Reflections on faith, life and learning

To you...

2012-01-26T10:41:00.001+05:30

When I live
help me give my life to you
When I die
may my spirit come back to you
And when I rise again in glory
may I wake up right next to you.

(Inspired by Stephen's prayer: Act 7:59 - While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." )

Christmas wishes for the lonely souls

2011-12-23T18:51:00.001+05:30

Oh, lonely souls on Christmas

Your lord is here and now

Why those tears a-streaming

and those fears allow?

I'll tell you a story

of things not long ago

of a prince and his fears

of darkness and an owl.

The prince said, 'owl

I fear darkness

and I cannot sleep

my thoughts are consumed

by what lies beneath.

The eve of darkness

is a scary hell,

how much i loathe it, i cannot tell'

Fear not, said owl

just light a lamp

your eyes will see

What lies beneath the the darkness eve.

The prince said, 'owl

i did what you said

the light exposed

what lay in the dark

and took all my fears apart

I fear no more

the darkness or the night

I sleep as a babe in its mothers lap'

Many years ago

on that christmas night

Jesus came into the world

as a bright shining light

His light exposed what lay

in darkness and awful decay

With his bright and holy light

he shone them away.

Oh, lonely souls on Christmas

may that light fill your troubled hearts

And allay those fears

and make your sadness depart.

Chirstmas wishes from the owl

2011-12-23T16:32:00.001+05:30

There was once a little prince who was very afraid to sleep in the dark. One day he met an owl and told her about his fear. The owl told him, 'You are a prince. Why should you be afraid of the dark? The dark should be afraid of you.' The prince said, 'But I can't see in the dark. I don't know what lies in the darkness.' The wise owl smiled at him and said, 'When you are scared, just light a lamp. In its light you will see what lay in the darkness. The light will drive away your fear.' The prince followed the owl's advice and soon he was no more afraid of the dark.

Many years ago Jesus came into the world as a light. His light exposed what lay in darkness, so that we didn't have to fear the darkness anymore.

This Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let that light fill our hearts and flood our homes and dispel all the darkness around.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

Tell me and I forget...

2011-12-04T19:19:00.004+05:30

An old adage goes: "Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand."

Now, with my additions to it:

Tell me and I forget,

show me and I remember,

involve me and I understand,

let me ask and I think,

partner me and I explore,

let me not fear to fall and I learn,

stand by me and I love to learn.

To listen to the song, click here

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Shame on us!!! Healthcare costs take another 3 lives

2011-11-29T15:43:00.001+05:30

A young man in Ahmedabad killed himself after his wife died because he could not pay for the ventilator she needed after delivering a stillborn baby. Did Gujarat's Chiranjeevi Yojana, which aims to help mothers from a weaker economic background, fail the young couple?

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/gujarat-health-scheme-under-attack-after-couples-tragic-deaths/217200?pfrom=home-india&cp

Pedestrian vs. Elitist: Highlighting popular culture in the media

2011-11-24T08:59:00.001+05:30

Going by the strong reactions to printing the Kolaveri news on page 1 of The Hindu (Nov 23), I suspect many a cup of steaming filter coffees to have fallen off the readers' hands on seeing that particular edition of The Hindu (Nov.23). Why do we consider only political, economic, social and certain kind of cultural issues worthy of the front page? A news about Carnatic music becoming the rage may not have drawn such adverse reactions. Culture, including popular culture, with its many influences will not always be to everyone's liking. But it definitely needs attention, and sometimes page 1 attention. Highlighting such news won't make The Hindu pedestrian, but ignoring it would certainly make it elitist.

Higher education & social mission

2011-11-23T10:22:00.002+05:30

Prof. K. S. Jacob’s article “Good school, good graduate” (The Hindu, Nov 23) has observed “... Indian higher education, which seems to cater to the elite, to the exclusion of the needs of the majority, mandates review.” The higher education is a continuation of the culture and goals of the education system, beginning from the pre-nursery schools. A review to assess the social mission mandate at the top of the ladder will produce almost predictable results. An implicitly or explicitly imposed ‘social mission’ agenda divorced from the pedagogy and the philosophy of education will produce distorted results. Our education system works on competitive principles, whether it is for admissions or grading or job placements. The system promotes and glorifies those who can compete well enough in the syllabus to the exclusion of the others and anything else. Creativity, innovation, artistic abilities and social concerns have no place in this system. The exclusive Indian higher education is only a symptom of this malaise.

