GET THIS RIGHT!

Truth 

You have a life that has an expiry date.

You have a body that will not live forever (your soul can live forever!)

You will grow old – it is a fact of life. No matter how much plastic surgery, face lifts or other gimmicks you use – you cannot change that! Your desire to stay young is a means for people to make a fast buck out of you – they cannot deliver what they promise.

Your soul is priceless. It is the only reason you are alive. The moment your soul leaves your body – you are dead! No breath, no life!

Temporary things cannot and will not give you permanent peace and security – whether emotional, physical or spiritual.

• Youth is fleeting. Nobody can be young too long – you can’t kid people for that long!

• Money comes and goes, ask anyone who monitors the stock market. 

• Fame has its ups and downs, now you are a darling and the next thing you are punished for something you did wrong for life – ask Lance Armstrong! Moreover the memory of the public is fickle, fame fades too.

• Beauty is only for a time (external that is!) Just like flowers fade, skin wrinkles, hair turn grey and muscles waste or sag...

• Beautiful houses and the ‘latest’ cars or gadgets will be beautiful and the latest only for ‘some’ time. The law of decay will erode their beauty and the newer things will make the latest obsolete sometime soon.

• Connections with the rich, highly placed and powerful are temporary too. Their places of power are not forever, their term will run out. When they are out of power no one will want to have anything to do with them because they cannot make things ‘happen’ again. Powerlessness makes a person obsolete socially.

Only genuine relationships last. If someone loves you for your beauty, youth, fame, money, power or possessions – they don’t love the ‘real’ you. When you eventually lose them all – which you will, they will be gone too, never to be seen again.

If you don’t believe it, check out the stories of yesteryear heroes, heroines and celebrities who have vanished into oblivion, some living lives of poverty and lost in the unknown, while others died heartbroken due to the fickleness of everything and everyone around them. Sports legends who died in poverty, film stars who were surrounded with fans yet died lonely deaths... Only the wise ones who made wise decisions are around still. Be wise.

We live in a fickle world, full of fickle relationships – if you have one or two good, sincere and genuine relationships – you can count yourself a billionaire!!! They are the priceless – their love and commitment if true is something no one, not even time can snatch from you. Hold on to them for life! 

    Picture credit goes to...

The Curse of Being a Daughter of India

Voices crying out for justice

In the ages gone by she was shackled by tradition and kept away from education, married away in childhood, thrown on the pyre of her husband and had to suffer the degradation of being the person of lowest value in her family, clan and community.

Now it is 67 years since independence, she has a right to education, works shoulder to shoulder with men in every field having proven her worth in every way yet there still is a curse on her even today. There still are female infanticides, selective abortions of female foetuses, dowry deaths, domestic violence and human trafficking issues plaguing our Indian women. Add to that the misery that every girl or woman has to face – the lack of personal safety to walk on the streets, go to work or even at home. Eve-teasing, molestation, acid attacks and rape have grown to become a monster devouring whatever peace and security Indian women could dream of. 

The National Crime Records Bureau reports that there has been a shocking 873% rise in rape cases between 1953 and 2011. India’s report card for women’s safety states that one woman is raped every 22 minutes! [1]

A Reuters report states that 244,270 crimes against women were reported to the police in 2012 compared with 228,650 in 2011 according to the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB). They also stated that 98 percent of those who reported rapes last year named parents, relatives and neighbours as the accused. [2]

When we say this I wonder if this is a statement about the state of women in our country or is it actually a statement about the men in our country?  What is it about women that make them so vulnerable and what is it about men that make them behave like animals who have no self-control? Something is wrong with our upbringing of boys and girls and something is wrong with the way our social fabric and halls of justice have been allowing things to get this bad.

The cries of justice have become so loud and demanding that now it seems it would take the death of rapists to put fear into others who would do the same. We have allowed molesters and rapists to roam around freely for so long that they are breeding at a higher rate than we can deal with.

For many years we have read the news of tribal women or women of lower castes and those in helpless situations being raped by men with political power behind them. There were no convictions because these men were protected by powerful people. Those powerful people make the laws in this country, such men are used by them for their personal or political interests. Is it no wonder that our laws don’t have teeth and justice is not done?

Moreover, we also need to question the conscience of this nation. Why do we allow films that devalue and degrade women? Why don’t we question the vulgar worded item songs that degrade women and are aimed at generating lust in men? Why do our high profile ‘dignified’ actresses agree to do songs that cheapen women? Why is it that those who oppose Valentine’s Day do not do anything to stop eve-teasing, offenses against women or check the growth of prostitution and pornography among our youth?

