Hello and welcome to today's lecture. So today just to break the monotony before I begin the lecture, let us have a quick overview that is a summary of what we have been learning till now as part of three lectures of module 2. So let me quickly walk you through the topics covered so far. So till now as part of the second module, we have been discussing about what is synthetic aperture radar abbreviated as SAR, the basics and how images are being formed by SAR, how it operates. So a SAR image can be considered as a complex number and then we were trying to understand about key terminologies such as azimuth resolution, ground range resolution, slant range resolution, SWAT and we also discussed the concept of a chirped pulse. Remember, all these are terminologies which will eventually help you understand the bigger picture in the upcoming lectures. So what I will do is I shall be repeating these or referring to these terminologies wherever possible to let it sink in. So with this background, we are currently in the second module and the fourth lecture. Now whether our discussion is on imaging radars like SAR or non-imaging radars say like altimeters, the performance of a radar system needs to be defined that is how good does a radar give you a data. So that needs to be defined and it is usually done by something known as a signal to noise ratio SNR and a range resolution. Now here by signal to noise ratio, I am referring to the strength of the signal with respect to that of the noise. So remember the example in one of the earlier lectures when I asked you to imagine that you are in a crowded traffic junction and then you are trying to focus listen to your favorite song which is being played somewhere nearby. So the traffic junction as such is going to offer a lot of background noise whereas you are straining your ears in a particular direction to listen to your favorite song which is being played. Of course, we discussed about this in the context of chirped pulses but then it is useful here as well. So my point is always compare a radar antenna to your ears and the measured power of received echo is very important. And for that matter we should learn what it is dependent on, measured power of received echo. Very important and we should learn what it is dependent on. Now a question is displayed on the screen that is is it technically possible to measure the famed echo that is returned by target. So you will get the answer to this question slowly as we proceed through the lectures. So in this context, let me try to introduce something known as a radar equation to you, radar equation. So this is the fundamental relationship that governs the power of received echo. Remember whenever we talk about synthetic aperture radars or imaging radars, there is always a pulse, coherent pulse that is being sent from the instrument which hits the target and gets scattered. A part of it returns back, gets registered by the antenna and that is what you get as a complex number and SAR image is nothing but a collection of complex numbers. So till now our understanding is limited to this. So what we will do is we will try to understand what is the fundamental basic relationship that will govern the power of received echo. Because complex numbers are registered based on the power of the received echo, received from where, from the target and it is getting scattered by the target in all directions. It is not isotropic but then it is getting scattered in all directions and a few of this return echo managed to travel all the way through the atmosphere, get registered in the antenna and that is what gives you the data, SAR data, SAR image. So again at the relationship of radar equation let me reiterate it is very much applicable even if you are referring to imaging radars like SAR or non-imaging radars like altimeters. Remember we discussed about what is an imaging radar that gives you images and what is a non-imaging radar like altimeters. So for deriving a radar equation we need the help of a few key terminologies and unless we understand them we cannot fully appreciate a radar equation. So these terminologies are number one is radar cross section abbreviated as RCS radar cross section. Second is gain of an antenna and third is back scattering cross section. I am trying to introduce these terms now so that we can discuss in detail as part of this lecture. So let us start by scattering cross section.  The target is nothing but you assume it as a domestic aircraft which is flying in the troposphere. So this incident field is going to hit the target and of course the blue lines what you see are nothing but the scattered field the energy that is getting scattered in all directions and now we are trying to understand about scattering cross section. So here remember always when I say scattering I am always referring to redirection of incident electromagnetic energy by any object or any target redirection. Now assume we are talking about a discrete target not a continuous target discrete target. So as an electromagnetic wave hits this discrete target there is scattering happening and this scattered field is nothing but the difference in the total field when the target is present and the field that would exist if this target were absent. So let me try to repeat the scattered field what you see on your screen is nothing but the difference in total field when the target is present and the field that would exist if the target were absent. So here remember we are assuming that all the other conditions that is surrounding conditions remain the same. Here I have mentioned the example of a target as a domestic aircraft but different targets will tend to have different ways to scatter the electromagnetic radiation. So let us come to scattering cross section. Scattering cross section refers to how effectively a scatterer scatters the radiation. It is usually denoted by the Greek letter sigma scattering cross section. It helps you to understand the effectiveness of any scatterer effectiveness of any scatterer. So the incident energy as such is not going to be scattered equally in all directions as I mentioned it is not going to be isotropic. There will be some directions in which scattering will be more predominant and certain other directions where in scattering might be less. Now instead of mentioning scattering cross section it will be more appropriate for us to define something known as directional scattering. Now to define directional scattering we need the help of solid angle. So that brings us to the figure that you see on the screen solid angle. So how do we define a solid angle? In a three dimensional space that is in 3D the angle that is subtended by any part of the spherical surface at the center is known as solid angle. Let me try to repeat. Assume a three dimensional spherical space, spherical space. So the angle that is subtended by any part of the spherical space at the center is known as solid angle. The angle subtended by any part of the spherical surface at the center known as solid angle. Now solid angle of 4 pi is a full sphere. We are aware of that and typically we estimate solid angle by this relationship that is area by radius. In this case area by radius. So our aim is to define effectiveness of a scatterer and we mentioned that we need to define it in terms of a direction because there will be more scattering in some directions and less scattering in some other directions. So I am going to write sigma as sigma theta to denote directional scattering cross section, directional scattering cross section and it is defined as a function of angle of observation which is theta