Edited version published in The Hindu, Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24

Livelihoods of low-income families

2011-11-19T12:34:00.000+05:30

- Some reflections on micro-enterprises as a livelihood option

After working with over 100 families on livelihood issues, engaged in different micro-enterprises, we are now looking at how do these micro-enterprises become sustainable livelihoods while enhancing the quality and life of the people we work with. A few thoughts about our approach, about what are we hope to achieve, and about what we want to promote through these micro-enterprises.

Let us remind ourselves once again about the nature of the enterprises the families are engaged in. While, 'enterprises' or 'businesses' are administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners, our surveys have shown, what these women do are neither 'enterprises' nor 'businesses' in the classical sense of the terms.

- They are subsistence activities which mostly help in their survival (or meeting their daily needs, if all goes well). We call it 'livelihood activity'.

- The capital is very small in most cases.

- They are mostly conducted among family members and friends within the neighbourhood.

- They are based on 'trust' and 'hope', rather than 'records' or 'business projections'.

- They are more trade-based, rather than skill-based.

- They are integral part of the person's personal life. For instance, the workers are mostly family members, the resources are mostly family-based, the dependents are mostly family members, and the whole purpose is to add to the family's kitty - money for education of children, life-style expenditure of spouse (such as drinking alcohol, jewellery, clothes, etc.), or social occasions expenditure. This can be contrasted to businesses/ enterprises where workers may be hired, resources are raised from the market and profits increase the wealth of the share-holders.

These distinctions have very important implications for our training and approach. What we are addressing through these livelihood initiatives are not business issues, but more of family and community (or neighbourhood) issues. Adopting mainstream business strategies and models for these will fall short as the context is very different. While the market is the parameter for the scope, functioning and purpose of the business, the family relationships, the neighbourhood linkages, the development state of the community in which the woman lives are all issues which will affect her livelihood.

Just to give an example, if a proprietor of a big business, say a large retail chain, falls ill, the business does not get affected instantly. But in case of a subsistence livelihood, the whole livelihood collapses. If family members/ neighbours are fighting in the proprietor's family, his/her client base need not get affected. But if the family members/ neighbours of a person running a livelihood activity are not in good terms, it can greatly affect the person's business as client base is largely local. If the economy of an area drops either due to disasters/ general economic downturn, it need not affect the big business, because it can always shift its market or bear losses briefly, while that is not the case for subsistence livelihoods which will collapse.

A key to the subsistence kind of livelihoods is the family & neighbourhood relationships and environment. The focus has shifted from the market to the home and neighbourhood. What we are saying here is that, if the person is doing well on the home front and the neighbourhood in terms of relationships and stability, then it provides an enabling environment for the livelihood activities to take place. We know this because many of the livelihood activities which fail are because there was no family support, or there was a health or some other emergency in the family, or the neighbourhood was not able to provide enough income for the activity. How can our approach then address this reality?

I see it at two levels:

i) Address the relationships part of the livelihood (the family, the neighbourhood), with an emphasis on values in relation to self, close family, extended family and the community.

ii) Address the needs part of the neghbourhood which can be addressed through the livelihood, again with an emphasis on values such as leading a better life, improving social conditions, peace, etc.

How do we translate this in our trainings? How does this affect our methodology of training? How does the current EDP, EAP, follow-up trainings address this reality? Some food for thought...

Sr. Valsa John killed by the mining mafia

2011-11-18T21:00:00.002+05:30

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Bible)

Press Release dated 18th November 2011 by:

National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM),

National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF);

National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW)

Condemn the gruesome murder of activist Sr. Valsa John by the mining mafia

Sr. Valsa, an activist of the Rajmahal Pahad Bachao Andolan (RPBA) and an ordained nun with the Sisters of Charity of Jesus & Mary, who had been working among Santhal Adivasis in the coal rich region of Dhumka, Jharkhand was brutally murdered by a group of about 40 armed men on the night of 15^th November 2011. On behalf of Indian peoples' movements and resistance struggles, NAPM, NFF and NFFPFW condemn this heinous and cowardly act, evidently conceived by the powerful mining mafia, aimed at essentially hunting down individuals and movements to silence the voices of resistance by people.

