tech and building a new brand from the ground up was not easy. The first few years, in my mid-thirties, I found myself learning to code and understanding IT stacks and network architectures. It’s intriguing (and sometimes funny) to see an accountant and economist by training (my fav fields by the way) now dissecting microservices in cloud native IT stacks, while at the same time crafting the best approaches to building AI-native telcos.

The Fast Mode, as a brand, has grown steadily since inception (thanks to the vision and collective energies behind this) and drives significant impact in the industry. I know that because clearing 300 plus emails in the first hour of the day is a norm for us (not counting spam!). And requests for coverage and proposals keep growing week to week.

In the last 12 months alone, I have written more than a half a million words, hosted 100+ podcasts with technology leaders, mostly from North America and Europe, and worked on tens of major tech marketing campaigns with top tier technology providers around the globe. The Fast Mode brand has become my lifeblood, simply because that’s what I do all the time—those gross, patches of sweat stains on my computer keypad a testament to this.

In this industry, participation of women is not to the level it is expected because scarcity of time often comes to play. Our priorities lean towards family and the well-being of the next generation. And that is often the real challenge, because we know that, in no time, the next generation will be ready to take the baton from our hands. And if they are of lesser calibre, we know our run would become futile.

Ironically, it is this thinking that puts us in a better position to lead in tech. Sustainable performance, and long-term outcomes are becoming priorities in tech more than ever. And I suppose that is how my journey is tech is shaping up. This award being a latest feat to celebrate not just a career, but a humble brand that is making waves worldwide. To be part of the huge and relentless effort behind this success is my greatest gift, and the GSMA award is the perfect cherry on top.

Thank you Prushothma Rao, for the vision, and for a dream well executed.

And thank you to my babies for making every moment worth it. I know you guys are eager to take the baton, but I am still too young, so you’ve got to wait… wink wink!

And a shoutout to Yukta for her genius idea and for editing my latest piece published by GSMA ‘Is ChatGPT a man or a women: Exploring Gender Bias in GenAI.’ Proves why we need more First Classes on the team.

Well, here’s to my birthday, and a celebration of a lifetime in tech. To many more!

Same mother, but different motherhood styles and experiences.With my first-born, I just expect everything.With my second...
11/05/2025

Same mother, but different motherhood styles and experiences.

With my first-born, I just expect everything.
With my second-born, I expect slightly less.
With my third-born, I expect even less - sometimes nothing at all.

But do we love all our children the same? Definitely.

Do we show it the same way? No.

Does loving mean it must be the same? No.

But does it work? I don't know.

All I know is that God didn't give us mothers any guidelines on raising children. But God did give mothers lots of emotions, ridiculous paranoia, infinite hopes, unlimited patience, and immeasurable strength.

We will never ever know if we are doing it right, but we can always say that we are doing it to the best we can. And we wouldn't trade this crazy love for anything, ever!

Happy Mother's Day to mothers who stick around no matter what 🥰🥰🥰 - that's all a child needs.



P/S: Thanks my babies for the cute editing 😜; you all can move on to the next to-do item on your mother's day list.

This last three weeks, Leena and Yukta were featured all across the blogs, socmed postings and newsletters of their univ...
26/04/2025

This last three weeks, Leena and Yukta were featured all across the blogs, socmed postings and newsletters of their university - just in time for the university's upcoming graduation season. These postings were about stories of high achievers from preceding years, and I am inundated by post after post, and reels and videos of them in their graduation gowns. As a parent, I think the university's effort to showcase their best graduates speaks volumes about its brand, its faculty, and its students, and it confirms its reputation as one of the best in the world.

For Leena and Yukta, their years as undergraduates of the University of London - London School of Economics has not just paid off, it has become one of the major highlights of their life, and will continue to be an experience that they can share with all aspiring students and graduates.

But more importantly, is that in today's state of affairs (economic, politics, social, etc), we need to pay a lot of attention to the education pathways we put our children through. Ensure that it provides them not just opportunities in the country, but also globally, especially in the fields of science and technology. That much, I can say with 100% surety.

