Thatched House

If anyone’s planning to select a bride, here’s a criteria list that can help in the selection process. By counting the total number of items that meet the criteria, one can calculate the percentage each probable candidate scores. It is on one’s personal discretion that a certain percentage threshold be set, and the candidates who score above that threshold may be subject to further battery of tests till a grand finale where the top two may be put to a final defining test. The criteria for the preliminary round are: She should believe and confess that Jesus is kyrios   She should not be a Young Earth Creationist Should not be a secular Darwinist   It will be nice if she does not endorse inerrancy of Scripture, while affirming its infallibility   She should not be a liberal   She should not be a fundamentalist   This will not be pressed too firmly on her but it is preferable that she use NRSV/NIV instead of KJV/NKJV   She should be concerned for Cre...

Today, we turned down so many applicants for a government job. We had to shortlist candidates for interview and drop those who fell short of the requirements. Out of a total of about 200 applicants, only about 70 were selected for interview....for 3 vacant posts!!!! It wasn't an easy task because we knew that the rejected applicants had spent so much money and time to earn those technical degrees....but alas! from unrecognized institutes. So here is the message: PLEASE DON'T GET JUST ANY DEGREE FROM ANY UNIVERSITY. SEE TO IT THAT THE INSTITUTE YOU ARE APPLYING FOR HAS DUE RECOGNITION.  On the lighter side, here are two samples of amusing application forms that we received: 1. Subject: Application for____/appoint me as_____ It is having learnt from a reliable source that there is some post of_____ is lying vacant under your kind control department....In this connection also applying for the same however the department has announced/advt in the local paper. It is therefore may...

I don’t have to be very careful with what I say to the media. If there’s a critical rejoinder to my words, I can always give a rejoinder to the rejoinder saying, ‘I was quoted out of context’. To pluck out a few sentences from a speech or a book without considering the context in which the sentences lie is a mistake many people commit. This error is not uncommon among Christians when reading the Bible. Some believers have the habit of closing their eyes and after a prayer, open a random page in the Bible and believe that God has given them that passage for that comment. In doing this, what comes before or after the passage, much less what the entire book says; in what historical, social, and cultural context it was written; are not considered. Some people who have a pre-conceived idea search for scripture passages to prove/validate what they already have in mind. They don’t read the Bible for guidance; they search for passages which say yes to their ideas. Nothing is more committed to...

1.     The Call: Os Guinness (8.5) k 2.     Sick Planet: Stan Cox (5.0) 3.     The Message of Mission: Vinoth Ramachandra & Howard Peskett (8.5) 4.     Identity and Violence: Amartya Sen (7.0) 5.     Good Value: Stephen Green (7.9) k 6.     Empire of Illusion: Chris Hedges (6.5) k 7.     Lord Find me a parking place: Derek Wood (6.5) 8.     The End of Poverty: Jeffery Sachs (7.9) 9.     Doing God’s Business: R. Paul Stevens (5.0) 10.   God and Government: Eds. Nick Spencer & Jonathan Chaplin (6.0) k 11.   Resident Aliens: Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon (8.4) 12.   Morbid Symptoms: Eds. Leo Panitch and Colin Leys (4.5) 13.   Simply Christian: N.T Wright (7.5) 14.   Mountains Beyond Mountains: Tracy Kidder (7.5) 15.   When The Kings Come Marching In: Richard J. Mouw (8.0) 16.   Mere Christianity: C.S Lew...

On May 1, the DAN government presented a table (converted into Chart 1 here) in a local newspaper to show that during the Congress Rule from 1993 to 1997, casualties as a result of UG activities escalated.  Number of deaths increased almost 4 times over this period that 81 deaths in 1993 rose to 309 in 1997. DAN government put this statistics up to show that the Congress government had failed to maintain law and order in the State during its rule while it is much more peaceful now under DAN government   The next day, it was the Congress’ turn to put up another table in the same local daily to show that things haven’t improved during DAN too. From 2003 till 2008, number of casualties due to UG activities rose from a total of 86 to 201 (See chart 2). Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) statistics (Chart 3) validates the claim of the congress in Chart 2. Figures from 2003-06 given by Congress tally with the MHA figures. But since 2007, it’s difficult to say because the MHA from then ...

1. YOU ARE NOT A GADGET The author of this book is Jaron Lanier : Philosopher, Computer Scientist, Composer, Performer. He coined the term VIRTUAL REALITY and is one of Times 100 list of most influential people for the year, 2010. When my friends and I built the first virtual reality machines, the whole point was to make this world more creative, expressive, empathic, and interesting. It was not to escape it. Something started to go wrong with the digital revolution around the turn of the twenty-first century….This ideology (web 2.0) promotes radical freedom on the surface of the web, but that freedom, ironically, is more for machines than people. Anonymous blog comments, vapid video pranks, and lightweight mashups may seem trivial and harmless, but as a whole, this widespread practice of fragmentary, impersonal communication has demeaned interpersonal interaction…A new generation has come up with a reduced expectation of what a person can be, and of who each person might become. Wh...

On a bus journey to Kiphire, someone signaled the bus to stop at Losami junction. As I looked back to see who was getting down; an old man started to rise from his seat. He took his time to collect his stuff and made his way to the door. All eyes were on him because he was taking all the time in the world. But no one could order him to make it quick for he looked frail with age. I also didn’t mind that it was longer than an average NST bus’ pick and drop time although I wanted to reach my destination before dark. I closely watched his steps and studied him with admiration. What caught my attention were his glasses which I believe he just bought from Kohima. The silver colored frame was shining so brightly and the sticker label was still intact on one top corner of the lens. He had a walking stick and two loaves of bread in a polythene bag. To remind myself later write about this encounter, I typed in my mobile phone, ‘Inconvenience; a pleasure’.   It was just a onetime encounter ...