I have never been religious...have read the scriptures but in a limited sort of a way. My interactions with God have mostly been daily conversations, actually monologues from my side, which I know He hears and the results are the testimony. But today things are a bit different. I now know why we need religion or specific methods to pray for specific problems. I am desparate to say the right prayers for the right effects, but am at a loss.
I need prayers to alleviate the sufferings of an ailing elder sister. The apple of the eye of my parents, a pink doll born to my mother 55 years ago and been the soul of our family of four sisters. The romance in her marriage to one of the few good men I have seen in my life is still intact. A mother of two beautiful, grown up successful children.
I live in hope. I see hope in her tired eyes, hope is everywhere. The day she is able to eat more than a couple of morsels of food is a happy day for me. I was with her to hold her hand through the tough diagnosis and the despair in the doctor's voice. But hope lives in me.I try to prise open crevices of hope from granite walls of despair, I cling to the new tender, green leaves of hope caught in the vise-like grip of deadened vines of despair.
I have faith in the Almighty and understand it is not his business to give us clues to his plans. We must pass the test of our patience and faith. I pray, but in my own way...different from the people of my faith. I talk to Him, intense, desperate, one-sided conversations. It unburdens my heart, heals my bruised soul, which I am sure will turn into showers of blessings for my sister.
In the faith, each day I live...
Friday, 19 June 2009
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Change - Not always for the better?
Two Eastern India states got battered by the Cyclone Aila...widespread devastation, 60 dead and still counting..A newspaper called it a 'perfect storm'. Rural and urban life disrupted, villages marooned, large areas without electricity, flights cancelled, trains stranded, public transport ground to a halt, made for a perfect South Asian coastal story.
Climate change has now become a part of our real lives. Summer which normally starts from April, started this year from mid-February, ending in an unusually hot April. We had no winter to speak of. Earlier, winter used to linger till mid-March and we would have sultry, scorching weekly stretches interspersed with welcome nor'westers and this pattern would continue till the first week of June when the long awaited monsoon would come down with all its fury.
However, this year, its all changed. Man, bird and beast are confused. The cyclone which left a trail of devastation in Gangetic West Bengal and Orissa also left a trail of landslides in the Darjeeling Hills, has also pulled the South West Monsoons ahead of schedule. It is the last week of May and we are already in monsoon zone. Wonder what else is in store later this year.
I feel now that enough time has been spent pontificating about how the weather is changing and how it will affect us adversely. It is now time to think how to implement eco-friendly measures in our lifestyles through a mix of radical and gradual changes.
In climate change, we must read the fine print written by God himself. It should urge us to think and act more responsibly. Surely, the religious scriptures mean the ultimate disastrous effects of climate change when they talk about the end of the world. Have they prescribed preventives?
We need to recognise this subtle message and act. The time is now!
Climate change has now become a part of our real lives. Summer which normally starts from April, started this year from mid-February, ending in an unusually hot April. We had no winter to speak of. Earlier, winter used to linger till mid-March and we would have sultry, scorching weekly stretches interspersed with welcome nor'westers and this pattern would continue till the first week of June when the long awaited monsoon would come down with all its fury.
However, this year, its all changed. Man, bird and beast are confused. The cyclone which left a trail of devastation in Gangetic West Bengal and Orissa also left a trail of landslides in the Darjeeling Hills, has also pulled the South West Monsoons ahead of schedule. It is the last week of May and we are already in monsoon zone. Wonder what else is in store later this year.
I feel now that enough time has been spent pontificating about how the weather is changing and how it will affect us adversely. It is now time to think how to implement eco-friendly measures in our lifestyles through a mix of radical and gradual changes.
In climate change, we must read the fine print written by God himself. It should urge us to think and act more responsibly. Surely, the religious scriptures mean the ultimate disastrous effects of climate change when they talk about the end of the world. Have they prescribed preventives?
We need to recognise this subtle message and act. The time is now!
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Tough Mind and Matters
Tough babe, hard and aggressive b***ch and a new Mother's Day epithet...'Kickass Mom' by my proud daughters..are some of the nicknames I have gathered over the years. Other remarks like tactless, undiplomatic or calling a spade a spade, not mincing words have been used to describe me since childhood. Wonder what is wrong in being straight and simple? But at first glance or second meetings no one yet has got this impression. Its only people who know me really well have this opinion.
Sometimes life puts you through the shredder. And the only way you recover is to build a wall around you, because you want to protect soft, hurting self that is really you?
Here is something that happened last evening which made me seriously question whether I was tough by any stretch of imagination...
Every evening 6:30 to 7:45 is my walk and exercise hour. I walk on this nice grassy field behind my flat as my mornings are usually rushed with sending kids to school and getting ready for office. Normally I see familiar walkers and it has been quite safe to be out at hat time. Yesterday however, the place was uncharacteristically deserted. Storm clouds were gathering and a strong breeze was beginning to blow. Just then, I saw a character walking his dog. He could have been a servant of someone in the extended neighbourhood. The aura around him seemed peculiar, with the gait of someone who is either an addict or of unsound mind.
I saw him tie his dog to a nearby fence and head straight towards me. I can't remember when I was last in this sort of a panic!
Not wanting to show that I was in any way affected, I assumed my most stud-like, aggressive walk, held up my hand and rotated my wrist, clenched it into a fist and looked him straight in the eye! Seeing him closely I understood he was decidedly puny and I would win hands down if a fisticuff or a physical fight ensued!
My body language had the desired effect and he changed his direction and went off to lie face down on the field while I continued my walk, still v alert for any movement from his direction!!
