Rejoy's Blog

What can you do while you are stuck in a Bangalore traffic?

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 06:26:00 +0000

"The heavy downpour in the southern and central parts of Bangalore in the latter part of the day coupled with traffic jams added to the woes of Bangaloreans returning home from work". If you open the morning paper, this is what you will get to read much about Bangalore’s hopeless traffic and the condition of roads in Bangalore.

Traffic Jams and slow moving traffic is a reality of modern life. We spend more time in congested traffic, than we would like. We have been continuously tormented with the hallucination of in-the-air roadways for more than five decades and I read the other day that a flying car coming by 2011 for £100,000. Aaah! Now I can take a breather. C'mon, think about the air-traffic. I think until it becomes a reality, chances are we will continue to endure the almost daily grind of spending 5% of a day in traffic jams. The reasons for it is lack of planning, and basic traffic sense among the citizens. Did you know? Traffic jam can also lead to loss of productivity, feelings of depression, boredom, restlessness, frustration and even anger leading to fights on the road/road-rage. Oh boy! Do you think we should allow a traffic jam to spoil our peace of mind?

What can you do? Let me tell you some things you can do while you are stuck in a traffic jam.

I. Look at the positive side - Thank God, the release of Tata Nano is not full fledged yet and be glad that the delay in reaching office is only few minutes.

2. Strike up a conversation with someone (may be the driver) along with you and crib about the traffic. You will feel good if the other person also has the same thought. Smile at people who are at par with you since a longtime.

3. Just Relax - If your going to be late to work, there’s nothing you can do about it. Try to enjoy the moment, wherever you are.

4. Listen to Music - You have numerous FM stations that entertain you on the go. Enjoy it. Or alternatively, carry a MP3 n listen to your favourite music. If you are doing a course, read the course book or magazine.

5. Grab the opportunity - Don’t look upon a traffic jam as a bad thing; but, as a challenge and opportunity. For example, if you like blogging, maybe you could plan your next blog in Appreciative Enquiry. Who knows, you may become one of the blog gurus who wrote all the articles in a traffic-jam. I am sure all of you have seen the Lead India campaign by Times of India where a small kid makes a big difference in a traffic jam.

Try this till the "Namma Metro" will come to our rescue soon.

How to Break New Year Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 02:00:00 +0000

It’s time again to greet another year. I am sure a lot of you will think about the resolution that you made a year ago and reflect and contemplate about how could not fulfill them. Some of you may not even remember the resolutions you made because you were not able to stick to them for not even a week. What I have realized is that there is absolutely no point in making unrealistic resolutions and not living up to it. So here are some steps of ”How to break New Year Resolutions ”.

Try to remember the last year’s resolution that you forgot and implement it again

Have resolutions which are unrealistic and unattainable.

Prepare a big list; it is much easier to stick on. Remember, big list of resolutions are made to be stylish and be trendy.

Never think about writing down your resolutions or plan the year about it. Do not prioritize resolutions into short term goal, a medium goal and a high goal.

Be too rigid in your approach to resolutions. Give no room for flexibility for the resolutions that you have made

Do not make any contingency plans to tweak your resolution.

When you have many other commitments, responsibilities and obligations why bother about resolutions. Conveniently forget about the resolutions you made. And please do not keep any reminders for the resolutions you have made and do not tell anyone close ones about the resolutions lest they remind you.

Think about what you should stop doing, rather than what you actually want to achieve

If you know that you are about to break a resolution, do not care about it. Don’t ever think of getting back on your resolution and continue. Convince yourself that you are never going to stick to your resolution.

Do not track the progress of your resolutions and never reward yourself for the resolutions. Keep some for next year.

I hope you get my satirical message. It is very crisp and clear. New is the year, new are the hopes and the aspirations, new is the resolution, new are the spirits and forever my warm wishes are for u. Have a promising and fulfilling new year.

Bangalore's Automatic Automenace of Autocratic Autowallahs

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 01:52:00 +0000

I work in an environment where I cannot afford to miss my time schedules and if I miss, it may add to additional chaos leading to rescheduling my time. It was another day when the so called call-centre cabbies planned to go on a strike as the demanding better work conditions, higher salaries, more rest-time and overtime allowance. But on the other hand, from the cab owners perspective,they have seen a surge in their business since the BPO boom began in the city.The cab strike means makes your own arrangements to reach office. Since I stay 29km away from my workplace and not having own transport, it means I may have to use the public transport - BMTC, an autorickshaw or a private cab which are in the descending order of costs effectiveness.

BMTC - Rs. 24
Auto - Rs. 400
Private Cab -Rs. 500.