We all have to accept responsibility for what is happening in our nation. Every common man who has witnessed eve-teasing and not done something about it. Every parent of a youth caught in the act who stood by him instead of correcting him and letting justice be done. Every parent of a young girl who didn’t stand with her when she spoke up about harassment. Every teacher, principal and community head who told women to shut up and bear the trauma to save their own faces and name have thus perpetrated the injustice done.

People who deal with power, information and media have more responsibility. Whenever we create ads, films, videos, songs or permit something that can have far reaching effects on the masses we have added fuel to the already raging fire. When the law makers, keepers and enforcers themselves have wrong attitudes about women, they fail to be instruments of justice for those who have been victimised in any way.

It seems we need to have a crash course to educate the people of India about the dignity of a woman, her right to personal space, self-respect, to be treated as a person and not an object and also her right to real and true justice. We need a cleansing and overhauling at every level. A commission of enquiry or a proposal for a new law is not going to change anything when the real dirt is inside the minds and hearts of people.

India has lost face internationally. The damage is done. Countries are warning their people, especially women not to travel to India and giving them precautions to follow if they have to make that journey. It sucks even more because we call our country ‘Bharat Mata.’ Have we made our ‘motherland’ India proud? We have allowed some low-life pathetic men to cause our nation to pay the heaviest price within and outside our country. So what are we going to do about it now?

The people of India have risen from their slumber and shown they mean business after the 16^th December 2012 gang rape incident. Laws are slow to have an impact unless real punishment is meted out for crimes against women regardless of whether they are cases of eve-teasing, molestation, acid attacks or rape.

We need to weed out those law makers or keepers and police men whose wrong attitudes and behaviour come in the way of true justice to women. We need awareness campaigns and programmes that will instill good values among younger generations.

Moreover we need to train our girls and women in self-defense so that they can give their offenders a fitting response. Perhaps it is time the government considered making self defense training mandatory in all schools. Women in many cultures have come out to learn to fight and defend their country, sad that we have to teach women to defend themselves! We also need neighbourhood watchdog groups comprising of men and women who would deal with boys and men who have a tendency to misbehave with girls or women. It is a necessity now and we cannot expect the situation to change if something is not done now.

Our silence in this area has led to this dismal reality we are having to face today. Let every voice be raised up to support and get justice for the women who have been traumatized. Let every means of creating awareness, giving information and empowerment be used to ensure that this social disease of wrong mindsets towards women is eradicated.

‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ should be the slogan of our hearts for our nation... but unfortunately Bharat has lost it ‘maan’ because of the continuous ‘apmaan’ our country men have been meting out to our women. May we turn around this story of apmaan into maan so that Bharat can truly be mahaan, is my prayer for India.

Reference:

Source 1: http://ncrb.nic.in/

Source 2: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/14/india-rape-women-2012-report-idINDEE95D0B920130614, 

The Treasures of Family Heritage

It is amazing what discovering your family roots can do for you! There was a time when I had lost my sense of identity and purpose in life. I was going through the worst time of my life and I needed something to motivate me to go on. During that time I remembered the things my mother told us when we were children about her Nani Aunties and their achievements.

I visited my uncle Leslie who had letters and newspaper clippings from their time. I read the biography of my great great grand Aunty Josephine Swaris. The other documents he had included a postcard sent by C.P Shukla, on behalf of Gandhiji from Karachi dated 9th July 1934; a reply to her sent by Ravi Varma, the 11th Prince of Cochin, Trippunithura, dated 14th September 1936; a letter of thanks for condolence from V.R. N. Naithyarammah, Springfield Palace, Nilgiris and the first page of a letter she wrote addressed to Gandhiji dated 1st October 1933 in which she reminded Gandhiji about his visit to her school in 1927! 

Mrs. Josephine Swaris, her husband Joseph Swaris
and niece Agnes Appoo

Information from the Newspaper Clipping on Josephine Swaris - my great great grand Aunt 

Ms. Mary Appoo, another great great grand aunt of ours was a religious who had resigned but still kept her religious dress and observed her vows. She was invited by Bishop Lavigne of Batticalao, Sri Lanka in June 1900 to come and start a school. She did so with the help of her own sisters says one report. Thus St. Cecilia's Girl's English School was started. This school was originally started by Fr. Francis Xavier in 1876 as a Tamil school. The English school was later handed over to the Cluny Sisters. Ms. Mary Appoo was known as Sister Mary Magdalene among the local people of Batticaloa. 

Ms. Mary Appoo, her niece Felicy Rosario
and women she mentored

Reading about their accomplishments made me feel proud of the heritage they left behind for us. I could see my own activities, my work with the children in Tulsiwadi and my doing social work in a better perspective after reading about them. It helped me get my sense of identity back! 