and it can be expressed by this relation that is numerator we have scattered power remember per unit solid angle in direction theta and denominator is intensity of incident plane wave that is the power that is scattered by total power that is incident. So you know if you watch closely the denominator is divided by 4 pi. This is to normalize as solid angle of 4 pi is a full sphere as we discussed solid angle of 4 pi is a full sphere hence to normalize we are dividing the denominator by 4 pi. Remember that a scattering cross section need not directly be equal to the physical cross sectional area of the target for example you know in the one of the earlier slides I showed you an aircraft as a target. So the physical cross sectional area of the target that need not be same as scattering cross section okay. Now that we have seen a directional scattering cross section which has units of meter square. Let us try to understand a slightly different variant of directional scattering cross section which we call as total scattering cross section sigma t total scattering cross section okay sigma t. So we define it as the ratio of total scattered power upon intensity of incident plane wave. So the total scattering cross section it tells you the amount of energy that is getting scattered okay just a different variant of sigma theta that is all. So we learnt about directional scattering cross section and total scattering cross section. So with this background let us try to understand what is radar cross section okay abbreviated as RCS radar cross section. So in active microwave remote sensing like radars the system is illuminating the target which means we have full control of how much electromagnetic energy is falling upon or is incident upon the target area. We are in full control of that because we are not depending upon the electromagnetic energy from the sun we are not depending upon the sunlight. So in radars we are fully in control of how much amount of energy is falling on or is incident on the target area. Now our aim is to quantify the amount of energy that is getting returned to the sensor okay and we can understand this in terms of the radar cross section that is RCS. So before I show you the relationship visually I want you to assume that a certain target area let us call it sigma based upon our understanding of scattering cross section. So assume this target area has intercepted the incident electromagnetic energy okay this target area has intercepted the incident electromagnetic energy and it has redirected the same isotropically for one instant you assume that scattering is happening equally in all directions. So target area sigma which has intercepted the incident electromagnetic energy and then it has redirected the same isotropically. Then the radar cross section is nothing but the intensity received by sensor by intensity incident on the target multiplied by 4 pi R square. Now you understand why I am multiplying it by 4 pi R square okay. Here let me give you a few cases okay as in assume that the target area is scattering very very little power back okay. So what will happen is that sigma will naturally approach 0. This can be as the target is either very very small or it is transparent to the incident radiation or it is absorbing all of the radiation. In such cases the power scattered will be small and the value of sigma shall closely approach 0 that is for case 1. What is case 1? When the target area is scattering very very little power back. Let me take you to case 2 for example assume the cross sectional area that is sigma is very very high okay sigma very very high. The target tends to scatter more energy in the direction of radar antenna. Now the cross section may be much larger than the target frontal area remember the cross section what we are discussing radar cross section it may be much larger than just the frontal area. So when we discuss about case 2 it is worthwhile to remember about corner reflectors remember corner reflectors which we briefly mentioned in parts of the earlier lecture under special scatterers which tend to scatter more energy in the direction of radar antenna. They are usually used in the calibration validation purposes and we also discussed about the corner reflectors that are available in hydrobath which is installed by ISRO okay. Corner reflectors. So moving on the values of sigma that is radar cross section we can compute them analytically okay they can be computed analytically for example we can estimate the value for a perfectly conducting sphere or a flat plate or a cylinder okay. Given here are few examples and I want you to focus on the last two which are nothing but the object shapes of corner reflectors dihedral corner reflector or trihedral corner reflector. So the RCS values are given in the case of dihedral reflectors it is proportional to the length of side and in the case of trihedral reflectors it is proportional to fourth power of edge length. So you know there are different objects wherein we can calculate the RCS values. Now let us translate this into real world scenario. So assume you work in say air traffic management and you are using radar remote sensing to estimate the scattering cross section of domestic aircrafts. Shown here are few examples of commonly accepted RCS values for different targets. We can have a small fighter plane which can have an RCS of 2 meter square. Our own human body has an RCS of 1 meter square. A bird which is having an RCS of 0.01 meter square. Similarly for different types of aircrafts whether they are being used for domestic purposes or for defense purposes each of these will be having different RCS values radar cross section values in units of meter square. So a couple of commonly accepted RCS values are shown here for different targets. Remember there are many more and these are just a small sample used for representation purposes. So one thing to note here is that for distributed targets. So till now we have been discussing about discrete targets. Now imagine a distributed target say the ocean or the bare ground. When we increase the measurement area that is ocean area is huge, bare ground area is huge. So when we increase this measurement area the power that is getting scattered also changes accordingly. Let me re-itrate for distributed targets like bare ground or oceans. Whenever we increase the measurement area the scattered power is also going to change accordingly and the radar cross section is also going to change. So we need some means to quantify all the natural scatterers. Some means some generic method by which we need to quantify all the natural scatterers. So earlier we were discussing about discrete targets and now I want you to fix your attention on distributed targets. We already know what is an instrument footprint is it not? Instrument footprint we are aware of that that is the area on the ground that is illuminated by a synthetic aperture radar system instrument footprint. So as this module is on SAR I am going to use the term SAR system area on the ground illuminated by a SAR system instrument footprint. Now in one single footprint there can be multiple targets, isn't it? Multiple targets. There can be buildings, there can be water body, there can be vegetation. So my point is we may have multiple targets within the same footprint and we need some measure which can represent that is which can normalize the values independent of the footprint size. So one way is to define the normalized backscatter coefficient. So the quantity that is commonly used in radar remote sensing including imaging radars we call it as sigma naught, sigma naught. It