What's New, this New year

The NewYear 2009 came without much fuss this year. Though the loudspeakers in the neighbourhood kept us awake till 12.0am ,on our part we were passive spectators to the change in calendar. The semester also ended in Dec last year so we had vacation (or rather still having) till 19th of Jan 2009. Today however we were called to evaluate exam papers and I spent the whole day turning pages after pages…it was a pleasure when the pages contained good stuff but it was a headache to wade through some of the pure gibberish material the students had come up with. What really takes the cake is that some of this undiluted garbage is written in neat handwriting and overflowing into never ending pages!!! I was hoping all the students pass through as our job is much dependant on that – but some students did not give any cause for those grace marks. The papers will be evaluated by an external examiner also and I am hoping he is filled with compassion on these students. Anyways, we are supposed to get 75% of the students pass to hold on to our jobs so a few students not making it may not matter.

On a happier note, I praise God for answering my three prayer requests. One was for the practical exam in molecular cell biology that I was responsible for. I was quite apprehensive about it as an external examiner conducts it and it is well known among professors that they can be testy at times.It turned out that the external examiner was known to me and he was very kind and compassionate. Some of my colleagues were not so lucky and some were even asked to do the experiments along with the students and complexities were added to the procedures.All my students fared well scoring over 80%.It is only the grace of God as these students are no Einstein’s!!!

The other request was for my research seminar before all the faculty members of the Institute . It was a nail biting event but it went off well and many congratulated me on the presentation saying they enjoyed it a lot. God be praised.

The third request was for the conference at Pune and my fears over how my sister Dolly ( who is physically and mentally challenged) would take my absence. God was in control and she was very happy and cheerful and the conference went off without a hitch.

Now I have another prayer request and you can join in praying for me – my upcoming grant presentation before Expert Committee at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. I got the letter two days ago from Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi informing me of the event on 24th January ’09. I didn’t even know where Gorakhpur was and had to scramble to get hold of an India map. I fly to New Delhi and take the train to Gorakhpur so the whole event takes me just 3 days instead of 6 if I took the train. It is a lot of money to fly but I am hoping my grant will get funded making it worthwhile. I hope my college refunds some of the amount. Anyways pray about it too.

So much for now.More later

Attending Conference at Pune

I am writing from my room from Yashada conference center in Pune. I am attending the 32nd All India Cell Biology Conference at Pune which is close to Mumbai- 4hr train journey. It took me 26hrs to reach this place from Chennai and I had noisy teenage boys in my compartment.So I was completely tired by the time the train chugged into Pune station at 2.25 am in the morning. As the train neared Sholapur station - railway police got into the compartment and asked us to down our shutters - after the recent bomb blast in Mumbai all kinds of precautions are taking place. I imagine the average citizen will be inconvenienced in many ways while the real perpetators will go undetected. That's life. Colaba where the gun battle took place was where we lived when I was in Std6. After that we moved to Dadar a crowded surburb of Mumbai and lived there for 17years - thankfully Dadar was spared.
Anyway the conference was quite good - though there were diverse topics ranging from hydra and drosophila to human studies. I find I am more comfortable in a cancer biology conference than a pure basic sciences conference. There were some excellent poster presentation on angiogenesis ( creation of new blood vessels) and DNA repair which is connected with cancer biology so I did find my niche in the plethora of information.
The food was Maharashtrian ( as Pune is located in the state of Maharashtra) - so there was "sabudana " (sago ) pudding and typical Maharashtrian dal with sugar in it and stuffed parathas and chicken masala and fried fish among others.
I leave for Chennai early morning at the odd hour of 3.30am tomorrow and am waiting to get back home to be with my mentally and physically challenged sister . God has been gracious and kept her in good spirits through my absence. I was quite apprehensive on whether I should go as she started crying nonstop when she saw my packed bags. But Mariamma and Shiela have looked after her well and she was quite cheerful when I spoke to her over the phone. Not to mention my dear brother who had lunch with her. Everything worked out well - may God be praised.