Finally I decided to mitigate my losses and took a BMTC Bus though I know the company will reimburse the amount I spent in reaching the company. Unfortunately there isn't a direct route to my workplace so I will have to do hop-skimp and jump three buses. As I have traveled in BMTC buses since my childhood and still atleast once a week, I can cope with this pretty fast. I managed to reach a place which is 2km away from my office and have to catch an Autorickshaw from there to reach my destination. I was overjoyed by the fact that I was able to cover 27km within a span of 70 which is unusual under Bangalore Traffic conditions That's where the fun began.Place : Hoodi
Time : 09:30am
Weather : Cloudy
Autorickshaw stands : 2
Lady autodrivers : Nil

Me: "Sir, Aviva bartheera"? (Sir, will you drop me to Aviva?)
Autodriver : "Saar, Rs 30/- agutthe" (Sir, it will cost you Rs. 30/-) .
Me : Nanage gotthu illinda estu aguuthentha, nanenu hosaba alla, Rs.20ge bartheera?" (I know very well how much it costs and I am not new to this area but can we negotiate it for Rs. 20?)
Autodriver : Sir, adu industrial area, jaasti agutthe (Sir, since its an industrial area, it will costs more)
Me : Beda Sir.

I decided that I will not ask anyone in the stand and I promptly walk a few metres away from the autostand and stood along the road waiting for an auto which might ply that way. Finally I managed to stop an auto but he look little puzzled and told me that he is searching for a station to fill gas. I thought I will be a good Samaritan and also will request him to drop me. I agreed to show him the gas station and he was delighted to drop. He changed the metre to minimum rate of Rs.14/- which was surprise for me. He was quick and dropped me faster than I expected. I handed over a Rs.20/- bill and thanked him. I could see the smile on his face and I was happy too.

As I was getting into my office I was thinking what probably made the others autowallahs to be what they are and lay hanging around in their stands. They are accomstomed to it and now its their habit since they have got the taste of illgotten money by charging innocent people and taking them for a ride. Its high time the government take action as otherwise these auto drivers will continue with their terrible behaviour and charge high rates that can even put the inflation percentages of Zimbabwe to shame. I feel that if stern action is taken against a few autodrivers it may set a precedent and others will then think twice before harassing passengers.

I am sure you would also have experienced something similar to what happened to me.
Do share it. :)

Talk to God at 1paise per second

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 01:51:00 +0000

We live in a world where we need everything at our fingertips at the fastest pace and at the cheapest rates. If I am on the computer for too long my parents, sometimes feel a little left out. Even worse so if they are telling me something and while I multi-task online. But what really draws me to pen down something today is, the dawn and rise of Mobile Revolution in India. Consumer expectations drive innovation, my verdict is that a major breakthrough was when one of the Mobile Service Provider entered the Indian market with its 1 paise per second offer. No sooner the so called pioneers realized that a majority of their market share is dropping than they started entering the bandwagon.

We now have the option of contacting our kin, friends and others at the most cheapest rates in the world ie at 1 p/sec at anytime of the day. That now means that you communicate longer enabling you to have quicker access to anyone and talk to them instantly. If they are not accessible then you have an option of sending a SMS at 1p/sec. That's because, you have everything at your fingertips i.e. from checking your email on your Blackberry to Tweeting and letting the world know what you do via a simple SMS service. In spite of all this, there is a rise in broken relationships, divorce rates and families are falling apart. Why do you think this is happening?

That's because God does not own a cellphone and is not available for free consultation. I am sure this will take you by surprise. Yes, I indeed believe that if God had a cellphone then people would think they can have instant access to God and his number would be on speed-dial. Everytime you wanted to know what decision you should make, the answer would be as easy as touch a button on your touch-screen mobile or voice-tag that types it for you. And people would send an SMS when they are stuck or when they cry "Oh my God where are you and why it is happening only to me?".

We do have God's cell phone number and by the way network feasibility issues are zero. So now no matter what we are doing or where we are, we can always talk to God. While driving to your workplace, shopping in a store or while playing a game, no matter where we are, we can talk to God. And nor does his cell-phone get switched off because its charged up all the time. When he wants to talk to you, he will ring you at the perfect time. To access God's cell phone, all we have to do is to dial 9***772937 ie 9***PRAYER. I am sure you will smile when you receive his SMS. Bible says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

So if God had a cellphone, what do you think his number would have been?

The Pope and the Jew

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 01:41:00 +0000

Rev. Arun Andrews is one of my favourite speakers in my church Bethel AG International Worship Centre. Recently, he was the guest speaker and I was amused with a story he narrated.

Several centuries ago, the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave the Vatican. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Jewish community. So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Jewish community. If the Jew won, the Jews could stay. If the Pope won, the Jews would leave. The Jews realized that they had no choice. So they picked an elderly aged man named Moishe to represent them. Rabbi Moishe's Latin wasn't very good - in fact, he knew very little--but he was a man of great faith and well respected in the Jewish community. The pope agreed. What could be easier than a silent debate?

