I have written earlier an article about the god-men of  India and how they dupe the gullible people with  their  so called divine powers.  They are self appointed prophets kind of persons with no kind of mandate  from God.  They are magicians all right and could produce holy ash or a coin etc from nowhere.  People get tricked thus and do whatever he demands of them. Rich  people are his easy victims and they part with their money just for the asking.

That’s how, these god men become wealthy almost overnight  with people’s generosity.  With this money, they  start an ashram ( a kind of seminary,  so to say) in a large area of land and away from the city limits which could house his disciples, devotees and henchmen..

One particular god man in Southern India, aged around  35 or so, had been seducing young women who come to see him to  get his blessings.  “Doing sexual favour for  a god man is perfectly in order and  it would bring you greater blessings from God,” he would say, to put the  young  worshippers  at ease and  make them bow to him willingly.  And some  innocent idiots  would get swayed and voluntarily offer their bodies to him.

Just a week back, one god man  persuaded  a film star to sleep with him. We don’t  know why she succumbed to his sweet talk, possibly she  received some money from  the  god man.  This actress  was only  a small part star who got a chance to appear before the camera only once in a while.  She must have run short of money and hence sold what she could.  Wait, wait.  The matter didn’t end there.

An  ashramite who knew about the way ward escapades of this fake god man video-graphed the whole  bed room scene  secretly through a hidden camera and had made a CD of it;  and the CD was screened in a few cinema theatres. There were furore in the State;  many of his sincere followers  got dejected.  They are up in arms against him now.  The god man is trying to get out of it and the lawyer he has employed for his defence has stated that the whole thing is fake and there is no truth in it. You know in my country lawyers are available for any type of worthless and un-winnable  cases because they need money and they would never turn away any client.  This lawyer is going to prove in the  court that what people saw was a cock and bull story and his client was not involved in it at all. Even an average prosecution lawyer could shoot down his case and the defence lawyer would  cut a sorry figure  and also lose his case.  He wouldn’t mind it because he would have received his fees in advance before he appeared  in the court premises.

My appeal  to all young women is, please do not fall prey to these fellows.  To have sex or  to have sex with another man while you are a happily married woman, is a sin and a great sin at that. You will receive no blessing  whatever from the Creator God for such service to a god man or any man. If you are a virgin and have conceived, the god man concerned will refute your claim.  As a matter of act, he wouldn’t even remember your face.  How could he when he had enticed so many women like you.

If some dubious and ill-willed  men do want to stir the religious fervour of  simple minded persons and he wants to be  the person behind the movement,  shouldn’t  such a person belong to the higher age group, say around 60, whereof  a man would never look at a woman with evil design?  But to do so during the prime of their youth, when they are sexually dynamic, is a crime  against  women folk. Nor is it  fair on them

Same goes for the catholic priests, who become  priests at a very young age. When I was teaching English in a catholic seminary, my candidates were youngsters just out of school.  They become priests after a training period of 7 years but still in their prime youth.  How could they resist the sexual  temptation at that age?  Celibacy is made absolutely compulsory for  them by the Pope.  And there have been  several cases of priests  indulging in sexual acts with the female members of their congregation or nuns.  The church does try to cover up such cases but some of them leak out.  But the sexual adventures  go on merrily  throwing some priests into sin.

St Paul, an apostle of Lord Jesus Christ, had suggested that in order to preach the Gospel constantly and vigorously , one needed all the time in the world and such persons should  not have the burden of  looking after a family.  But he also had said at the same time, “If you can’t  have full  control over your sex drive, do get married and don’t burn as a bachelor. It’s not necessary to remain a bachelor to pursue evangelism.”    And yet, the Vatican has insisted that only bachelors could become priests. According  to my information, several  catholic priests in some  African countries have defied the pontifical  edict  and  are administering  the church and leading the congregation as happily married men. This is quite in order, in my opinion.

There is no such restriction for the Protestant pastors. They are allowed to marry and run a family. They are much more sincere in their effort and bring more souls to the Lord because they could  preach effectively, face the women folk   boldly without an evil eye and with a clear conscience.

The catholic church needs to rethink on the issue and not subject young men to  unnecessary physical pressure.  If the catholic church insists on them being single men, then   they should accept  only people beyond 60 or so to enter the clergy cadre

The same   norm should apply  also to our  Hindu god men and heads of any other  religious order   all over the world.

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The dry leaves on ground scatter to and fro,

“we have places to go,

at the moment our destination even we don’t know”

this all they tell you

when they speak to you…..

The flocks of birds fly together,

“we breathe freedom,

we are always united and together”

beaming with pride they tell you

as they speak to you….

The soothing wind blows your hair,

“I’m born to give you fresh air

though my existence day by day is getting rare”

the wind shares her feelings with you

as she speaks to you….

The rocks of mountains and caves

Sit strong, erect and sturdy.

“We have certain qualities that a few even study;

Keep your feet firmly on us, don’t worry

‘cause we are trustworthy”

the rocks assure you,

as they speak to you…..

The oasis that resides amidst a desert

“although in this land of sand I sit covert

to the weary traveler I extend so much of a support”

the oasis explains to you,

as it speaks to you…..

So be it leaves or wind,

rocks or oasis,

or the carefree birds

with you they all converse.

With you they have a subtle speech,

Through which they convey to you and teach.

Be it grass, branch or stem,

By having a subtle speech with them,

You get a brush of their lives

You know what it is on which they thrive.

So once in a while get in this subtle speech,

This is the closest to nature one can reach……

I was commuting, (or so, trying to commute!, for it had been 40 minutes since I was stuck up in a traffic muddle, trying hard to reach my destination on time). And just a short distance away, there was an ambulance, which was sounding emergency alarms, perhaps communicating hard to all travelers, to let it pass, for it was carrying an emergency patient inside. The alarm went on ringing for 25 long minutes. The whole world had as though come to a standstill. The traffic took well past half an hour to clear out. And in my mind began a series of questions and black out; for answers I had none. That moment I strongly felt that every building in this damn city of ours must have a helipad to airlift ailing patients. It was a weird thought, agreed, but then at least it would give the helpless patients some speedy hopes of reaching the doctors on time! Well, humor aside, but thinking through this pressing issue, one really ends up groping in the dark for answers…..

Paving way from the hysterical endless traffic, this vehicle, with its beeping loud sounds, and alarms, maneuvers and makes itself some space to reach its destination, and mind just freezes to ask one inevitable question- “Could the ambulance be reaching the hospital on time?” “Would the patient be getting timely medical attention?” With traffic levels elevating, combustion and clogging rising like the mercury levels in our cities, I just wonder and then I’m compelled to make a statement “Relevance of an ambulance”.

How relevant is an ambulance really? It isn’t the design or the very existence of this vehicle that I’m pondering about. It’s the role and the functionality of this vehicle that makes me rethink.

Relevance of an ambulance isn’t meant to question the presence of an important and key apparatus called “ambulance” per se, but is more hinted at pointing out the ever burgeoning and outstretching traffic chaos in our cities and towns due to which one stops for a while with a question mark – “What’s the relevance of an Ambulance, which is meant to carry a serious patient to a hospital for quick emergency medical attention and treatment?”  “What if the ambulance isn’t able to reach the hospital due to some inevitable traffic jam, which is so very commonplace in urban India?” “Who is to blame?”

