Champs

I am totally outraged!!! I know I'm writing after ages but the Commonwealth Games have got me thinking. I must say our sportsstars have outdone themselves ths time. I am quite proud of their extraordinary performance - be it the shooters trained under Kerala's own Sunny Sir or our wrestlers, we have been provling our mettle with Indian vigour. I know  am not the only person going "Chak De India" but the CWG's quibbles that they will not include wrestling in the next games has made me furious. And just when we have won about 10 golds in that category. We are no sprinters or gymnasts. We do not have ace swimmers or high jumpers. But when we prove ourselves with a sport that goes back centuries in our blood, we find people want it taken out. How can we keep silent? As a nation that has stood up to its battles, we have another one now in the sports arena. My one advice would be the words of musician Rahman - Come On India Dekha do!

Reflection on my Saviour and Hope

It’s Maundy Thursday & I’m just back from church, contemplating after breakfast. I thought I should post here 2 thoughts that I consider very relevant today. They were the crux of today’s sermon.

The priest began his sermon by asking the children in the front pew whether they liked him and respected him to which they nodded in the affirmative. Then he asked them to do exactly as they were told to which they agreed. At this he asked them to raise their index finger and place it on their cheek, which they promptly did. But what happened was while he was telling them to do this, he raised his thumb and did the same action. So the kids had also lifted their thumb and done the same. That was a practical lesson on Christ. You see Christ did not believe in just preaching and talking he believed in changing people through his actions. Just think about all the things he did that were considered sacrilegious in his time – healing the sick in God’s name and that too on the Sabbath, dining with sinners, eating with unwashed hands, speaking against religious leaders . . . He was a real rebel. But one with a heart.

And that leads me to the second message I perceived. You see, Jesus, in all that he did always tried to reach the heart. How he changed Zacchias around, how he felt sorry for the lost sheep, how he totally cared for his disciples, enough to stop the elements from harming them while at sea . . . In all that He did He wanted to reach the people where it mattered most and where else but that part of the brain which we call the heart? He knew that if He touched them there, they would be His always. And that is why he continues to reign in our hearts.

May this Holy Week bring peace to everyone. God bless.

The Perfect Husband

Yup, that’s what I want to write about today. But I’m not referring to my ideal guy. I’m talking about an actual male that I know quite well. And yes he is the perfect husband and I think his wife is the luckiest woman on earth.

Let me tell you a little about this fella’. He is an absolute charm, so much that I think about him almost everyday since I usually meet him in the mornings. Now don’t get me wrong here – I’m not in love with him. But I still think he is too good to be true.

Let me explain why I think he is so esteemed in mine and mom’s eyes. He is first and foremost a perfect gentleman. He lets his wife have her way, most often. Being a gentleman, he always allows her to have the first and best of everything, ladies first being his policy.

The other perfect thing about this guy is the way he cares so much about his lady love. Sigh! He completely adores her and thinks the world of her. He doesn’t even want her a second out of his sight- that’s how much he adores her. If she leaves him for sometime, he makes a hue and cry.

And anyone who tries to doing anything funny with the woman better make a dash for it because this guy is gonna be after you and will try to get even. That’s how protective he is of his woman.

I have never met such a wonderful guy before – one who lavishes such affection on his wife. If I only I were as lucky as the lady in question. You’ll understand what I mean when you see his picture below . . .

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Farewell my teacher

Today I will be attending Dr. Elizabeth Kurien aka Ms. Prema’a farewell lunch (for those of you who don’t know her she’s my former teacher at B.C.M., former H.O.D. & much more). I just thought it would be appropriate to pen down (or rather type) some of my reflections on her.

For the past six months or more, she’s been the only person persistently insisting I return to B.C.M. again as faculty. Nobody else even seems to think about such a prospect. Perhaps she realized how much some of the girls meant to me. Or maybe she realized that nobody else was bringing in the dramatic changes that I had somehow managed to bring in. Whatever it is, she has been doggedly persistent that I return no matter what, and firmly believes I will be back next year to take the college head on. That’s faith for you.

My student recollections though of this persistent person are of a rather different sort. She was one of the quietest people in the department, so quiet that you may not have even noticed she was there, had it not been for the bustling activity of the people on either side of her. When I was with her as a faculty, she was still quiet though her occasional comments would either have us put on our thinking caps or rolling with laughter.