Moreover I am happy to reconnect with our family's history in Kerala again!!! Years ago, they had moved out of Kerala and since my father was in the Air Force, we traveled a lot. The result being that I missed a sense of having 'roots. My discovering our Nani Aunties and all the things I have learnt since has given me just that. I feel happy that I can relate to Kerala better now. 

It is good to know about the history of the generations before us. There is so much to learn and be inspired from... Thank God for their lives! Perhaps you should search your own family tree... there could be amazing gems in your family too!

It's Jingle All the Way for DC

The 23rd of April 2013 was an unforgettable day for me thanks to the Deccan Chronicle!

All I did was send in a jingle and they featured me on their pages!!! Thank you DC for this privilege and the joy you gave me!!! 

The article is marked in yellow...  

I love making songs and jingles... and when someone else enjoys them too, it just adds to my happiness! Bliss! 

Praise God for giving me so much joy!!! 

You Are Not Alone

We live in a world with more than 7 billion souls and yet there are times when we feel alone. No matter how many people we meet during the day we still need someone to talk to, someone to interact with at the end of the day. Sadly, that is not the reality for many of us.

Each of us has our own unique situation and there are times when find there is no one to talk to or go to for advice. Pearl S. Buck said, “The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration. ” 

Don’t worry if you find yourself physically alone! In this age of the Internet, we can be connected with other human beings no matter where we are. We can search for answers and seek solutions, ask for advice and even learn things we longed to learn. If you truly seek the truth you will eventually find it!

There are times when we feel bad about having problems and difficulties that others don’t seem to have. Don’t worry! Even the most successful of persons across the world had problems like you do.

Margaret Mead said, “We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.” Think of every problem you face as an opportunity to rise up and become great.

Thomas Edison had a unique way of looking at his failure. He said, “If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

Abraham Lincoln too failed several times in his life. He didn’t give up and the rest is history! He became the President of the United States!

Even Jesus Christ reassured Himself when He was facing the greatest suffering with these words, "Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me." John 16:32

Just relax, take a deep breath and let this assurance flow into you – ‘I am not alone!’ Yes, reassure yourself saying, ‘God is with me, with His help I can rise above all my problems. I can be happy and fulfilled!’

Yes you can and you will!!! 

The Call to Love

It is a tragedy

That people do not understand

God has placed them

In the lives of their loved ones

To love.

The father and mother

Are given the mandate

To love the child

They brought into this world.

The brother and sister

Is given the job
to love, to help and support

While grandparents

Are given the joy

Of doting on their grandchildren.

When each of them

Self absorbed

Caught up in selfish pursuits

Neglect this call

The little one grows up

Unloved, unwanted,

Not knowing what it is to be

Cherished.

Each of us is given a chance

To be a bearer of love

To those placed in our lives

And others around us.

When everyone fails to answer

The call to love

The heart of the unloved one

Shrinks and despair sets in.

One life fails to meet

The challenges before it

Because no one cared.

Parents who do not love

Siblings who don’t support

Spouses who turn a deaf ear

Friends who go away

And relatives who are never there

Are all guilty of killing love

And robbing a person’s heart

Of the opportunity to grow

To glow and know

What true and genuine love is.

Forget about the changing the whole world

If you can change your own heart

And learn to love

You can change the world

For someone near you

And thereby change your own world too.

Stop being miserly with your affection

Give and keep giving love

Someday perhaps

Someone may mirror that same love

When you are in need!

Perhaps you were not loved

Perhaps you were abandoned, neglected

Perhaps no one taught you love

By their example

Don’t worry

Love is its own teacher

And love is the best lesson

Give love as you want to receive love

And love will come back to you too.

You have received

The call to love

Do not neglect it

It is a blessing that will bless you

Not just in the now

But for the rest of your life.

Cursed is the one who doesn’t

Care enough to love.

Their neglect and indifference

Will court them when

There will be no one to care for them.

Love is its own reward

It blesses your heart

Teaches it to expand,

Feel and experience beauty.

Nothing can compare

With that learning

And experience!

Make sure you answer

The call to love! 

Angry with God?

We often judge God because of what someone else did. Perhaps it was ‘a parent you looked up to’, ‘someone you loved and would do anything for’, ‘a friend’, ‘a Christian’, ‘Pastor’, ‘preacher’, ‘someone serving God in a ministry’ or anyone – even a stranger who hurt you. They used their freewill and did something that hurt you, betrayed you, broke your trust, offended you, broke/ crushed your spirit and degraded you.

Just as Adam & Eve chose to do what God had told them ‘not’ to do and sinned against God, even those who hurt you, abused you, despicably used you for their own intrigues or interests have sinned against you and also sinned against God by doing so.