The day of the great debate came. Moishe and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Moishe looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Moishe pulled out an apple. The Pope stood up and said, "I give up. This man is too good. The Jews can stay."

An hour later, the cardinals were all around the Pope asking him what happened. The Pope said: "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground and showing that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?"

Meanwhile, the Jewish community had crowded around Moishe. "What happened?" they asked. "Well," said Moishe, "First he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here." "And then?" asked a woman. "I don't know," said Moishe. "He took out his lunch and I took out mine."

Rev. Arun Andrews served for 17 years in the pastoral ministry of the Methodist Church in Bangalore. He has been part of Richmond Town Methodist Church and Koramangala Methodist Church and he now serves as the Minister-at-large with RZIM Life Focus Society.

Giant - Promise Land - Album Review

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:53:00 +0000

With a lead guitar on opening track ‘Believer,' the best track in the album, the Christian Melodic Hard Rock Band, Giant, make a mighty comeback with thirteen high quality songs which is a pleasure to listen for an hour. The world-class singer Terry Brock has proven himself to be the best replacement for Dan Huff. However, you would be surprised that Dan still plays lead guitar in the opening track 'Believer. Terry has an amazing voice and I was reminded of Petra's John Schiltt and its a great choice that the band has made.

The lyrics of all the songs are very meaningful and is captivating too. Promise Land includes the following songs:

Believer (Redux);
New Surrender
Our Love
Prisoner of Love
Two Worlds
Plenty of Love
Through My Eyes
I'll Wait For You
Dying To See You
Double Trouble
Complicated Man &
Save Me.

Giant have made a giant comeback and I hope they stay around with the extinct of Petra. Grab your copy.

If you wait for perfect conditions

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:37:00 +0000

Open Up the Sky - The Deluge of Blessings

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:51:00 +0000

"We won't be satisfied with anything ordinary" and "We don't want blessings, we want You.”, are the lines that continued to play in my ears the first time I heard this song. I went home and searched the world wide web for this song and after traversing through tens of websites. I thought this song is by a well known band but being a avid Christian Music fan I was fir the first time introduced to a band named "Deluge". This was a new word in my dictionary and as usual I quickly Googled the word to find the meaning of this band. Deluge means a large downpour of rain. or flood. So I was thrilled with the lyrics of the song which coincided with the meaning of the band. Asking God to open up the sky usually means to showers blessings from heaven but this song does a U - turn where the song writer says God! We don't want blessings, we want you.

This is an awesome worship song by the The Deluge Band. Here goes the lyrics.

Our beloved Father, please come down and meet us
We are waiting for Your touch
Open up the heavens, shower down your presence
We respond to Your great love
We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary,
We won’t be satisfied at all

Open up the sky, fall down like rain
We don’t want blessings, We want You
Open up the sky, fall down like fire
We don’t want anything but You

Our beloved Jesus, we just wanna see You
In the glory of Your light.
Earthly things don’t matter, They just fade and shatter
When we’re touched by love divine.
We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary
We won’t be satisfied at all

Open up the sky, fall down like rain
We don’t want blessings, we want You
Open up the sky, fall down like fire
We don’t want anything but You

Here we go, let’s go to the throne
The place that we belong, right into His arms
We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary,
We won’t be satisfied at all.

The words "Earthly things don't matter" reminds me a song which I wrote titled "When my hopes fade away".

If you have not listened to this song then I would encourage you to listen to this song. You can download it here. http://bit.ly/Openupthesky

Oh #### !! Google’s Nexus Censors Your Favourite Words

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:46:00 +0000

The much awaited Googlephone, Nexus One, has a lot of delightful features that I want to get a hands-on experience. One of my friend is planning to buy this dynamic multimedia phone this summer but I wonder whether he knows about its voice recognition feature which can transcribe spoken words into text and censors out slang words.

I abstain from all kinds of slang but for some of them who believe every sentence that you speak without a slang is a grammatical error, Google 's Nexus is not going to be your best buddy. What it simply means is that, it turns your slang/curse word into "####".

I heard the news channels say that Google has enabled filter in words where potentially offensive or inappropriate results are recognized and converted so that Nexus may not misrecognize a spoken query and return profanity when the user would have uttered something innocent.

I am happy that its a nice feature that Google Nexus has which will help someone but how will it have a control over words in regional languages and names of people which may sound similar to the slang word. Again, technology has its own limits. So next time you speak something naughty into Nexus, the spoken word came out as "####". Play it safe so that you will not regret later.

Wedding Bells with God's Knot

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:02:00 +0000

Marriage is one of the most joyous occasion of celebration for the mankind. And I was invited by a colleague and friend David as his Weddings Bells were ringing. A Christian Wedding usually takes place in a church. For some it is one of those occasions in a lifetime where they plan to meet God and seek his blessings. Someone perfectly said, "Some Christians go to church when they hatch, match and dispatch".

