Ekta Utsav 2013-The Diocesan Get together

The Diocesan get together at the Cathedral Church of Redemption, was yet another day for fun, frolic, delicious treats, and a moment for meeting so many people from all over the National Capital Region of Delhi and far away places in Haryana. I was able to meet so many ministers, relatives and acquaintances and was able to catch up with things, snippets of information, developments, and some of those things that are told in the ears, for your ears only! The Ekta Utsav is also an occasion for fixing matches between prospective grooms and brides. Yes, I got to meet my wife’s uncle Late Revd.  John Asa Ram at one of the Ekta Utsavs many years back and his daughters, later to be my sisters in law approved of what they saw in me!  Well no doubt the CNI Ekta Utsav is definitely a moment that all of us belonging to the Diocese of Delhi look forward to! I have pasted a few photographs that I clicked on occasion:

The Gang meets at last! From left you have Mr. Rakesh Jacob, Mrs Sweety Jacob,

I, myself in the sweater, Mrs Nidhi Lal, my wife, Mrs. Venus Samson and Mr Ramesh

Samson, all close friends who get to meet on this occasion !

Three colleagues arrived early to look after the kids who had volunteered to perform

as the Band. This year, it was the Victoria Primary Girl’s School band and the

Bishop Boy’s School band that performed!

On the Dias while waiting for The Bishop to arrive, are (Seated): Revd. Prabhakar Mahlan, Secy. D.D.C. and Mrs. Samson, The Principal of the Victoria Girl's School, Rajniwas Road, Delhi

Waiting for the Bishop to arrive and declare the Fete open

The Right Revd. Sunil K. Singh listening to suggestions

Seen in this picture are Nidhi, Ekta, and me

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Has Poetry gone out of our lives?

The answer to the question might vary from person to person. The fact of the matter lies in the nature of the world that we live in; deadlines, shortage of spare time, targets, shortage of time, competition, and competition! No, I guess poetry has not gone out of our lives because poetry is evident in the advertisement jingles and the taglines that have been concocted for the fact that they are lyrical and musical in nature. Rhyme and metre are evident in some of the most successful advertisement campaigns. Whether it is an advertisement that promotes the Sunshine Car, or the promotion of a particular product, every advertisement is built on the premise that the human mind is in any case attuned to music, rhyme, and rhythm!

Poetry is a genre of literature that requires the leisure and space to allow the words of the poet to sink in. Today, unfortunately, time is a luxury that we do not have! If Wordsworth, Keats and Tennyson were favourites of a bygone age it was because people had the time to read a poem. So that then, why is it that poetry is being given a short shrift today? Poetry supposedly belongs to an indolent culture that had leisure and time for  the choice of words and rhymes to sink in! While no doubt, poetry had its heyday in the Victorian era, the beginning of the twentieth has also seen great poets like James Joyce, and Pablo Neruda who had the courage to write of matter mundane!

I for one thing have progressed from writing prose to the writing poetry because I believe very strongly that poetry is a more powerful medium for communicating feelings and emotions! Some of the most powerful literature written in the past has been in the form of poetry! The greatest epics of all times have been written in the poetic style. The  Odyssey, the Iliad, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana were were written in the poetic style because the writers knew that what was written in poetic style of writing were more likely to  live on in the minds of those who had heard them narrated.

To believe that we can do without poetry is to deny the essential human nature of all human beings-believing that we have no time for  the leisure of sinking into the the mood and world of fantasy, if only for gaining a temporary refuge from the stress and demands of a world that looks for instant solutions for the problems of a world that is mired in controversies and issues that need to be solved on a priority basis! The argument for the promotion of poetry might be based on the fact that poetry is a genre of literature  that is based on the need to convey the message in the least number of words. So then, in an age that is dependent on need to save time, can we do without poetry? Prose seeks to convey the message in more words than would be possible in poetry, so isn’t it the need for the day to continue to promote poetry big time?

The greatest challenge before us today is whether we can do without poetry! To deny the importance of poetry in our lives is like ignoring the very fact that we, as human beings are built to recognize poetry and everything which is lyrical! Poetry is something that marks us humans as distinct from machines which are drab and mechanical! If machines are prosaic, can we ignore the fact that human beings are more inclined to poetry in life? The CBSE a board that sets the syllabus for grade twelve in India for students undergoing twelve years of schooling in India has reduced the weightage of marks awarded for the poetry component of the syllabus. This has indicated that for this board, poetry is less important than prose and the so called higher order writing skills component of the syllabus. Is this right? I very strongly believe that the importance of poetry cannot and should not be ignored! Poetry is and continues to be an important part of our lives, and we should not ignore its importance in any way possible!

To deny the importance of poetry of  in our lives is to deny the fact that we are human beings who are attuned to what is rhythmical and musical in life.When a senior leader told me not to take more than an hour to teach a poem to students of class twelve, I replied and told her that the poem was profound and that it needed more time than just one day, and she had the maturity to accept my contention!  Based on my understanding of the profoundness of poetry, I believe that we cannot ignore its importance in every day life! Poetry is here to stay, and to believe that we can do without it is to deny the essential human nature of all of us which marks us as distinct from  all the other creatures that live on this Earth!