Sr. Valsa John had been working among the Adivasi communities in Jharkhand's coal rich region of Santal Parganhas, Pachwara, for the last 20 years. Since early 2000's, Panem Coal Mine Ltd, a project of Punjab State Electricity Board and EMTA (Eastern Minerals and Trading Agency) from West Bengal, has been operating mines in the coal reserves of Pachwara and 32 surrounding villages. To defend their right over their land and its resources, the Santhal Adivasi community formed the Rajmahal Pahad Bachao Andolan. Sr. Valsa along with others such as Majhi Haddam - the traditional administrative headman of the Santhal tribe, worked to organise the community and were in the forefront of the resistance that was building against the exploitation by Panem Coal. Despite the MoU signed between the local community and Panem Coal in 2006, tension has been mounting in the area in recent times, especially with regard to the betrayal by the Company. On 16 November 2011, Sr. Valsa was brutally murdered by a group of about 40 men, believed to be hired goons of the coal mining mafia.

Sr. Valsa had been under constant threat from Panem Coal Ltd. and had voiced the same to friends and family. The Superintendent of Police has confirmed that she had filed an FIR three years ago where she reported that she was facing death threats. Hours before her death, Sr.Valsa had mentioned to her family about threats to life from the mining mafia. It is rather unconvincing that no action was taken by the police to investigate the matter or to provide for her safety, merely because no persons were named in her complaint. The state and some sections of national media have attempted to pass the blame, to discredit Sr.Valsa and to fudge the facts by bringing the 'Maoists' into the frame. It is condemnable that the local administration is currently attempting to suppress the truth by intimidating the villagers and andolan activists. It is a matter of national shame that the pervasive nexus between powerful mining companies and the state machinery has cost the precious life of a woman who was working to secure basic rights for the marginalised people.

We demand ordering of judicial enquiry into the murder of Sr.Valsa and the probable linkages between the murder and the death threats she had received from the mining mafia. It is also imperative to investigate the fact that Sr.Valsa was working in an area dominated by right-wing Hindutva forces that enjoyed considerable benefits from the mining corporations. The state should own-up to not only their apathetic nature in which they dealt with a serious death threat from a citizen but also to tolerating a situation in Pachwara where a mining company have overthrown constitutional and democratic structures while gravely violating the basic rights of Adivasis.

We salute the life, struggle and martyrdom of Valsa John, who spent her life working with the Adivasi community to fight for their land, their livelihood, their very existence!

Signed on behalf of the organisations by:

1. Ashok Choudhury (NFFPFW)

2. Matanhy Saldanah (NFF)

3. Medha Patkar (NAPM)

Contacts: 011-26680883 / 9818905316 / 9582862682

Need wisdom - walk with the Lord!

2011-11-13T19:12:00.005+05:30

The study of wisdom is a vast ocean – what is wisdom? where does wisdom

dwell? who is wise? can wisdom be acquired or taught? can wisdom be lost?

I visualise wisdom as walking with the Lord. It is not an end-product of the

walk, but the walk itself is wisdom. Walking with the Lord is righteousness.

This righteousness is described as the fear of the Lord in Proverbs (1:7 and

9:10) and is called the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 8:13 says to fear the

Lord is to hate evil.

Solomon's righteousness led him to ask for wisdom and knowledge over riches,

wealth, or honor. It was granted him. But his walk slowly turned away from

the Lord, and the consequences are well known.

The walk with the Lord is righteousness, and the walk is wisdom. As one

keeps walking, the nature of this righteousness is revealed more and becomes

more explicit. The more one walks with the Lord, the more one begins to

understand the nature of God which is righteousness. From the walk comes

greater understanding. As Proverbs 9:10 says, knowledge of the Holy One is

understanding.

A requisite for this walk with the Lord is the awareness of one's poverty of

spirit. The walk of righteousness is one of being justified before God. As

one walks more and more closely with the Lord, the extent of the poverty is

revealed even more. Jesus talks of this in his parable of the Pharisee and

the tax-collector (Luke 18:9-14) To some who were confident of their own

righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax

collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you

that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like

this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But

the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven,

but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you

that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For

everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will

be exalted. (NIV)

The walk of righteousness with the Lord with an awareness of the poverty of

one's spirit is not just wisdom and understanding but is also an act of

possessing the kingdom of heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus began

teaching by referring to the poor in spirit, saying "Blessed are the poor in

spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:10). Note the instant

fulfillment in the promise ("for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"). There is

one other beatitude which has this instantness which is "Blessed are those

who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven" (Matt 5:10). All the other beatitudes have a future promise ("they

will be").

The experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)

depicts the wisdom walk. The two disciples weighed down by the events of

Jesus's crucifixion and confused by the stories of his resurrection are

walking to Emmaus. They are joined by Jesus on their walk. The did not

recognise him. Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to

them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. At the end of

the walk, as he joined them at the supper table, their eyes were opened.