God being a just and righteous God will definitely deal with them for what they have done. However remember He is also a merciful God and that is why we don’t die the moment we sin or do wrong! He extends the same mercy and grace to you and others who sin against you. He does it so that each person has a chance and some time to repent, change, correct themselves and make amends for their wrongdoing. When He give them several chances and they don’t repent – that is when the Judge in Him arises to do justice to His children who suffered because of the wrong done – thus His wrath.

No one can save a person who has wasted/ frittered away the opportunity, the chance and time God gave them to repent and get right with God. When God decides enough is enough – no power on earth, no Satan, nothing can save the person/persons whose time is up. His will – will be done!

Can you breathe one breath after God says it is time for you to die? No! His power is invincible. People take His mercy for granted not realizing it is just a rope given so that they can repent and save their souls from hell, eternal perdition, the lake of fire where they can burn forever.

Earthly judges can be bought – God is beyond the thought of bribing or influencing! He is no respecter of persons. Earthly records can be fudged, erased, manipulated or changed but God’s records are perfect – your every thought, word and deed is recorded in His Book. You think nobody knows – SOMEONE who judges – knows everything about you! He knows the hidden things you did or thought about and didn’t do.

It is a grave thing to fall into the hands of God. Look up the records and see how the mighty have fallen all through history. No amount of money, power, name, fame, cunning could save the in the hour God dealt with them.

The simple, righteous man has a lot to rejoice – for his labours will be rewarded by the God who sees. He may suffer in this world as more and more people choose to go against God and do the opposite of what He said. But he will have the last laugh as he fears the One who has power over both body and soul and the life after the death of this physical body that each of us will go through.

Beware when you cheat and wrong someone – their tears are precious to God. He hears their cries and He will rise up in judgment against all those who wrong His children – both those who know Him and those who don’t.

He cares for the children He created – even those who mock and wrong Him. He makes the sun to shine on them too. He is fair – He give a lot of chances because what is at stake is their ‘soul’ and how they will spend eternity. You will do well if you seek Him, learn to heed Him, learn of Him and live the way He says – for then you will thrive and do well for eternity.

Would you choose to give up billions of dollars for a hundred dollar note? No! Isn’t it? It is downright foolish. Exactly in the same way – you are making a choice now. When you choose to go against God and live the way you please/opposite of what He said, you are trading and giving up your soul’s life – for thousands of years (eternity).

This lifetime is a test to see what you choose. The one true Living God has set before you the biggest decision you will ever make – choose to live forever with Him or choose to burn in Gehenna, the lake of fire for eternity. It is simple – it is His way or the way that leads to the eternal fire! No wonder He gives sinners so many chances to repent – once you are there, there is no way of coming back! It is a permanent change you are making! Take your life seriously. Give more into every thought, word and deed. They matter to Him.

Perhaps you are one of those who think ‘there is no God.’ Perhaps you think that ‘life is to have fun, enjoy while you have the chance, tomorrow anyway we have to die.’ What if you die and stand before the same God whom you denied and have to answer for all that you did? You will not be able to go back and change your life because you realize then that you were wrong. You will have to suffer for eternity for this false belief you held all your life. Too much depends on this chance you are taking.

If you have any doubts about who the real God is and what His nature is, seek Him! God promised that those who seek Him with all their hearts will surely find Him. He will reveal Himself to you if you seek Him! He is much more and beyond what earthly teachers say about Him. Do not depend on someone else’s experience of God to make your conclusions, have your own! He is your Creator too! He knows you inside out, He knows your thoughts – ask Him in your heart – whatever you need to know about Him and He will answer!

How safe are our Daughters?

This article posted below was published in the Oct-Dec 2012 edition of the Family Mantra Magazine published from Bangalore by Kutumb Communications. It was written in September 2012 much before the 23 year old woman was gang-raped in Delhi. Needless to say there are no words to express my grief, sorrow and anger at what happened to her. It is time India brought about a change so that her daughters can live safely. 

She remains unforgettable, etched in my memories. She was a girl of twelve living in a Remand Home in Delhi. I was a student of Standard IX visiting the Home as part of our SUPW – Social Work Classes. We were given case studies of girls who were lost, kidnapped or caught for petty offenses. She was not one of them.

When I sat to interview the girl assigned to me, she came and sat beside me. During the next couple of visits I found her near me. She made me curious. I was shocked to learn about why she was there.

Laila was gang raped by four men from her village. She was on her way to deliver food for her father and brothers. The four men gang raped her inside a truck and threw her away.

They stole everything from her in that one dastardly act they committed against her. She lost her childhood, her family, her future... and everything she knew about herself and her life. She never had a normal life after that incident. The perpetrators of the crime were not convicted as she could not tell them anything about them.