It was a Saturday and hence the timing of the week was perfect and I had intended to skip the church wedding ceremony and attend the reception. I usually try to evade such occasions as I may be confronted by uncles and aunties who may ask "Rejoy, how is that you have grown up since I have seen you when you are small boy" (I wish I could ask how their hairs aren't grey and why they look obese compared to their gorgeous days of glory) and if I am alongside my parents then the usual question would be "When are we getting your son's wedding invite?" rather they mean to ask me 'Tera number kab ayega'.( I wish I could ask them when is your number when I meet them at somene's death ceremony) Since this is a colleague's wedding, I was confident that the percentage of people who may know is will be in decimals. Bible says, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."(Genesis 2:24). I was eager to meet the ones who have been pronounced the ManWiser United who are ready to kick the ball to the goal of their life.

I was accompanied by my close friend The Anointed Tiger and we were welcomed by a glass of wine and cake. Since my friend abstains from eating food which has an egg content (the delicious cake) we looked at each other to see a cup of wine being served. It was a tough moment for us (gentlemen) to get it down the throat as we were not used to such tradition. My friend look at me with a gaze of amusement. Then followed the cutting of the cake which the couple enjoyed while the background music played "Congratulations and celebrations.. " and lo I had cakes in my hands which I sliced it and munched it while others clapped in joy. I did not know I was supposed to wait till the "Toast" to have the cake in my hand and eat it too. And it was time for a speech by the bridegrooms' brother who spoke about how privileged he was to have a brother who has beaten him by a big margin . The MC of the event broke the ice with a humour.

It was about a woman who woke during the night to find that her husband was not in bed. She then went downstairs looking for him.

He was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him. He appeared to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall.

She saw tears rolling from his eyes as he sipped his coffee.

“What’s the matter with you, my darling? Why are you down here at this time of the night?” she asked.

“Do you remember twenty years ago when we were dating and you were only 16?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” she replied.

“Do you remember when your father caught us while dating?”

“Yes, I do remember,” she replied.

“Do you remember when he shoved that shotgun in my face and said, “Either you marry my daughter or spend twenty years in jail?”

“Yes, I do,” she said, getting a little teary- eyed herself at his fond recollection.

He wiped another tear from his cheek and said, “You know… I would have been released today.”

How true this is. Then it was for the "Man of the Day" to convey his thanks to everyone. It was time for the Wedding March, probably the "post wedding march" where all were overjoyed to follow a set style of march. As I watched everything and applauded the active participation by the young and the old, the music began with country songs where couples danced along with the the newly wed. "I wish I was married or I had a girlfriend", giggled my friend.

Right from the entrance gate, everything was new to me. And my friend was surprised that being a Christian I was alien to these ceremonies. I do not follow traditions and hence I am more practical and my actions are more oriented towards what Bible has to say. However, it was definitely a treat for the eyes. In India, everybody is expected to gift the couple as a sign of blessing unless you read a disclaimer which says "Presence is the best presentation". Here the couple came to our seat to wish us and seek our blessings.

This whole new experience gave me a lot of insight on how Anglo-Indian Marriages are and it also provided a complimentary opportunity for me to look through a bridegroom's eagle-view of events that he is facing which he anticipated the most. Weddings Bells and God's Knot made them a fantastic couple and moments are definitely something they will cherish for a long time.

Haiti Earthquake - Disaster V7.0

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:17:00 +0000

I woke up to read a shocking news that was the epicenter of all newspaper dailies. Thousands are dead after 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The earthquake is believed to be the most devastating one in the last 2 centuries. This incident has literally crippled everything i.e. shelter, food, communication and transportation. Haiti was hit by a Hurricane recently and this is staggering for a country which is often accustomed to such kinds of a natural disasters. One of the Youtube videos showed the plight of the people there.

Bible says "And there shall be great earthquakes in various places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Mens hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth…” (Luke 21:11, 25-26) “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” This is probably an alert for the things to come.

Relief, aid, medical attention and prayer is what this nation needs. It is a terrible catastrophe that has hit our brothers and sisters who are living a moment of need and pain.Contribute it in your own ways through right sources. God Bless!!

God's Window

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:18:00 +0000

Louie Giglio - How Great Is Our God

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:09:00 +0000

The title of this DVD reminds me of the Chris Tomlin's version of the song "How Great Is Our God". But the first time I saw this video is when I attended an ICPF camp which was organized in Whitefield. This is a very interesting eye opener video where Louie Giglio gives us a treat of God's creation and the marvelous universe we live in. It is a unique powerful presentation with a dynamic message which is captivating and uplifting. This DVD takes us to a tour of the universe, it vastness and how tiny we are in HIS creation and How great our God is. This video is worth watching and you may share it with your friends to make them realize the majestic image of God and in whose image we are made.

