Incomprehensible!

Never in my wildest dreams did I dream that there would be a day when I would watch a foreign language movie with Spanish subtitles and still be moved to tears many times during those 90 minutes. Not a single word could be understood, except for the names of the brother and sister, Ali and Zahra. But how wonderfully did the director convey to me what he wanted to.

A foreign-language-movie-phobia started to me way back in the innocent days when only one Television channel, Doordarshan, was available. Trapped at home on Sunday afternoons, I would become super bored because, apart from other reasons, there would be a regional language movie coming on Television. They may have been good movies but I never attempted to watch them since they were slow and were in an unknown-to-me language.

‘Children of Heaven’ is the first foreign language movie I have seen from the beginning till the end. Although I heard about it some years back and also saw the last 10 minutes of the movie but I never cared to watch it from beginning , until recently when while having a discussion with a friend, the name of a movie ‘bum bum bole’ popped up and so I decided to download the original version. I was expecting to download atleast a one that had English subtitles but to my utter disappointment it had Spanish. I somehow resisted the urge to download a better version and decided to watch it as it was.

After those 90 mins, an old belief that words are a poor medium of communication just got reinforced. Instead its love and emotions which are always a better choice since they always mean what they express and also they always seem to have the right tone, pitch, volume and modulation.

An old couple who silently walk down the lane holding hands communicate quite a lot and quite clearly than a young couple who slug each other with well rehearsed lines which they feel can have the maximum impact.

I wonder if one had known then what one has known now.

Anyways, in the times when movie makers are falling on top of each other to show the realities of life and provoke invaluable thoughts and provide priceless peek into a real world by brazenly uncladding the darker side of life, be it violence or fashion or corruption or politics or child abuse or terrorism or flesh trade, you name it and they have it on their menu, but ending up foolishly or wickedly glorifying them thereby propagating and popularizing them… and here is a man who chose a simple incident of Ali innocently losing his sister’s school shoes to build it into a series of events which were far more real and close to the world in which we live or a world which we are rapidly losing.

I wonder the utility of a scene of a glorified gangster ruthlessly butchering another gangster in broad daylight or an upcoming model compromising her modesty for the sake of a role in a movie or a group of married couples exchanging their partners in the name of socializing and sexual freedom; in contrast to a scene where the brother and sister walking angrily towards the home of the girl who, they thought, had stolen their shoes, but finding that she is even more destitute with a blind beggar for a father, look at each other with heart felt remorse and walk back to their own shack with drooped heads and shoulders or that last scene where Ali mistakenly wins the race and comes back home to his sister whom he promised a pair of shoes which he would get for a prize by coming 3^rd. The whole community regards him as a champ but in his own eyes he failed since he could not keep the promise which he made to his little sister.

What are we being served on various mediums of mass communication with the justification that this is what the audience wants to see? Is the justification justified?

I am sure most of you must have watched this movie since it’s not something ‘missable’, but if you haven’t, please don’t waste anymore time.

Lastly, there is one more thing which got reinforced in me. When a disciple asked Jesus, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ Jesus gave a fascinating answer.

‘He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” ‘– (Matthew 18: 2-4, NIV)

It’s just appropriate that the movie ends with all the goldfishes in the tank huddling around the little boy’s blistered feet to kiss and comfort him. After all he was a child from heaven.

Does it pay to be corrupt !

What a bad day it had been! But let me not detail about what went wrong throughout the day and start from how the day ended for me.

I was in a hurry to get back home as soon as possible and my train, which was already running late, became even more late by stopping, once at a station for some repairs and then in wilderness to let some more privileged trains pass-by.

I now realize that corruption is not always because of greed but, out of many other reasons, it can be also because of laziness. The latter being more dangerous, since nobody is benefited by it, not even the self. Since my childhood I have seen and heard of the unpunctuality of Indian trains and in all these years nothing has changed and worse they don’t even give an indication that they ever will. When I try to evaluate superficially as to what kind of corruption it is, then I find that it cannot be of greed. The ones who are responsible never get monetarily benefited out of these delays. Then it is the corruption of laziness. We could have mended our ways long time back if we wanted to but we chose not to and Indian trains continue to run late and continue to trouble many directly and indirectly.

I find convenience to be the common factor between corruption of greed and corruption of laziness.

On a lighter note, the people who are lazy are in a way comparatively FAR-SIGHTED than those who are greedy, since greedy people try to accumulate everything to make their life comfortable there-by reducing their efforts and maximize their leisure time. On the other hand lazy people try to experience the leisure straightaway by being lazy :).

