Should We Be Warned?

Ecclesiastes 12:6,7 in the Bible says, "[Remember your Creator earnestly now] before the silver cord [of life] is snapped apart, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern [and the whole circulatory system of the blood ceases to function]; Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it." [Amplified Bible]

Man made out of dust

What remains after this life?

Only dust!

We are but dust, God shaped us put His breath in us and gave us life. He formed us and gave us our personality! Everything that we take pride in originates and is because He gave it to us.

Our very breath is in His hands. We need to always remember this. One blow from Him and our story is over!

Where do we stand with God? Are we doing what is right in His sight?

The world has changed the standards of good - bad and right - wrong but God hasn't! Seek God and correct yourself... He is a great Forgiver and His blessings are for those who will obey Him with a sincere heart! ?

King Belshazzar receives a warning from God:

King Belshazzar sees the writing on the wall

King Belshazzar wanted to know the interpretation of what the 'Finger' had written on the wall. It was inscribed MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN and none of his wise men could tell him the interpretation of these words.

Daniel came and told the king that he had been defiant against "the God in Whose hand your breath is and Whose are all your ways you have not honored and glorified [but have dishonored and disgraced]."

Then Daniel went on to share the interpretation of what was written, "And this is the inscription that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN—numbered, numbered, weighed, divisions. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingship and brought them to an end; TEKEL, You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting; Peres, Your kingdom and your kingship are divided and given to the Medes and Persians." Daniel 5: 25-27 [Amplified Bible]

The Bible records, "During that night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain," Daniel 5:30. Belshazzar didn't think that his end would be like this but he could do nothing to change it. His power, position, status and possessions could not save him from what God had decreed for him.

Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!"

Now matter how great you think you are, no matter what your accomplishments and achievements... the fact remains your breath is not in your hands... but in the hands of the God who made you! Rethink your life and your priorities... It may be far more valuable than you think! 

#NOAH the film - How much Truth and how many Lies?

I didn't get to meet the real #NOAH... instead I met an impostor who is doing his best to spoil Noah's name!  A big thumbs down to the makers of this film. If they couldn't do justice to the story of Noah... they shouldn't have made this film!!! Instead someone who really knew and understood the story in the right way should have made the film.
I think this is a clarion call to the Christian Filmmakers - Rise up and make films related to our faith before those who hate God and His people make stuff like this to pollute people's thinking!!!

Friends, there are several elements added to the story of Noah which have changed both the characters and the story totally. So much so that except for a very few things the rest is all a web of lies!

The film maker has used his creative license so much that he changed the story from the original. Like for instance he shows Noah's younger two sons did not have wives.

Well, that is too far from the truth. Genesis 6:18 says "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you." And Genesis 7:7 says, "Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood."

As for the children born to Noah's sons, another LIE inserted into the story... the film shows the birth of twin daughters whom Noah wanted to kill, nothing can be further from the truth. There was no birth inside the Ark at all! There was no question of Noah killing anyone - He would never kill even a living thing! Why would a person like that want to kill girl twins??? Desperate to cause hate towards Noah and God - the filmmakers have proved they just don't want to tell the story honestly!

The sons of Noah had children only AFTER they settled on the land. Genesis 10:1-4 says this, "This is the history of the generations (descendants) of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons born to them after the flood were: 2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 

The other thing the film does is insert something called 'Watchers' or fallen angels who are supposed to be helping Noah build his Ark. Nothing could be further from the Truth as the fallen angels are more associated with Satan, God's arch enemy and would have never be involved in anything even remotely related to God or His people. Revelation 12:9 says, "And the huge dragon was cast down and out—that age-old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, he who is the seducer (deceiver) of all humanity the world over; he was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him." [Amplified] Why would such beings have anything to do with Noah, a man chosen by God?

The movie has another insertion that is entirely untrue. It shows a character called Tubal-Cain, who is a descendant of Cain enter the Ark undetected. The Bible story does not have any stowaways! Moreover, there was no chance anyone could enter like that since Genesis 7:16 says, " And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded [Noah]; and the Lord shut him in and closed [the door] round about him." It was God Himself who sealed the Ark, no one could go through Him and stay alive anyway.  

As for God and His nature - Genesis 6:5-7 says, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart. So the Lord said, I will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground—not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air—for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them."

Man can bear seeing men kill other men... we have grown accustomed to seeing riots and violence where tens, hundreds and thousands of people perish. But not God... it hurts His heart to see the men He created doing this to one another. He wants us to love one another - not kill one another. That is why it grieved His heart... and He decided to give man a fresh start through Noah, a "just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God" Genesis 6:9 [Amp]

The film also shows that Noah made choices that mankind should end and that God wanted all men to perish. However that is also far from the truth. Genesis 8:1 says "GOD [earnestly] remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark." And in Genesis 8:15-16 it says, "God spoke to Noah, saying, 'Go forth from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you.'"

If God really wanted He could have destroyed all mankind and none of us would have been here to know the real or distorted story of Noah!