Download :
Part-I: http://www.mediafire.com/?20dwfyfugxd
Part-II: http://www.mediafire.com/?euxi9dbnzfm
Part-III: http://www.mediafire.com/?4gyvirzzikl
Part-IV: http://www.mediafire.com/?12q9rl2awmt

This is for preview purposes only. If you like what you hear or watch, please buy the CD/DVD or download it from an online music store to support the artist.

My First Experience with Online Freelance

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:15:00 +0000

I recently got into online freelance writing. It is a good opportunity to earn some extra bucks with your skills. I applied with perfect cover letter but did not get any interview. In my desperate bid to get a project, I saw a job title "20 Articles for $35 with 5 day Turnaround". I applied to write original articles as my content is genuine and will pass all copyscape type of softwares. I was excited as I got a interview call from the buyer advising me to write articles with keyword phrase as below.

American diabetes diet
Rolling laptop bag
finding nemo toys
frette linens
king coverlet
blue and brown bedding
celtic cross tattoos
what causes constipation
moccasin boots
stomach bloating

The lady wanted me to write atleast 2 articles to test my writing skills and grammar. I directed her to my blog and asked her whether she is satisfied with my content but she still insisted that I write two articles. I wrote this article and sent it to her for review and comments.

"American teenagers and adults are found to be the most educated when it comes to choosing health care options. And diabetes is one of the stealthiest disorders of the body metabolism which spreads harmfully in a subtle manner. So does their intelligence come to their rescue with the diet ghost haunting them throughout the day?

As per the latest sources, money spent on weight loss programs in a day is about 25 million. So the word "diet" is a familiar codeword for every household in the country. It is found that, most of the time, people with diabetes are not adequately educated about the disease. The factors that play a vital role in triggering this disease is improper diet, high stress levels, obesity, eating junk food that lacks nutritional values, hypertension and heredity.

A person suffering from diabetes should follow a strict diet to ensure that their blood sugar levels are on tab. People spend hundreds consulting a dietitian for advice but ultimately everyone knows that if a person does not have self control and cannot give into temptation then their consultation fees and their valuable time is gone in the wind. A prudent dietitian will recommend a diet where the food intake should be scheduled and food content should be high in complex carbohydrates, good fiber content sans sugar and fat. So one should eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. All this should be coupled with a daily exercise.

People affected by diabetes should also ensure they do not get themselves hurt or to put it better, avoid injuries. This is because the injuries would take longer to heal compared to a normal body.

One can be a student, a professional, professor, home maker or a celebrity but their intelligence cannot fight the body. Unfortunately, we do not have a system where God can became a superhero and bring your sugar levels downs if you pray “Lord, lead me not into temptation but deliver me from this diabetes” when you are tempted to eat your favourite mouth watering pastries. If the average American has a control over the mind and is determined to make the changes in their daily diet, trying to overcome stress in this fast paced life with timely exercise , medication and personal health check-up then diabetes can come back to normalcy".

I struggled to write this article as I do not have a techie background and had to do research to write an article. And lo, she came back striking hard saying her guidelines clearly stated that I was supposed to include the the keyword phrase which I had split in the first paragraph. I knew it was my error and apologized. And unfortunately, I had a schedule which turned up unexpectedly which will consume my time and I may not be able to meet the deadline. I communicated this to the buyer. Her reply was filled with sarcasm but I did not retaliate as I knew her previous experience had made her react so. I was disappointed that I lost my first project at interview stages. I thought I will regret but I am happy about it now because the deal was too low. And on the other side I find that the job is still open with no interested providers.

I checked the world wide web and could not find a single article with this keyword "American diabetes diet" and it will surprise me if someone can write a sentence with this key-phrase. However, it was a good learning experience for me. I will not be surprised if the lady used changed my article a bit and has used it for her benefits.

Jeremy Camp - What it means (Live)

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:01:00 +0000

I remember those days when my brother used to use a pseudo-name on Orkut and used a Jeremy Camp photo as display photo. I am also a fan of Jeremy Camp and I have been tracking every album of his since 2006 to his latest Live album.

I got this song from http://jeremycamplive.com after cracking a treasure hunt kind of game where I had to visit all his social networking contacts to unlock it. I have embedded the song which you can listen here. Enjoy!

New Year's - Early morning expedition

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Date : 01-01-2010
Time : 01:13am
Distance : 5.1km
Time taken : 95 min
Mode of transport : Walk

There is no better place than a house of God to begin a New Year. A year that you begin with God always has blessings attached to it.