People in china may be accused of not being able to taste the fruits of their own labour in their lifetime but they should be appreciated for the fact they work collectively to secure the lives of their future generations. I find it absolutely correct what someone said - We have not inherited this planet from our ancestors but have merely borrowed it from our children.

But why be corrupt? To be satisfied? Can wealth and material things only bring us satisfaction? What about the satisfaction which is brought by being civilized citizens of a country; by helping someone without expecting anything in return; by attaining knowledge on varied subjects; by witnessing the amazing beauty of nature; by singing a joyful song; by loving someone who never expected or thought deserved it; by watching your children grow in the best possible manner; by glorifying the name of the Lord?

When none of the above need wealth to attain them, does it really pay to be corrupt?

“ Teach me to love, this is my prayer –

May the compassion of Thy heart I share;

Ready a cup of water to give,

May I unselfishly for others Live. “- Anonymous

Random Thoughts- I

On 1^st Aug the whole world seemed to have seeped in friendship day celebrations. Although I am not a big supporter of such events but I would not mind people celebrating it while remaining in the cultural boundaries…boundaries which they themselves have to set for their own selves. If things don’t become anti-legal and anti-national, it’s for the individual to set the limits for oneself and no one has the authority to police them as it happened in Raipur, where many boys and girls were severely beaten and molested by the party workers of a section of saffron leadership, in the pretext of saving the pure Indian culture. Many in the city must have seen these sincere “party workers” usually roaming around purposelessly, chewing gutka and spitting whenever it starts leaking from the corners of their mouth, but somehow their immense sense of patriotism kicks up on occasions like these. In one of the scenes a girl, whose face has been already slandered with some dark liquid by these patriots, is so brutally pushed to the ground that I fear she might have suffered some major fractures. But I am sure it’s not the physical anguish that will hurt this young lady more. That scene made me wonder how the scene in Germany must have been when the Russian army, after conquering it in the Second World War, was allowed to do as they pleased with German women for three whole days. I somehow feel we too are moving in the same direction. In proving ourselves to be a tolerant society we are ending up tolerating things which will leave us crippled for the rest of our future.

On a personal note I had a good friendship day. It could be one of the best of my life. An old friend who was my class mate when we were in 3^rd std in Vizag invited me to his wedding. He promised me that he would be inviting many of my long lost friends and he kept the promise. It was one of those rare moments when I met some of my child hood pals after more than 15 years. For me it was as if watching a movie in which I see a group of children playing happily in the fields and fishing in the ponds and climbing the mountains and cycling on the roads and suddenly the next scene is of all them completely grown up and mature and I am trying to find some familiar features and gestures in them and getting very excited when I found them. I never thought I would make it, but thank God that I did. As I could make it from our chit-chat that Mrs. Rita Brian was still our unanimous best teacher and I remember one day she said to us that there will be a day when you will look back at these years and regret growing up and I wondered with utter disbelief why would I ever do that since I always was in a hurry to grow up. But wasn’t she right!

A story had been coming back to me again and again this week. Let me share it.

There was a teacher who gave his student a Bible and asked him to read. This student always found it very difficult to read it. He came back to the teacher and complained that he couldn’t make out as to what’s written in the book. The teacher asked him to focus and read it carefully. But the impatient student still couldn’t get what was written in it, so he went back to the teacher to report the same. This time the teacher gave him a bamboo basket and asked him to fetch some water from the nearby waterfall. The student almost lost it when he heard this. He said it’s impossible to fetch water in a bamboo basket since it had millions of holes. The teacher said to him to just do what was told to him but the student thought it was simply a waste of effort and refused to do it. The teacher, very patiently told him to have faith and just do it without applying his own wisdom. So he went to the waterfall reluctantly and placed the basket under it for some time and as he expected no water could be gathered in it and so he went back to his master to tell him about the obvious. After listening to the animated student, the master smiled and asked him to look into the basket and said “Isn’t it at least cleaner than before? “

Initially we may not make much sense of what the Bible wants to say but if we persevere enough the Author of the book may give us enough understanding to perceive how He wants us to perceive it. Meanwhile we can be sure of it doing its cleansing.

Until He gives us the container to gather the water from the mighty waterfall, lets allow our baskets to be cleansed by the flow. God Bless.

Did you ‘SAY’ something?

Sometime ago Dharavi was considered to be Asia’s largest slum which houses nearly 60,000 families.The new reports say that Karachi’s Orangi township has surpassed Dharavi now. Mexico City's Neza-Chalco-Itza barrio has four times as many people as Dharavi and is the world’s biggest slum, the report says.

