Thatched House

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...

We have tribute bands who sound and dress like the originals. And there are those people who sing cover version of hit songs of old and new.  Tribute bands and cover songs can be quite popular. We had in Nagaland a couple of years ago, someone who looked just like and sounded like Bon Jovi. There are some Asians who sing hit songs and have millions of views in youtube. There are people who can sing like the superstars, or even better that one person can imitate multiple stars or multiple types of music.  But in the end, I think, 'why can't these super-talented people launch something of their own?' Yes, many of them will not become as big as the stars, not for lack of talent but for opportunities. But why should one become popular and continue to live so by way of imitating someone? They may make it big or they may not; but if they try to launch their own music career, they will have lived authentically, originally. I don't mean that no one should sing cove...

pic from sodahead.com There was a village girl who loves to sing alto. When her sister sings as they do the household chores, she would join in by singing the alto part. She did the same with her parents and brother. Only her brother was not too happy with this habit. He didn’t like her disturbing him with her alto, to each and every song he sings or hums. He knew that she doesn’t know any ‘do’ ‘re’ ‘mi’. But he’d admit that there is at least some sense of an alto part in her singings. He would get more irritated when she’s singing a song alone and instead of soprano, her good-for-nothing sister is singing the alto part to herself. ‘For goodness’ sake, can there be an alto solo song?’ He’d yell at her.    Her habit continued when she went to the college in town. She loved going for worship service on Saturday nights, Sunday mornings, and Sunday evenings because she gets the opportunity to sing alto. The weekday prayer meetings were also opportunities for singin...

I t has been a while since I enjoyed a powerful spiritual experience.    True spirituality as the Bible says is to look after orphans and widows. This is not to reduce the gospel to some kind of ‘social gospel’ as some would think. Social service done as obedience to Christ can be accompanied with strong feelings. But that feeling is not the essential evidence of spirituality.  There has been too much talk about spirituality as a kind of emotional enjoyment or feelings. And I have reacted to this kind of pietism, because those who would not react in a certain way are often perceived as spiritually dry. I would urge for more of ‘embodied spirituality’ in our context. With this background, this blog post is about an experience that I had as I took a walk yesterday evening.  I walked for about 3 kms, from High School junction to New Secretariat and back (in Kohima town, if there is anyone who needs that additional information of my location). ...

  Live @ the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2011 It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside I'm not one of those who can easily hide I don't have much money, but boy if I did I'd buy a big house where we both could live So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do See I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue Anyway the thing is what I really mean Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple, but now that it's done I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words How wonderful life is now you're in the world If I was a sculptor, but then again no Or a girl who makes potions in a traveling show I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do My gift is my song, and this one's for you And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple, but now that it's done I hope you don't mind, I...

I used to dream myself to somewhere else each night I dreamed in colour, ‘cos I lived in black and white. Until I chanced upon this road that led to you, I couldn't see How anything could be Chorus: .. Better than a dream Stranger than my wild imagination If this is a real sensation, it's better than a dream. Higher than the moon, Hazy like a beautiful illusion. Crazy and in confusion, And better than a dream. I used to wish I was beyond some distant door, I knew there must be more to life and now I'm sure. No dreams of pirate caves, or Indian braves, or magic carpets could Ever be this good, Chorus.. And better than a dream.

I have been working on an article for local newspapers which I have tentatively titled as ‘Is too much Music and Dance making us stupid?’ It is a difficult piece to write. There are pieces of thoughts scattered all around and I haven’t been able to put them down coherently just yet. The State Hornbill Festival had just finished and Christmas is round the corner. So, it is a good time to get it out soon. In this article, I’d like to give a critique of how the present generation is fixated to music and other forms of entertainments which I believe is distracting us from being aware of the more pressing issues in the society. In this information age when what’s happening in a distant land can be known here and now as it unfolds, second by second, and there is a flood of information in the net which is just clicks away; there is also a form of ignorance which is pandemic: We have missed out on the basics of education. So many of our students can’t write or speak basic sentences. They use ...

  Been listening to her songs over and over these days

"Walking In The Air" [Intro:] Walking in the air, floating the sky... Floating in the air... We're walking in the air We're floating in the moonlit sky The people far below are sleeping as we fly We're holding very tight I'm riding in the midnight blue I'm finding I can fly so high above with you Far across the world The villages go by like dreams The rivers and the hills The forest and the streams Children gaze open mouthed Taken by surprise Nobody down below believes their eyes We're surfing in the air We're swimming in the frozen sky We're drifting over icy mountains floating by Suddenly swooping low on an ocean deep Arousing of a mighty monster from its sleep We're walking in the air We're dancing in the midnight sky And everyone who sees us greets us as we fly

In 'Nine Million Bicycles', Katie Melua sang that we are twelve billion light years from the edge. And she added, "that's a guess, no one can ever say it's true". A scientist responded saying that we actually know the distance from the edge. It's not a guess. He said it is 13.7 billion light years and not as Katie Melua sang. Of course, it's a song and 13.7 doesn't really fit into it. The song's an expression of love; about how deep and wide is her love for her lover. Katie Melua accepted the correction and a new version can be heard here She has a sense of humor and took it well. In this song, 'If the Lights Go Out', there is a lot of apocalyptic overtone. In Nine Million Bicycles, it was the scientists, now here, what will the Theologians say?:-))) "If The Lights Go Out" They say the world must end somehow, They say the end's not far from now; I think they're wrong, Don't worry your life away,...