My friends and I decided to return home on a walking expedition on the New Year day. We set out without a second thought with the cold weather staring right on our face. On this trek, we did not have any hills to cross rather we had to take due care while crossing the road as we could not ignore the speeding vehicles with motorist ready for yet another hangover. We had a thought in our minds to approach one of the truck drivers who had halted his vehicle to have a cup of tea from his flask but were a bit hesitant.

Our first milestone was Hebbal Ring Road Bus-stop. It was packed with all series of BMTC buses lined up with one after another. It was a a delight to see the buses staked systematically. Then as our pace increased, face to face was a cop who along with his boss was staring at the books I was holding. The cops within the Hebbal Police Station limits are now aware that there are people who go to church on a New Year Eve but still they had their shadows of suspicions on 4 young chaps. We walked briskly and sneaked out of their sight only to realize that the Hebbal Police Station Gateway is right ahead of us. We continued our expedition and we could see blinkers flashing from a Jeep which was parked 50m ahead. It was highly imperative that we take guard as we did not want to take a chance at probably robbers in disguise. As we got close to the vehicle, we realized that it was a Jeep owned by the Excise Department. No sooner we reached an arm distance from the vehicle, than the vehicle took off on a spree as if being chased by a traffic wing. This caught us by surprise and lead us to a thought what their modus-operandi might have been at that time.

Our second milestone was Hebbal Railway Station which we managed to reach quicker than we expected. We did not wish to be way laid by the dreamers of the night on wheels. As we overcame the cold breeze, we were taken back by presence of three policemen who had parked their Cheetahs (the two wheeler's provided by the dept. They are painted like Cheetahs). Our swift walk slowed down as we approached a truck that had overturned. It was an isolated stretch and I presume the driver lost control and rammed into the footpath which threw the vehicle off the road. The policemen were inspecting vehicle to test the goods that the heavy truck was carrying. The driver and the cleaner (his assistant) had fled the scene leaving the vehicle stranded. I wish I could capture the sight but alas my NSeries is too bad for a night shot. We continued our journey to our next milestone. I did not have a watch but I knew time was ticking.

The third was Bhadrappa Layout, after walking quite a distance, our determination was further overjoyed to see a couple from our overtake us. They matched our pace and they were probably eager to reach home early as they probably had a longer distance to cover. The couple took a deviation from our immediate milestone.

Our fourth milestone was Kuvempu Circle. The time that we took to reach this junction was long as we were a bit exhausted. But our legs were not ready to give up. I was reminded of the times I used to travel through this road everyday. Now, once a month, I travel the nearest places (radius of 5km) on a bicycle. We were cautious of our move as this junctions was in news for the wrong reasons.

The fifth was at BEL Circle where we cooled our heels a bit as our footwears were hurting us. We took a minutes time to turn back and look at our journey so far. The moonlight was brighter than the helium lamps that were glowing. I wish I had a digital SLR camera to take shots enroute home.

From there our final destination was almost at our sight. We captured the natural satellite of the Earth. Neither the world around us nor nor did its negative energies or effects of any other form eclipse our post New Year celebrations and expedition. There is one thing I believe and constantly tell my friends "I believe and trust in the one who created and formed these planets and their satellites with His word and he is control of them, then why should I fear any rays that are emitted by them. Science is in synchronization with Bible and if that is the case, if a ray from these planets has to reach Earth then it would have started its journey millions of years ago. Get out of that little shell of yours and proclaim what you believe or disbelieve boldly".

Its a year of Jubilee and I wish you a renewed and radiant year 2010.

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:00:00 +0000

I was listening to different version of this song by Chris Tomlin "Give us Clean Hands" (This song is part of the latest worship album by Kutless and you can read the review here) and I was redirected to my collection of Wow Hits and stumbled upon this song "Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary" sung by Jaci Velasquez.

My understanding is that a sanctuary is a special place set apart to meet God. I played this song again and again and was reflecting on the lyrics. This year was a a busy year for me and I was thinking whether I could set apart my time and energy. The song is a worshipful submission to God asking him to "Prepare Us", "Make Us Pure", "Make Us Holy", "Try Us", "Make Us True", "Make Us Thankful" and "Make us committed to be a living sanctuary".

Lyrics :

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary

Pure and holy, tried and true

With thanksgiving,

I'll be a living Sanctuary for You

It is you, Lord

Who came to save

The heart and soul

Of every man

It is you Lord

who knows my weakness

Who gives me strength,

With thine own hand.

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary

Pure and Holy, tried and true

With thanksgiving,

I'll be a living sanctuary for you

Lead Me on Lord
From temptation
Purify me
From within
Fill my heart with
Your holy spirit
Take away all my sin

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary

Pure and holy, tried and true

With thanksgiving,

I'll be a living Sanctuary for You

As we step into another day, I pray God will give us insight into these points and "Live for him" as Living Sanctuaries.There are numerous artists who have sung this song. Do let me know your favourite version.