The most idealist solution would be to build homes in vicinities of hospitals! But then, Idealism isn’t Practicality. So then what? The speed factor and the “urgency” element hidden in the word ambulance, its meaning and significance itself gets lost if the patient isn’t able to reach for his treatment on time. What if the patient has experienced a cardiac arrest and is travelling endlessly in the ambulance, just to reach the hospital? What if a woman goes into labour and is driven for 45 long minutes in the ambulance? What if this? What if that? Questions and situations can be ‘n’ number. But where are the solutions?

Is it possible to come up with some all the more innovative medical emergency apparatus, wherein even if the ambulance gets stuck up in traffic and isn’t in a position to reach the hospital in time, still some parallel action and initial line of treatment would begin for the ailing patient? Many countries have paramedics, who operate sitting in these ambulances and kick off some initial treatment for the patient. I think our country really needs such hard hitting paramedics to operate inside these ambulances. This way, ambulances won’t restrict their role to merely picking up and dropping needy patients to hospitals; they will have a wider role to play in our society- because as far as traffic control mechanisms are concerned, we don’t seem to be going anywhere, as far as bottlenecking new vehicles plying on road every single day, we are spearheading like no other nation- so when things are just getting out of gear in all these aspects, isn’t it time we find concrete solutions for better manning and managing emergency medical carrier services?

Getting top line sophisticated medical treatment in hospitals is one end of the continuum. But taking some specific steps to enable thousands of patients to reach this beeline of hospitals on time is something which needs hard core solutions. Access to good healthcare should start at that very crucial juncture. Hospital management has to come of age and encompass even medical carriers in its forte.

In West, even a distant sound of an ambulance alerts drivers and riders. It’s a part of the rules to stop and give a right of way to an ambulance. In India, where vehicles are just inches away from climbing onto one another (!!!), especially when there’s a traffic jam, from where on earth can we give a right of way to these beeping ambulances?

It’s only feasible to find the right framework of solutions for effective medical carriers. Because Time they say, is the essence of a medical treatment.

Ask any college going young men and they would tell you  dozens of tricks how to hook a girl.  New tactics are invented every day by them.  Scientists too have entered the fray and come out with some novel  approaches.  One scientist says, after he had interviewed some  2000 women over a period of 2 years,  “If you cut a joke on yourself, the woman sitting opposite would get highly tickled and would  surrender to you whole sale..”  I don’t know how many have tried this method on their prospective girl friends. There has been no follow up reports on this technology.

So much about Men and Women.  Do animals also woo the female species and gain acceptance as a partner?  They don’t have a Boy friend and Girl friend system.  They copulate straightway and some brands establish a family  immediately, lions for example. Many animals don’t have any permanent relationship but the purpose is purely reproduction especially when the female comes in season.

What method do the animals follow?  Surely they don’t  adopt  the eye-winking communication technique. We do see on the “animal planet” T.V channel some of their antics like, nose rubbing,  smelling, pulling and pushing with their horns, some males running round a female and so on.  The channel needs to capture more such scenes concerning match-making.

This morning’s paper contains a write up  on the methodology adopted by mice in this regard.

“Male mice woo females with ballads” goes the  headline. The scientist  who had studied their habit is, one  Kirsten Musolf of  USA.  He has revealed that  rats  could hear high frequency sound. Human beings could hear an audio signal only  up to  12 Khz or so; dogs up to 25  Khz and it appears that  Mice too  are ultrasonic savvies with ability  to decode audio sound around 25 khz. The male fellows  would sing at this frequency  varieties of songs and the female if she likes the song would   straightway fall for him.

Does singing come naturally to every  male mouse or will he have to take some training?

I wonder if there are any   Music schools for them? Well, taking a parallel of the human beings, all males could sing;  some may produce awful noise and some delightful tunes. Same holds good for mice, I  should think  If a particular melody is acceptable for a female, it has found a partner instantly for mating obviously. Rats don’t live as families.  Each is on his/her own except at the time of sexual urge. She won’t mate with any male but only a chap who  captures her  by his  sonorous  lyric.

Won’t it be wonderful if some audio engineers  could record a male mouse’s song, reduce it to audible frequency for our benefit and play it over a musical system?  Some scientist may kindly take on this project.

Many would argue, Switzerland is anyway a first world country, a big economy; while India is an emerging economy, a country still marred by violent terror attacks (26/11/2008, Mumbai, more recently Pune German bakery, anyone?). Well, it’s India… who has to go the distance, inspired by first world countries…

After the Mumbai aftermath, when the irresponsibility of politicians and bureaucrats are being held responsible for all the security lapse which cost us 170 plus innocent lives, the first thing that comes to mind is making situation of politics in India similar to Switzerland, where the ultimate power does not lie with the seven-member Swiss Federal Council (for more info, visit Politics in Switzerland… you can’t ask for more in English), but with the common people, who can change the law with majority voting, in the process, getting rid of corrupt politicians. Well, this is not possible with a huge population in India and with so many poor people who barely get heard. Hence progress of the poor is a necessity and going by the latest, Govt is doing something for the poor (the buzzword is the letter ‘I’ for Industrialization).

Normal Indian road.. never away from action

Serene road in Switzerland.. picturesque always

When will the infrastructure of India be like Switzerland? Never… because India has broader roads than Switzerland does… with such a miniscule population (population is less than any big metro in India! we really have a hearty laugh on it…), the small country barely needs wider roads; Jokes apart, it is true that India needs roads as wide as possible! However, I am speaking about the quality of the roads… barring a few recently made roads and highways, India barely has good roads even in the city, and which remains congested during the peak hours!! This brings me to the wonderful transport system Switzerland has… admitted to be best even by European standards. I am looking forward to the day when all transports in India will be driven by a single body with high on maintenance and low on politics, so that normal people ditch their cars for public transports.

The natural beauty in Switzerland is breathtaking which the Swiss are quite proud of. They are born with it and (other than wasting a lot of paper… as seen in office, and keeping the lights of the shops on in the name of advertisement) do a lot to maintain the green – abandon cars, bike to work being a few of the initiatives. India has a few regions proud of the greens, but normally the cities and the towns cut a sorry figure! We really need to buck up, as nature is already talking to us with the severe hurricanes, tsunamis, ails and many more names of devastation coming up every fortnight.

The aged in Switzerland probably have a sorry tale to tell… they expect their children to be out of their homes and independent at a tiny age, thus leaving them with no other option but to look after themselves when old. It’s sad looking at them out on the road all by themselves, sometimes barely being able to walk! India scores much higher here, if there is anything we strongly feel about and are proud of as Indians, it’s our culture…. We are respectful and responsible towards our parents and anyone aged and look to be with them throughout. Respect to old people comes naturally to us, and is something Switzerland and all first world countries need to look at and make positive laws on!

Initially, when I was here, I was surprised seeing fellow Indians greeting me, whether or not we had ever come across each other! This behavior, compared to the behavior shelled out at Indians by fellow countrymen in ‘layered’ Indian society, pleasantly shocked me. If only we can have an India where people show respect to each other, we will have problems half to what we have now.

No country is perfect. I have witnessed petty infractions on streets of Zürich, which probably will never happen in India. Why? Because the Swiss are so “peace loving”, they would never object! It’s different that in India, people are always objecting to something or the other. We are built that way, perhaps.

Looking forward to an India which would fulfill the positives discussed- no fights in the name of politics, world-class financial institutions (I am told, the Nazi money that Switzerland acquired was invested mainly in academics, which is the reason for the country’s roaring scientific success), love and faith among people and where all Indians greet each other Grüetzi (German for ‘Hello’), the Swiss way.