The blog post link is in the comments. Other feeds are from the university's socmed handles and website. If you have SPM leavers, suggest to them that they read these for ideas and inspiration.







Today is our 25th wedding anniversary. We took our anniversary photos this week, with me wearing the same lehenga I did ...
07/02/2025

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary.

We took our anniversary photos this week, with me wearing the same lehenga I did 25 years back when we did our wedding photoshoot in 2000. It is a very special lehenga because it is my husband’s first gift for me (after the flower bouquet he sent during my graduation).

We found the lehenga on display in one of the saree shops in Jalan TAR, back in 1999. We were not married then, and had just dated for 2 months. My workplace, Bank Negara was a stone’s throw away, so we often found ourselves strolling in this area, acquainting with each other.

The lehenga caught my eye from far, and so I ventured into the store, my husband following along. He stood by me religiously as I spent the next 20 minutes admiring the blue gradient, the chiffon, and the embroidery. We agreed it was the fanciest lehenga we had ever seen.

I don’t know what I thought at that time, but I suddenly wanted him to buy it for me. It came with a heavy price tag of RM250 (this being 1999), and while my husband gladly pays for all our outings (I choose to forget about gender equality during these occasions), he had never paid anything near this amount, not even for himself.

Of course, I didn’t TELL him I wanted the lehenga. I just used a million hints, none of which, unfortunately, worked. Soon after, my husband wanted to leave the store and get a drink. We stepped out and walked for a 100 metres or so, before he noticed my silence and asked if I was okay. I didn’t want to say, but he prodded further, asking if I had wanted to buy something. Of course, I wanted to! Errgghh. But I didn’t want to say it. Eventually, he asked if it was about the blue lehenga, and I finally nodded.

And so we went back to the store, got the lehenga packed and paid for. I was the happiest girl, because I got the lehenga and also, I realized, I got a husband! I mean with who else in this world can you sulk your way to the things you want.

Now that we are married for a quarter of a century, I try to sulk a little less when I want things. I have also learnt that with men, you should just ask and not play with hints. That said, I hope that with God’s blessing, we get to see our Golden Anniversary one day. I will try to keep the lehenga, and most importantly, fit into it then 😉.

In these pics, I am wearing the same earrings and necklace, while my husband managed to keep his tie. Thanks to Leena, Yukta and Tushar for re-enacting the scenes, for the brilliant photography and superb editing. I am so in love with these shots, and also the special edition Silver Anniversary vegan coconut cookies gift from my babies.


I always wanted to write on this, and today, while waiting for my turn to perform a pre-wedding ritual, I found some tim...
29/01/2025

I always wanted to write on this, and today, while waiting for my turn to perform a pre-wedding ritual, I found some time.

If family members who claim to love you don't treat your husband with respect, it is akin to letting venomous snakes into your house, thinking that they will catch some non-existent rats. Before we endorse such behavior, or worse, normalize it, check out these red flags:

1. Asking morally-judging questions such as 'How come you already know each other so well?' This question indicates that they think that you and your husband have been boinking for a long time, and are only legalizing things now.

2. Calling your husband by his name, instead of the right titles. In our cultured society, you call a newcomer 'maya', 'bava', 'anna', 'uncle', 'macha', etc. Calling your husband by his name shows a refusal by the wife's side to acknowledge your husband as an official member of the family.

3. Questioning your husband's decisions. Example:
- Did you guys check our holy horoscope before naming your child?
- Did you guys ensure your kids are getting quality childcare?
- Why aren't your kids pursuing medicine, or law or engineering (of any other run-of-the-mill profession labels that they know)
- Did you check on your parents recently?
- Did you consult a plumber before changing the toilet bowl?
These kind of questions are to show that they are dismissive of your husband's leadership.

4. Calling you for family functions, but not extending the invitation or their regards to your husband. This is to show that they think the only thing of value in your household is you.

5. Saying that none of your kids look like you. This is to allude that everyone takes after your husband, which they aren't so impressed with.

6. Inviting you to their family event, but you notice that their kids take extra effort to omit your spouse from every activity. Their teens or young people, especially, become selective-social-handicaps where they mollycoddle others in your husband's presence, but turn a cold eye towards him. This behavior shows that the parents have successfully vilified your spouse in that household.