In the Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:09:00 +0000

Soaring Food Prices - What shall I do?

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:16:00 +0000

The food prices have jumped to 20% for the FY '09. This is a record in almost a decade. The economic crisis is pushing the common man like me to he wall. Unfortunately, the common man does not get a 20% hike in his salary to compensate this, rather you see job cuts across. I am thankful to God that I have a steady job which I can count for few months.

I follow the world's economic with a daily roundup through a mailer titled "The 5 Minute Wrapup" and I was surprised with one of the sections that highlighted the concern that I am talking about. Take a look at the screen-shot.

If you are thinking that prices only in India are rising, is not true. The phenomenon has hit across the world and poorest and hungriest nations will be exposed to the survival of the fittest theory.

What may the reason? The country is facing this because of the post monsoon effects and drought in different parts of the country. If the prices to essential commodity remain high then it could spark few food riots around the country in 2010. The other reason also is inadequate planning and decision making by the government.

What shall I do? On of the ways we can try to contribute is by not wasting food. Wasting food is always not good, unless and until food is no good to eat. I was reviewing through the web and came across and website - http://www.worldometers.info. I am not sure how accurate the data is but its definitely worth a visit to get a glimpse of different stats. An average of 25,000 die everyday due to hunger.

What is in store? The Bible in Matthew says "But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows". Some events that have taken place seems to be in absolute line up to fulfill the above and other biblical prophecies.

I hope I can eat my favourite sweets at a much less price next year.

Shashi Tharoor now Tweets through a New Blackberry App

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:33:00 +0000

I recently decided to have a domain of my own and while designing it, I realized that I need to have to have social bookmarking icons so that everyone can connect to me via their favourite social networking websites. And I could not avoid myself having a Twitter "Follow me" badge on the right hand sidebar. Now all my updates on website gets tweeted automatically. And I am excited that I am directly following some big guns like Barack Obama, tech giants Google, Mashable and all my music gurus.

Shashi Tharoor was the latest in the list whom I added today because the minister of state for external affairs, was in news again for his tweeting. I was welcome with this screen and I was surprised to the that he has close to 550,000 followers. And he is following media gurus Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vir Sanghvi and Pritish Nandy also Chetan Bhagat, Karan Johar and Padmasree, the Cisco executive.

Tharoor had earlier tweeted into the headlines for his cattle class remarks and this time around he has tweeted on the strict VISA regulations following the Headley findings irking his boss S.M. Krishna who went on say that such matters should not be discussed on a public platform rather it should be discussed within the "four walls" of the government. I have great respect for SMK but I do not understand why media creates so much hype in an MP airing his views online. After all it is a verified account and every citizen has the rights to air one's own opinions. It may turn out to be a fact that the other MP's have a complex over his online publicity. I could not find another politician who had 5 lakh followers on an online community. I am glad atleast there is one politician who is tech-savvy.

As one of his followers said, I think it is indeed the time to stop manufacturing controversies around Shashi Taroor's tweets who is making democracy accessible. With my eyes for detail skills, I found out that Shashi Tharoor now uses his Blackberry to tweet. I am not sure how many politicians keep themselves upto-date with their time schedule and reminders and know how to use Blackberries. May be their PA does it for them. Incase you know the model Tharoor is using, or want to know how did I get to know he is using a new Blackberry app, comment here and I will let you know shortly.

Weird Christians I have met by Phil Baker

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:36:00 +0000

I went to meet one of the Pastors of the church today and picked up a book titled "Weird Christians I have met" by Phil Baker (Senior Pastor in Australia). It is a fascinating book. Phil Baker in this book introduces us to Weird Christians. The book looks at 10 different types of Christian found in so many churches, friends circle and we may spot ourselves too.

End-time-Ed : He had read the book of revelations many times and hamotivates people through the fear of the future rather than the love of GOD. He is interested in the number 666 and his favourite TV program is News.
Pentecostal Pamela : She is one among those kind of people who attend church regularly and her favourite catchphrase is "You are not free until you dance in the church".
Theological Theo : Studies the word of God in depth and are aware of the application of the Messianic Secret and Granville Sharp Rule in Ephesians 4, love jargon but fail to realize that lives will not change until the spirit of God moves.
Demonic Dave : Dave knows more about the devil than God and has "Cast it out" attitude. He is more conscious about the presence of evil than God.
Frank Faith : He has a very positive attitude and believes in power of faith in everything that he thinks he can reduce weight through faith though he likes munching on Pizzas. The Faith Factor needs to work and never ignore problems.
Backslidden Bob : He does not do what he is designed to do and he loves to watch anything other than Televangelists.
Gullible Garfield : Easily accepts any doctrine that comes his way and there are vaious incidents that they believe is from God without checking the authenticity of those. He easily jumps into conclusions over minor coincidences.
Judgmental Jill : On the other hand Jill's are those forsake the major for the sake of minor. Her favourite TV program is "People Court"
Prosperity Patricia : Prosperity and success are her favourite words and gets into trouble when it comes to priorities and likes people who talk about money.
Plastic Pete : Pretends everything is okay when they are not and his favourite catchphrase is "I am fine"

The book is an attempt to get to know a balance between all the characters. It is a an excellent book of Christian humour and helps us to get the real meaning of the why is that we are "Peculiar People".