There are in our society today ‘wine tasters’, ‘tea tasters’  and  ‘food tasters.’  While the first two verify the quality and flavour of wine and tea, the food taster needs some clarification. They are a  kind of guinea pigs  who must nibble the food at the table to check if it has  any killer poison.  Dictators, as a general rule, will not touch the food  until it is certified safe through a live test. If the taster does not fall dead or swoon within a few minutes, the food is safe to eat. Many communist leaders too go through this drill; they do not trust anyone.  This is my experience when I was posted in a communist country on an UN assignment. But that was decades back. I don’t know if this is the case even now.

Some kings of ancient time too practised this method.

But, have you heard of ‘food grader’? He  is a guy who would eat the full meal and then award marks to the cook.  And it  happens to be me.  It’s not a self proclaimed designation but my wife had named me that. She would say to her friends, “If my hubby had said that the food was ‘good’, there could be no second opinion  on the verdict.”  I am supposed to be  such an  expert !

I didn’t give marks.  I gave only a grade.  And there were only three – GOOD, SO – SO  and  USELESS. The lady wife seldom got ‘good’  and most of the time  it was ‘so – so’ and occasionally ‘useless’.  She was quite satisfied with  my  evaluation.  A wife has to be anyway. Sometime when she sent across, what in my  opinion  ‘use less’ food to our neighbours, they sang praises at her culinary skill. “See, see,”  she would say with an accusing finger at me.  “Everyone appreciates my cooking except…. except… “  You can fill in the blank. Once in a while when I  pronounced the grading  ‘good’ she floated in cloud 9.  “Thank you,” she would  mumble by way of a compliment to me. Inside our home, this was good fun and fine game.  Bu should it go outside our four walls?

Soon my reputation spread to our close relatives who lived nearby.  They  had also come to know that I  was a fuzzy eater who wanted the best at every meal. My standard being so high that even a ‘so-so’ home grade was considered equivalent to ‘excellent’ by others.

The result was that my kith and kin or close friends hesitated to call me over for a treat. The one thing I hate when I am a guest in someone’s house is a query from the hostess, “How is the food?” Not wishing to climb down, I would avoid a direct remark and drawl with, “Well, well, it was quite nice you know?” In actual fact, it deserved only  an ‘useless’ grading  but I couldn’t say it openly.  Sometime, I would evade the question and change the subject.

On one occasion, in a moment of complete absent mindedness I had said, ‘ useless’.  That’s all, the poor hostess went into tears.  Nothing would pacify her.  “I know, I am … I  am ……not a good cook, but was my food  … was my food……so bad …?  “ she howled.  I didn’t know how to get out of the situation.  “No, no, Missus Pande, the food was marvellous  but it was my bad tongue which  had spelt out the wrong most  unintentionally.”  The lady was somewhat appeased at the apology.

From then onwards, I made it a point to say,  “Good food.  I enjoyed it,” even when I  had to push the morsels down an unwilling throat. The modern etiquette rules  call it , “Courtesy”.

But if ever you happen to have  dinner or lunch in my house, we will never ask you for a comment. It’s an embarrassing thing.  We will draw our own conclusion by seeing whether you hogged or  ate it at normal speed.  If you had had  a second or a third helping we knew you loved it.  Incidentally, when guests are around we would have  only a buffet variety.  Nobody would serve you;  you have to do that by yourself. And no one would  compel you to eat more either. And  there is no question of openly  asking for a   judgment.

Why don’t you  also adopt this painless  system?

But now it’s time to learn this job, as my profession requires me to do it. I am a graphic designer and need to understand words and explore my creativity with them. So I decided to start writing about whatever came to my mind first. BLOGS!!! Till date I was not aware of what exactly is a blog. Till one my friend shared her blogs with me. It was really something where people can write freely. Express their thoughts about things. And there I thought yes!!! This the platform from where I can start my journey of writing.  I can share my thoughts with people, I can gossip about things and do a hell lot of things.

” Check out the fridge for corns and eggs.. bake it if u feel like eating something after you’re back from office. I will be late.”

It was freezing cold outside, In fact one of the coolest days in Philadelphia. This city has given her everything  and even robbed her of everything. She remembered how excited she was when Tuhin shifted job to one of the top Fortune 500 companies. They had tied the knot a year back and that was the happiest news Tuhin could give her. She still remembers the vision of her bidding farewell to her parents and all relatives in Kolkata airport with a teary eye but not a heavy heart.  Roshni knew that  Tuhin would be there for her,  in a country where the only person she knew was him.  He was the perfect caring, loving and understanding husband  and she looked forward to build their love nest in the three bedroom apartment that Tuhin had taken in Philly.

Roshni entered office and very soon immersed herself into work. Had it not been for work she wouldn’t have  had been able to survive the past six months of her life. Life has never been so testing for Roshni as the past  few months.

Roshni had called up Tuhin one afternoon and asked him to come home immediately. Tuhin had thought it was some emergency and he rushed home wishing in his mind the umpteenth time that Roshni was okay

When Tuhin  entered home, Roshni was cooly watching TV.  On seeing him enter, she ran up to him, hugged him and while still in his arms, said,….” Joy is coming our way.”

Tuhin and Roshni were both in tears in a delirium of ecstasy. Roshni had always said if they ever had a boy they would name him Joy. Tuhin however wanted a daughter to name her Khushi

It was an experience to feel motherhood, a life within and share dreams with each other. Tuhin pampered Roshni to the  core with his love and bought everything that made Roshni’s face light up. Weekends she felt like a queen with Tuhin serving her breakfast on bed and then the sessions of them lazing together for hours catching up with things that happened in each others’ work life for the entire  week. Towards the evening they went out shopping and ended up buying things to decorate the new baby room of their house. The third bed room of the house was transformed into a child’s paradise by both of them. Roshni herself painted the room with pictures of Disney creatures. The bed was in the form of a huge bus that Tuhin had selected and every night the couple spent hours in that room seeing their dreams with open eyes.

This happiness was however short lived.  One evening in office Roshni realised she has had a miscarriage. She called up Tuhin in panic.

” I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!!”, she heard Tuhin shouting at the other end of the line.

” HOW COULD YOU, ROSHNI?”,  His words struck her like a bolt. Here was a man,  her only support in this  unknown country,  who was blaming her for the biggest misfortune of her life.

Tuhin had never approved of Roshni working in her expecting days and  after the miscarriage he blamed her as careerist and an ambitious  lady for which they lost the baby. Tuhin didn’t even accompany Roshni to her last visit to the gynaecologist.

It was all over soon. Roshni no longer felt the life within her. The miscarriage left her cold and numb. She could never forgive Tuhin for his reaction of not supporting her when she needed him the most by her side.

Over the last six months they had only withdrawn from each other. Roshni busied herself in work and even took the workload of working extra hours. When she entered home she would  either eat  a fruit or cereal for dinner while she warmed some dish for Tuhin. They hardly spoke apart from matters relating to bills being payed and checking on the post.  They could see each other, yet not reach up to each other.  It was no longer a home for Roshni. Their love nest transformed as a shelter for her where she transited for few hours till she could resume office next morning.

Tuhin invariably carried work home everyday. Even when she served him dinner, he would be working in his laptop and remained quietly there till late night. Roshni noticed that he was getting dark circles but never cared to tell him that.

After Dinner, Roshni retired to the bedroom and shed quite tears thinking how the baby room  would have sounded with the baby’s laughter and cries. The baby room next to her bedroom now  remained silent and dark.