When I met Laila, her limbs were distorted and curved, she could not walk upright. The trauma had taken its toll on her body and mind. She was an isolated girl who feared even the shadow of a man. She was raped even by the policemen. She was afraid to cross the verandah at the entrance if any policeman was sitting there.

She was treated by others as nothing. They mocked and ridiculed her as she walked with her bent legs. Her daily activity was cleaning and washing the compound, after which she would go and sit in a corner. I asked her about her family. She said it was more than a year since anyone came to see her. They too had rejected her. Who wants a gang-raped girl who tainted their family’s name?

My encounter with Laila made me wonder what happens to girls like her. Is there hope for them? My mind was deeply disturbed by her predicament because girls like her cannot help themselves. I wonder if justice will ever be done to Laila who spends her life in a Remand Home while those who did this to her are roaming around scot free. Who knows how many girls they could have raped since then?

A Shame for India

The National Crime Records Bureau reports that there has been a shocking 873% rise in rape cases between 1953 and 2011. 42,968 cases of molestation of women were reported last year. 2,61,000 cases of crimes against women, including sexual harassment, cruelty by husband/his relatives, kidnapping, human trafficking were recorded. India’s report card for women’s safety states that one woman is raped every 22 minutes! [1]

Among the 53 cities of India, Delhi accounted for the highest number of such crimes at 13.3 per cent (4,489), followed by Bangalore at 5.6 per cent (1,890) and Hyderabad at 5.5 per cent (1,860). [2]

On 9^th July the whole country was aghast to see the video of a 17-year-old girl being dragged, beaten, stripped and molested on a busy street in Guwahati by a mob of about 50 men. Though the Police station was just 1 km away, they arrived at the scene after 45 minutes. No action was taken by the police until the video of the assault went viral on YouTube and caused national outrage.

To add insult to injury Karnataka's Women & Child Welfare minister C. C. Patil was quoted saying that women should “know how much skin they should cover.” He stated that incidents like rape and sexual harassment can be attributed to the decline in moral values in men, indirectly caused by women dressing “provocatively.” [3]

Top cop Kiran Bedi wasn’t left far behind in belittling the trauma of women who are raped when she lashed out at the media for what she called inadequate reportage of Team Anna's alleged exposes on corruption. She said, “Ask yourself. On a small rape case or assault which a low ranking police official commits, how you would discuss it?” [4] 

A Tehelka investigation reported, “According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the conviction rate in rape cases in the capital was a dismal 34.6 percent. In case after case, courts have been acquitting the accused because of flawed first information reports (FIRs), erroneous procedures in collating medical evidence and shoddy investigation. Lawyers and women rights activists have continually been flagging the deep prejudice prevalent in the police against women in general and rape victims in particular, as the single biggest reason for the repeated failure of justice.[5]”

In the same report, Satbir Singh additional SHO of Sector 31 Police Station, Faridabad who completed 27 years in service and investigated around 20 rape cases said that he believes half of all rape charges were false. He was unapologetic about questioning the intent of rape victims when they came to file complaints: "One lakh. Two lakh. Fifty lakh. People have understood this is a lucrative trade for women; it's business. They've found an income source. It's common; you're short of money, your parents don't give you money to spend. You make compromises." [5]

One wonders that if this is the attitude of our ministers and top police officers of our country, what is the future of women in India? How safe are our daughters in a nation that brands and punishes the victim for being raped rather than the criminal who destroyed her life and robbed her of her dignity?

What can we do?

It is our primary responsibility as parents and teachers to teach our daughters to be safe. We can protect them by teaching them precautions they should take to avoid suspicious strangers. We need to teach them to guard themselves at all times, especially in moments when they are most vulnerable. They have to learn to trust their instincts about people and situations. They need to be alert to their surroundings and be aware of the first signs of danger.

Teaching our daughters to be safe doesn’t mean that we are inducing fear into her. It means that she will know how to act if ever she is attacked. It is our responsibility to teach her about keeping away from danger just as we would tell her to keep away from fire.

At home and in schools too we have to teach our sons to respect girls and treat them with respect. Any untoward behaviour should be handled very carefully.

Our Duty as Citizens:

It is useless to have laws that are supposed to defend women if citizens don’t act against lawlessness in society. Each citizen has a voice and we can use this voice to speak out against the ills of our society. We can demand for the police force to be made more sensitive to gender related crime. We can take action against legislators who dishonour women through their words and action by not letting them continue in office. We can send across a message loud and clear that crime against women will not be tolerated by us anymore.

It is time to wake up India. If every parent does his or her part as a citizen we can initiate action that will change things for the better.  