A writer writes poems believing that  a few words will help convey to his or her readers the message that he or she means to pass on as accurately and efficiently as possible. It goes without saying that a human being without vision and dreams is dead to all forms of creativity and  growth. Poetry in any case is here to stay whether in the form of advertisement jingles or taglines. Poetry continues to be a favoured genre of literature, and one cannot replace it with prose which is in nature less musical and lyrical in nature. We cannot deny the fact that it is poets who make an advertisement a great hit. So I would like to exhort all creative artist to  go for the poetry as a more successful medium than prose for communicating ideas. 
It becomes a sad moment for the teacher of languages when his students question the need for reading poetry in class! The fact of the matter is that like all the genres of literature, reading poetry helps make us better human beings! Prose unlike poetry is prosaic and often dry and often without that zing or spirit, while poetry has that little extra. Poetry continues to be the best medium for communicating emotions, sensations, and perceptions to another individual. It is as close as one can feel what another has felt at a particular moment. While it is true that technological advancement might have brought us the gifts of social networking sights, the fact is that we are drifting apart emotionally and have little heart to heart communication with each other! In a world that is becoming increasingly mechanical, there is steady degeneration in the quality of human relationships and human bonding. The de-humanization of cultures and societies has made it necessary to promote poetry big time! Those little but significant things like the Sunset, the little yellow flowers dancing in the wind, or the flock of birds winging away in the skies are all important things that we often ignore while rushing to work. It is poetry that brings these forgotten things back to life when you have a few moments to spare. Poetry is music and music is poetry, and one can't deny that music and poetry have the power to remove all that sadness and depression that exists in our lives!

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A Teacher’s Farewell

My children, my students, we’ve spent a year and the time

Has come to bid you farewell, I taught you all I knew and

Learned more from you than you’d ever guess!

When you gave me a citation I was moved to tears, but couldn’t

Show. I have been your teacher for the year past!

And a teacher’s meant to be tough and cool, a reservoir of emotions!

When you asked me to visit  you from another class while

I taught, I promised five minutes because you compelled me.

 How do I tell you that I have commitments and responsibilities towards others!

When I reached the class I saw you waiting for me, and felt selfish

To have made you wait, but then I have commitments to other

Students who look forward to me to teach them a lesson of life!

My children, I have loved you like my own children, looking in you

My own, and when I reprimanded you, it was because I cared

For you, and when you were down, I was concerned for you!

When the other class indifferent to the subject, I found

Joy when I visited you! The engineers and doctors were

Too full of themselves, proud of their abilities!

But then, I found joy in your ability to learn and listen patiently,

I thought of quitting when I visited the Doctors and Engineers 

Because they were rude and insulting in their attitude!

God bless you for the patience you showed me,  you will

Go a long way than those who were filled with pride,

Humble yet great, you listened to me with patience!

For pride does lead to disaster, while humbleness

Leads to success! Believe me, you’ve got the makings of success

  Than those who’d be engineers that build bridges that break!

Sure, doctors you would be, but what would you do if feelings you had not ?

For medicine does teach you that you need to feel another’s pain, but,

  You do think that disease would not you touch, forget the lesson you did learn!

Remember, my children, your faith and trust in the teacher would pay

Greater dividends than those who thought they were too intelligent

To pay attention in class, for pride does ruin intelligent minds.

Believe me my dear children, I did the best I could, so to make you,

Understand the need to be humble. And sure I found joy in teaching you,

Your support for me formed me so, I learned more from you than you me!

Sure,  I looked at you as my own children and treated

You thus! Others questioned our methods so, but  we will prove them wrong!

For intelligence devoid of  faith is but an empty vessel that makes a hollow noise!

The citation that you gave me was better than any certificate given by my employer,

Your trust in me, gave me all the encouragement that I would ever need!

I thought that I was wrong in my teachings, but you proved me right!

Fare you well dear children, for sure I loved you like my own children.

 I saw my own children in each one or you, your love for me

Did overwhelm me so. You taught me a lesson in trust and faith!

I love you each one of you, and do pray that you may taste

Of  success , for believe me, you are all winners  so great!

If a teacher’s blessings do carry weight, then sure you’ll remember me.

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A World of Words

Sure I’ll build us a world of words, where the sun does glow

And  flowers bloom never to whither! Where love does flow

Like  tinkling streams with silver waves,  never to stop,

Where stars be gemstones to pick for you and me!

The scent of  flowers steals the senses, the rainbow bright

Does ride the  sky accompanied by clouds so white!

And sure we’ll walk  pastures  so rich, stained in green, hand in hand,

Drunk with sights  so fine, we’ll climb the skies to reach the stars!

Sure I’ll build us a world of words, where the sun does glow.

Far from a dusty world, we’ll traipse  with the sun aglow.

Where the warm fingers of the dawn, the fog  dispel,

Escorted by  rows of flowers so thick!

If you  grant me a chance to build  a world of words,

I’ll take you  where leaves do dance and  the flower nods,

On to the rainbow bridge to stroll to gardens afar, where

Birds do feed and squirrels reach to hands held out!.