The night Roshni payed the last visit to her gynaecologist, she came home and quietly locked the room, never to be opened again.

It was a Friday today and Roshni had finished work. Almost everyone had  left office, yet she kept on doing something in her system. She dreaded to go back home. Weekends were nightmare for her. Most of the time, she spent sleeping over the weekends while Tuhin spent time out with his friends. It didn’t irritate her , rather she thanked Tuhin mentally for the hours he spent away from her.

She picked up her satchel and overcoat and started walking towards home.  Just before she entered home she heard the sound and stood frozen in the doorstep. For a minute she thought it was her ears which made the mistake but when Tuhin opened the door she didn’t know how  to react.

Tuhin stood there with a little bony boy of about nine months in his arms  who was crying out aloud. Roshni stared at him questioningly and realized Tuhin was tense.

“Look,  I know you don’t appreciate it…. However, this is Jonathon, son of my friend Jonie.  Jonie and his wife had visited New Jersey to call on his ill father but are caught up in the terrible snow storm.“, Tuhin sounded anxious as he tried to manage the little creature well in his arms.

Roshni’s face twitched. This was the last thing she wanted now.  How would she survive this weekend. Why did this catastrophe need to happen now. Roshni’s mind was racing fast.

” Roshni, don’t worry. I won’t bother you at all. I got a call from Jonie requesting me that I should pick up their baby from the creche and keep him with me . The roads are all blocked because of the snow so they will be back as soon as the snow storm stops.”

Roshni gave one quick glance to Tuhin and sped up to her bedroom . She didn’t weep but felt a strong displeasure for the baby because it reminded her of the loss.

At midnight, she was awoken by the sound of the infant’s weeping. For some time she tossed in bed trying to avoid the disturbance… but suddenly she jumped up.

I wish Tuhin is with the baby… Or is the baby hurt?… or is it that Tuhin has slept off?

She ran out of the room only to find her  baby room  open. From behind the curtain of their unborn child’s room, she saw Tuhin struggling to keep little Jonathon from crying desperately in his arms. Tuhin was showing him the cartoons that Roshni had painted on the walls but Jonathon kept on crying.

When Tuhin saw Roshni,  he was a bit startled and found loss of words…. I am sorry, I opened this room but had no other option to stop the little one crying.

Roshni came near to them. It was now that she noticed how cute the plump kid was and how beautiful Tuhin looked with the child in his arms. She took the baby in her arms without speaking a word to Tuhin and in sometime discovered that it was a nappy rash which irritated Jonathon. As Roshni changed his nappies, the little one held her

fingers with his small soft hands and tears streamed down Roshni’s eyes. She hugged the baby and asked Tuhin to hold him while she  went to the kitchen to make some baby food from the packet that Tuhin had bought on the way back home.

They spent the whole night together with Jonathon in the baby room. When the baby slept,  Tuhin carried Jonathon and placed him carefully in the bed between both of them.

By the next day they seemed to have got a mission in their lives. Unlike the past weekends, Tuhin stayed home and Roshni woke early. They took the baby to the baby room and played with him. In no time they forgot that there was a cold war going on between them, that they had only spoken in mono syllables with each other for the past few months. Jonathon became their world. It was a pleasure to see him smile.

They had a wonderful weekend together playing with Jonathon and after a long time Roshni and Tuhin spoke to each other while having dinner.

On Monday both of them took an off from office to celebrate the day  with Jonathon. They took pictures of the baby and played with him the entire day. Jonathon had also got used to them now. Towards the evening,  Roshni left Tuhin and the baby in the playroom and went to the kitchen to prepare a lovely dinner for them. It was then that the bell rang.

Jonathon’s parents had come. They apologized for all the trouble that they caused, thanked Tuhin and Roshni immensely for the help and requested permission to leave.

It was then that Roshni realized the reality. In the past few days she had almost forgotten that  he was not her child. The little one seemed to have filled in the vacuum inside her.

In some time they left , with little Jonathon waving hands at them. Tuhin and Roshni kissed the baby good bye and stood for a long time in the doorway watching him go.

Roshni closed the door but couldn’t suppress herself anymore. She let out a shriek of grief and fell down crying on the sofa. Tuhin uncomfortably stood watching, not knowing what to do. After some time, Roshni rose up, slightly hunched and walked upto the baby room. As she was about to bolt it, Tuhin came from behind and held her hands. He comforted her and  took Roshni in his arms. In his shoulders Roshni wept all her grief out.

Tuhin rocked her in his arms,  kissed her forehead and said..” Lets not lock this room anymore. Let us open ourselves to life once more…. and let a bundle of joy flow in.”

After ages they kissed….

When I went to school our teacher taught us ” Honor before Self “; now its ” Self (gratification) before Honor!” Individual goals howsoever misplaced it may be is the sole purpose of ones existence. This is a serious problem affecting our society today. Corruption is the way of life you can realize your life’s mission this way. Some specific examples you can be ‘regular’ student in a college without attending a single lecture. A few thousand rupees in the right  places in the university office ensures your examination seat. Girl students in the middle-school has to buy a ‘free’ bicycle meant for her for an x sum of rupees from her school!

Well suppose I am an affluent member of the society in the posh upscale neighborhood of Delhi or the NCR yet it bothers me to pay the heavy electric bills(heavy usage of Ac). How do I innovate when I can’t bypass the installed meter… Exactly that’s what I do… I will take a direct connection from the electric source  bypassing the meter. Hello are you listening?

The other day I took a ride on the auto from my office to GIP Noida. I struck up a conversation with the cabbie. I told him that pollution level had gone down with the use ofCNG and I said I am glad your auto is run on CNG.  He said I use gasoline and not CNG the sign was to dupe the authorities. Tell me how many auto rickshaws are being run that way in Delhi and NCR.

We devise so many ways to dupe the authorities and who in turn devises newer ways to dupeus !! I am confused what are we… are we a society with high moral values or a society withlow moral values, decadent, non-progressive and utterly corrupt one. If one wants to see themirror one needs to visit the state of Jharkhand to know, witness, experience corruption first hand! Seriously, I want to be in an India which is progressive yet traditional of high moral values.

In the shadow of my sorrow

You are the light to my deepest joy

Mesmerizing my day by day life,

Engulfing my every grief.

To love you more is only I can give.

2

In the corner of my trouble

You are the shining armor of constant care.

Peeping through my heavy heart

Leaving traces only but love.

To love you more is what I give back!

3

In the midst of my stormy life

You are the reason why I breathe for hope

Conquering all my cares just one thought of you.

Cuddling on your good memories with you.

To love you more keeps me  burning through.

4

In your fountain of true affection for me,

Bathes me abundantly with too much of your love,

Pushing me to continue to go through,

Pulling me back when I’m lost of track.

To love you more shall be my bliss in this life!

5

I bound myself to love you more!

I promise you to love you more,

Even if the days are in anguish,

In the tent of bountiful happiness!

To love you ever more

Be my destiny and be my precious treasure!

A smile is all I got

a smile I held close

all the way, through blistered

paths.

I would get there, I knew

walking or crawling, I would

reach you.

The rains wouldn’t hold

me, nor the sun..

If you are to be there

I would come…

A promise well kept

through life, only one

would I cherish

That which connects us

on two sides of the globe

“Hey, do you remember me?”