Reference:

Source 1: http://ncrb.nic.in/

Source 2: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/guwahati-molestation-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/270997-3.html

Source 3: http://in.news.yahoo.com/the-big-question--are-women-to-blame-for-rape-.html

Source 4: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/kiran-bedi-s-small-rape-remark-women-s-commission-seeks-apology-254122

Source 5: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/in-and-around-delhi-cops-blame-rapes-on-women-tehelka-investigation-with-ndtv-194735

Understanding Intent

Have you spoken sincere words

Only to be tagged ‘proud’ and ‘arrogant’?

Or even worse ‘unjust’ and ‘a blamer’?

Have you shared what you really did

And heard others say ‘bragger’?

Or said something that really hurt you

And found the hearer judge

‘That’s not how it should be’?

And ‘How can you speak like that?’

Words that come from the heart

Report what a person really felt

Words about what a person did

Report what a person really did

This has nothing to do with ‘standards’

But to do with what ‘really happened’.

Perhaps people would rather you said

Things to suit their ‘way of thinking’

Like when someone keeps hurting you unjustly

They want you to say nice things about them!

Or even though you did a lot of things

They want you to pretend you cannot do them!

They do not want to accept that

There are people who feel things that they didn’t feel

Or who can do things they didn’t do.

They want people who are ‘different’

To change themselves around them

Just to suit their ‘shallow nature’.

I’m tired of walking around egg-shells

Caving in to the egos of people

Who do not want to rise above

Their narrow definitions

Of how a person can be

Or what a person can do.

I’m tired of being misunderstood

Just because they do not want

To live by higher principles of life

Or see the higher good in others

I do not want to measure

Myself or others by their ‘measly yardstick’!

I believe we are called to live

For higher ideals and purposes

I believe that each of us can be

Much more than we allow ourselves to be

If only we would know

The heights the human spirit can aspire to!

I’ve decided to be like the eagle

That flies above the storm

And sees places unseen to birds below.

I know it is a lonesome journey

But I believe that there are other eagles

I will meet and then I’ll have company!!! 

You Are... - A Song

Here are the lyrics of another song I wrote and composed. It is addressed to God our Creator. 

The Song is titled "You Are"  

You are

more than equal

The King of all that is…

Yet You came and became nothing

So every soul shall live

Who am I that I should take pride?

Who am I that I should look down from high?

Who am I? 

Chorus: 

My Lord the Master of the universe!

My Lord the King of kings!

My Lord the Savior the sacrifice

Who teaches me how to live 

In my sin…

You never shunned me

You came and gave me hope

From within I was so broken

You brought my soul to life

Who am I to look down on others?

Who am I to ill-treat my brothers?  

Who am I? 

Chorus

Filled with smiles

my heart is singing

The song of eternal joy

By Your love Your warmth is healing

Every wound inside

Why would I not share it with others?

Why should I not of Your love testify?

Why shouldn’t I?

Chorus 

With all my heart

I want to praise You 

You’re more than life to me!

All my life I want to serve You

Make my life count for You!

It is my joy to do as You tell me

It is my pride to call You my own!

I am Yours! 

Chorus

Women of God

Here's a song I wrote and composed specially about women and for women. Here are the lyrics of the song...  

Women of God

Noble and gentle, 

Honest and meek

Working in earnest

Strength and dignity 

Called to be pillars

Of the church and the home

Called to be daughters 

Drawing near to God’s throne!

Chorus: 

We are women of God 

Who worship the Lord

Who sit at His feet 

And minister to the weak

We feast on His Word

Draw strength from the Lord

Growing stronger and wiser

Humbly serving the Lord.

Looking up to the women 

Who lived out their faith

To Deborah and Miriam, 

Hannah, Ruth and Esther,

To Huldah and Rahab, 

Elizabeth and Mary

We are striving to write out

Our own faith-story!!!

The LORD God has called us

To be samples of His love

To be vessels of His grace

To be beacons of light!

To call back His own

To bring them to His throne

To fly high in spirit

And be forever His own!

P.S: I was hoping that the song would spell out what we can aspire to be as true 'women of God'. I am happy that I have had the privilege to know such women of God too!

Sparks of Inspiration

I am amazed at the intricacies of life around me

The spread of beauty that enthrals my soul

The hues and colors that refresh my heart

And enthuses me to do good things.

Some things stand out amidst the squalor of despair

Some tiny brave hearts and some large but gentle souls

The stark contrast of extremes that play together

And weave a beautiful tapestry of life.

Life emerging from the cracks and crevices around

The rays of light reflecting from a tiny little stone

Transforming a dark and dingy hole

Into a lit palace laden with treasures.

I feel happy when I see goodness in unlikely places

The strings of hope sing songs that bless my heart

My feet wait to dance with joy never ending

My eyes shed a tear of joy at the victory.

In a dark and weary day as I walk the roads of life

Seeing a little bird or butterfly refreshes me

A feeling of bliss passes like a whiff of sweet perfume

When I smell the fragrance of the land bathed in the first shower.

