Thatched House

It angers me to see our girls dropped off early in the morning half dead by some Yakubu or some !dille (ask a Russell Peters' disciple to pronounce that for you). Again it angers me to not have sufficient fiscal resources or the audacity of a Punjabi guy to take our girls out in the evenings. We the menfolk of the trans-Brahmaputra are to be blamed for loving our bottles better than our ladies. The sober ones chicken out and fail to be a man. But I've come to realize that it may not be all that bad to let our sisters out. For instance, I feel safer to travel by the Brahmaputra mail when crossing Lalooland because one of ours is married to that land. I don't know her personally but we have mutual friends in facebook. I already feel closer to Lalooji. Imagine what wonders it can do to have such connections in every state of India and beyond. If I should meet an unfortunate day and is about to be thrashed by the Biharis, I'll yell out the connections.

The Bible is the best selling book of all times. About 25 million Bibles were sold in the US in 2005. There are over 500 English translations and the Bible comes in varying forms. We have the Students Bible, The Grace for the Moment Study Bible, Women Bible, Brides Devotional Bible, Couples Bible, Cowboys Devotional Bible, Soul Surfer Bible, the colorful Rainbow Study Bible, Good News for Modern Man, Super-Heroes Bible, Outdoors Bible, Woman Thou Art Loosed Bible, etc, etc. They come in hard covers, leather bound, bonded-leather, imitation-leather, red letter edition, ribbons, special boxes, special message from Max Lucado and so on. It may not be long before we have customized Bibles, say one with personal autograph from Rick Warren? Nelson inc. got help from the fashion industry color reports to decide on the Bible cover color. The BibleZine drew inspiration from teen girls’ magazines. The sidebars of the Bible sharing beauty secrets as: “Have you ever had a white stain appear under...

As a doctor, I prescribe medicines. But I’ve never cared enough how much the prescription is going to cost my patient. Also I’ve not understood how it feels to be a terminal patient or family of one. I still remember; ‘cure may not be possible but we will try for palliative (supportive) therapy’, my professor said about my brother. After that, there was a season of desperation, sleeplessness, exhaustion and hopelessness. In that situation, God had not forgotten us; your help was a godsend which man cannot repay. Thank you. Now I know to some extent how you must have felt when your beloved passed away. My brother has completed treatment and he’s up and active; continuing in his academic career and restarting a new life. And I think I’ve become a more sensitive doctor. Thanks again and God bless you and your family. RIMS, Imphal, 2006

What joy is this?  Can Heaven have more?   (This is the most painful piece I've ever written...because it talks of highest joy...written in a time of deepest pain)

O my Sunshine Shadows are lengthening As you fade from the horizon

Reality bites me to silence  Each time I try to call out your name

We were pulling each other’s legs, a friend and I the other day. I made fun of her bad habit of taking unwanted substances which does not go well with her interest in attending Bible studies. She was quick to point out that I’m a typical Naga Baptist. I knew then what she meant and I felt that I’ve been put into a box which does not truly define me. I’m a Naga Baptist but I’m also not a Naga Baptist in ways more than being so. Some people may think I’m a Conservative while some may think I’m Liberal. But chances are; I’m more liberal than the Liberals at some and more conservative than Conservatives at certain other things. Not only in Religion, some people may take me as a leftist because of some things that I said while I do not consider myself to have such a political stand though I endorse many of what the Lefts say. It is not possible to say everything we are all the time, so it is inevitable that we will be mistaken and be put into boxes that we do not like. If I say I believe t...

10 books i like to read after my course: 1.Conversion of the imagination(Richard Hays) 2.Resident Aliens (Stanley Hauerwas) 3.Surprised by Hope (NT Wright) 4.The Call (Os Guinness) 5.Rich Christians in an age of hunger (Ronald J Sider) 6.The Mission of God: unlocking the Bible's grand narrative (Chris Wright) 7.Subverting global myths (Vinoth Ramachandra) 8.Mistaken Modernity (Dipankar Gupta) 9.Exclusion and embrace (Miroslav Wolf) and 10.Matters of life and death (John Wyatt).

I’m more comfortable in writing; so, even as I am going to speak, I have written it down. Like any other young Naga’s fantasy, I dreamt of becoming a music star but I ended up becoming a medical Doctor. I went to Patkai Christian College, Dimapur and not Science College, Kohima for the sake of music in Patkai. I got into medical college but I wasn’t interested in it at first because somewhere along the way while preparing for medical entrance, I wanted to become a writer. In Patkai and medical college in Imphal, I was involved with the Evangelical Union. After completion of internship, I came to Delhi to work and prepare for PG entrance exam. I worked in Hindu Rao Hospital for one year in Orthopedics. That was the season when I actively engaged with the Evangelical Graduates Fellowship, North Delhi. Within six months, I learned more about God and the Bible than my seven and a half years in Patkai and medical college EU even though I attended a lot of Bible camps and served in the execu...