They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he

talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" The two

downcast disciples learnt and understood the Lord through their walk with

Jesus to Emmaus. The walk with the Lord was wisdom unto them, and the

understanding they gained was so strong that it burned within them.

A final thought in this post. The walk with the Lord needs to be constantly

renewed. This is only possible through a constant awareness of one's poverty

of spirit which leads one to thirst for more and more righteousness in one's

life. The unravelling of the nature of God through one's walk with Him will

make the need more evident. The more one sees of God's righteousness, the

more one is made aware of one's poverty of spirit. This is how one can test

if one is being constantly renewed or have turned away from the walk. If the

poverty of spirit is replaced by pride and arrogance, evil behavior or

perverse speech (Proverbs 8:13), we know wisdom has departed and folly has

set in.

Just as the eyes of the weary disciples were opened in Emmaus and they could

see the Lord, those who thirst for righteousness too shall be filled. As

Jesus says on the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:6, blessed are those who

hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

May God grant us the grace to walk consistently with Him and to grow in

wisdom and understanding as citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Feeling God's presence

2011-11-12T10:22:00.002+05:30

Close your fist and put a silk cloth on your closed fist. How does it feel? Well, like a cloth on our hand! Put it on longer, and after sometime we won't even be aware of the cloth. But now, open your fist and feel the cloth – the texture, the smoothness, the coolness of the fabric. What a difference it makes!

God's love and presence is often this way. It surrounds us and is always present. But over time, we don't feel the presence anymore. Just like opening our fists helps us to feel the cloth again and all its properties, all it takes to feel God's presence and love again is to open up (our hearts, thoughts and minds) and let it seep through.

When we stop pro-actively and consciously feeling the fabric, we lose touch of its properties. Similarly when we become passive and closed over time, the awareness of the presence gradually diminishes. How do we keep it going? The answer is to have a dynamic, purposeful, conscious relationship with God and then the awareness of the presence becomes renewed.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. (from Lamentations 3:22-23)

May we be able to open up and feel God's presence in our lives. God bless!

The star plant

2011-11-11T20:27:00.002+05:30

Once there was a seed in a forest. It started to sprout and tender shoots shot up. A forester who passed by that way thought, 'that looks like a good plant, I will take it with me, nurture it and add it to my nursery'. He dug the soil around the young plant, uprooted it and took it away with him to the nursery. At the nursery, he potted the young plant, put in small doses of chemical fertiliser, and watered it everyday. When the plant grew bigger, he repotted it in a even bigger earthern pot. He pruned the branches, cleaned it and tended to it regularly. Soon the plant looked very attractive and was relocated to a spot facing the road, to attract potential buyers.

Soon a wealthy man who owned large tracts of land, came into the nursery. He was looking for plants that would grow well in his ranch. He pointed to the forest plant and said 'he sure looks good'. A few more plants were chosen. The price was fixed. A premium price was paid for the star plant. He drove away with the plants and planted them in the ranch. The plants grew and bloomed. Soon an unusual climate descended in the area. The prized plant soon wilted. The man did not know why. He spent a lot of time, effort and money to save the plant. The plant survived, but barely.

The story of our children is often like this. We pluck them out of home when they are young and put them into artificial surroundings. From an environment where they can grow happily and learn naturally they are uprooted and put into a school, where they are taught. They are evaluated, rewarded or punished based on how well they learn what is taught. Many of them dread being taken away from home everyday. And still others resent not being able to learn what they want, the way they want, and at the pace they want. They are made unhappy so that can be ostensibly be happy later. As if to add injury to insult, they are then graded and judged on what they may not have wanted to learn.

Those who flourish in the system get picked up and are rewarded by the system (jobs, financial gains). Those who don't fit in are labelled 'misfits' and are constantly judged. Many of them wilt away from the extreme pressure. Some of them bloom and thrive. Winds of change blow, and some of the star kids are shaken. The system spends a lot of time, effort and money to keep them from falling apart. Those who haven't lost the ability to learn (even without being taught) adapt and thrive.

Doing vs. being...

2011-11-10T11:55:00.004+05:30

I am at the crossroads. It is the typical crossroads of the Robert Frostian yellow woods. What do I do, which path do I take? The answer is not straight-forward, for sure. The paths are as distinct as can be, and yet the same.