On hindsight it was quite amusing, but on second thoughts I was wondering, what if my strategy did not work? What if he was a strong thug and not a puny idiot? Next time I ever go to my friendly-neighbourhood field for my walk, I must not forget to reach for the pepper spray!
Sometimes life puts you through the shredder. And the only way you recover is to build a wall around you, because you want to protect soft, hurting self that is really you?
Here is something that happened last evening which made me seriously question whether I was tough by any stretch of imagination...
Every evening 6:30 to 7:45 is my walk and exercise hour. I walk on this nice grassy field behind my flat as my mornings are usually rushed with sending kids to school and getting ready for office. Normally I see familiar walkers and it has been quite safe to be out at hat time. Yesterday however, the place was uncharacteristically deserted. Storm clouds were gathering and a strong breeze was beginning to blow. Just then, I saw a character walking his dog. He could have been a servant of someone in the extended neighbourhood. The aura around him seemed peculiar, with the gait of someone who is either an addict or of unsound mind.
I saw him tie his dog to a nearby fence and head straight towards me. I can't remember when I was last in this sort of a panic!
Not wanting to show that I was in any way affected, I assumed my most stud-like, aggressive walk, held up my hand and rotated my wrist, clenched it into a fist and looked him straight in the eye! Seeing him closely I understood he was decidedly puny and I would win hands down if a fisticuff or a physical fight ensued!
My body language had the desired effect and he changed his direction and went off to lie face down on the field while I continued my walk, still v alert for any movement from his direction!!
On hindsight it was quite amusing, but on second thoughts I was wondering, what if my strategy did not work? What if he was a strong thug and not a puny idiot? Next time I ever go to my friendly-neighbourhood field for my walk, I must not forget to reach for the pepper spray!
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Trivia, Tattle and Tra La La
A gap in posts and this is a post after long. Actually many posts within a post.
Last few days have gone past at a breakneck pace. An e-fight with an old school pal and a brand new blog to work on...
I fell prey to a writer's block, alternating tra la la moments with nosediving spirits. A fancy new way to describe mood swings?
Elections and the Indian Premier League took up most of my mindshare and both had their own share of hangamas and tamashas. . Well such is the Indian zeitgeist. Ah...how I love this word. It describes almost everything one wants to say!
Elections...in India just the heat, dust and horse trading are enough masala for an Indian reality show (as someone really dear once described).
The best two things about the IPL have so far been the blog www.fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com and the new Vodafone ads created for the game introducing new creatures called the 'Zoozoos'. Adorable and so funny, they have the whole nation in their grip. 29 ads, one introduced everyday makes the chemistry between Vidya Balan and Madhavan in rival Airtel ads lose their sizzle completely!
Those who have not seen them have missed something.
Soon IPL will be over and I guess this will be followed by some new decision to start releasing new Bollywood movies in multiplexes..an impasse spanning more than a month has led to no new pictures being released at multiplexes. And soon a new government will also take over.
This is going to be a season of new beginnings. And that is why I have decided that somewhere down the line I was wallowing in self pity. That I need to get a handle on life and move on? And to a new beginning I shall work for and that will be less self-pity and more tra la la moments (but some poems will continue!)? Easier said than done. But worth a try?
Ciao till the next post
Last few days have gone past at a breakneck pace. An e-fight with an old school pal and a brand new blog to work on...
I fell prey to a writer's block, alternating tra la la moments with nosediving spirits. A fancy new way to describe mood swings?
Elections and the Indian Premier League took up most of my mindshare and both had their own share of hangamas and tamashas. . Well such is the Indian zeitgeist. Ah...how I love this word. It describes almost everything one wants to say!
Elections...in India just the heat, dust and horse trading are enough masala for an Indian reality show (as someone really dear once described).
The best two things about the IPL have so far been the blog www.fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com and the new Vodafone ads created for the game introducing new creatures called the 'Zoozoos'. Adorable and so funny, they have the whole nation in their grip. 29 ads, one introduced everyday makes the chemistry between Vidya Balan and Madhavan in rival Airtel ads lose their sizzle completely!
Those who have not seen them have missed something.
Soon IPL will be over and I guess this will be followed by some new decision to start releasing new Bollywood movies in multiplexes..an impasse spanning more than a month has led to no new pictures being released at multiplexes. And soon a new government will also take over.
This is going to be a season of new beginnings. And that is why I have decided that somewhere down the line I was wallowing in self pity. That I need to get a handle on life and move on? And to a new beginning I shall work for and that will be less self-pity and more tra la la moments (but some poems will continue!)? Easier said than done. But worth a try?
Ciao till the next post
Monday, 4 May 2009
The hand of God
Sometimes, you feel God's presence when you see perfection. And perfection is what I see when I go through the young Iranian painter Iman Maleki's works. Being creative is human but being perfect is God-like. Have uploaded some pictures produced by this extraordinary young man and you can get to see more of him at www.imanmaleki.com
Iman was born on 1976 in Tehran. He has been fascinated by the art of Painting since he was a child. At the age of 15, he started to learn painting under the mastery of his first and only teacher - Morteza Katouzian - who is the greatest realist painter of Iran. Meanwhile, he began to paint professionally. In 1999 he graduated in Graphic Design from the Art University of Tehran. Since 1998, he has participated in several exhibitions. In the year 2000, he got married and in the following year he established ARA Painting Studio and started to teach painting, considering classical and traditional values.
Most of the people who visit this blog are really dear to me. And I want all my dear ones to experience the joy of seeing these paintings. The painting with the two small girls reading a book, remind me of my own two daughters....
Love will find a way
YouTube - Mitwa KANK
Please click on the Youtube link and watch my all time favourite song. The lyrics again are phenomenal...
Please click on the Youtube link and watch my all time favourite song. The lyrics again are phenomenal...
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