January 2013

Years fly away and people are becoming rich in experience. Usually I did make a lot of new resolutions every year only to break them one by one. Yes, I am not good at maintaining a change constantly. But certain things did change and it was mostly related to society and people. This year I made such a decision for my life.

My colleague went to India and I did arrange a well packed travel plan for him. But at the last moment as he is there right now, I had to inform him of the change of plans one after another. The catholic church with all other christen denominations planned a Christmas celebration with a theme ‘Green Christmas’ on 29^th of December and at the last moment they changed it pledging unity with the protest going on against the gang rape that happened in Delhi.

For all those who has not read about that internationally discussed matter I add here some details. A young woman of 23 years old was brutally raped by 6 persons in a public transport bus at 21.30 and then when she protested then beat her up and inserted an iron rod through her vagina till stomach damaging the whole intestine and the genitals. Seriously bleeding and with bruises all over the body, she was thrown out of the moving bus. now she succumbed to death at last. shameful India.

A rape is not a wonder in India as every 40 minutes one woman is getting raped as per the statistics and recently the numbers have grown high. When you travel in India just ask the ladies sitting nearby in the bus or in a park or a Café, and I am sure all will have a story of sexual harassment to narrate. It is said that it is better not to be born as a woman in India.

If India is the masters of software and mathematics, and if Indians are the champions of secularism and democracy, and if Indians are proud of being the second fastest growing nation in the world after China, the national entertainment has become sexual harassment against women and children.

From the same tongue of mine which said hundred times a day ‘proud to be an Indian’, I had to feel shameful to be an Indian male. In order to bring back those words ‘proud to be an Indian’, I decided with millions of other men in India to safeguard, respect and protect the dignity of women all through my life. This is the only resolution I make to practice from 2013.

Christmas

Christmas time was the busiest time all through in my life. There are a lot to do during these days.

It was a time for me to write Christmas wishes with my own hand and send it to my friends and relatives. I do that without fail till now. It was then the exam time also. It is no different here in Switzerland as the exams at the university fall before and after Christmas. As an eternal student, never in my life I had a Christmas free of all books.

Then it was the time making cribs. It was particular in our home to make a crib and we as a family really spent a lot of time doing everything. The most important part I loved to do was not placing the little baby Jesus but to decorate the crib with cotton pieces depicting snow. It was a wonder for me as I never experienced snow in South India. At that time without any internet, it was also not possible to google and find it. So I never believed that there was snow or even when there was snow or there is snow that comes from heaven and has nothing to do with earth. It was for me a visible sign of God’s blessing.

That was the reason as I reached Switzerland in 2010; I went extra to Engelberg to have a snow-experience. That day I rolled on the snow, played with snow balls, made different shapes out of snow, lay down over snow, etc. thinking that I am having a visible experience of heavenly Christmas. Needless to say that, without a winter shoe and winter jerking, I came back home wet and shivering only to get a new pair of shoes and Jerking bought the very next day.

Now when I sit and look out through my window, I see snow falling and I still believe it comes from heaven. It is time for the showers of blessing and baby Jesus will be soon here. I continue to hear the Bing Crosby’s 1942 song White Christmas.

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the tree tops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I'm Dreaming of a white christmas
With ev'ry christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your christmas's be white"

Protest with a difference

The state of Kerala, from where I hail, witnessed a very different innovative style of protest last December 1st. the protest was against the government’s decision to reduce the number of subsidized LPG cylinders and against the price rise of the food items.

The protest was by cooking food along the highways in the state. The Communist Party of India-Marxist activists set up about 7.75 lakh temporary ovens on the highways and women were asked to join the 775-km-long 'fire chain' protest in all the districts of the state.

They cooked rice, tapioca, Bulls eye, noodles and so many other south Indian dishes. The cooked food was later distributed among all those present and also taken to the homes of others who could not participate in the protest. 

An amazing experience it was when the food was cooked in an hour and shared among themselves reminding of the biblical koinonia feelings which means of the participation of people sharing food and their belongingness among themselves. The communist party lived up to the community goals of the early Christians. 

Meaningful advent fast.

I happened to read in some newspapers texts about staying in shape during Advent and about advent’s diet, recommendations for advents food and so on. Yes it was just interest generating from my side also, since I am in search of a diet plan which will help to stay fit.

Whatever it is after reading all these I just went thinking. Advent and advent fast are all something to do with religious preparation before the coming of Christ and people started commercializing it also. In this world everything has a business face.

But I was just impressed and attracted to a fasting plan put forward by a lover of Jesus, a lady who is very ecumenical in thinking and an owner of a heart filled with compassion and love. She just needs a glance at the crucifix to let her beautiful eyes well up.

Her plan runs so. She set a goal as per her body mass, a body weight which is set to achieve in these fasting days. She measures her bodyweight every 5 days and for each kilogram above her set goal, she donates 30 Francs for an African mission station where every day hundreds of children queue up for a cup of maize. She donates 30 francs for every extra kilogram fat in her body for those poor homeless children who struggle to find a little food only to stretch their life to the next day.

Very impressive. And she is not the only one who does that by now; there are a few in this chain. In case, if anyone wants to know more about her, I would personally give the details.