One day at a time

I got this in the email and was impressed how taking one day at a time can make a world of difference.



The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn 's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren. "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn ! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this." " Carolyn ," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. "Who did this?" I asked Carolyn . "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958." For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ... "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn . "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?" Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....Until your car or home is paid offUntil you get a new car or homeUntil your kids leave the house Until you go back to schoolUntil you finish school Until you clean the houseUntil you organize the garageUntil you clean off your deskUntil you lose 10 lbs.Until you gain 10 lbs.Until you get married Until you have kids Until the kids go to schoolUntil you retireUntil summerUntil springUntil winterUntil fallUntil you die..There is no better time than right now to be happy .

Scripting a new chapter in its space programme, India recently launched its maiden unmanned mission to moon 'Chandrayaan-I', a research project that propels the country into an exclusive global club of six moon faring nations.
"It is a historic moment as far as India is concerned. We have started our journey to the moon and the first leg of the journey has gone perfectly well," an ecstatic ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said soon after the indigenously built rocket PSLV C-11 blasted off from the spaceport here in cloudy but rainless weather.
The spacecraft was put into orbit exactly 18.2 minutes after the textbook launch at 6.22 a.M. From the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in this island in the Bay of Bengal, about 100 km north of Chennai.
With the successful launch, India became the sixth country after the US, Russia, European Space Agency, China and Japan to launch a moon odyssey.
At Rs 386 crore, the Indian mission is considered to be the cheapest in the world which will help generate the first-ever comprehensive maps of the earth's only natural satellite.
The 44.4 metre tall four-stage PSLV rocket injected the spacecraft in the earth orbit from where it would be guided about 3,87,000 km away from the earth to the circular lunar orbit, 100 kms from the moon's surface, by November eight.
The spacecraft is carrying 11 instruments, including six international experiments, which will help prepare the first comprehensive map of the moon.
President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani congratulated the space scientists on the successful launch.
The focus now shifts to ISRO's telemetry, tracking and command network (ISTRAC) at Peenya in Bangalore, which will be the country's nerve centre for tracking and controlling Chandrayaan-1 over the next two years of its life span.
After circling the earth in its highly elliptical Transfer Orbit for a while, Chandrayaan-1 would be taken into more elliptical orbits by repeated firing of the spacecraft's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) at opportune moments.
Subsequently, the LAM would be again fired to take the spacecraft to the vicinity of the moon by following a Lunar Transfer Trajecctory (LTT) path, whose apogee lies at 3,87,000 km.
Later, when Chandrayaan-1 reaches the vicinity of the moon, its LAM would be fired again to slow down the spacecraft sufficiently to enable the gravity of the moon to capture it into an elliptical orbit.
After some more procedures, Chandrayaan-1's orbit would be finally lowered to its intended 100 km height from the lunar surface, which was expected to take place around November eight.
Later, the Moon Impact Probe, carrying the Indian tricolour, would be ejected from the spacecraft following which the cameras and other payloads would be turned on and thoroughly tested, marking the operational phase of the mission.
Chandrayaan-I will help prepare detailed maps of the moon, its topography, mineral contents and look for water in the polar regions.
The maps could be of immense help when ISRO and other space agencies plan to land spacecraft on the lunar surface or plan to use the moon as a base for future interplanetary missions.
ISRO scientists spent many a sleepless nights to achieve perhaps one of the most difficult parts of the journey to the moon and faced some anxious moments as rains hammered the spaceport and surrounding areas for nearly five days.
"We lost 10 hours in the countdown yesterday due to inclement weather and almost lost the hope of making the launch. But working against all odds ISRO team has won the game," Nair said.
"The 360-tonne PSLV-C11 has precisely achieved the objective of placing the satellite in the orbit around the earth with its nearest point being 250 km (perigee) and the farthest around 23,000 km (apogee)," he said.
Nair expressed the hope that India would be able to send the first man-mission to moon from Indian soil before 2015 and that mars was the next natural destination for the ISRO.
Chandrayaan-1 was built at ISRO's Satellite Centre, Bangalore, with contribution from various wings of the space agency, including the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
The ground facilities of Chandrayaan-I would perform the highly important task of receiving the microwave containing the health information of the spacecraft as well as the valuable scientific information, which the spacecraft sends.
It also transmits the radio commands to be sent to the spacecraft during all the phases of its mission.
Three cheers for India!!! Hip!Hip!Hooray!!!