*And both that morning equally lay

in leaves no feet had trodden black.*

(From 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost)

The thought of deciding a path and following it is exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Which path... where would it lead... would I really want it a few days/ months/ years down the line... what would I lose if I chose this path... and what would I gain?

I decide to ask the Lord. As I lay down to sleep, I pray, 'Lord, what do you want me to do for you, for the world around me, for me?' I toss and turn, no answer. I pray again.... silence. I drift off into sleep. I wake up with a thought in my head – 'Stop doing. Start being'. It was such a anti-Nikean thought (of the 'just do it' fame).

As I had my morning quiet-time, the idea of 'being' became more clear.

Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Philippians 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.

The 'doing' was an extension of the being. The knowledge of what to do came from the transforming of the mind which came from living pure and blameless and holy lives. Can I do it? Of course I can do it.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Romans 4:13)

The path has become clear. The decision at the crossroads is quite straight-forward. The paths are as distinct as can be, and yet my walk is the same, in any path I choose...

Social justice in the new millennium

2011-10-11T18:37:00.000+05:30

A family series video on Social Justice titled:

Social justice in the new millennium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlNkxIktnmY

About baby giraffes and the human child...

2011-09-22T09:42:00.000+05:30

We learn a lot from nature. One of the mails I received was about baby Giraffes being born, and its mother kicking the baby giraffe, until it stands on its feet. The moral of the email was given as: Never mind how hard you fall, always remember to pick yourself up and get back on your feet.

While I still need to check about Giraffe rearing practices, I was reflecting about the analogy. As the write-up said, "unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run with the pack it will have no chance of survival". But humans are made differently. Human kids are the only ones who are so helpless at birth (and after) that they need so much care and looking after, before they are able to stand on their own feet and do things. I see a message in that. The Bible speaks of a stewardship role for humans on earth where one has to care and nurture for the lovely creation (including the giraffes :-). To be able to do that, humans need to be nurtured and cared for, before they could nurture and care for others. They need to feel the love and protection of their parents (and others), before they can love and protect the world. The more the baby receives, the more secure the baby feels and the more s/he will be able to give when s/he grows up. Many a time, we treat little children like they are baby giraffes (either because we think that is how they need to be treated for their own sake, or for our own convenience) and it takes years of healing and unlearning before they feel human again.

...from ‘Sunday School’ to ‘The Lord’s Touch’

2011-09-18T17:06:00.002+05:30

Reflections on Sunday School competitions and competitive exams

- A call for paradigm shift from 'Sunday School' to 'The Lord's Touch'

Sunday School (in our context) is a place where children gather to learn about the Bible and the teachings of the Christian faith/ church through songs, stories, activities and lessons; but more importantly through interaction with friends, Sunday School teachers, volunteers and the music team. In such a place, I find the system of competitions and competitive Sunday School exams as a contradiction. For what is the underlying thought behind a competition? It is that you do something relatively better than the others to get the prize. To my mind, it is contradiction with respect to a Christian outlook to life.

For me, a Christian outlook to life is that:

1) we are not competing against others, but our own selves – to be the best we can be, to overcome our limitations and weaknesses and to stay consistent. To love the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul, and with all our mind and with all our strength.

2) we are not competing against others, but collaborating with others – that as we walk through life's way, we are not blind to other's plight, but that we love and care for them enough to help them along in their life's journey. To love our neighbour as ourselves.

As Jesus says, "There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-30).

The competitiveness in the Sunday School promotes just the opposite of these ideas (or "commandments", a much stronger thought). Having been a Sunday School teacher myself, who has had to grade and evaluate children, I know of those kids who are full of love for the Lord and are some of the kindest people I've ever met. But they are not able to sing or tell stories or remember memory verses as well as their peers in the class. On the day of the prize distribution, they would come with eager anticipation to know if they won anything, because they had given their best. I needn't say the rest.... you would have guessed it by now. They would go back empty-handed. It would break my heart to see such kids. I would have my own prizes for everybody in the class, so that no child would feel unappreciated. But, the damage caused by the earlier experience would be hard to undo. In a way, it is also damaging to the 'winner'. A boy in Sunday school used to win the top prize for memory verse competition always. One of his friends once told him, 'I wish I could remember verses like you. I have not been blessed with a good memory. I try very hard, but I'm never able to win a prize'. That was it. The boy who used to win began hating competing in the memory verse competition after that. He would try and avoid his friend during competitions and prize distribution ceremonies. He felt very very sad for him and helpless. He said that he prayed real hard that his friend's memory would improve, but his friend never won any memory verse competition. Another person describes her experience at home after winning the prize. She said that she would feel terrible if she won some prize and her brother (who was younger than her) would win less (or nothing). It was a bitter sweet moment for her. I have also heard others (kids and teens as well) confessing that the victory and the resulting adulation affected their spiritual life. Their church/ Sunday School experience revolved around participating and winning in the competitions.