The next day as soon as I reached office, I opened my mailbox to check if any more mails were there from that id and to my surprise there was one indeed. He just replied me in two little words, which made my world go up side down. “Your lover!” I froze for a while and then jumped out of my seat. I ran towards the canteen aimlessly with my mind was full of questions. When I reached the canteen and thought of having some hot coffee to lessen my restlessness. I sat alone on a table having coffee when suddenly something came into my mind. Someone used to mail me in the same way when I was in college. That too was from a weird id, im_all_urs@yahoo.com started contemplating whether both of them were same person. I didn’t knew what to do, I went back to my desk and without thinking for the second time, I started replying. “Hey who the hell are you, Are u mad? I am married and my hubby is my lover!” I clicked on the send option and immediately logged off from the site.

To my surprise next day also I received one more mail. He wrote, “Who cares about your hubby and yes I am mad about you! Surprising that you don’t remember me! How quickly people forget old days! Will u b my friend?” I was shocked and started to wonder what will be my next step. First, I thought I must inform my hubby but then I thought of handling it alone. I dialed a number from my cell, “Hey hello. I am Ria, your college mate! Remember me?” It was Amir, one of my batchmates. He replied, “Hey Ria…how you doing? Where are you these days? I heard you got married?” I updated him that I was in Bangalore and said, “Hey I need a small favour from you Amir! You need to hack someone’s email id and give me his details!” Amir during our college days was an expert of such tasks, although he did all that for fun. But now its only Amir who could help  me. I briefed him about the mails from the unknown guy and after hearing the entire stuff he agreed to help me out with it.After disconnecting the call, I forwarded those mails to Amir and I sighed!

It was a Sunday, I was at home alone, my best half was off for an official trip for a week, when suddenly my cell phone rang. I took the call and found Amir on the line. He said, “Hey Ria, I got the information. These mails were coming from an renowned MNC company’s firewall. Its located in Noida and the guy’s name is Neel, though I am not sure if he is using a real name or a vague name!”

I just managed to thank Amir and then I sat on my bed helplessly. I could not believe it was Neel! We were old buddies and though I knew he always had a strong crush on me. But from my end, he was just always a good friend!  I never expected him to do all what he was doing! I felt dizzy, I felt weak…I reclined in my bed and closed my eyes, all the memories from the past came rushing into my mind!

Neel was not from my college. He was studying engineering in Pune. It was during my college fest, when I first met him. He was a handsome, good looking, extrovert kind of guy. First time I spoke to him, I was quite impressed by his charisma, he spoke a lot and it was fun to hear what all he had to say! Those days I was little down since I just had a break up. Almost a month after the fest, there was a call on my landline. When I took the call, the male voice on the other end said, “Hey remember me?” I couldn’t recognise the voice and wondered who could it be. It was obviously not Raj, my ex boyfriend. I anyways knew Raj’s voice very well! Suddenly the guy spoke again, “I know you couldn’t recognise me. I am Neel. We met in your college fest. Yes, I am that handsome hunk!” he said with a smile and continued, “Ria, I just wanted to give you a name! And it’s POISON!”

“Neel, you are over confident about yourself anyways and may I know why such a weird name? Poison?” – I asked.

He smiled and replied, “You are a sweet poison dear, and you are very intoxicating. I just saw you once but from that day, you are always in my mind! I couldn’t control myself and had to force our common friend to get your number and finally here I am speaking to you”

I could not believe on his words. To cut it short I said, “Hey, I had a boyfriend, just had a break up with him and I am not interested to start another relationship now. Anyways it was nice talking to you.” Just as I just started to disconnect, I heard he was saying something. I put the receiver back to my ears. He was saying, “Hey poison, I know about you more than you know yourself! Let’s meet up, let’s be friends at least!” I did not reply and just hung up.

After two week or so, we were sitting in our college canteen when suddenly I saw Neel was coming towards our group. Our common friend was present there. They greeted each other and immediately after that, Neel said in front of my other friends, “Hey poison, how you are? Why are you avoiding me?” I didn’t know what to say as rest of my friends looked at me with eyebrow raised listening to my new pet name! I could not even ignore him as he was in my college and the friend of my best friend! Since then he came to our college often, we all chatted in our college canteen, and within six months time we became buddies! Neel had a different attitude…it was always he who called me or came up to my college to meet me. I didn’t knew much about him and he didn’t even bother to inform. With time we started meeting up alone but just as friends as I never had any feelings for him. I was still madly in love with Raj and cherished the wonderful memories of him.

I always felt during our meetings that Neel likes me a lot, he didn’t miss a single chance to impress me but all were in vain. One fine day when we met for lunch, he said, “Poison, its long time now. You must come out from Raj’s world and move on. I know you still love him but it has already been 8 months since you people broke up! Move on poison, look around, and see there are people who are craving for you. Accept the best amongst them and make your world colourful once again!” I didn’t know what to say and looked at him with tears in my eyes. I felt sad and shattered. I just managed to say, “I am trying…let’s see what the future holds for me!”

Neel was untraceable for the next two months. Finally one day he called and said, “Poison, I miss you yaar. I am in Delhi, got a job. I had to come here all of a sudden and did not get time to inform you. Moreover I was giving you time to miss me!” he chuckled. I changed the topic and asked him about his new job, wished him and disconnected the call. After that, he started calling me time and again from Delhi and started to mail me. This was also the period when I started to get strange mails from the weird email id, asking whether I was interested in friendship! Mails from both of them went on and on in parallel until one day when Neel called me.  I thought he had called up from Delhi but it was actually from Kolkata itself! He conveyed that his trip to Kolkata was as short as two days and hence he needed to meet me urgently. We met at a café. Within no time he spoke, “Poison, I always thought that I was attracted towards you and it’s just an infatuation! But after I went to Delhi I started missing you like crazy!” He paused, “I think I am in love with you. I am just addicted to you!” I felt helpless as I was still in my Raj’s world and moreover I always considered Neel just as a friend. I didn’t reply and walked away from the cafe and also from his life forever!

Days went by and after six more months, Raj once again walked back into my life making it worthwhile! Just a couple of months later we got married.

I opened my eyes when the aura of twilight touched them and I saw it was almost evening. I slowly walked up to the window and looked outside.  I started solving the puzzle as now I knew, both the persons are in fact the same, both the cases it was Neel only using the weird email ids. I recalled how Neel reacted when I told him about the guy with the weird id. He laughed off and said, “Poison, you are anyways so intoxicating! No wonder, you have a big fan following!”

Last time he mailed me from the weird id to understand if I was interested in some other guy and now he was mailing me to check if there was any chance for him to get me back in his life! He hacked my new email id just to reach me!

I logged into yahoo, saw few more mails were there sent by him, but I didn’t even bother to read any of them. I clicked the reply button and composed, “Are you really Neel? Trust me I cannot believe it! Moreover, what you are up to?  You know that I would never like it. I was always in Raj’s world and I am always with him. I always thought you to b a decent guy, despite of all your crazy deeds. But now I am really stunned. Tell me Neel, when did we have an affair? Never! You were just my friend. You were always by your own, when you felt you called me and when you wished, you met me. You went to Delhi without even informing and then suddenly one day you came back and said you love me! Did you ever bother to know what I felt? Or as you always said I was not good as a girl friend, but I would always be a good wife! So now, I am trying to be a perfect wife of Raj. Now I truly believe that you never loved me or else you would not have hacked my id and mail me saying that we were lovers! You are simply obsessed about me.” I clicked on the send button and logged off.

