A Global Indian Times Interview by Cherian Samuel* and Ignatius Chithelen**
January 2, 2026
In this Global India Times interview, P.K. Michael Tharakan chats about Kerala: why the state has a high literacy rate, the role of Christian farmers and missionaries, his academic mentor Professor K.N. Raj, his family of farmers and academics, and how he ended up living on Kakkathuruthu, an island near Kochi, Kerala.
*Cherian Samuel, a writer based in Washington DC, retired from the World Bank. He earned a PhD in economics from the University of Maryland and an MPhil from the Centre For Development Studies, India.
**Ignatius Chithelen, publisher of Global Indian Times, is author of Six Degrees of Education and Passage from India to America. He earned an MPhil from the Centre For Development Studies, India, with P.K. Michael Tharakan and Chiranjib Sen as thesis supervisors.
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