Friends, priests, pastors, Sunday School teachers, parents, children, anybody who reads this.... I implore you, let us stop this un-christ-like trend. Children face the pressures of competition and the challenges to be the 'best' everywhere in their lives – in school, in the society, at work (later in their lives), everywhere.... A common argument is that these competitions/ exams are a way of helping children to bring out their talents before others, and to motivate them to do the best. But no range of competitions or rewards or competitive opportunities would be able to cover the spectrum of talents all the kids have. So, many kids' talents (or strengths) would never be recognized or brought out through these competitions. And even if it did, the contention is that the very principle of competing against the other to bring it out goes against the grain of what it seeks to bring out.

The name of an institution reflects its identity. The words used, such as school, teacher, lessons, etc. are all borrowed from the mainstream education system. These names/ titles not only provide an identity to the space/ place called 'Sunday School' but also in turn shapes the nature of the experience there. Secondly, the use of the word 'Sunday' in the 'Sunday school' implies a meaning of school meant only for Sundays (akin to calling Church as 'Sunday work'). The place that Sunday School occupies in a child's life should not be restricted to a Sunday alone, nor should the experience be that of a mainstream 'school'. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. (Matthew 19:14-15) That should be the experience of the Sunday School – WHAT: a place where children come to Jesus; WHY: to experience the touch of Jesus (he placed his hands on them); HOW: they come as ‘belongers’ of the kingdom of heaven (belongs to such as these). And, not just as ‘belongers’, but as co-heirs of God with Christ (Romans 8:16-17). This should completely reorient the way we view, conduct and refer to Sunday School. It is no longer a school where children come to learn, but a place where we experience the Lord's touch in fellowship with others. It is not only a 'Sunday' experience, but a life-changing event which permeates all the activities and the life of the child itself. So, it is no longer just about attending Bible classes or learning songs on a Sunday (or any other) morning or about competing with each other, but about experiencing the Lord's touch with and through others. A better term to call this space would be The Lord's Touch (rather than Sunday School), in light of Matthew 19:14-15: Jesus said, Let the little children come to me .... He... placed his hands on them.... As we have the Lord's Prayer and the Lord's Table, we also have the Lord's Touch.

Essential differences between the two (Sunday School & The Lord's Touch):

- it is no longer just about learning Bible lessons, it is about experiencing the Word (content and methodological implications)

- it is no longer just singing songs, it is learning to praise God in everything we do (focus and methodological implications)

- it is no longer a once-a-week event, it is a daily life routine (structural implications for the program)

- it is no longer about competing, it is about collaborating (content and methodological implications)

- it is no longer about teaching, it is about facilitating & modeling (structural and methodological implications)

- it is no longer a space where kids are moulded, but an interactive space where kids, adults, pastors, priests, parents, families and 'the other'* model Jesus (structural and methodological implications)

- it is no longer about attending the Sunday School, it is about experiencing the Lord's Touch (focus implications)

* 'the other': the marginalised, the outcast, the non-christian (essentially all those outside 'the circle')

He's Still Working On Me

2011-09-18T11:50:00.001+05:30

He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart
Don't judge me yet, there's an unfinished part
But I'll be perfect just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master's loving hands

In the mirror of His Word reflections that I see
Make me wonder why He never gave up on me
He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray
Remember He's the Potter, I'm the clay

- written by Joel Hemphill

From the beginning to the end... the alpha & the omega

2011-09-18T11:18:00.001+05:30

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them--they are more than the sand; I come to the end--I am still with you.

Psalm 139:13-18 (NRSV)

Wisdom & knowledge... discretion & understanding

2011-09-17T16:39:00.000+05:30

when wisdom entereth into thine heart,

and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

discretion shall preserve thee,

understanding shall keep thee:

Proverbs 2:10-11 (KJV)

Did Jesus beat up people in the temple?