Just let down your hair, while I escort you through, a world of words,

Where scents so float, the moon does sail, for surely words

Do paint canvass for a sky so fair, with blues so mixed with tufts

So white of clouds, blown here and there by a lusty breeze!

Sure, will I walk you to a world  of words, where you and I skip with

Steps so light! For once we’d be like children so free, with

Smiles of joy, where laughter  tinkles like  streams that

Flow. And lusty trout do leap with joy so rich!

If you do allow me, I’ll take you to a world of words, where Sun

And Moon shine, and winter winds don’t bite, a warmth of one

Filled with  trust and love! With laughter loud, we traverse

A Garden so fresh, where roses  nod, and deer  tumble!

To celebrate a love so great we’ll visit my world of words, with

Nature so rich, to celebrate  togetherness, untrammelled with

Cares of a world that rushes off to win a race, as we, a team, will

Walk the race, to greet the world  with languor and grace! 

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A day in the life of a writer

 

I wake up to a day that lies before me,  starting with the moon and the sun,

One in the descendant and the other in the ascendant while I, the traveller look at one

Page in my life, starting with the dawn of a new day. The sun glows with the warmth of

A promise of a day filled with hope and events guaranteed to fill my life with the promise,

A day with events meant to fill me with the joys of one more day filled with the gifts.

 

And then as I travel to work I see the flocks of birds that sail the skies, in the glow

Of the warm glowing sun in the early winter morn, off to their nesting hollow,

While the day does roll by, I approach my place of work and wonder what the

Day would hold for me! So I proceed to my room in the stillness of the morn,

The shadows yet lengthened while the corridors echo with my footfalls!

 

The day moves on and I the silent spectator but an actor in the play of life,

The wide smile of the student handing over his assignment gives me a life

Filled with promises of a day filled with promises of things yet to be, of more to

Come, and while I sit at the workshop, she, sitting with me  on the bench, does

Show off her delicate feet, her bright painted toes, blinking in the day!

 

So I thought of writing of the day gone by, a day filled with the promises or more

Yet to come, for if the morrow does dawn, will I surely glimpse for sure,

At the bouquets of flowers that please me so. For sure, the gifts of one day

Might surely spill to the next, and the scents of the flowers do linger on while the

Woman by my bench does show off her delicate feet and freshly painted toes.

 

The next day will surely bring forth a day coloured by the rising sun so big,

That if I were to reach it would fill my arms to the brim, and I sit at my big

Table thinking of the day yet to come, while the pigeons above flutter and call

Out to each other interrupting my stream of thoughts…Ah! I gaze at the

Scene out of my window at men and women labouring to construct a building.

 

The door opens and I am woken from my reverie of a myriad dreams, a shadow

Leaning forward to me, reaching perhaps into my mind to learn of how

I could be so silent in the midst of all that din! But then not to seem rude, I smile

At her, the fragrance of her perfume lingers on in the room, but then I slip

Into yet another process of thoughts, of what I’d do after I retire.

 

The glow from the burning logs in the fire-place bathe the living room

With warmth, both seen and felt, while I sit pensive, fingers hovering from

There flight on the key-board, a glass of warmth set on the side board, while

She sits gladly knitting a sweater for a grand son. Were life to be so carefree

With no deadlines to meet nor worries about unfinished work!

 

As the brief period of rest ends, I am surprised that hardly have a few minutes

Passed in all that while had I slipped into another world, but do I realize bits

Of my dream as I gaze back at the present. Of the task in hand that need

Be done, and with a light step do I visit a class of eager children, but with one

Who has not submitted his task, and as I turn to him, smiling he hands to me!

 

And I gaze at the children with an admiration most profound they should be

Powerhouses of energy. Where do they get their stories, cheer and joy, to be

So excited and noisy? But then do I slip back into my past at a little boy who would

Be as noisy and active as these little children, for children will be children and so

Let them be, and not let the adult in us curb what what was once a child indeed!

 

As gangs we fought, throwing mud balls at enemies, catapults firing pellets

At imaginary aliens from outer space, we climbed the trees my bro and friends,

From imaginary aliens that ranged the ground, snapping jaws at quickly snatched

Ankles! And the Neem tree did sway from our exertions, while the sparrows

Squeaked in alarm lest the careless boys topple the nest with eggs in them!

 

And I wonder if the the boy leading the gang to free the earth of intruders and

The old man by the fire-place be not one and the same, both children and

Adults at the same time? While I the exasperated teacher do try  to bring some

Order to the class with a grim expression, but then the children do see the child

In me and they smile at me with kindred smiles, one child to another child!

 

The bell rings, ending the session with those incorrigible brats

Yet, loved I being with them for they did remind me  of other brats

That lived in another world a world long past in time and space, while

I the fussy one try to herd the restless sheep into a single file that they

Won’t keep for a few moments! Was I like them, these restless kids?

 

Then comes the time to turn back  home the promise of more surprise,

Awaiting  little kids toss and tumble eager to grab my replies

About adventures they’ had at school. And so the day passes on to one

That promises rest and peace, the result of a day filled with events so many.

And as the night does approach, do I thank the child that lives in me!

 

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