Kutless | It Is Well | Album Review

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:02:00 +0000

If there is a radio single by a high energy rock band that tested my patience until the album released and if there was another song other than Casting Crowns' "Lifesong" that I listened twice a day, then it is 'What faith can do', from the album "It is well", the second rock worship offering by Kutless, .If you are new to Kutless, it is a band from Portland, Oregon. The band chose their name after Romans 6:23 which says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (RSV). Because of this, the band says, "He took our cuts for us... leaving us 'Kutless'." And this is their 6th Studio album.

As Christian worship music has evolved over the last few years, there is now a plethora of worship bands bringing in new versions of old hymns mixed with new styles of instrumental experiments. "It is well" is not an experiment, rather a great effort by the band giving praise to God in one accord.

The album takes of with a effects of a church choir singing, “It Is Well” and when the closed doors open wide, it merges into the Kutless version. Followed by 'Amazed', Hungry, I'm Falling on My Knees', the famous song by Kathryn Scott, 'Taken by Love', then follows the first single from the release, 'What Faith Can Do' which is also one of my favourite songs in this album. The song's talk about faith factor where it does not matter what has happened in your life, if you have faith, you'll rise up. If you have heard Chris Tomlin's 'Give Us Clean Hands", and "Remember Me" then the Kutless' is the best you can expect from worship rock version of these songs. The other songs on this album are 'God of Wonders', 'Everything I Need', 'You Save Me', 'Redeemer' and the album ends with 'I'm Still Yours', asking God he will be enough if one looses all in the life.

Overall, it is another awesome worship CD from Kutless after their rocking "Strong Tower" that had topped the charts. I love it and highly recommend it to anyone who likes touch of rock in worship songs. Kutless has been successful in keeping the flavour, when trying something new to an already-familiar set of tracks.

Whatever you do

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:19:00 +0000

The New Orkut - Advantages and Disadvantages

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:41:00 +0000

I have been loyal to Google since my school days. And I was introduced to Orkut in 2004 i.e. within a few days since its launch but I was never interested to sign-up as the name "Orkut" was not catchy. Social Networking was a new concept for me until the day arrived when I signed up while doing my projects in my college. I thought I will experiment and since then there was no turning back. Orkut has connected me to a lot of people with whom I had thought I had lost connections, got introduced to a many of similar taste, started a community named "Ultimate Christian Music" which now has close to 3500 members (the biggest Christian Music Community on Orkut).

Google changed the Orkut UI twice. I still remember the Old Orkut which looked pale with HTML blocks, then came the New GUI which attracted millions from India. Recently, Orkut launched the New Orkut and I got the invite within a few days from the Official Orkut Community and all the users have this by default now and if you still do not see the icon as below, contact me and I will send you the invites.

Being an Orkut user for many years now, I am happy with some upgraded in the UI (User Interface, if you are novice with Tech terms) but I expected Google to do a lot of homework than keeping the front page a bit alike Facebook. So let me tell you the advantages and disadvantages of the New Orkut.

Advantages :

- Simple Interface
- Colour Picker option for themes
- Faster photo experience with edit, rotate, face detection, slide show and comments.
- Your friend list and community list have got a vertical scrollbar with search option
- One stop notification
- Pictures and Video embedding in About me
- Orkut Share

Disadvantages :

- No Orkut themes
- No New scraps notification
- More thumbnails on main screen
- Other Google services header
- Testimonial and fans on add-tab
- Its now My Orkut Beta
- Additional profile info goes back to the same UI.
- Promote button is missing on profile page.

Orkut now uses more of Ajax to make it more facebooky but have failed since a new version should simplify and remove all old features for faster browse and access. The communities UI and homepage and forums are same, just change of fonts. Also the settings panel etc are the same. I do not get the funda behind having a drop down for the Orkut Beta and again in the collapse button. I am sure the Orkut community fans are disappointed by new Orkut UI which has very few new upgrades while a lot people spend time on Orkut networking with like minded people.

Since it is still in the Beta stages, I believe Orkut Developers will take into consideration user suggestions. All in all The New orkut is better then older version but a lot of work is still pending which they need to do it swiftly else they will loose their a big share in social Networks.So did you like the The New Orkut?

Proverbs 14 : 23

noreply@blogger.com (Rejoy John) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Hard work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!