2011-09-16T13:25:00.001+05:30

John 2:14-15: In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"

My answer from reading the Bible is NO – Jesus did not beat up the people in the temple courts. I picture the liberating scene when Jesus must have walked into the temple. He scans the scene and His eyes takes it all in. The temple courts are filled with men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. He finds some cords lying there, walks up to it, picks it up and makes a scrouge (whip) out of it. The people are watching.... what is he going to do next? The traders and money changers are also watching and wondering what this man is up to. Suddenly they see him walking.... walking up to them...... LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION. (He) drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"

Every communication and action has layers of meaning to it. Making and carrying a scourge (whip) of cords conveyed a powerful symbolic message of what their actions deserved. I again reiterate, it is not written in the Bible that he used the scrouge of cords to beat anyone. It is our assumption that if he made a scrouge, he must have used it to beat them all up. On the contrary, if he had used that scrouge to beat up people, people could have accused him of an unlawful behaviour of beating up someone (and maybe even beat up him up there). But He was above blame. The moral, symbolic and divine nature of His act still marvels us and has inspired generations after Him. I know of teachers who have always held a stick (all their lives), but never used it once. Mahatma Gandhi used bits of this in developing his own philosophy of non-violence. When he used that, the British could never accuse him of committing a crime. In fact that helped to highlight the real issue which he was addressing (which was the unfairness of their discriminative acts and illegal occupation). And secondly in contrast to ahimsa - non-violence advocated by Gandhi, the violent acts committed by the British empire became even more magnified.

Some are surprised at Jesus overturning the tables and driving out the money changers and feel that it goes against the grain of Jesus' spirit. I see it this way.... When a child is about to go into a fire, we may put out the fire vehemently and rush to protect the child. But that needn't take away from our gentle spirit. In the case of Jesus overturning the tables and driving out the money changers, I see a similar strand. His reaction was to His Father's house being turned into a market (a place of merchandise). The sheep, the cattle, the doves and the money change were the merchandise. He took action to clear them all from temple courts. That's it. He put out the fire.

I draw some lessons for my life/ work from this passage. Firstly, target the acts of violation/ injustice and not the perpetrators (hate the sin, but love thy enemy). Secondly, like the whip in Jesus's hand, the whips that we have (the laws, the other tools at our disposal like legal remedies, the threat of punishment, etc.) are mere symbolic guiding tools and cannot bring lasting change. Thirdly, the moral authority for our actions must come from our life actions. Our life needs to be above board, even when it comes to dealing with acts of injustice.

Restructuring Governance for Health

2011-09-15T05:01:00.000+05:30

Restructuring Governance for Health – A paradigm shift from health service delivery to health outcomes responsibility

Story of a paradigm shift: In a class of seventy five, a student always troubled the teacher. She not only caused disturbance, but also instigated the others to do so. The teacher went to a wise old woman, a sage, who told her, 'till now you saw her as a problem, now envision her as a part of the solution'. The teacher came back, called the student and had a long session with her. She made the student the 'Class Monitor' – a leader who was responsible for maintaining order and discipline in the class. She gave her some ground rules – no hitting others, no shouting at others, any problems that couldn't be handled was to be brought to the notice of the teacher who would help her handle it. That was a new beginning for the class (and they lived happily....... !!! :)

In health today, we see the state health machinery as being inefficient, corrupt, ill-equipped, and not available in places of great need. We see the health policy making bodies as being part of the ill-functioning health governance system. The public perception is that of the legislature, executive and the departments all being hand in glove with the corruption and inefficiencies of the giant health machinery which is geared at providing health care at different points of services. But who is finally held responsible for the outcome? How is the outcome defined – is it in terms of being responsible for the health outcomes or just providing services? Who is responsible? How does this responsibility percolate down the hierarchy?

The biggest corruption of our governance system today is not the pilferage of pennies, but its inability to achieve the outcomes for which it is intended. We need to envision a health governance system where everybody from the top to the last person in the field is held responsible for health outcomes in a population - not just to provide the services, but to be responsible for its outcome. This huge health machinery which is often seen as the stumbling block needs to become a part of the solution. A shift is required from a health governance system to a governance system for health. (This is applicable in all areas of governance).

Naveen

Novartis Must Not Win This Case

2011-09-14T14:31:00.001+05:30

It is a case that sets corporate greed against the lives of millions across the world....

http://newsclick.in/india/novartis-must-not-win-case

Source: Amit Sen Gupta, Newsclick, September 10, 2011

Love... knowledge, insight... for a pure & blameless life

2011-09-14T08:50:00.000+05:30

And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

Counter spurious medicines in India

2011-09-11T18:45:00.001+05:30

Considering the size of the pharma market (and the size of the country for that matter), any number of drug (medicine) inspectors and drug testing labs won't make a real dent on the issue of spurious drugs. Unless the end-users, pharmacists, doctors, NGOs, consumer groups, and others (including pharma firms) are involved, we cannot hope to make a dent. For this, the system needs to be shaped in such a way that it can be monitored by anyone. For this a bottom-up thinking would help...