7. Commenting on your husband's physical attributes. This is when they point out any small change in the most negative way, for example 'aik, last time he looked fairer', etc. These words are meant to cast doubt on your future with your husband.

8. Giving you advice on important life matters, in the presence of your husband. This includes job opportunities, investment options, home purchase decisions, etc. This is to tell you that you need to be saved from 'bad' decisions, made presumably under the influence of your husband.

9. Picking a topic that is closely related to your husband, and thrashing it in front of you. For example, if your husband is from Klang, then Klang is supposedly an extremely dangerous place, with a lack of amenities. This is to say that they think your husband brings no value to your life.

10. And most importantly, discrediting your husband's achievements as fast and as furiously as they can. For example, just as he explains the successful opening of his next office, they ask if your husband makes any EPF contributions, or if he had blatantly forgotten to invite a long-lost almost-senile uncle to the launch event.

These and many more of such hidden insults and personal attacks can create long-term stress in your marriage as your spouse prepares to dodge these situations every time they arise, while you fight hard to mediate the situation between your husband and your supposedly 'caring' family.

In truth, the attack on your husband is nothing but an attack on you and your life. The idea is to break that support you get from a strong, loving husband. Unfortunately, early in our marriages, most girls worship their original families to the heavens, and forget to protect their husbands from their own toxic families. Your uncle actually hates you, but channels it through your husband. And your auntie, the force behind it, is probably enjoying the show.

So lesson learnt - if people don't respect the head of your family, the best way forward is to ditch that relationship. Especially if your husband married you respectably, with honor and the approval of everyone. This much is your responsibility.

Pic: On Chinese New Year Day, attending an Indian pre-wedding function, with Christmas baubles in the background.

Dear peeps, I have reached 24K followers! Thank you for your continued support. Terima kasih people 🙏🤗🎉
12/01/2025

Dear peeps, I have reached 24K followers! Thank you for your continued support. Terima kasih people 🙏🤗🎉

When we did a mini video shoot a couple of weeks back to promote The Vajram Matrimony, I still had some inhibition as to...
17/09/2024

When we did a mini video shoot a couple of weeks back to promote The Vajram Matrimony, I still had some inhibition as to our young people’s interest to tie the knot and to start a family. Simply because we are in an era where we are taught to prioritize important achievements, and marriage is presumably, not an achievement.

I beg to differ, of course. But that has always been my personal opinion.

But there seems to be a sharp turnaround in things lately. In these last few weeks, we have been doing some surveys and there’s certainly a huge comeback in the demand for marriages, and hence weddings. I think the pandemic and the disruption it brought had gotten people to reassess their priorities, and realize the value of marriages in society, and in augmenting our personal happiness.

Simplicity of course, is at the heart of any success. By putting too many expectations and too many caveats, our young people are putting off any self-initiative to find the one they love. Believe me, after 21, everyone knows what’s good for them. As parents, we can pretend to know better, but we really don’t. So by heaping too many conditions on them, we stump their interest and kill their enthusiasm. And of course, when things run off course or get delayed perpetually, we blame our young for lacking any effort.

I am not saying this because I am promoting The Vajram Matrimony, but I am saying this because there’s a reversal in population growth, and a world full of old people will not be as exciting (at least for me). So this is my effort to keep the world young and fun.

Anyways, I am going to go back to scrolling Facebook as I have not seen this many weddings in a long long time. My screenshot feature is working overtime today – I mean where else are we going to get our wedding ideas?

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About Me

About me.

(Versi Bahasa Melayu: https://www.ramaprabha.org/posts/wawasan-2020-ceritaku-ceritamu)

When someone asks me to describe myself, I always ponder for a while. As years pass by, answering this is not as straightforward as it used to be. Often, I come to the same conclusion - that is, no matter how momentous and significant some things were at certain points of my life, the one and only thing that seems to rise above all else and leave its mark in my heart forever is my journey as a mother. So, if I have to put it in one simple sentence, I will say that I am Leena's, Yukta's and Tushar's mother and yes, no role, responsibility or achievement matters as much.