Thatched House

Marriage. New job. Those are the two big things I have been experiencing. Book release will not be far away.  Life can be repetitive. We do the same things and let the days, weeks, months, and years pass us by. Change can be frightening, like getting married. When life has slipped into a routine, we do not want it to be disturbed. But on going through the change, we discover that life has more to offer than what we have at present.  Without Change, we can become complacent and stop to grow. There are things in life which we do not want to change, and we do not want to let go, like childhood memories. But time and aging are things which we can't control. Even if we do not have big things coming our way, like marriage or a new job, we can decide to grow/change. We can set targets and goals to achieve. For example, we have about 40 days left before the year 2014 ends. We can set a target to read 2 books before New Year. Or visit an old relative in the...

For once, I thought I was on top and in touch with the latest..It's my generation, my time has come, I'm the 'in' thing...But now, I'm increasingly realizing that I'm becoming old school...Looking at younsters- their gadjets, their attitude, dressing sense, music choice etc. -makes me realize that. But I guess you have noticed this:  There are some old guys who are funnily traditional, old fashioned and looks uncool. However, there are some old people who are old but in a 'nice' way:-) In behaviour, attitude, speech, et al. they display such grace and composure. They look good being old and it suits them ;-) I'm not talking about those 'weirdos' who try to look young and make a fool of themselves.  In the movie ‘Gran Torino’, there’s a conversation between Clint Eastwood, the grand old man, and his neighbour, a Chinese girl Sue   Sue: I wish our father had been more like you…He was really hard on us; was really traditional, really old sch...

I have been critical and cynical of many things. I have been hard on people I don't agree with. In my writings you might have noticed that I have been quite negative many times. I'm happy that I have been going through an important phase in my life. I have been slowly learning to appreciate the imperfections in others as I see (or have been shown :)) my own more clearly. Criticism has a place but too much of it builds up nobody. Cynicism has no place at all. This season God's love has been disciplining me through some tough moments. I have been rebuked, put to shame, exposed of my pride. At first, I felt numb like I banged my head on a steel post on a cold winter morning. I started to bleed, then the pain came. I was hurt for days and I prayed for help because it was destroying me. God helped me to see good things out of it. I have learnt my lesson. But as if that wasn't enough, after some days my over self-confidence and righteousness was unveiled in public again. ...

A fictitious conversation between a Lady and a Guy L- m d 1 God made 4 u G- i dnt bliv in predictin future L- not evn fm God? G- generaly not L- wt if thr’s n xceptn? G- we’l find out in tym L- so wt do u do? G- u r suposd 2 kno, u r d wise 1 here L- ys,m told it’l b difficult G- who told u wt n wt’s difcult here? L- God told me it’l b difcult 2 convince u dt m d 1 4u G- u must b hearin things L- ryt,m only obeyin a voice G-n u think it’s God’s? L- It’s his G- apreciate ur convictn L- tx G- wt now? L- how do I luk? G- u luk ok L- haha G- on how many guys hv u tried this trick? L- dt hurts,u think m a hookr or somthin? G- sory,bt it’s hard 2 bliv…if u r in my plc u kno L- fair enuf G- ppl r getting maried 4 al reasns except luv L- can’t agree wit u more, an economic contract or somthin hehe G- so u bliv in dt old fashiond Shakespearean arrow in d heart thing? L- old but not out of fashion G- good 4 stage plays, real life’s difrent L- I kno, bt if luv’s ...

Is the best of me gone?   Have I skipped my years of youth   Or is this it?  Is this all?   JNU, 2008

  After the church, people shook hands with her. “That was a very nice song and you sang so well”. Sure the song was meaningful and she put up a good show of emotions. But Oh! I know what she does on the week days. Please mercy me, somehow I am not blessed. RIMS, Imphal 2004

A lone cloth clipper hangs on the rope alongside three towels overlapping. The two alarm clocks tick in succession as the wind brings some Indian music played far away outside the campus. On the almirah door facing me, Mickey Mouse waves happily; he has a bun on his other hand. Count two points, the ball is inside the basket, someone has scored. The saffron ventilator curtain looks old; it must have been there years before I came to this room. The ceiling fan is on a long winter break as the heater takes over to keep the room at the right temperature. The creeper has gone round its pot thrice and the gulmohor leaves have gone to sleep- after all, its 9: 35 pm already. The dusty red roses stare at the life-size mirror. They must be wondering why the owner does not clean them up. Maybe the owner does not need red roses or he is scared of them.   RIMS, Imphal, 2005

Situation back home is very bad. Killing after killings, extortion and corruption go on and on. This is an email of hope and encouragement. I sound like the Bishop of Durham. Right?:-) A friend called up and when we were talking about the bad situation at home, I recollected the thing that you said. You said if we will experience peace again (something like that). All of us are sick and tired of the killings, extortion. There is an attitude of pessimism about the future and it demotivates us to do anything good. Maybe we have forgotten how to dream Maybe we have forgotten how to hope Has God fallen asleep or has He made a vertical take-off? Although very hard, we must realise that God has been with us all along, feeling what we feel, experiencing all that we are going through. Nothing has passed by that has not caught his attention. He who watches over the sparrow encourages us to just hang on, for joy is coming in the morning. Let us speak words of hope and comfort to one ...