If I as a user/ pharmacist want to know if any medicine is spurious,

(a) firstly, can I get the required authentic information about a particular drug from somewhere (including name & contact details of manufacturer, contents, color, side-effects, packaging details, batch numbers & expiry dates, etc. ). This could be a authorised government website and/ or a toll-free number with a call-centre back end.

(b) Can the website/ call-centre give me enough information to determine whether my medicine package is spurious (as in any scientific test, the first process is physical verification). Certain changes may have to be suggested in labelling/ packaging by the manufacturers so that it can be amenable to verification.

(c) If I'm still not convinced, and want to verify it further, how do I proceed. If I send it for tests, will it cost me a lot/ will it be done freely? Will my identity be protected?

(d) How do I know that I have a right to get my medicines tested? The information about the website/ call centre number should be mandatorily displayed in all hospitals/ clinics/ pharmacies in vernacular language and Hindi/ English. An interesting parallel can be found in petrol pumps where they display how to check whether the fuel is unadulterated and in the right quantities. We can ask the fuel pump personnel to provide the materials to conduct the test. How much more should provisions to test medicines freely be available for the general public.

These ideas may not strictly be in the domain of controlling spurious drugs exclusively. But controlling spurious drugs need to be seen as part of a larger issue of drug safety and informed/ effective use of medicines for which information is key.

The effective way to counter spurious drugs is to liberate control of health and medicines from the exclusive clutches of medical personnel through a deliberate effort at demystification and making information widely and freely based.

All the King's men...

2011-09-10T09:06:00.001+05:30

‘Gandhian Anna Hazare said ... 26/11 Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab should be “hanged publicly” in the interests of the nation and people’. (Hindustan Times, Sep 10, 2011, Pg.1). The title “Gandhian’ and the sentiment ‘hanged publicly’ in the same sentence seemed to be a contradiction. The “to hang publicly” demand evoked images of a distant medieval past when kings and battles were in vogue.... the laggard among the fleeing soldiers being caught by the victorious soldiers... the ‘enemy soldier’ being paraded around town and being brought to the market place and tied to a stake.... the old and the young staring at ‘the enemy’.... the young boys throwing stones at him.... the king and his courtiers entering the market place at the appointed time and sitting in state.... the hangsman covering the face of ‘the enemy’ with a black hood.... ‘the enemy’ being vanquished.... the king and his courtiers returning, ready to face the enemy’s next attack..... ‘the enemy’ is dead, but the enemy still lives.

Cut back to 2011..... in the bloody war between neighbours, a young foot soldier is caught. This legal justice system and democracy is a bloody hindrance. Do away with it. Hang him in public. Let us all throw stones at him untill our vengeance is quenched. Then will our dead souls get peace. Our children will learn valour and national pride. When one of our foot soldiers gets caught across the border, what will happen of him, some ask. He will be a martyr... a great son of our soil. We will give him the 21 gun salute, and a medal to boot to his distraught wife or mother or child... with a loving pat from the president.... jai jawan we say.

The same newspaper had an article by Gopalkrishna Gandhi (pg.12) in which he writes about Mahatma Gandhi’s answer (1940) when asked if he considered death sentence to be against the principle of ahimsa. He answered: “I do regard death sentence as contrary to ahimsa. Only he takes life who gives it. All punishment is repugnant to principles of ahimsa, therefore, a murderer should be sent to a penitentiary and there given every chance to reform himself. All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such.”

Sixty + years after our political independence from British rule, we still parade our arms on national festivals. Eons after our civilisation started, we still call for publicly hanging ‘criminals’. The more things change the more they remain the same....

P.S.
THE HINDU newspaper published an essay - “A Hanging” as part of its editorial campaign for the abolition of capital punishment in India. This was in the context of the scheduled execution of three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and the impending execution of other convicts on death row. The essay by George Orwell which speaks of the barbarity and “unspeakable wrongness” of capital punishment was published in 1931. It still rings true. Read it here

My comments to the essay is given below:
'....in spite of the men who gripped him by each shoulder, he stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the path....' - brought tears to my eyes! A life is taken as a punishment for life taken - an eye for an eye - a crime for a crime - barbarity in place of barbarity... when will we ever learn?