I have a treasure chest of memories

Filled with the awesomeness of little things

Whenever I feel down with discouragement

I look for these sparks of inspiration. 

Engraved

Life has taught me some grave lessons.

I have learnt after several wounds

That if you don’t care for yourself and your interests

No one else will do it for you.

Some people are blessed to have loved ones who care

Who teach them how to look out for themselves

For those less fortunate

The vagaries of life don’t spare

They ruthlessly tear you down

Until you learn to lift up your hands

And shield yourself.

I had lost my faith in human beings

Seen things I never wanted to see

Known the depths of depravity that some can go to

For mere material gains

They can kill and maim the spirit of others

Just to ride the wave of success themselves.

In the places that stand for justice

There can be grave injustice

In places where love is worshipped

There can be ugliness of hate

And in those who pledge to build others

There can be envy and jealousy

Such hypocrisy that I cannot bear!

I used to feel sorry for my losses

The precious things of life that I lost

But it was then that I understood

That learning is better than ignorance

And wisdom is better than knowledge

Some people cannot tell the difference

While I can cause life taught me well.

I thank God for the lessons I learnt

For His protection that didn’t let me perish

As storms caused havoc around me

For every grief He gave me a nugget of wisdom

For every loss a deep place in my heart

I heard that these very deep places

Store blessings when the showers come.

I am still learning in the school of life. 

Crossroads

Standing at a crossroad once again

I frown, I fret and complain

Why?

After a while the drama subsides

My heart makes a note

Of the time and place

An afterthought peeks in

Have I been here before?

The terrain seems similar

But the trail is different

This time I have reached the same place

Through another route

Yet the lesson is the same.

I am puzzled

Amazed that the result of two different situations

Can be one simple lesson

A lesson for life

I feel happy at last

As I know that finally I can turn the page! 

To the Timeless Living God - Holy is His Name!

These are very significant days. Days when the destiny of persons and people is being decided by God. Days when God looks into the Book - the book that records our lives and the things we do.

These are days when we will see the awesome power of God. The power with which He will rule over the earth. The power with which a righteous and holy God like Him will stand up for the oppressed, those crushed by injustice and brought down by suffering caused by their adversaries.   The power with which He will cut off those who didn't take His repeated warnings seriously and repent when He gave them time. The time to repent is running out... let us repent for all our wrongdoings - whether in thought, in word or deed - so we can be right with God!

God is a holy God who loves us and doesn't want even a single one of us to perish. That is why Jesus chose to pay the price for us and our sins! We can be saved only if we accept the sacrifice Jesus made. Since only those who know they need to be saved will accept a Savior we need to accept Jesus as our Savior and be washed in His blood. It is His blood that cleanses us. Once clean we can stand before God the Father when the Book is opened and we will be deemed righteous because Jesus paid the price for us. He saves us from the consequences of our sins! His only desire is that we will now - having been cleansed from sin - walk right with God, live a life that pleases Him and sin no more. Can we fulfill His desire? He has given His all for us can we give Him our love, our sincere obedience and life?

Here is a song that rightly worship the one true God who is beyond time and space, whose righteous acts are written in the Bible! I love this song... and this video is so apt too, it reminds us of those who are heroes of faith and how their acts glorified God. May we do the same in this generation and may the desires of our LORD God be fulfilled! Amen.

P.S: This is not a song by me. Please see the credits on the video to know more. 

My Confidence is in the Lord!

The Power of the Blood - A song on what the Lord has done in my life! 

We may find ourselves in difficult situations... Life is like that. The best thing is that any difficult situation doesn't have to bring us down!

We can ask the Lord Jesus to help us, to intervene for us or even wash us clean from the sins that we have committed. In Him, we can have this confidence that we'll be safe! We can rest in the knowledge that His love for us is true and that He will conquer every adversary who stands against us, even Satan himself!

No matter what battles you are fighting today just remember Jesus conquered them all at the cross! No evil can come against you if you hold on to HIM!

This is a song that re-iterates our faith and confidence in the Lord and His accomplished work against our enemy! Learn it and sing it to remind yourself that you are indeed saved, made whole and have nothing to worry. The lyrics are given below...

God be with you!

~ Henrietta

Lyrics of the Song - The Power of the Blood 

By the Power of the Blood of Jesus

I’m saved!

By the Power of the Blood of Jesus

I’m made whole

He saved me! He saved me!

And He made me whole

I’ve nothing to worry

Cause He’s in control

Now I know that any power of evil 

Won’t hold

And the value of the blood of Jesus

More than gold

Cos He saved me! He saved me

And He gave me life

No Satan can stand up

Before the Author of life!