It was at a tour that we also got to see quite a bit of her sense of humour. The girls related to me, how as they were sitting on a rock posing for a photograph, Ms Prema came up to them and told them in a very serious tone that they should definitely put the photograph in the college magazine with the caption “B.C.M. Monkeys”! The girls had a fit.

I remember though she would never go for tours except for this one batch that studied alongside mine. The next and last one was in 2009, just before retirement. Luckily I was a part of it though now as a part of faculty.

What I shall always remember most about this Libran is her level-headedness. Even in the midst of a desperate situation, she kept her cool. And you could always rely on her prompt decisions as H.O.D. – they were balanced and met the situation at hand.

The quality that she best emulated as a teacher is none of these but one that I believe is essential for a good teacher: love. Her care and concern for those around her were obvious in very subtle ways. Be it a wedding present for a faculty that had left long ago or a kind word to students in troubled waters, she embodied motherly love. No wonder she got nicknamed by one of the batches ‘Prema Mummy’!

The thing that I will miss most about her is her enduring support for me while I was in heaps of trouble for all the wrong reasons. The fact that she believed in me despite everything made a huge difference to me. Knowing that my pillar has left B.C.M. makes it difficult for me to envisage the college without her. Somehow, walking into an English Department minus Miss Prema brings visions of a ghost town (okay, I know that is far fetched but you get the idea). It feels as if the last of the stalwarts has left.

Without you Miss Prema, the English Department will now feel emptied. When we return, it will be the memories that remain and fill our minds. I hope even in your retirement you will continue to spread your abundant wisdom and joy to everyone.

In Honour of Pain

Such a tiny little word

only 4 letters,

well-balanced – 2 vowels, 2 consonants

one syllable

that can tear you apart

and leave scars that never heal

sounding like the wings

of a moth at my window

as dusk sets in

yet with none of the lightness.

Fire that scorches as it travels

the veins.

Scorching

memories stab

into the wounds

a fine mess of feelings and nerves.

Tears-> Bruffen to keep the pain down

Will time heal?

or will it spread like my aunt’s bone cancer?

leaving behind a shell

coloured pink

with streaks of red.

(Signalling the return of my poetry)

Chatur's speech from "3 Idiots"

This is the hilarious speech from "3 Idiots." In the movie Aamir Khan replaces the word Chamatkart with Balaatkar in Chatur's speech for teacher's day leading to uproarous laughter and some red faces. Read on...

Adarniya sabhapati mahodaya, atithi vishesh shikshan mantri shri R D tripati ji, maanyaniya shikshagan aur mere piyaaare sahpatiyo

Aaj agar I.C.E aasmaan ki bulaaandiyo ko chhu raahaa hai to uska shreya sirrf ekinsaan ko jaataahai - Shri Veeru Sahastrabuddhe

Give him a big hand. He is a great guy really.

Peechle buttis saal se inhone nirantar is college mein balatkar pe balatkar kiye. Umeed hai aagey bee karte rahege. Hamein to aashcharya hota hai ki ek insaan apne jeevan kaal mein itni balatkar kaisi kar sakta hai. Inhone kadi tapaasya se apne aapko is kaabil bunaya hai. Waqt ka sahi upyog ghante ka purna istemaal koi inse seeke. Seeke inse seeke. Aaj hum sab chaatra yaha hai, kal desh videsh mein fail jayenge. Waadaa hai aapse jis desh mein honge waha balatkar karenge, I.C.E ka naam roshan karenge. Dika denge sabko jo balatkar Karne ki kshamtaa yaha ke chaatro mein hai wo sansaar ke kisi chaatro mein nahiii. No other chaatra. No other chaatra.

Adarniya mantraji! Namashkar aapne is sansthaan ko wo chees di jiski hamein sakht zaroorat thi. “Sstunn”! Stunn hota sabi ke paas hai. Sab chupa ke rakte hai, detaa koi nai. Aapne apna stun is balatkari purush ke haat mein diya hai, ab dekiye yeh kaisa iska upyog karta hai

Utthamum dadhdadaath paadam - Madhyam paadam thuchuk chuk - Ghanisthah thud thudi paadam - Surr surri praan gatakam.

(Source: http://www.bindass.com/post/chaturs-speech-from-3-idiots)