Contemplations and Ruminations

(September 28th, 2020) This is an article I co-authored (for the silver jubilee souvenir) along with the Mother Superior of the special school I used to work in, Santhi Nilayam. I recently spoke to Mother and she gave me the sad news of Nagarajan’s demise and I always feel such special individuals who don’t know how to hate or bear grudges or contempt against another or thine own self will now be more at home in a place where such concepts do not exist. Rest in love Nagarajan, you’ve made us better human beings by showing us how selflessly you embodied love. One fine day in May 1996, a small boy named Nagarajan, son of Mr. Velayutha Perumal and Mrs. Saraswathy, arrived in Santhi Nilayam with his parents. Born in 1980, Nagarajan is the only child of his parents, who realised their son needed special care and sought admission in Santhi Nilayam. Nagarajan was an energetic, smart and affectionate child who had mild mental retardation and slight hearing problems. His enthusiasm was contag...

This was taken by a cousin in The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception . She perfectly encapsulates tenderness in its most human form, if only we could love or serve others half as much as she did, the peace that emanated from her could fill us and overflow the world. Click on the picture for a larger view.  This post is part of a themed series organised by CBC (Chennai Bloggers Club) to celebrate and encourage the spirit of blogging.  P.S: Thanks for the picture Zak.

Innocent Eyes... In the classroom scribbling on the desk Smiling at the teacher reading some text Dreaming of cookies and presents under the tree Beautiful voices singing carols off key Magic of the season exudes from them Beautiful smiles and kisses like toffee Innocent eyes see a stranger that enters A few loud noises and their world disappears Innocent eyes behold a bearded man on bended knee His arms are open, He smiles beckoningly They recognise Him, the beginning of time He sweeps them up, kissing them tenderly Sentinel beings and scampering pets, rejoices At this cherubic gathering of pigtails and crayon smudges Even here preparations are in full swing To celebrate the birth of a King Innocent eyes agog at the sights and the sounds They join the shepherds in their song Nestled in His lap, memories still linger Of loved ones, forced to surrender Looking at Him, they know all will be well When everyone meets in His kingdom, to dwell He sings them a s...

My sister was here recently and we scoured the city for clothes and ornaments for her upcoming wedding. Here are a few pictures from her brief visit...   This was our breakfast everyday, plain juicy mangoes... summer's saving grace. Met the cousins at St. Thomas Cathedral... Where a memorial mass was held... to honour... our beloved grand parents, Ubald and Pauline Kostka who exemplified a beautiful life in God.  Celebrated Michelle's birthday... Shopped for sarees... The white wedding saree on display... shopped for more sarees... Tried on all sorts of gold ornaments... Visited cotton street and got yelled at by this man... apparently my superior bargaining skills raised his hackles.  Nice place to buy running material... Took respite in a slice of cheesecake... and a smoked bacon sandwich. All in all it was a great couple of days... 

This song has been on replay ever since I heard that Whitney Houston passed away. It was the only song I liked of hers and I used to listen to it nonstop back while we (me and the siblings) were growing up along with Elton John's Sacrifice and Richard Marx's Right here waiting for you, these are the songs I remember constantly rewinding and playing, till everybody got sick of it. This song of hers made an impact more than any other song of that era because it was not the usual sappy love songs every other pop singer was churning out. This was about learning to be courageous and living a life of dignity, and growing into a good human being. It is a song about overcoming obstacles, learning from experiences and discovering who you really are in the process. You realise that you have to first learn to love yourself before you expect others to do the same. At that impressionable young age, this song really meant a lot... especially the last stanza where she sings about finding th...

Whew! the last few weeks were a whirlwind of activity... there was a lot of drama, two birthdays, a wedding anniversary, new year eve festivities, an engagement and two untimely deaths. Drama always occurs when the whole family is home, it was great to be back in the midst of it all... nothing new there. My brother's celebrated their birthday and I made my first ever authentic cheesecake which tasted like lassi and biscuits according to Antonio. New Year's eve was extremely fun, it was great singing with my church choir again... we sang 'When A Child is Born' and practicing for it was wonderfully uplifting. I miss choir practice, I miss getting that high feeling whenever we used to practice for Sunday mass. And the other big event was my sister's engagement to one of my best buddies, had a whale of a time there meeting cousins and hanging out with them. In between all this, I loved walking around my little town and soaking in the magic of Christmas. The beauty o...