Even in the face of pain and sorrow

I’ll stand

Even burning in the fiery furnace

He holds my hand

He’ll save me, He’ll save us

I know I can be sure

Cause He faced death just for me

My pain to endure.  

Henrietta Decruz (C) 

What matters is...

Yes we have trouble

Yes it hurts

Yes it feels terrible

But what matters is

We are overcoming it!

Every dark day

Every rough patch

Every crazy problem

Has to sometime

Come to an end.

Looking back

Every problem

Taught us something

Every difficulty

Was a reason to grow!

Don’t ask

For comfort or luxury

Don’t ask for an easy path

The roses may smell good

But heroes are made by thorns.

Ideas to Make a Better Society

You could call it the creative mind at work... While I travel I see different things around me and suddenly thoughts jump up at me, “What if this could be fixed like this...!” I smile... then I think, “Is it possible to make such things happen?”

One person alone may not be able to make the whole idea fall into place... I believe different people with different capabilities and guided by the same intention to see social change can make these things happen. In fact it would surely be possible if some people in places of authority took up such ideas and added energy and dedication to them so that we can see the change we are hoping for.

Are you wondering what kind of ideas I am talking about? Well they could be plain and simple ideas or they could be out of the box, different and sometimes crazy sounding ideas... all the same, the similarity in them is that they aim at changing something for the better.

A picture of me during the train ride that inspired me!

Like for instance, while travelling by the local train in Mumbai during my last visit there I saw the sides of the railway tracks all littered with paper and trash of every kind. I wondered how people living on the sides of these railway tracks were putting up with living around with such dirty surroundings.

As I was thinking about this, I suddenly noticed there was a lot of paper and plastic waste around which could easily be recycled. This brought to my mind that huge group of recyclers we know as ‘rag pickers’ who many take to be a nuisance but actually serve society by contributing to the recycling industry – silently.

I thought what if the railways chose a day when they would allow rag pickers to come and pick up every recyclable paper, plastic, carton, etc from the railway tracks and earn whatever they could from it? The result would be cleaner tracks, better surroundings around the railway areas and a better income for these rag pickers! It would be a way of society telling these rag pickers that we value them, care for them and it would build up their self esteem and probably a good number of them would start caring more about themselves as a result of this.

I know this is only possible if someone in the railways and at a place where such decisions can be made – takes up this idea and works it out. There are some NGOs working with rag pickers in Mumbai and they could form the team that will help bring this plan into action. It may sound crazy but I think it is very workable... all we need is the enthusiasm to bring about change!!!

Another idea... Well I have used public transport a lot in the years before and I used to fret a lot about the condition of some of the APSRTC buses which didn’t have proper rods for passengers standing in the front to hold on to... I used to wonder who on earth designed these buses because they didn’t seem to bother what would happen to the people standing there when the bus was over full and when the brakes were applied suddenly. I wondered if those who designed utility vehicles and other products think about the people who have to use those things when different situations arose. Well, thankfully they started phasing out those old rickety and terribly designed buses for better ones and the problem is being taken care of.

One more idea... I work with a Deaf NGO called Deaf Enabled Foundation and I have become sensitised to the needs of the Deaf in our country. One of their needs is that all movies, television programmes, videos and audio material be available with sub-titles because they cannot hear what is being said. While thinking about this it suddenly struck me that it is very possible if we can get a software made which would in the opposite way of ‘Narrator’ which is normally used to read out written material and is available with Microsoft Windows. In this case we need words spoken in any form to be transliterated and typed in subtitle form. This facility is needed in different languages.

Deaf Enabled Foundation Members at the International Deaf Day Rally 

I believe if brilliant software developers put their minds to this, it is very possible. Whenever they accomplish this, it can be made available for all television channels and government machinery like railway stations and all public places where announcements are made so that the Deaf can understand what is being spoken. Now that is a challenge that perhaps Microsoft and other companies who create software can take up as a CSR initiative! I would be overjoyed to see my Deaf brothers and sisters get the information they should be getting because it is their fundamental right to information!

Well, in a nutshell I would say we have a lot of creative minds in society who can be brought together to resolve the problems faced in society if they are allowed to collaborate with the people in authority. The main criteria for selection of such creative people into such a ‘Think Tank’ should be that their intention is to do good for society without any selfish interest. In doing so they could impact society and be instrumental in building in a better future for everyone. 


Maybe you are a creative person and you too have good ideas that could bring about change. Well, don't keep them to yourself, share them and hopefully in the future someday, your idea will germinate and bring about the change that is needed to transform the lives of many people. Maybe we creatives from around the world could come together and form  'Creatives For Change' or something like that... Who knows! It is possible!

Well friends, let the good ideas keep coming and may they be implemented too! Here’s to a better society and a better future!