is also known by different names like normalized radar cross section NRCS and it is unitless. So what does it give us? Before I show you the expression I want you to understand what is sigma naught. What does it give us? The scattering cross section per unit area of surface. So whenever we divide the area actual geometric area on ground surface whenever we divide by the actual geometric area on the ground surface sigma naught becomes a target property. It is no longer dependent on the footprint size. So the expression for estimating sigma naught or normalized radar cross section NRCS is sigma by A. Remember it is strictly the property which we are interested in because it says something about the ground surface. Now imaging radars like SAR, synthetic aperture radar they do not measure sigma naught directly. No they do not measure sigma naught directly. Instead they measure something known as a radar brightness or beta naught. Now the actual geometrical area illuminated is something which we do not know. Let me repeat the actual geometrical area that is getting illuminated is something we do not know. Why? Why do I say that we do not know? Because of topographical variations. The actual area may be different from A. Predicted area is different. Actual area is different. And if we do not have information about the topography the radar brightness shall be used as a measure of backscatter. Radar brightness used as a measure of backscatter. Now say we have information about the topography through some means. Then we can get the value of sigma naught by using the expression beta naught by sine of theta i where theta i is nothing but the incident angle. And what is beta naught? It is nothing but the brightness, radar brightness beta naught. What is the difference between beta naught and sigma naught? The difference is in the area considered. Why? Because the actual geometrical area that is getting illuminated is something we do not know because of topographical variations. So, if we do not have information about topography whatever we get as radar brightness that is beta naught we can use it directly as a measure of backscatter. Now on the contrary if we have information about the topography to get the value of sigma naught that is normalized radar cross section we can use this simple expression. I will show you a diagram shortly wherein you are able to visually understand the difference between these sigma naught and beta naught. Now please remember that as the incident angle increases the scattered energy per unit surface area also changes. So, let me reiterate as the incident angle is increasing the scattered energy per unit surface area is also changing. So, the system as such is just comparing the outgoing radiation and the incoming radiation. The radar system as such is just comparing the outgoing radiation and incoming radiation and it cannot determine the amount of energy drop off due to differing incidence angles. Amount of energy drop off due to differing incidence angles cannot be determined by a radar system. So, for convenience we use another term known as gamma which is nothing but sigma naught by cos of theta i. We already know what is sigma naught. Now theta i is nothing but the incident angle. So, we started to understand about scattering cross section and we have covered sigma naught, beta naught and gamma. Of course, you will be understanding how to estimate this as part of the tutorials and we will be delving deeper about what each term means as the lecture progresses. This is just to give you a quick round of introduction on what these terms mean. Just to remind you why we are learning all this. It is to derive the radar equation for which we need to understand about radar cross section. We have already seen this and again back scattering cross section. Yes, we have already covered this. In fact, we went a little bit further to understand about sigma naught and gamma images as well, isn't it? Now left is gain of an antenna. So, to understand what is gain of an antenna, let me play a small video. You may have seen it earlier but just to refresh your memory. Remember, one can compare a radar antenna to your ears and remember the example when I mentioned that in a dark room, you hear a sound and your automatic response is going to be, you are going to turn your head and point your ears to the direction from where the sound was heard. That is an automatic response. This is known as directional sensitivity. You feel that by turning your head and hence pointing your ear in a particular direction, you shall be able to listen or hear in a much better manner because it is pitch dark and you are unable to use your vision. Similarly, let me play the video again. Always the total amount of return echo that enters a SAR system that enters a synthetic aperture radar system is dependent on the sensitivity of antenna to direction. I am using the term sensitivity, sensitivity of antenna to direction and we already know that antenna is considered as an aperture. Antenna is considered as an aperture. So, the gain of an antenna refers to the combination of sensitivity to direction and antenna efficiency, gain of an antenna. And we estimate gain of an antenna by using this expression that is antenna efficiency multiplied by physical area of the antenna multiplied by 4 pi by lambda square. So, slowly when we start our modules on active microwave remote sensing, we will try to derive this expression. But for now, I want you to understand what is gain of an antenna because antenna is considered as an aperture. The gain refers to the combination of sensitivity to direction. Remember the example I gave you with the ears and dark room and you pointing your head and ears, use that in your mind. So, sensitivity to direction and antenna efficiency. When we combine both of them, we get something known as gain of an antenna and the expression is antenna efficiency multiplied by physical area of antenna multiplied by 4 pi by lambda square. Now, as we have completed our understanding of key terms required for deriving a radar equation, let us proceed further. So, just to reiterate what is a radar equation? It is the fundamental relationship that explains the measured power of return echo, measured power of return echo. And it tells us what proportion of transmitted energy is received by the receiver, what part of transmitted energy is getting returned from the target. So, to derive a radar equation, we need R that is nothing but range of target from the antenna. We need G that is directional sensitivity of the antenna. We need radar cross section which we denote by the Greek letter sigma. So, let Pt be the power transmitted by the instrument, power transmitted by the instrument. So, what are we going to do? We are going to derive, understand a radar equation. For that, we have already defined R as range, G as antenna gain, sigma as radar cross section. So, now I am going to use Pt to denote the power transmitted by the instrument. And I am going to use P suffix s as the power scattered by the target, power scattered by the target. I am going to use P suffix r to denote the power that is received at the instrument, power received at the instrument. Easy to remember Pt is the power transmitted and Ps is the power that is getting scattered by a target and Pr is nothing but the power that is getting received. Remember Ps is a part of Pt. Okay? Remember also that while the instrument is transmitting Pt that is power transmitted, it is getting intercepted by a target. You know, it is getting intercepted by a target and some amount of energy is going to be redirected towards the antenna, what we call as backscattered. Some amount is going to be redirected, backscattered towards the antenna and we need to write an expression for the power backscattered by target. Okay? So, we want an expression to write what is power backscattered by target. Ps is nothing but it is a small part of the transmitted power, isn't it? The power that is getting scattered, backscattered by a target is a small proportion of Pt which is given by the expression Pt multiplied by g that is gain of an antenna multiplied by, so what is this? This is the proportional area intercepted by target by surface area of a sphere of radius r, r in our case is range.  