A disclaimer: In a time when a crackdown on plagiarism is thrust forward and copyright violations are increasingly seen as serious offences, it becomes difficult for a guy like to me to say anything at all. What I learn is mostly from others and original thoughts are minuscule. So here I stand and give credit to the One who is the giver of all knowledge to mankind, and a big thanks to all those people who passed it on to me. Hehehe...Now don't accuse me of plagiary or copyrights violation. What does it mean that humankind (ah, very gender sensitive word) is created in the image of God? I have come across answers from different preachers and books but this one by Stanley Grenz in ‘Theology for the Community of God’ is my favorite. There are three positions concerning this matter that he cites: 1. The Structural View. This view says that we bear the image of God, all human beings: it is something that we “possess”. It is inherent in us being human beings and it characterized by our...

'Lost without you' by Jaci Velasquez was one of my favorite songs....until recently when I came across 'Lost without you' By Delta Goodrem. They are the same: same music, same lyrics...well almost same lyrics. We come across one song sung by different artists at different times. For example, Ronan Keating sings a lot of songs which are not his original. I don't have a problem with that. 'You raise me up' is a very versatile song sung by numerous artists in different contexts. It can be a song between lovers, song about human solidarity, or a gospel song about Jesus raising us up. That's still fine. But what we find here in 'Lost without you' and 'Lost without you' by Goodrem and Valesquez is different and quite unsettling. Who copied who? The fact of the matter is "Lost Without You" is a pop ballad written by Bridget Benenate and Matthew Gerrard, produced by Gerrard for Delta Goodrem's first album Innocent Eyes (2003)(wik...

Innocence

One of the many books that I want to have is ‘The Art of Reading Scripture’ by Richard B. Hays and Ellen F. Davis. The book is too costly and it is not published in India. But I’m glad to have an MP3 lecture by Hays on the book and here’s a summary (or dictation:-)) of the main points in the MP3 with a few personal inputs. To read and interpret the Bible faithfully is important because: i. It is not possible to read Scripture without interpreting it. Consciously or unconsciously, we are always interpreting the Bible as we read. It is important that we learn to do it and do it well because our interpretation tends to be influenced by our social and cultural baggage, educational background, denomination we belong to, etc. ii. The nature of the Scripture itself: that it is both human and divine. The error is more towards treating the Bible as a book fallen from the sky, unpolluted by human hands, thoughts or language. He made a list of inadequate approaches in reading/interpreting Scrip...

Evolution and Theology operates at different levels: The first talks about our chronological origin while the later about our ontological origin. The two talks of different things and cannot be contested. Therefore creation vs. evolution is a non-debate. But yes, Evolution and YEC is the issue in contention. To take the Bible as a science textbook believing in its inerrancy runs into problems within the text itself, e.g. genealogical precision (Genesis 11:12 cf. Luke 3:35). Nature of science is such that a theory’s in place until refuted by another which better explains the phenomenon under study. No better theory has come up to refute evolution than the criticism of its loopholes. The above point doesn’t mean the acceptance of evolution in spite of its weakness just for want of a better theory. The ever growing evidence and the landslide consensus among scientists testify to it being a theory and not a hypothesis. The proportion of Bible scholars vouching for a literal interpr...

Here's bits from a guest lecture by prof. Meera Nanda that I attended in our centre. She talked of the 'Sate-Temple-Corporate complex' that she drew from her new book 'The God Market'. I haven't read it yet, so how do I know? Well, she was reading out from the book. Here's how the nexus works. Anybody (profit/non profit) can set up educational institutions and get approved by the UGC. Therefore there is this mad rush for universities to get the 'deemed' status. Once you get the recognition, you can hire and fire at will, give your own degrees, fix your own fee structure, and no reservation is necessary. Other than the UGC, the State can also say to a university, 'we recognise you'. Once the university gets recognised, the corporate sector jumps in knowing that now, it is profitable for investment. The religious institutions benefit from this nexus and the business has grown. The use of public money (as all deemed universities get from the...

