Thatched House

I had my times of doubt even though I have never considered to renounce my faith. The doubt was like a background noise, soft as a whisper but it was there. Since childhood, I have remained within the church circles. I was an obedient Sunday School kid, and an active church youth member. In college, I was a member of the students’ fellowship. In fact, through college I have always been in the executive committee of students’ fellowship. But it was during those college days that I started to have this doubt: 'what if all this is not true'. What if this whole Christianity or religion thing is just a construct of humans? I think faith is not the absence of doubt. But there can be doubt/faith in the midst of faith/doubt. Gideon knew about God's merciful dealings with Israel. But he had his doubt and had to double check before putting his trust on God. On the first night, God made the fleece soaking wet and all the ground around it stayed dry. The next night, God did...

Officials from central government (GOI) and regional office had a program with a farmers group in Nagaland. I did not attend the program but I was told when I sat with the same farmers for another meeting recently.  In that program, the officials from outside heard the plight of the farmers and offered to help through financial support to their work. How the farmers replied to that offer is something which needs our attention. They replied, 'DON'T SEND US FUNDS. THEY WILL NEVER REACH US' . It was not that the farmers did not need the money. But their reply said it all. They have lost faith in the State government. What they were saying is : the central government will sanction the money, the State politicians will take their share, the departments will have their cut, and some connected people (contractor, relative, party worker) will pocket the left-overs with fictitious documents.  That same group of farmers are now trying to search market on their own to s...

Let me share another thought (with my church WhatsApp group). Again not because anybody asked for it😆. It is about the typical special songs presented in the church by Ciezo Mepus (colony fellowships). My idea of a special song in church is that it should be presented by someone (or a group) who is gifted in music, and ideally by a good musician who loves the Lord. And frankly I don't have much taste for the typical songs presented by various colony fellowships. Many of the songs sound like unfamilar Dieliekevi (hymnal) songs and quite a number of them are self-composed and in local dialects. There is a similar pattern about them that from the first line, you fairly know how it is going to be (with exceptions of course). I think many young people will identify with my feeling expressed here though out of respect for elders we may not show it. I wish that special songs get better musically, and hopefully they will with the passage of time, but I have come to some kind of unde...

Brothers and sisters, give me 50 days, he pleaded almost breaking down to tears. Punish me if I fail you, he said assuredly. I gave up everything for you, he reminded emphatically . What they have stolen over the last 70 years, I am going to loot back for you in 17 months, he promised. And boy, oh boy, he did it. It was a thumping success with a score of 99%. The goalposts had to be moved but it was still a goal!! Lest we forget

Published in Eastern Mirror and other newspapers. Reposted here with permission from author “ The single greatest sin any young person can commit” , said William Temple, the then Archbishop of Canterbury “ is to choose a career on selfish grounds without a sense of calling. For it is the deliberate withdrawal from allegiance to God of the greatest time and strength .” Perhaps not many Christians consciously choose science as a vocation in obedience to God’s calling. In fact, many young people, particularly in low-income countries, choose science mostly on economic grounds and social prestige and not mainly for using their talent and knowledge for the betterment of humankind or ‘out of love, care and concern for their neighbours’. Even poorer countries, such as India, pour a considerable amount of their GDP into scientific research which are closely tied to military power and commercial interests. Many adolescents are, therefore, pushed into careers that are based on science no...

'Your underwear is our underwear'. This is the most creative slogan that Nagas have come up with in a public protest (in Zunheboto some years back) against extortion and molestation of women by a UG group. In a magazine article called ' Wages of war ', the detailed rates and means of extortion by various Naga underground groups were documented. It was estimated that the collective revenue of all UG groups is about Rs. 1300 crores annually. Not a rupee of this goes back to, say, maintenance of even 1 inch of road in the State. Where does this money go? Surely it doesn't need that much amount to negotiate peace with government of India. The source of money to fund the palatial buildings and luxury cars in the posh suburbs of Dimapur belonging to UG leaders is not hard to guess. But the above slogan goes deeper than that. It says: 'Not only your house, your car, or the luxuries that you enjoy, that underwear which you are wearing right now is also paid by us'....