So see the movie but also go back and read Genesis 8 to Genesis 10 to know the REAL STORY. Here is a link that will take you to the online Amplified Bible - my favorite version of the Bible! Read Genesis 8 to 10 - Amplified Bible

Don't let anyone put wool over your eyes!!! Please go back and check everything that is said so that you don't have to swallow lies and be made a fool of! Knowing the Truth makes a huge difference... it can affect your life on earth and afterwards too. You are precious and your soul is too! 

Take the trouble to know the truth. Please do it for your own sake!

Let's bring 'Love' back to life!

"I am lonesome on my ownsome.'

Har roz pyaar ka katal hota hai....
par yeh khabar akhbaaron mein nahin aata hai!
(Every day 'love' is murdered but this news never appears in the newspapers!)

There is so much to say on just these two lines!

Like for instance some people are invisible... their pain, their struggles unknown because no one cares for them.
Then there are orphans in families... they have a 'father', 'mother' or relatives but they are just for namesake. Nobody really plays the roles they are meant to play in their lives. And they grow up starved for affection, for love, understanding and acceptance.

Emptiness and worthlessness causes breakdown in people

There are people who work so hard that they make things work in their workplace, but they are neglected, not appreciated, treated like they are not worth anything and finally they go away... feeling worthless, empty and undervalued.

There are some leaders who see true potential but will not encourage because they prefer control over freedom of that person to be all that God meant them to be.

Then there is so much propaganda of love, it is criminal to see that the real thing doesn't exist. There are people who do everything to win a person's heart and then when that person belongs to them, they treat them like trash so much so it breaks their heart, they stop believing in love... and go away into a cold shell unable to trust anyone anymore.

No one wants to suffer... alone

Har roz pyaar ka katal hota hai....
par yeh khabar akhbaaron mein nahin aata hai!
Afsos... :( Pyaar marr gaya.

Can we change this? Can we examine our hearts and become 'human' like we were meant to be... say what we mean and mean what we say? Can we really learn to care, to share, to bless, to encourage, to help, to say kind words to those who are in our lives, our families, our workplaces, our friends and around us???

Why starve others of affection when we know how much we ourselves need it? How many lives would have been better, more fulfilled and meaningful if the 'others' in their lives just simply 'cared'!

Let us change... rebuild our relationships before they fall apart. Reclaim ourselves and all the good we can do... before we are beyond redemption. Wake up! It is time for a change.

The Code Blue Campaign

We live in a stressful world. Everyone is going through something. There comes a time in a person's life when the pressure is so high that they are not sure they can make it. It is a time when they need the assurance, support and encouragement of their loved ones, their friends or even someone with the heart to help.

A lot of people who reached the brink didn't know they could ask for help and were lost. We can stop that by reaching out to the people in our lives so that they can overcome whatever it is that is holding them down and be helped.

The Code Blue Campaign is for people of all age groups. It is for students who are going through exam pressure, career pressure, parents pressure or even peer pressure. It is for women who have seen trials in their lives and see no hope. It is for men who feel defeated and desolate. It is for elderly people who feel isolated and lonely with no one to care for them.

It is for those who see no meaning in life. It reminds us that we do have a responsibility in the well being of those around us and this gives us a chance to speak 'Life' into their situations and circumstances.

Let us spread the word around! 'Code Blue' means its time to reach out to someone in need. The person may need a listening ear, a prayer, a helping hand or even professional help. Reach out to them and connect to counselors or trained personnel from NGOs if you cannot handle the matter. But reach out. Your timely help can save someone's life!

The Code Blue Campaign was launched in Hyderabad and a group named 'Youth Alive' provided counselling for those in dire situations. The Deccan Chronicle carried a report about the campaign and soon there were calls coming in from different parts of the Twin cities. There were days when more than 500 calls were received. The Sakshi Newspaper also shared about this campaign and soon calls came in from various districts of AP (at that time it was united!) The campaign went on well during the time that the students were awaiting results and under pressure. After that period there was a decrease in the calls coming in.

Code Blue Campaign can be a boon to people anywhere as its basic idea is to have two words to enable a person to express the greatest trauma they are going through at that time. Anyone should never have to suffer alone. A person who is pushed into a corner and isolated during the worst grief or suffering tends to feel suicidal. He or she feels worthless and unwanted. CBC is an effort to ensure someone at that point in their life can reach out to someone sympathetic who will give them a listening ear and help them through that difficult time in their life.

Here is a link to the lyrics of a song that I wrote that appeals to a person who is feeling suicidal to not take their life.
http://henriettadecruz.blogspot.in/2011/05/life-is-calling-you-song.html

Check out the Facebook page of Code Blue Campaign...
https://www.facebook.com/codebluecampaign?_rdr=p

The article about Code Blue Campaign that appeared in the Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad.

Code Blue Campaign written about in Sakshi Newspaper

Turn the Page

You’ve lingered on this page

for too long.

There is nothing more written here

Move on.

Turn the Page! 

Turn the page

Start a new chapter

Go to the next level

Your journey will continue

From there.

A full stop is an end

The end of the line.

Your story doesn’t end

With the full stop on this page

It takes on a new form

Turn the page!

As you move towards your destiny

Adventure beckons you

Dormant dreams will come to life.