It's sad to think about what's happening in Norway and Somalia...mindless violence in one and terrible famine in the other. The situation in Norway shook me up, first of all you don't expect bomb blasts in Norway neither do you expect some deranged lunatic to start gunning down people there. Even worse was the fact that the shooting spree took place at a youth camp, where young folks gather annually to take part in political activities and make new friends. Imagine that, people just like you and me, on the brink of a new and exciting life... with dreams hopes and ambitions, imagine their plight as the trigger happy lunatic walked around the camp shooting everybody in sight. Apparently this demented lunatic entered the camp dressed as a police officer and after he started gunning down people in one section of the camp, he calmly walked to another section and told the students that everything was fine, and that they could come into the open. Believing him to be a police offic...

"It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood ." So starts one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, Frank McCourt's memoir ' Angela's Ashes' is wonderfully written and even thinking about it now takes me back to Limerick, Ireland where Frank grew up amidst so many ordeals; poverty, an alcoholic dad, malnourished siblings (he had to watch some of them die), the rigid catholic values of that era... to name a few. He was a teacher by profession who took to writing after he retired at the age of 60, his books are a joy to read… he just tells his story in a pure and natural form and you grow to love the man for who he is. Angela's Ashes was followed by two more memoirs 'Tis' and ' Teacher Man' , these books are extremely entertaining too... but it was An...

This is how I will always remember him; as the guy who brought a lot of smiles and good times to our childhood. We (the siblings and the cousins) were crazy about him, we used to practise dancing and singing like him... back then he was at the pinnacle of success, there was no other name that could evoke such response and awe in our young minds as that of Micheal Jackson. I remember me and Tina (a cousin) had the biggest crush on him, we used to listen to his songs incessantly and exchange pictures of him, we even wrote to him once... asking him how he made this sound while singing 'Who is it' (notice before he starts singing and after each line he makes a 'hic' sound...) We were so enamoured by him... and even though along the way we outgrew this phase and went through a whole lot of other phases (Tom Cruise, Leonardo dicaprio, Dylan Mcdermott... and Nam probably remembers the rest) Michael will always remain that guy whose name still evokes memories of togetherness,...

In memory of Mehemei Kumar , an 18 year old with Down's Syndrome, who left us on January 19th, 2007 to enter the Kingdom of God. Dance was his passion, it was through dance, we could get him to do his work. He was a big brother to all the other kids, he used to take care of them. He wanted to work and earn for his mother, but he had no idea how to. We placed him in a company once, but they had to send him back... instead of working, he would dance. He was a naughty guy who loved his mother and the sisters (in school) above anythin else on this planet. When the Tsunami struck his district, he somehow escaped the killer waves and headed straight to school. He was a boy struggling to be understood... to be accepted for what he is. Sometimes when he didn't feel like going home, he would stay in the convent with the sisters and they would take care of him. The sisters taught him to pray and he learnt to pray beautifully in his own characteristic language... we wouldn't understa...

Rev. Bishop Leon Tharmaraj, passed away early this morning. He's an amazing person with a strong will and a compassionate soul. We sure are going to miss him..... May his soul find everlasting peace with You Lord. "He who believes in Me shall not die but have eternal life ." Eternal life , that's what we all should strive for.

One of my favourite people on this planet died yesterday... of a stingray attack. He saw beauty in the most ugly, disgusting, slimy and horrendous creatures. He was a beacon of enthusiasm and inspiration. He loved nature in all it's form. He was reckless and passionate and bursting with energy and fervour. To him nature and all of creation was sacred and beautiful. He loved to waddle in marshy waters and play with giant reptiles, oh man, he really loved those fearsome reptiles. But he would never have used that adjective to describe them. To him they were lovely, wonderful, gorgeous, fantastic, fascinating, magnificent and beautiful. They were his pride and joy, he even named his daughter after his favourite reptile, Bindi. He lived an adventurous life caring for our earth and all the animals in it. His knowledge on wildlife was inexhaustible and his trademark phrases were infectious. It is a terrible loss and I can't begin to imagine what his family must be going through. But...