According to the residents of Dharavi, apart from extreme poverty,malnutrition,crime and illiteracy, one of the harshest problems which they face is fire ! Usually these slums are temporary settlements and the material with which they construct them is mostly flammable and these houses serve as ready fuel to the spreading flame. Most of the time its impossible to extinguish the fire and people just wait for it to consume all the houses which it could devour and then they start rebuilding their homes from the scratch. Many lives are lost and lot of properly is burnt to the ground. Usually it’s someone’s small mistake which causes this havoc. Most of the times it’s due a lighted cigarette or a match stick thrown carelessly.

Just Think. A single match- only a few inches long with a small piece of burning material at the end. But watch what happens when the little thing is ignited. Notice how that negligible spark grows into a flicker and then into a flame. Then how it engulfs everything which and everyone who comes in its path and consumes and leaves it and them to ashes. Then consider this..

The tongue is capable of this kind of ruin and more ! The Bible says “ Behold, how great a manner a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell” (James 3:5-6) When one witnesses a real fire, its impossible to miss James’ point. Despite its relative size, an uncontrolled tongue can wreak unimaginable havoc in our lives.

Imagine how many relational ties have been severed because of tactless speech. Imagine how many friendships have ended as a result of gossip. Imagine how many marriages have been seared by hot-tempered and inflammatory language. Imagine how many congregations and groups have split because of lies uttered under the veil of envy. Imagine how many leaders have lost their influence as a result of false rumour and slander. Imagine how many people have lost their faith due to deceitful and false talk. Imagine how many young women have sacrificed their virginity misled by empty flattery (flirtatious talk). Imagine how many potential leaders of men have been brought low because of arrogant boasting. Imagine how many promising teens have invalidated their example by foolish jesting. Imagine how many tender hearts have been crushed by mockery and ridicule.

Yes, “ the tongue is a ball of fire”. Dear friends, each of us needs to pause and reflect on the harm our tongue can inflict during a simple conversation. Our words are powerful, they can help or they can consume.

If it’s important for those slum dwellers to be careful with their burnt match sticks, don’t we need to be even more careful with every word our lips utter?

A Scary Question.

Many times when I speak to people with atheistic inclination, I am hit with one question repeatedly,”Show me where is God? Where is he? Show me !! ” Probably one of the scariest questions for me to answer but I also realize its quiet valid as well. People keep asking” Why doesn’t God put some physical evidence in front of us to make it easier to believe in Him?” Wasn’t the request made by that rich man, mentioned in the Bible, who goes to hell after his sinful life, contrasted by that of Lazarus, the beggar , who goes to heaven, completely valid when he asks to send Lazarus or someone from heaven to his five brothers to preach about the kingdom of heaven that at least they may be saved from going to Hell (Luke 16:19-31).

In times like these, how important is the verse which says “ Your body is the temple of God” As a loving and a caring father, He gives us back all the attention which we don’t even deserve. ”US!!” Who is us? According to science and what could it discover till now of the known part of the universe, we are an insignificant part of everything that exists. When we compare ourselves with the galaxies, the supernovas, the black-holes, the stars, the moons, the comets, the meteors, etc., we don’t stand anywhere. The other day I heard a scientist saying that“ Man is at the mercy of the heavenly bodies which surround him.” Our survival is at the mercy of these objects in the space. Man with life is at the mercy of objects which don’t have life!

And the Bible says“ So god created man in his own Image..” (Gen 1:27) What a compliment ! The only being to have been ever created with His own hands. You see the education which promises us to give us dignity in life by providing us our well-deserved rights degrades us as “Insignificants beings” and the Holy Word which we ignore and insult gives us the supreme compliment which we can ever have.

And then he says “ Your body is the temple of God”. What he is really saying is that we are very sacred to Him. Can we not see Love, mercy, kindness and care at its best. Despite our sinful condition, our wretchedness, and spiritual poverty, the loving Father wants desperately to restore the kind of a status we humans enjoyed in that Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve lived with the Lord without any kind of evil or pain. We were the center of attraction there. The Lord gave dominion to man over everything that had life in it. That dominion, that status is what the Lord wants to restore. One need not seek outside of him whom to Worship but he has within him the one to worship. When believers gather together in the Church to worship, they are not gathering IN a Temple to worship rather they carry their temples WITH themselves to a common place to worship. Isn’t this beautiful? The Loving Father doesn’t even want to shift the focus of attention from the person of Man to an Idol, or a grave , or an animal, or some heavenly body. The reason is simple. It is us whom He has created with His own hands, with utmost care and love and concern. All He wants us to do is to preserve it well so He could dwell in it. Not for his own sake but to restore the wonderful status He had in His mind for man when He created him.