So, sigma by 4 pi r square is nothing but proportional area that is getting intercepted by a target by surface area of a sphere of radius r. So, the power backscattered by a target, the power that a scatterer returns it is given by Ps that is Pt g sigma by 4 pi r square. Now, remember that if we increase the distance that is r, the power returned to antenna is going to reduce, isn't it? So, imagine at what altitude the sensor is available when the platform is a satellite, it is kilometer square more than 500, 600 kilometers. So, when we are increasing the distance that is range distance r, the power that will be returned to the antenna is going to reduce which means the power returned to antenna shall reduce by a factor of 4 pi r square as per this expression, yes? So, here it is worthwhile to include the effective area. We should include the effective area that is area of antenna to the surface area of a sphere with radius r. So, what we will do is we will write the expression for power received.  We now know what it is. I am going to use one more expression that is effective area of antenna by 4 pi r square. So, we have tried to define Ps, power scattered, we have tried to define Pr that is power that is received. We already know that gain of an antenna is nothing but antenna efficiency, antenna efficiency into physical area of antenna 4 pi by lambda square. We already know that. And this expression that is antenna efficiency into physical area of the antenna is nothing but effective area of the antenna. So, let me rewrite g as effective area of antenna into 4 pi by lambda square. We already saw this expression when I was playing the video where years are to be compared with a radar antenna. So, from this we can write effective area of the antenna is nothing but g lambda square by 4 pi, hold this thought in your mind so that we can use this for deriving the radar equation. So, let us rewrite what we have. By now we know that Pr is nothing but Pt multiplied by gain of antenna multiplied by sigma by 4 pi r square into Ae effective area of the antenna by 4 pi r square. I am going to call it as 1, equation 1. And we have already seen that effective area of the antenna is nothing but g lambda square by 4 pi. I am going to call it as equation 2. So, I want to substitute 2 in 1. I want to substitute the value of effective area of antenna in 1 so that now equation 1 is going to become Pr equals Pt into g into sigma by 4 pi r square into already we have 4 pi r square. On top of it we are going to substitute the value of Ae that is effective area of the antenna and this is the expression what we get. Let us make it more refined. Pr is going to be Pt into g square into lambda square sigma by 4 pi cube r raised to 4. Power received is written as a function of power transmitted, gain of the antenna, lambda that is wavelength, sigma radar cross section or that is radar range. Remember as r increases the received power decreases and we can write the radar equation rewritten as signal to noise ratio SNR. Now I hope that you remember the concept of radar cross section RCS. From this expression we can also estimate the target radar cross section that is sigma. From the same expression we can get the value of sigma which will be Pr 4 pi cube r to the power 4 by Pt g square lambda square. We will be covering some numericals on this but you know the same expression I have rearranged to get the value of sigma radar cross section, the target radar cross section. So this is what is known as a radar equation. It gives you the relationship between transmitted power and received power by using gain of an antenna wavelength radar cross section that is to be more specific the target radar cross section and the range. So we have already seen what is target radar cross section by rearranging the terms. We have estimated what is sigma which is nothing but Pr 4 pi cube r to the power 4 by Pt transmitted power g square lambda square. So here remember gain of the antenna wavelength range received power target radar cross section and we have already seen that we can get something known as a normalized radar cross section that is sigma naught which is nothing but sigma by A what you see on the screen. Normalized radar cross section and please note that A is the area over which measurement is being made. So I will let you understand the radar equation and radar cross section let it sink in. This is the radar equation. So what we understood as part of this lecture was we tried to derive the radar equation by first understanding each of the key terminologies that are required such as gain of an antenna, radar cross section RCS and we also understood what is scattering cross section. What is normalized radar cross section? What is sigma naught? What is beta naught? What is gamma? And we began by deriving the radar equation and finally we have also understood that from the radar equation I can get the target area target radar cross section and also I can get sigma naught which is normalized radar cross section. So let me hope that you found this part of the lecture useful and I will see you in the next class. Thank you.


All right, good morning and welcome to this morning's weekly mentoring hour. It's a pleasure always to get together like this and be able to talk about matters which are on our hearts. So we will talk about one such subject this morning as well. Before that, let's begin with a word of prayer. I'd like to request anyone from the audience, either faculty or students, to please go ahead and lead us in a word of prayer and then we will get into this morning session. A gracious, loving Heavenly Father God, we praise and thank you, Lord, for this precious time. Lord, you're lovely, you've given us a lot of good, Father God, as we have all gathered this morning. Lord, to understand the ways in which your Lord God, your children, should lead in this world and be as ambassadors for you, O Father God, Lord, bless this session, enable us to have a Lord and enriching experience and Lord God help us to implement those in our lives. We commit this time, this date into your hands, be glorified and be magnified, for we ask all this in the most precious name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Sister Esther. We've had a couple of sessions this semester on the subject of leadership, but today uniquely we're going to look at what followership is all about and how that is also important. So I just hand over this time to Pastor Roshan to enlighten us on this subject of followership. Over to you, Pastor Roshan. Thank you, Pastor Nancy. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining in. Let me share my screen. Okay. Right. So this whole topic has been on my heart for a while. I've been studying on this for at least four or five years now on the topic of followership, but it was all birthed out of while studying about on the topic of leadership. Yeah, so I want to make one thing very clear that this is just another side of the same coin, right? So we have a coin and if you played any game and if you said, let's put a toss, and I don't know about you when I called a toss, when the coin went up. Most of the times, very rarely, I've called out tales, I don't know about you. Most of the times, we tend to call out heads and heads, you know. So I think leadership is a topic like that and followership is also such a topic where there are two sides of the same coin, but we tend to look at only one side of the coin, which is leadership and there's nothing wrong with that and I want to make that very clear, right? Because there is so much talk in this day and age especially about being a good leader, you know, being able to delegate or being able to handle situations very well, being able to lead very well, you know, to be like Mr. Captain Kool, Ms. Doni, you know, things like that, seize the day, et cetera, you know, if the thousands of books on leadership, I can hardly, I'm not sure if there are any books on followership. There are so many conferences, workshops, seminars on leadership and one of our, actually one of our churches, our location churches, meets in a school and there you see posters all around about saying how we train the students to become, you know, great leaders of tomorrow. This is all this pressure and talk about being great leaders and if you don't become a leader, you're a failure in life kind of thing, you know, but yeah, let me just share some of the, in the chat section I'll put some of the key words that, that's searched on the topic of leadership, you see people look for, every time they Google search for leadership, these are probably the topics that they go for, like leadership codes, leadership conferences, academy, what is leadership, leader, leadership development, leaders, definitions on leadership institute, leadership institute training, you get the whole point, right? These are all something that you and I would have searched for, but and very rarely we, we speak about being a good follower or followership in general, I'm sure we do in, you know, not in the exact word as followership or follower, but I just wanted to share a little bit, I'm in no way any expert on this topic yet, I'm just doing my studies and on this. So yeah, also what is a followership? It's simply, it is the ability to take direction well, to get in line behind a program, to be part of it, aim and to deliver on what is expected of you. That's simply what a followership is, right? How well the followers follow is probably just as important to any organization or an enterprise is success as how well a leader's lead, okay? So how well a follower follows is just as important to the success of an enterprise or an organization to how well a leader's lead.  But that's a gist of what a followership is, it's simply the ability to take direction well and to get in line behind a team or your organization or your leader and get the vision right and to be part of that and to deliver on what is expected of you. It's what it is and it is in this day and age, it is very important to be a good follower. There is a season to follow and there is a season to lead. So the challenge that I've observed, this is again my observation and my opinion is what I've observed being part of ministry and whatnot is everybody wants to be a born leader, everybody wants to be a leader right away and nobody's willing to go through the process of what it is, you know, to follow someone. And so, and there is a season to follow, there is a season to lead. If everybody wants to be queens and kings, who will be soldiers, right? And if everybody wants to be served, who will serve? And if everybody wants to be a leader, who will follow? Right? So there is a season like a Joshua to a Moses and as you can see on the screen, Elisha to Elijah, Ruth to Naomi, Timothy to Paul, disciples of Jesus, for that matter, right? So a season to follow and a season to lead. I just want to make a side note book suggestion, which is which is called Armour Bearer by Kerry Nance. This is something that you can look at. Okay, so yeah, let's move on. I just want to share very quickly some of the marks of a good follower while you're in the season of following someone, following a leader or, you know, part of you're a follower in a team or in an organization, you get the whole point, right? So how some of the marks of a good follower in this season is one. In this season, you learn to serve wholeheartedly, right? You know, don't have an agenda of, okay, when am I going to become a leader? When am I going to become a leader? When am I going to become a leader? Don't make that your obsession. But in this season of following someone, serve wholeheartedly. You know, I've used this example many times, but in Exodus chapter 40, we see about Moses. You know, in that chapter, last chapter of Exodus, we see this statement that's being made saying Moses did just as the Lord commanded at least eight times in that chapter. He did as the Lord commanded. He did as the Lord commanded. He did as the Lord commanded. That means Moses served wholeheartedly. He obeyed the Lord. And another great story that comes to my mind is David. One of the greatest promotion of his life came on the day where he just simply served his father.  No, it says that his father Jesse calls David and says, take this bread and cheese and go give it to your brothers who are at war in the battlefield. And so David just served his father and said, okay, father, I'll take this and I will go give it to my brothers. And it is in the process of just simply serving what can use that season and to elevate you from being a shepherd to a giant killer. But it all begins with this attitude to serve. There's a very famous quote, it says, rule with the heart of a servant and serve with the heart of a king. And the second point, which I'll quickly want to move on to, okay, the first one is serve wholeheartedly. The second point is submit to authority. So there's a difference between submission and obedience, right? You can obey someone even if you simply because you have to or you don't feel like it, you have to obey. It depends on the kind of person that you're leading or the part or the kind of team or an organization that you are part of, right? So submission differs from obedience. It is pointing to the posture of your heart or it implies to a positive heart attitude, so to speak. So submission is a choice to joyfully put ourselves under the authority of another. Okay, I'll say that again, submission is a choice to joyfully put ourselves under the authority of another. One of the first worship leaders in the Bible had serious problems with submission. But then we see that and there are so many examples, good examples in the Bible. One of them comes to my mind is from First Chronicles chapter 25. Students from Praise and Worship or Worship Ministry will know this, First Chronicles chapter 25. We see that the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jiruthin and all of them were under the supervision of the king, right? They were all under the supervision or in other words, they were under the submission, right? I just want to share something on a personal note. So I was part of a Christian band. I used to play the drums and so and every time we were called to lead worship in different churches or events, our worship leader, the singer, the lead vocalist will come and share the song list with us, with the six of us in the band, and say, okay, we're going to do so and so and so. And I couldn't mind my own business because and I question is, do you think that song would work? Do