The things that confined you

Will not hold you back anymore.

They will be left behind

In the previous chapter!

Your heart has grown weary

With waiting I know...

Is it ever going to happen?

You wonder.

A refreshing is right around the corner

It will rekindle your hope

Don’t worry!

Just turn the page

Let it go

The chapters before are just a setting

To unfold the climax of your life.

You too will not believe it

If it were told you
What the Writer has written for you.

Memories of a song! - 'To be where You want me to be'

Years ago when I was in Nirmala Niketan, College of Social Work, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary (they are the missionaries that started our college) celebrated their bi-centennary. Dr. Hazel D'Lima, our Principal had asked me to write a song to portray the situation of women and I wrote and composed "Wake up my sister!". It was then that I had the first experience of a recording studio. I had no idea about the intricacies of recordings... it was a learning experience for me. 

I lent my voice for the kuchcha recording of my song "Wake up my sister!" and it was Aarti Rao whose voice was recorded for the final version. It was beautiful! I got to act out that part on stage during the show we put up for the occasion... Etienne Coutinho had directed and worked out a great show... there were 9 screens put together and it was mind-blowing!!! I also met a good friend Satyam Tripathy there for the first time, he was assisting Etienne for the show. 

But what stayed with me is this song... it was made based on the words of the Foundress of DHM, Adelaide de Cicé. Leon D'Souza who had done awesome work with the music for my song too, he composed and prepared this song. 

I just love the lyrics... it is so meaningful, so beautiful reflecting a heart that is surrendered to God. Over the years I look back and see, I hope that I can really live like this. It is a beautiful anthem for anyone who truly wants to live for God, live like Jesus and love like Him!!! 

I wish I had the soundtrack of this song to share with you... I tried getting it, but couldn't! :( I feel sad that a treasure like this song cannot be shared. I hope they locate the sound recording of this and upload it for the whole world to hear! 

Here are the lyrics of the song...  

To be where You want me to be

To be where You want me to be

To be put where You want to place me

To be the leaven in my Father’s dough

I must open wide my own soul!

Yes Lord! Be it done unto me

Yes Lord! Let it be done unto me!

To be where You want me to be

Yes Lord! Be it done unto me.

You have called me to love all people

To provide the wind beneath their wings

To shatter the chains that bind them

To set the Living Word free!!!

So they can be what You want them to be

From within me let Your love flow

So around around me all will learn to soar

Yes Lord! Be it done unto me!

   ~ Written by Adelaide de Cicé, the Foundress of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary

   ~ Composed by Leon D’Souza

Adieu 2013

As 2013 comes to an end

I find in my hand

A mixed bag of emotions...

A mosaic of lessons and experiences

I have gained from

I will cherish

For life.

A year when I came to terms

With myself

With my life the way it has been

And mustered the courage

To step out to be

The real me

No matter what the cost.

The line is drawn

The lesson learned

The bitter sweet pill swallowed

A gush of hope

Fills the horizon

As dreams long dead

Come back to life.

The long and short

Of life’s story is

No one else lives yours

Just go out and live!

When it’s time to pay

It’s you who pay the price

Why hide when it’s time to shine?

No apologies

To those who never understood

No excuses

For what I was not able to do

No reasons

So someone may accept who I am

If they don’t it’s their loss not mine!

I move on

I will thrive

Who knows how long I have

To live?

These precious moments

When we can leave a trail

Will never come back again.

Live right

Live well

Someday someone

Will your story tell

What do you want it to be?

A story of losses and misery

Or a story of overcoming and victory!!!

I have decided

What I will do...

Thank you God

For 2013

I hope I have learned

All I had to learn

2014 here I come! 

A Tryst with Colors

Here are some more of my trysts colors... I love those moments I can escape into a seamless world where nothing is binding... I can express who I am and be myself without restrictions!

The bird's eye

Fish... a left hand drawing

Lines 

Stars and colors

Woman brought low

Scarred

So much for now...
Take care!!! 

Musings at year end

I stare at

The canvas of my life

Wondering what I should do

With the lines, the dots and the in-betweens

Trying to make sense of the vague things

That filled my life for years. 

The Canvas of Life

As I fumble and fret about things

That didn’t go well for me

I begin to see

Some signs of lessons

I still need to learn.

‘No wonder,’ I tell myself

‘It took so long for me to get here!’

It slowly dawns on me

That if I had the things I asked for

I would not have enjoyed them

With the wrong attitudes within me.

God in His infinite wisdom

Placed obstacles and detours

In my path

Till I was ready to receive

What He had for me...

Graciously, joyfully

And with the right spirit! 

I now see my life

As a mosaic

There are different colored pieces

Of different sizes and shapes

They all come together

And fall in somehow...

Making it beautiful.

There are a few voids

Still left to fill

I’ve decided not to worry about them

God who helped me overcome

The vague things that didn’t make sense

Will surely have it all planned for me

It will all work out for good!

Armed with a new confidence

I set off again

Smiling within myself

Looking forward to good things

Thinking, doing and believing

The best of everything...

Knowing this time

The voids will be filled

I will be whole and happy

For the rest of my life! 

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!