Neel did not change even after my clear communication and kept on mailing me, almost to provoke me to all possible ways to get into an extra marital affair with him. Finally, one day I replied to one of his mails, “Neel, you want to meet me right? So let that be! I will wait for you in front of KFC on Brigade road on coming Sunday at 6 pm. If you wish, come and meet me. Bye!”

I reached the KFC outlet on Brigade road fifteen minutes after the scheduled time. I saw him standing there already with a bunch of red roses in his hand. He was looking anxiously here and there and was repeatedly seeing his watch, as if he was feeling his wait was becoming too long! I slowly went up to him and tapped on his arm.

“Hey poison, see you invited and I flew down from Delhi!” – He said in excitement, “You look stunning as ever. This one is for you!” He offered the rose bouquet to me.

I did not show any interest towards the flowers and said in a cold voice,

“Thank you for coming, Neel. But I called you here to make certain things clear to you!”

He stood there muted. I continued to say,

“I know you want me back in your life. But frankly speaking I have moved miles away from where we parted. I am happily married, carrying out loads of responsibilities and enjoying my life.” – I paused. Neel did not say a word. After a while, I said again, “Also I am on the family way and would soon become a mother! Hope that clarifies where we stand now! I am sorry, just for me you had to travel this far but it was necessary to end this. Hope you understand and move on from here!”

Neel stood perplexed as I started to leave. I took an auto from the crossing and saw he was still standing there in front of the KFC outlet with the bouquet still in his hand. I never saw Neel again; neither did he mail me after that day.

I recall a funny story I read some years back.  A grand mother had named  her  little  grand child “Diploma”.  Diploma?  What’s that? And she replied, “My daughter got this baby when she went to an institute for a diploma course !”

And now our Indian girls, girls in my city in particular, are acquiring diplomas even before  finishing school.   The 5-8 percent cases are due to carelessness on their  part obviously.  Otherwise the original figure is valid, I should think.

Doctors have  also conveyed that the affected girls go to them during the fifth month of their pregnancy whereof abortion would be dangerous to a mother’s life. They are therefore  sent back home with an advice to deliver the child and pass it on to orphanages or somewhere. Should we call such babies, “Fail mark”?   I pity her parents.

Isn’t  this development  a result of sex education introduced in schools in recent time. Probably the teachers  dramatise the  thing  so much and make it so interesting that  the listeners can’t resist ‘tasting’ it on the quiet.  Why shouldn’t they talk about the serious after effects of such clandestine sex acts? Why shouldn’t they  paint a horrid picture of the fate of a  sixteen year old  bringing out a child at that age and  that it would be a permanent and irremovable  black mark which she has to live with  for life?

Another statistics has it that 89 % of  our youngsters ask their parents to find a spouse for them. We call it ‘arranged marriage’ in our land India.  During any marriage negotiation between the two parties, if the Girl’s parents hide this fact, the girl’s future is doomed.  Some time or the other the Boy or his parents would come to know that the bride had  gone through an abortion or had borne a child earlier. Promptly she would be chased out of their home.  Where will she go?  Naturally back to her  parents or possibly land in a brothel house en route..

If the fact is revealed during the  talk, the marriage would never take place and  her reputation would spread like fire in the area. Poor girl, she has to  remain a half spinster her whole life because no young man, except possibly a widower with 3 children,  would come forward to marry her. .  This is what the school teachers should portray instead of delving into the pleasure of the sexual act.

So, my dear teen age school girls, resist the temptation.  Wait another 5 years or so, get married to a handsome young man as a virgin and indulge in sex to your heart’s content.  If you get pregnant during the first month itself, you would be considered a very fortunate woman and the elders  around you  would  bless you and adore you for that.

Pre marital sex  is dangerous.  It invariably ends in pregnancy.  You would be putting your entire future in jeopardy for the pleasure of a few seconds. Flee from it.  If a Boy says, “Come, it’s a lot of fun, my love.  No harm in it ete etc ,” slap him and kick him. You need to be strong on this.  You are not going to ruin your 50 to 60 years of  married life just by falling for a forbidden fruit !

She’d never tried her hand at baking though. And one birthday, Mr. Kashyap gifted his dear culinary expert wife a sleek microwave oven. At first, Mrs. Kashyap was baffled, as she had absolutely no idea whatsoever, what to do with that steel grey bodied chic smart looking gadget. She had heard from friends that one could cook some really good stuff in them, but HOW was her big question.

But then she wasn’t the kind who’d sit over it (not literally!), but meaning, that she wasn’t the type who’d just keep the oven in some corner of her cramped up kitchen and never use it. In fact, she was the exploring kind. So she set off one day on a quiet Tuesday afternoon, going through each and every page of the instruction booklet that came along the box of microwave. She assembled all the electrical fittings and assimilated that this was one gadget in her kitchen which can come in really handy if utilized smartly and intelligently.

And then, there was no stopping for Mrs. Kashyap.

With the overtly puffy pastel green cotton gloves in hands, which she had purchased for all her future microwave delicacies, she started off. Eight days after Mr. Kashyap had presented her with the birthday gift, Mrs. Kashyap enthusiastically began. The first recipe to be tried by her was Cashew Cookies. Anxious of how it would turn out, she set off meekly. And in less than 2 hours, she was done baking a whole lot of them.

At 7.00 pm Mr. Kashyap arrived from office. Along with the regular strong cup of tea, Mrs. Kashyap set on the serving table, a plate full of the most aromatic, crisp, tempting, rounded Cashew Cookies for her dear husband.

One bite into it, and Mr. Kashyap was absolutely marveled at the taste. Usually, he wasn’t the kind who’d relish western delicacies. But Cashew Cookies turned out to be the exception, and this might have happened so because Mrs. Kashyap hadn’t revealed the name of the recipe to him. All she had said, when asked about the name of the dish was Cashew & Almond Butter Biscuits. That name was bearable to his ears. But somehow a “Cookie” slip in tongue in place of a “biscuit” wouldn’t be tolerated.

His loathe for western dishes was known to Mrs. Kashyap, and hence she’d fabricated a new name, and some new ingredients (like almonds & pistachios), to let him know about the kind of dish baked by her. And our dear Mr. Kashyap thus fell totally head over heels for Mrs. Kashyap’s Cashew & Almond Butter Biscuits. Returning from office at 7 pm started becoming a new target for him, for how could he miss his daily crunch, along with the cup of tea?

And thus, that plate full of cookies became so much of Mrs. Kashyap’s trademark that every visitor to the Kashyap household who ended up having a cup of tea was without fail, offered this delicacy to munch. Needless to say that every single one of those visitors appreciated the dish, and a few of the inquisitive ones even inquired the shop from which the Kashyaps had purchased it. Beaming with pride then, Mr. Kashyap made it a point to make a mention that those weren’t actually bought, but were home baked at the magical hands of Mrs. Kashyap.

Mr. and Mrs. Kashyap’s children who were college-going, also loved their mother’s haath ke bannaye Cashew Cookies, and whenever they’d invite their friends over for studies, or sleepovers, a plate full of those normally used to be served. As if, it had started becoming a ritual in the Kashyap household.