you really think that song would work? I don't think that Hindi song will work with this audience here. You know, and over the 15 years, we've had a lot of conversations like that. But then and one thing what the vocalist would say or the worship leader would tell me is, hey, trust me, trust me on this, trust me on this, he will share with the whole team about why he's chosen that song. And okay, so now I know where he wants to go. But even I was disagreement after the end of that program. The song that I didn't want to be part of the set I would have worked perfectly. And I was like, huh. Right. So there's something about trusting the leader, even if you don't feel like it, which as long as that is not ethically questioned. Right. So ethically or morally questioned, that's a different topic altogether. So serve wholeheartedly, submit to authority and slander no one. So when you are a follower, it is very easy and very tempting to talk ill or bad about people around you in the team and also especially our leaders or the person that you are following. Right. Because leaders are very easy targets of gossip and criticism. And so as part of a team member or a follower, it is very important that you also, you know, protect yourself, your heart, your spirit, your soul from being polluted by slandering. But you also protect your leader. Right. In Titus chapter three, verse one and two, I put it on the chat section for us. Titus chapter three, verse one and two, it says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy to all people. Right. So it does talk about all people, but and I also want to emphasize on protecting our leaders because they are easy targets of gossip and criticism. And as a follower, it is very important that you protect your heart as well. Okay. So slander is a big no no for a good follower. There was a saying in the World War Two, during the times of World War Two, and this is a very nice book you can read it when you can. It's called Turn the Ship Around. It says, the famous saying was, lose lips, sink ships. Lose lips, sink ships. So in other words, it's saying that the ship was as strong as the power of discretion, in other words. Right. Talking about work matters inappropriately was at best unhelpful and more likely harmful. So serve wholeheartedly, submit to authority and slander no one. Right. So I hope you all are with me. Just give me two, three more minutes and we'll be done. So when eventually when you move on to become a leader, you don't stop following because as a Christian, we are all called to follow Jesus to be his disciples. We are the follower of Christ. We are followers of Christ. Right. So and this is where our following game just goes up another level. Right. So we don't stop following when we become a leader. You know, I was just doing a study about discipleship a while ago and from the culture, from the Jewish culture's point of view, you know, they started school at the age of two, the Jewish kids, they would put them in and they would go to, you know, a rabbi and that was a school from the age of two. And by the time that they are eight or 10, they know the whole of Old Testament by heart. They knew the whole of Old Testament by heart. Kids, you know, eight year old, 10 year olds. And after they completed that, let's say, let's just call it high school, they had two choices. The children had two choices. One, they could, if they could afford and if they could have the, if they could afford, they could go to a rabbi and, you know, continue being a student or they could follow in their family business, the, you know, profession, whatever it is, fishing, whatever. And so as a student, I would go to this rabbi and say, can I be your disciple? Can I be your disciple? And then the rabbi would take a call and decide on his marks, you know, et cetera, and say, okay, you can be my follower. But Jesus did the opposite. He went to the people and said, follow me. Right? And so there's this incredible call on our lives to be the followers of Jesus Christ. And we all know that, right? And so we don't stop following when we become a leader. We continue to trust in Him when things get hard and uncertain. And as good follower, the mark is that we learn to listen to the voice of the shepherd, that we become familiar with His voice. Because in John 10, 27 says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And Psalm 23 says, He leads me in the path of righteousness. That means if He leads, I should be willing to follow. Right? Psalm 139, search me and know me. Oh God, and see if there's any wicked ways in me. And lead me in the way everlasting. That means there is a willingness to follow.   His ways are higher. His ways are holy. His ways are just. His ways reveal who He is. He is the way. And so He's revealed all of this to us in the Scriptures. And it is up to us to be a good follower and say, Yes. So that's in a gist. This isn't so much to talk about on this topic, but we could go in a hundred different directions. But I just wanted to share very briefly on the importance of being a good follower in a culture where only one side of the coin is looked at. And we need to teach people the importance of being a good follower, the importance of, the importance to serve, to have that attitude of serving, and to not to, not to yearn for platforms, etc. Okay. But thank you for listening. Now you may now direct all your questions towards Pastor Nancy and the pastoral team. Sure. Thank you Pastor Ocean for this unique perspective. I know we do talk about it, but not as much and good to dwell on the subject of followership and see how this is important, not necessarily with the thought that, you know, one day we're going to be a leader, but just sincerely being a good follower. Yeah, so crucial. Yes, of course, we can have our questions right now. I just want to encourage all of us, if you have any questions about followership or any connected subject, any other subject, absolutely different subject, please feel free, you can ask your questions and we'll direct it to the appropriate people. Yeah. Thank you. You may unmute and ask or even post it on the chat, please. Oh, while we wait on our question, Pastor Nancy, it's just one final thought if I may add. Many leaders or who appear to be leaders will have, it's very important for us to understand the difference between fan versus a follower. For example, Justin Bieber has a lot of fans, but Martin Luther King had a lot of followers and Jesus, again in the Gospels, we see that time and time again, he separated the crowd or the fans who just wanted to come and see him and his followers. So when he made this famous summon, which was not very famous, he said, eat my body and drink my blood. You see a lot of the fans or the crowd left and only his followers stayed back. So followers are someone who are willing to pay the price and if not for Thomas, who was a follower of Jesus, the Christianity would not have reached India and I'm sure God in the sovereignty would have brought his message to our land, but very thankful to a follower of Jesus who brought the message of the gospel to our land. Thank you for that thought. Maybe I can begin with a question. I was just wondering about how do we make up our mind to follow someone? What could be some of the motivating factors to pick someone as that one leader who we want to follow? Any comments on that? Every time that again, this is my personal way of, if I, one factor is that they own my trust and how I learn to trust them is I see that they follow the voice of God. I'm just talking about Christian leader here. So again, it's going