THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam is an Indian civil servant, advocate, and politician. He is currently serving as the Union Minister of State for Culture, and Tourism, in office since 3 September 2017 under the B.J.P. Government of Narendra Modi.
Alphons studied English by talking to the walls, locking himself in a room for 15 hours at a stretch and learning 25 pages of a dictionary every day. It wasn’t easy because when he thought he had learnt enough to take part in a debate he messed it all up. “I had 250 shoes thrown at me but that did not weaken my resolve. I was determined to make it,” he said in a special interview given to a national media.
He also said that he is an animal lover and revealed that he had not expected him to be a member of Modi’s ministry.
“I was a good student in school. I got only 43% marks in tenth standard exam. My headmaster was shocked to see that I had passed. Many people called me ‘idiot’. However, I knew that I was intelligent. When I received IAS in 1979, it was a life-changing moment for me. I read many books. Time magazine selected me as one of the most influential young leaders”, said Alphons Kannanthanam.