Anyways, so on one such occasion, Mr. Kashyap’s lawyer Mr. Daruwala was visiting them for some ongoing legal proceedings in court. Over a cup of tea, Mrs. Kashyap served him her patented Cashew Cookies, and he despite being a Diabetes candidate, ended up munching four of the sweet delights. With illuminated eyes, he asked the lady of the house” Kya aapne khud bake kare hain ye?” By now, he knew Mrs. Kashyap’s culinary expertise, and thus framed his question in a presumptuous manner. When the lady nodded, he was left with no words to shower his praise. And he made a very spontaneous and passing remark—“You should bring these kinds of delights in the market, Mrs. Kashyap. I bet you they’ll sell like hotcakes”.  Amongst a whole lot of appreciations received so far for her Cashew Cookies, this was like a signature line for her.

At that instant, she fell quiet. But towards the end of the day, she cautiously opened the topic with her husband, purposely over dinner table, for she knew that her children would definitely second her thought. She had been thinking hard about Mr. Daruwala’s statement the entire day, and had come to the conclusion that she wanted to open a Confectionery business; something like a Bakery, to further her love for cooking.

It took Mr. Kashyap five days to give a smiling nod to his wife’s entrepreneurial venture. And in those five days, he hadn’t just thought about the fact that he wanted to support her decision, but he had also worked out the business model, on which the venture would be founded. With all the mathematics worked out, land acquired, labour in place, Research and Development undertaken (new dishes being tried out in Microwave), approval or disapproval sought ( Quality Testing done!), exactly seventeen months after the first hazy picture of how things would look like, Mrs. Kashyap firmly set her foot in Confectionery market and opened her very own Bakery, manufacturing and selling self discovered line of Bakery products. In the first year, the product line was pre planned to be sold through retail outlets and general stores. And her vision was to eventually open her own outlet, which would exclusively sell her product line.

Thus goes the venturesome story of Mrs. Kashyap. It started as an experiment in her steel grey colored Microwave, what followed were a plate full of cookies baked up with love and joy, and what completed the loop was the enterprising effort of this middle aged lady, as she decided to make for herself a niche in this overcrowded Confectionery market, with her range of tried out, home made delicious bakery recipes. With a doting husband to support her, and cooperative children by her side, Mrs. Kashyap’s “Avanti Confectioneries” became a “brand- next –door” in the ingredients- wise saturated Confectionery market, where brands, competition, pricing, packaging were all floating high; all that the market lacked were well researched product offerings, and that was exactly what the Unique Selling Proposition of Avanti Confectioneries was.

Even today, when Mrs. Kashyap muses about how her journey began, her thoughts lead her to the day she had served her husband those plate full of cookies………….

As she reminisces about it, she smiles to herself satisfactorily…..And the rest as they say, is history!…………..

You made a place in my heart

I don’t know why I melted

and let it all start..

A voice from deep within me

which I had learned to trust

Told me there was something behind those eyes

Behind that hue, that touch..

The sparkling eyes, the handsome face

with a dash of humour and style

The love he kept concealed in his heart

I saw myself in his eyes

before I even knew him for a start..

How soft, how subtle

was the intensity of his gaze

Afraid of each other melting,

we quickly looked away..

Love speaks no language

It does not herald its coming with bells

Treading softly in the recesses of my heart

he made a place for himself..

Like the ripples on a clear blue sea,

he was the chaos in me, the ecstasy

Soaking me in the sunshine

filled with a new energy..

We parted our ways in time

to find the person in ourselves

But I remember him today with a smile

the stranger who loved me for a while!!

during my childhood

I used to climb on the hills

nearby my township.

not simply climb but

running  & reaching to the top

in fraction of time.

The hills were then full of plants and trees.

I still remember,  I used to run

through a narrow route

between the bushes and grass

I was afraid of the

tigers and other animals

in the dense forest.

Now I realize that

I cannot not climb any more

on the hills nearby my township

which are now empty

without any trees and bushes,

cause I am now old enough.

A place packed with total noise,

There one sees bags of small and big size…..

Completely overboard with chaos n confusion,

On the look of everyone there, you will find a question…..

Time and again they rack their brain

Asking each other— “ When will arrive this much awaited train?”

This is one place buzzing with activity,

Where trains come n go in an amazing jiffy.

When trains come there’s literally a hailstorm,

It’s none other than a railway platform!

Some are busy studying railway time table,

Asking authorities– “Is this train late in its arrival?”

Some just stare at the time table,

–That big chart makes them uncomfortable

They try to make its head and tail,

But somehow they just fail…..

Although benches are meant to sit,

Some of them just want to fidget,

Every other minute they cross check their ticket!

Impatiently they stroll up and down,

Their faces bear a big frown.

Every train whistle that they hear,

They give a sigh of relief—

“Ah! At last my train is here!”

In some other corner

Are scattered more travelers,

Who just don’t want to bother……

The clock shows what time they hardly see,

as they are too engrossed in drinking their tea….

While the confused lot run from pillar to post,

Others are eating their hot crunchy toast….

Still others enjoy a chocolate munch,

Some carefree souls are having a sumptuous lunch!…..

On one hand there are a few who constantly whine,

Others get their shoes polished to bring it a shine!

Finally when train arrives

There’s hustle bustle

Who will get down or board first,

There’s always this tussle!

That time on the station there’s a huge rush,

And against each other shoulders brush!

Amidst people who off and on Yawn,

Whether it is noon, dusk or Dawn

Always alive and kicking is a railway platform……..!!!

Come home from a hard day’s work in the evening, the first thing we do is switch on the light. Switch on the TV. Microwave the food to eat. Electricity… The main thread weaving through all these activities. What would we do without it?

Edison must have never imagined that his invention of public distribution of electricity would be so intertwined with all activities we do in life that we might as well be dead without it.

We shudder to think about life without electricity! We are not used to much of physical labour in the kitchen or out of it. No pounding or grinding of masalas, no need to saw the wood, you have electric saws. We cannot withstand the heat – we switch on the AC, have a cool drink with ice. We cannot withstand the winters – we switch on the heater, have hot soups. Entertainment means music on the i-pod, watching TV or going to a movie.

Uninterrupted power supply is sought for a premium. Consumers are prepared to pay more to the government as businesses depend on electricity. With connectivity throughout the world, offshore businesses consume all the more power as they are working round the clock.

Natural calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes disrupt power supply and the hardest hit is communication and water supply. Simple things like charging the mobile or getting food become difficult. No clean drinking water because there would be no way to pump it to our homes. Wonder what we would do without it!

Shocking! Shocking! Shocking!

Can we withstand it?

Words you utter are as sweet as candies.

Your hugs are as soft as marshmallows.

Pillows are your arms

That caresses my sobbing emotion.

Your kiss is a warrior

That comes to save my aching soul.

Your warmth is enough to fuel my forlorn heart.

Your smile is a fragrant flower

That envelops my gloom.

Your laughs are rejoicing angels

Descending to my heart in pain.

Your voice is a song of love

That eases every nerve of my weary feeling.

Winds blew hard…

Storms pressed harder

Yet, your coldness came

And whispered into my heart the hardest!

I long for your words of affection

Echoing through my person

I wait for your tender kisses

Quenching through my thirsting heart.

I dream for the day

Passing through my life

That I shall come to taste your sweet love once more.

To take a bite of the chocolates

Melting my heart once more.

Yes, I have come to savor your sugar-coated LOVE!

Sugar-coated AFFECTION,

Sugar-coated HUGS and KISSES!

Sugar-coated and tasteless, meaningless, untrue, painful, bitter!

The other day I just flipped through some pages in the Indian blog  and to my horror I read all sorts of strange perceptions about God and Who He is etc. etc.

Permit me to throw some light on the various doubts and misconceptions many seem to have,  from my  points of view.