   Love is a pain that you can enjoy  It can totally drive you crazy  It is a medicine that can make you sick  It can eat you up inside It is stubborn and does not listen to logic  Love sees only love and is blind to everything else  It is a volcano, a tsunami, it is unstoppable  It is like a thirsty desert that is never satisfied  Love is everything, somtimes meaningless  In the end, you don't care if it is love or something else you are talking about

I don't know how Delhi's going to teach good manners to her autowallas and citizens before the Common Wealth Games next year. The construction works are very late and are being hurried in preparatio n for the games and we've seen the consequences. But besides a news item in Times of India, nothing has been done to teach Delhites in hospitality. Delhites' volatile temperament ('short fuse') is well known and a petty roadside quarrel can cost peoples' lives. Lane driving is nil and every driver fights for each square feet in a jam. Bikes climb over footpaths and blue line buses race against each other, sometimes stretching their length across the road to prevent rivals from overtaking. Good manners are not necessarily learnt in college textbooks. We see people throwing banana peels, chips packet covers and paper cups out of SUVs. Some just stop their car and get out to pee da mn wherever. Barricades are built and personnel commissioned just to make people li...

I find this social networking venn diagram to be quite fascinating. ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Dinner A present mom and dad received on their wedding day

It is said that what one considers to be good music can be just noise to someone else. I cannot appreciate traditional folk songs even if they are of my own tribe. Typically a verse has 2 lines and the music is repeated throughout the song. There can be several verses but the tune is the same and each verse is repeated over and over before going to the next. So, even if the first verse sounds pleasing, one can get irritated due to over-repetition. There is no chorus, no variation, and usually the lyrics of the last verse go, “Our song is over, our song is over”. I also cannot understand why female playback singers of Bollywood have to shrill out songs. Homecoming music videos at times look like staged (faked) spirituality. However, I’m gradually learning to appreciate and respect music types which do not delight my musical taste buds. One significance of traditional folk songs that I was told by my Aunty goes like this: It’s from a story. There was once a man who reali...

Yesterday in the church, I took out my wallet as the ushers came for the offering. I selected a Rs. 10 note but as I was pulling it out, a Rs. 100 note was trying its best to come out......But I pushed it back in, "you are too big for this".

For a thousand years We've been singing about love  If it were on another theme  Would have we endured?  Much less, enjoyed?  --x--x--  Why does the heart hurt  When we are unloved?  Why can't we just ignore it And move on?  What's there in being loved?  --xx--  It's a sad thing That lost loves become branded as Infatuations  When it was love after all!

Dad and I boarded a line bus from BOC, Kohima. We did not get seats, so we held on to the posts as we swayed with the winding road. That was how we reached Mao gate. I was on my maiden journey to Imphal: to become a doctor! Again we did not get proper seats in another line bus from Mao to Imphal. We squeezed in the driver’s cabin. There was a Manipuri boy who was roughly trying to push me off my seat. We stared at each other and I showed him my fist asking if he wants to have it. Nothing happened and we reached Imphal without a punch being thrown. We searched for Keduwe, my dad’s ex-student. He received u sand took us shopping where I bought my ragging shoes and shirts. Kohima to Imphal, July 2000

Once I was telling ou r music secretary Mr. Mang about my past experiences as a song leader of the Imphal-ICEU. I told him that there were times when I did OK and also times when I had flopped big time. He instantly pointed o u t that if it was done for God’s glory, there is nothing as ‘flop’.  He was right. As we have come to the end of our session in the EU committee, we may look back and see that we could have done better. We tend to regret at the end when nothing can be changed anymore. Failures are reminders that we are human beings. Also they equip us to do better in the future. RIMS, Imphal

The best part of love is Just before its beginning .............:-)

These days Everyone seems to have some history  And I'm looking for someone without history :-)

When you write me a song Don’t explain everything For if you’ve said it all What’s left for the Imagination?

You lucky fellows You who are bound for Meluri That you get to cross the Lanyi River Poor us who are Pfutsero bound That after having come so close We have to turn away again Without having the Lanyi River Flow underneath our feet

Pünhan pünhapüsa Bavüdopün bavüdopüsa O kühüzhohi tazüzo Lüba kümo pülüno O khü mozono Pütühi tamha voritayo Ch: Niepo hapono Tüsozhohi omakürü seno hüte N kükhrü mu n küku süno Tüsonha n yi thibazote O khriemi O ciekrozü Onüphaküho thibazori Dipünhan ciedzü zü Kükho toshi semo ‘ri no a cüküyi nha Hapon hanüsa n cievorite Br: Tüso tüzü tüna türü Bayie Khutho mütü n belü Niepo Jisu