You see there are enough evidences in this world to prove His existence and the greatest among them is us. King David writes “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalms 139:14)

We live in an age when ending ones live is the easiest option we have when faced with problems. If only we could have known Who created us and how were we created, we would have valued this wonderful gift of life more.

You know He sent us to this world for a purpose and also with great faith in us that we will do wonders with this life, but the big question is when we will go back to Him and He will ask us” Son/Daughter what have you done with the life I gave to you?", will we ever be able to say " Father I have lived a good life and not let you down."? Just a thought !

My Day !

I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the day ends.

I have responsibilities to fulfill today. I am important.
My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or ...
I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can grumble about my health or... I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or...
I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or...
I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or...
I can feel honored because Life has provided shelter for my mind, body and soul

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped.
And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me.
I get to choose what kind of day I will have!


Why Not Have A Great Day!

Dirty Jobs!

When I was a kid, I read in the newspapers about a terrible train accident. The bridge it was supposed to cross caved in and all the bogies fell in the raging river, killing many and injuring many more. That memory kept haunting me every time I would travel by train and every time the train would be on a bridge.

Few weeks back, I remember watching an episode of “Dirty jobs” on Discovery channel. The host of the program was talking to an industrial painter, whose job the host was trying to duplicate in the show. ”There is no glory in what you do”, he said. ”Not at all.” The painter agreed, “but it’s a job that needs to be done.”

You know, that man paints the inside of a famous bridge. His unnoticed job involves dangling on ropes hundreds of feet in the air, falling from where means sure death, and paint the steel structure, so that it won’t rust and become dangerous for the commuters.

Most of the thousands of people who cross that bridge everyday are not even aware that their lives depend so much on workers like that painter, who do their work well, faithfully, without expecting somebody to notice them or give credit.

I wonder how many times we say exactly what the painter said, but with a hint of pain we also add what most of us in India say “Neki kar dariya mein daal” , but we forget that even that dariya travels to the sagar and that sagar becomes barish and that barish restores the neki once again.

God sees our faithfulness in things we do. Though we may sometimes feel that our work has gone unnoticed but it is being observed by the One who matters the most.

Can we think of at least 5 things which we did in our lives without expecting a reward? Can we add many more to that list?

“Whatever task you find to do,
Regardless if it’s big or small,
Perform it well, with all your might,
Because there’s One who sees it all.” –Sper

Let me clean my room !!

My room in my house is probably the messiest place in the neighbourhood.Its so unorganised and dirty that I sometimes feel ashamed to let even my close friends enter it and witness the clutter.I console myself with thoughts ranging from "how else a bachelor live?" to "This has always been my style."They are so lame.So, usually after of lot of coaxing from my mother I come up with let-me-clean-my-room day once in a long while.

Our hearts and minds are so much like it.They constantly accumulate large amounts of garbage every day.We live in dangerous times.The avenues which hitherto were considered to be safe and healthy have all become corrupt.We innocently expose our children and ourselves to garbage.Whether it be movies,television,newspapers,books or internet, we are constantly been served with material which are immoral and filthy in the pretext of it being entertaining.As if,if something is entertaining then no more scrutinizing is required.Today, entertainment can justify every sin on earth, just like it is with arts.If something is entertaining,even if its vulgar,obscene,immoral, unethical or derogatory,its completely forgiven and accepted.We live in such times.Mankind will never be able to ascertain the exact impact of one word which is spoken,let alone the millions of words which are broadcasted through some of the most powerful mediums of communication.

We give in to the thought that the life is all about "Me".My rights, my success, my network, and my money.We dont even hesitate to hurt somebody.Over the period of time our hearts clog with the unwanted thoughts, emotions, images and sensations.Even before we realise, we no longer remain clean and oderly.We presume we can hide it, but eventually it will show.

The Bible says "Your body is the temple of God".Its such a wonderful compliment that the God has given to us but it makes me wonder how does God feel like staying in such a messy and filthy room.

Perhaps, today is that "let-me-clean-my-room day".With His help, lets clean the clutter we have caused.Lets remove the thoughts of revenge and bitterness.Lets collect all the sensual and immoral imaginations and put them in a bag and throw it in a thrash can.Lets organize our attitude.Lets fill our hearts with the beauty of God's word.Lets make it clean to the core and leave the door open for all to see.