Varieties of names have been given to God and different names in different parts of the world as well.  There is nothing known as God of USA, God of UK, God of Ethiopia, God of Indonesia, God of India and so on.  There is only one God for  the entire Earth.

I would give him  the title, “True God or Creator God.”   The reason why I have used the adjectives ‘true’ and ‘creator’  for Him is,  to distinguish Him from so many self appointed gods.  Indeed,  there are thousands and thousands  of such  gods.  But,  they are not the  ‘True’ nor ‘Creator’ type. However, by definition they are gods all right.  Even the true God has  given them recognition.  In fact, it was very much in His knowledge how these fake gods came about and possibly He permitted them too.

You are confused, aren’t you?  You would wonder, with so many gods around, how do I know who the True God  is?  It’s a difficult task all right. And yet,  the true God  expects you to find   Him out of  the  galaxy of gods.  “Haven’t I  given the world  adequate guidelines  for that?” He would say.

Unfortunately, these fake gods also have somewhat  similar virtues as the True God.  For instance, they  do  have some power – power  of miracles, power of healing, power of wealth etc. Isn’t it strange that they derived these powers form the True God and  it was the True God who   delegated these powers to them?  Why and How, you would ask.  Well, that’s a different story and would call for a separate  article too.

Not all  power have been given to them. The True God has withheld some, possibly to enable us to pick out the grain from the chaff. For example, the fake gods have no control over nature, they cannot create anything nor  take away life.  They cannot harm the believers of the True God in any manner without permission.

The head of all the fake gods  is Satan, a very powerful and intelligent person.  What’s Satan’s role on the Earth?  What’s he up to? He is anti God and is always at cross purposes with the True God. He would mislead the people  and persuade them to believe  that he  and  his minions are the actual gods  by performing some miracles on you.  His healing will never be permanent; a lame man will continue to be  lame after a couple of days.  But he is the master of  the riches of the world.  He can give you  enormous wealth if you pray to him.  Satan wants the maximum number of people  in his camp.  He is the chieftain of Hell.

All the earthlings will have to die one day.  Are you aware that  there is one more life everyone has to live  after the earthly death and you have no option about it?  You can’t say, “Thank you very much.  I have lived a good life on the Earth and I do not desire to live anymore and  anywhere else.” You have no choice like that.  You have to live that second life, whether you like it or not.  And that life is  not limited to 70 year  or 80 years or thereabouts, but eternal and for ever. Eternal, may mean millions and millions of years and a very much a  conscious life  for that  matter.

There are only two places you can spend that ‘after life’; in hell or Heaven.

Hell is Satan’s place and Heaven is the True God’s abode.  Hell is a place of torment, discomfort and sometime a burning fire as well.  You may feel  terribly hot there and sweat and no water to quench your thirst. You may experience pin pricks all over your body or  something knocking on your head constantly. These ghastliness  won’t let you  ‘die’ but keep you alive  and   force you to put up with  the terror.  Your thinking  power will be very much operative.  You could recall to your memory your entire  past on the Earth, all the  misdeeds you had done, about the varieties of gods you had bowed down to, how you laughed and ridiculed the sermons some  Christian evangelists delivered about the True God , how you cursed the Christian pastors and Bishops and so on  and so forth.

Whereas, Heaven is a place of extreme comfort and joy;  you would feel exceptionally glorious there among beautiful gardens,  golden roads, trees studded with rubies and emeralds, a care free life and  all these  in  the  presence of the True God whom you would be worshiping continuously.  You can see Him, talk to Him, probably play some games with Him too.  But you wouldn‘t  know where you came from and who you are. You may not even  know your name.  You will have no memory of your life on Earth.  You could ask the True God, “Holy God, who am I?  Where did I come from?  [Similar  questions a little child would ask its mother on the Earth].  Then the true God would tell you what you need to know about yourself. Actually you  may not even care to know anything  about your past because the present is so marvelous, beautiful  and in  gorgeous surroundings.  You  will also have a  mansion of  your own to live in,  with all kinds off facilities; you will be clothed in velvets.  And you will have a company of thousands and thousands of  believers there with whom you could talk, talk about the goodness of the True God, how wonderful He is etc.

So much about  your future residence, which you have to choose while  you are alive on the Earth and never a minute later.

Many do not know or do not want to believe that the True God visited the Earth some 2000 years back.   But that is a fact. Several certifications and  documentation are available in this regard. Some 700 years earlier, prophet Isaiah   had forecast that  a virgin will give birth to a boy who will be Immanual (meaning ‘God with us’).  And  truly a virgin did give birth to a baby boy.

This baby  had to have a name and it was JESUS.  He lived on the Earth for 33 ½ years. Why did the True god have to come to the Earth? Any reasons?  He came down  to reveal several truths  not known to the world till then.  One among them is the reality of a second life and how to spend it in God’s house.  Man by nature has been seeking the Creator God.  He had his own ideas of how to reach God and be in His presence. This is when several religious heads appeared and gave all types of  discourses. One said, go and wash yourself in the river Ganges and you will go to Heaven. Another said, renounce everything, go and meditate in the Himalayas and you will get salvation. Be kind to all people, give to the poor and do always good deed and you will be in Heaven after your death, said another. Like this, there were so  many suggestions and speculations about the method to reach God’s abode.

Jesus said, “All your  imaginations and  the modus operandi  of how to reach God are wrong. The real truth is something else. To step into Heaven, you have to be 100% holy and not one of you is that  holy.  Even 99.99% holiness is unacceptable.  You cannot live a  100% holy life on the Earth nor could you make yourself holy through any other means. “ Only I could make you totally holy and thus give you the right to walk into Heaven.  For that, you have to  put your entire  Faith completely in me, that’s all.”

Some intelligent person could have asked, “It sounds very simple, doesn’t it?  Is it really so?”  It is indeed simple and the True God had made it simple because He wants every human being to come to him and not to step into Satan’s settlement. Next, Jesus had also  made it clear that “You cannot reach Heaven by any other  way. I am the only  Way. All who  had recommended any other  route before my birth  are  wrong and in fact they are  thieves and robbers.”  And there is no question of Satan or his supporters ever allotting  a place for you in Heaven.  He is a controller of hell only..

During His life on the Earth, Jesus performed several miracles, a kind  which no man had performed in the world history even till today.  Has any magician or the so called holy men brought to life a dead man?  Has a lame man from birth been made whole by any one?  Has any  born  blind man  received his sight either by medical means or any other?  Has nature obeyed any man?  It did  at  Jesus’s command.  Has anyone walked on the water?  Jesus did.  Whatever He did was absolutely miraculous. It was clear that only the True God could do all these things.  Jesus performed these miracles to  substantiate that He was  not an ordinary man.

Some lepers and blind men who were cured instantly, worshipped Jesus.  Jesus did not forbid them.  Even His disciples who did not know much about His divinity, in spite of witnessing so many miracles, did not really believe that He was God Himself in human form until He became alive after 3 days in the grave.  Then they at once knew that he was not a prophet, not a teacher nor any of that kind, but the True God Himself.  And they worshipped him wholeheartedly and Jesus accepted and acknowledged their worship. (Earlier during His ministry, Jesus had said, “Do not bow down to any idols or any  image nor worship anyone except the True God.)

Short of saying that He is God, He had obliquely hinted, “My Father is in me and I am in my Father.  My Father and I are one. ” The True and Creator God is JESUS.”.

Harbour no doubt on that and start worshipping and trusting  Him from today.