back to two different kinds of worship leaders in my life that I learned a lesson from was one again, a person called Nixon. So when he was leading worship, he would come to the whole band and say, these are the songs I'm picking and we did that for like 12, 13 years. And I know, okay, he knows what he's doing. He is following. He's sensitive to the voice of God. He prepares and I think preparing is one of the important parts and I see how a person prepares, comes prepared to lead the people. And then there was another worship leader called Ray he would come and he would not talk about the songs. He would not tell us what songs he's doing, but he would just step into the prophetic. And then in the beginning, it was very scary because we were until that point, we were like this musicians who were like, tell me the scale, which key are we doing this in? What's the time signature? And then we'll follow you. But no, he just said, no, just follow me. And it was just, it took me just one session to trust him. And that was to know that, okay, this man hears and follows the voice of God. And so there was the preparation process from one person. And there was this person who was sensitive to the leading of, and so I think for me personally, that was very important is if I want to follow up a leader, I want to know that this person is sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit from his word or just being sensitive. And so that's my take, Pastor Nancy. Sure, thank you. That's really helpful. We'll just hold on for some questions from others here. Yeah, we have a post by Sanjay and read it out. He says, we honor soldiers who lay down their lives for country and king.  This is not my prediction. History is a witness to this phenomenon where kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, where kings rise and kings fall.  How much more honor and glory should we give to him who truly is above all? Thank you, Sanjay, for sharing that. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have that assurance that he's the eternal king and the best person to follow, the best person to submit your life to. And how wonderful. Any other queries? And just one thought, just a couple of scriptures actually. Just thought a couple of scriptures got my attention. One is like one Quentin's 11 and verse one where Paul tells the Quentin Church, you know, imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. So he being a leader, a spiritual leader, a father, the one who started the church, established the church there. So saying, you know, you imitate me, follow me as I imitate Christ. So I think that's a good plumb line or a good guideline to follow. Is the person whom I'm following, are they following Christ? And the same thing, I think in Hebrews 13 and verse 7, where Hebrews 13 and 7, where the exhortations, remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow and then considering the outcome of their conduct. So follow, you know, follow the testimony, follow their faith, but consider the outcome of their conduct. So same, same as what Paul says, you know, imitate me as I imitate Christ. So that's a good guideline to have. Yeah, just sort of add that. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor. Yes, that's helpful for us to know that we must be following after those who are ready to imitate Christ and to really follow by their conduct and their life example. Yeah, any other thoughts or questions? Please feel free to unmute and ask. Okay, Sam has a question here in the chat. He says, as a follower of leaders, what are some signs to let go considering it's a season? Would you like to address that, Pastor Ocean? You want to answer that and then probably I'll add to it. Okay, sure. Okay, so what are some signs to let go? So, Sam, I'm understanding this as from the follower's perspective when, you know, you sense that it's time to move on. I personally feel that it's the hardest thing and yeah, it depends on the assignment. We see that God gives us life assignments and also very many assignments which could be shorter for a season in our lives. And during those shorter assignments when we are connected to a leader, most likely, you know, at the end of that assignment when you've come to complete what was required, we may actually move place or we may move into the next assignment and it is important at that time to actually transition nicely but clearly so that you are fully engaged in your next assignment. So it will require a discernment. So signs is what you're asking. So signs would be completion of that assignment. Signs would be a sense of confirmation in our own spirit by the Holy Spirit. So, you know, we have peace about the matter of moving on. And yeah, so completion of the assignment and peace in our hearts, I think would be two signs. And as I stated earlier to be able to communicate that nicely and move on from the assignment. But that does not mean, you know, we cut off ties in terms of our relationship. We could still have great relationship with those leaders but move on to the next assignment. So those are some thoughts from my end. Yes, Pastor I think, Pastor Masi, you answered what I wanted to share. Yeah, it's Sam again about discerning and just being sensitive to God's voice, his leading, his guidance in our lives. And so at least that's how he's helped me discern the seasons in my life from at least from the time I was 18. I can remember that he would tell that, okay, my season there is over. He would not necessarily say what's next, but then he would say that my season there is over. And what is important is to be able to discern the seasons and continue to rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit. And also just to re-emphasize what Pastor Masi mentioned, that it's, you know, leaving on a good note or moving on on a good note is very important as well. Yeah, thank you, Pastor Roshan. So I always remember this one statement, don't burn your bridges. So just because you're moving on, it doesn't mean that, you know, you need to disconnect in a very unpleasant way. Yeah, sure. Thanks Sam for that really important question. Any follow-up question to that or any other aspect to discuss about? Okay, Surin has a question in the chat, she asks, as a follower, what are the things that you can follow in a leader? Somewhat similar to our earlier question of picking a leader, but yes, I think we can answer this question. Yeah, Pastor, as in, I mean, to stick all the good qualities as in just a very realistic practical in-world qualities as well. If the leader is competent, you learn that from him as the leader, the leader's work ethic, leader's honesty, leader's character, leader's integrity, all of those good things and also the spiritual aspect of it. You know, under the practical and the realistic stuff is all these competence. Is the leader, you know, being able to make good decisions, judgments? Is the leader courageous? Is the leader, how is the leader's work ethics? You know, is the leader on time, etc, etc. Those are all the practical in-world, real-world things versus the spiritual as well. Is the leader walking in incredibly conduct, etc, etc. So those are all the things that you can pick up from a leader. And again, like as you mentioned, that would be something that we answered in the previous session as well on picking a good leader. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for that. So Rin has, okay, all right. So Rin, is this a follow-up to your earlier question or an independent one? But anyway, I'll go ahead and read Rin's first and then go back to Leena's question. She asks, is it fine if we copy the way they dress, say things, etc. So, okay, I want to say it in two different ways. One is when we talk about disciple or discipleship, again, there's a saying in the Jewish culture. It's called in the dust of the rabbi. In the dust of the rabbi, that means the end goal of the discipleship process is for the disciple to be like the rabbi, in his conduct, in the way that he knows the word, etc, etc. And so in the dust of the rabbi, that saying comes from, you walk so closely with the rabbi so that as the rabbi walks, the dust that's coming off the sandals is on yours as well. And so that's a good part about it. But then to answer your question here and I, in this context, want to copy the way they dress and say things, would I do it? Not really.  And as a young worship leader, you know, for example, Michael W. Smith was one of the first English worship leaders that I was introduced to, or I've seen, this is in early 2001 or 2002, when I saw all these big instruments and I was like, Oh Lord, what is this? Until then I was playing tambourine in the church.  You know, I wanted that guitar. And so you learn, we are, you know, as children from our toddlers age, we like to imitate. That's an innate thing, you know, children tend to copy us, the adults. So, you learn a lot of things in that process, but then it's very important for us to remember who we are and to stay true to our uniqueness and to find your own voice, to find your identity and not lose your identity in the process of taking inspiration from someone. So I would say, inspiration versus copy, they're two very different things. Thank you for that point, Pastor Ocean. So we inspire, but don't copy every aspect of the leader. Now, coming to Nina's question here, she's asking, can we say in order to be a good follower or submit to authority in any given situation, if it will be possible to do it in the way it needs to be done, when we submit to God, and he enables us to be good followers. So I think I'll just direct this question to Pastor Jay Kumar. Pastor Jay Kumar, would you like to comment on this? Yeah, just trying to understand the question actually. In order to be good followers or submit to authority and again, would it be possible to do it in the way it needs to be done? If we submit to God and he enables us to be good followers, I think my understanding, Nina, you can correct me, is when we submit to God, then we'll be able to submit to the leader the way it needs to be done. Is that a correct way of looking at it? Yeah, I think it'll be good if you can clarify, Nina. Sure. So, all right, Nina, would you like to clarify? Yeah, if it's okay if I unmute here. Yes, but Nancy, that's what I meant. So, because in that particular, the way it is the hierarchy of any, whether it's at home or church, when we do that, I mean, when we submit to God and then he gives us the right thing. I mean, he gives the ability to be able to do it how it is meant to be. I mean, within a situation whether it's in church or so, he gives us the ability and the grace to do that, to be able to submit, because there is a way in all these, how these things function. So, like even if it's at home, like, okay, if we have differing opinions or whatever. So, but when we keep that overall perspective that, okay, we submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, that's what I mean. So, that way then we're able to submit in the right way. That's what that was my question. Yeah. Yeah. Very true. Because, well, God is the author of this divine, I think, design here. He has designed, you can say, authority, the flow of authority. So, he has designed it. So, whenever we submit to his design, we are actually submitting to his word. And when we submit to his word, there is always the grace that we receive and the authority that we receive to carry out the assignment. Like James, we submit to God and resist the devil. So, when we are submitting to his divine design, we are actually submitting to his word, submitting to his authority. And therefore, we receive that flow of grace, empowering of grace to fulfill that assignment. So, yes. What you're saying is, yeah, very true. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Master Ekumar. And thank you, Nina, for clarifying that question. We go on to Shri Radha's question here, where she states, and sometimes Pastor, when we follow someone, we become like them. Maybe we're not copying them, but unknowingly we adopt some of the things from them. Is that right? So, just leave it open to anyone who may want to answer that. Yeah. I think it's kind of natural for that to happen, Shri Radha. Yeah, you're not intentionally wanting to copy, but then you are just influenced, I should say, by the way they conduct themselves. Oh, yeah, by the way, they just do life. Yeah, I think it's okay. But then it's, but you need to just keep asking yourself, are you being true to yourself? Again, just going back to Rin's question as well is, it's very important that we don't lose our identity in that process. It's very important because God has a unique plan for you that He wants to do in and through you. So, it's very important that we don't lose the sight of that. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for clarifying. Pastor Ocean and Shri Radha, I hope, yes, she says, thank you, Pastor. And that has addressed her question. So, if there are any further questions, we could take it up. We have a couple of minutes. If not, we could pray and wrap up for today. All right. So, I think we will pray and close for today and we take back with us so much about followership and how God gives us an opportunity to follow someone, to really shape our lives from the good things that we can see in the lives of leaders around us. And it really builds us up. And we can follow well when we are submitted to God. And our submission to the leader comes from there. Just reminded of First Peter that talks about submission in various levels and also where it calls a slave to submit to their masters. And in our context today, for us to be able to submit to our leaders in the workplace, in the church and other areas of our life. So, let's close with a word of prayer. I would like to request any one of us to please pray. Kiran, would it be possible for you to lead us? Yeah, I will just pray. Yes, please, sir. Yeah. Father, we just thank you for this time, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for speaking to us. Lord, all of us follow leaders, Lord. And I pray that you would give us the grace, you would give us the wisdom to be good followers, Lord. First of you, Jesus, our Savior, Lord. I pray that we would be good followers of you, Lord. And I pray that we would be good stewards and followers of our leaders, Lord. Give us the right heart. Give us the right posture, Lord. And I just thank you for this session. Thank you, Lord, for the wisdom that is imparted. I pray that it would fall on good ground. And I pray, Lord, that we would manifest whatever that is being taught, Lord, in our lives, in our lives personally, Lord. And I pray that we would be great followers and we'd be great examples of great followers, Lord. The world needs good followers, Lord. And I just thank you for this session. Thank you, Lord, for our faculty. We just want to bless them. As we go about our days, I pray, Lord, that you bless us and keep us. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Pastor Ocean, for this really strengthening session. God bless you. And thank you, everyone, for connecting on the mentoring hour this morning. God bless you. Have a wonderful day. Thank you, Pastor. Bye.