World Blogging day has come and gone ...and I dont have single piece on the topic "Poverty"..anyway better late than never.Most of the worthwhile things have already been said on Amrita's and Julia Dutta's blog.The singular thought that I had was if we as a nation wasted less food ,then we could see all of our poor fed. Each day as I walk past a three star hotel on our street, I am startled to see how much of rice and good food are wasted and thrashed in the garbage bin...the entire garbage can overflows on to the street with food. Recently, at college at a staff meeting the vice-chairman commented on how they dont know how to dispose of the vast amount of food that was left over in the hostels.They were talking in terms of finding land fills and the sort...pretty pathetic ...till I saw the other day while walking into the campus, a man on a scooter with two large containers of food strapped to the back seat, coming from the hostel.Evidently he and his community had found a worthwhile solutions. If more people distributed the food to the needy before it got bad, it would be a better world.

In keeping with the theme, Mariamma the other day made 'pakoras' (fritters) from quess what...cooked rice!!!!. Some cooked rice was left over so she mashed it with gram dal powder, onions, chillies , turmeric powder and deep fried it- it was quite tasty and the hot fritter went well with the rainy weather outside!!!

holidays

I am towards the end of my 12 days off from work- official holidays starting from Oct1 -Ramzan Id to Oct12th -(includes Gandhi Jayanthi and Dassera festivals) . I enjoyed the extra hours of sleep in the mornings (on College days I am up at 5.15am as the bus arrives at 6.45am and cruises through the shuttered streets of Chennai for an hour and half before arriving at the college gates) and the leisure of reading. Unfortunately the library that was just outside my home was bulldozed down together with half dozen shops that was the barber's, grocery, tailor,xerox ,tea shop as they were part of unauthorized construction and the municipal authorities were looking to widen the road. I felt saddened by its absence as he was well stocked on PG Wodehouse books and Robin Cook's series. I met the owner the other day while he was cycling distributing magazines to housewives and he said they had moved into the opposite street. Well..where there is a will there is a way... Anyway I had a few books that I had bought a year ago and plunged into it. I read R.K.Narayan's Malgudi days - a compilation of short stories on routine life in South India. Enjoyed it. Mariamma ( of breaking chair fame ...refer older posts) insisted on me getting some Tamil movie CDs and I obliged. There is a CD shop closeby and it is home delivery ..so it is convenient. I watched the Tamil heroes jump buildings , climb into fastrains and cars that jumped like it was doomsday while Mariamma danced to the Tamil Numbers ( fortunately she didnt break anything in the process this time). Mariamma also made Dahi Vada - a snack that is a delicacy from North India. It is made from Black gram dal that is soaked overnight and then ground to thick paste. Salt and cut ginger pieces are added to it and balls are added to hot oil and fried till light brown and immediately put in cold water for 2-3 mins. It is then gently squeezed to remove the water and put into the yogurt sauce that is seasoned with roasted cumin powder, green chillies, sugar, little salt, and dash of red chilli powder. Actually Mariamma made it South Indian style which meant she added onions and red chilli to the vada and didnt add sugar to the yogurt sauce. It was tasty nonetheless.

Teaching days

After a stint at grant writing, I am back to teaching M.Sc Biotech students. It has been a trying time as I am teaching a subject new to me - Cell and Tissue engineering to students who are completely new to all the terminology used (no similar subject at the Undergraduate Level) - so it might have been like the blind leading the blind but for my pre-lecture preparations. All my time is spent in it. Either I am lecturing or preparing for it !!! To compound matters, there are some students who sit in the back benches and dont take down notes- and obviously do badly in monthly tests. So I decided to dictate notes in class - this worked for most students. Or so I thought. Till I discovered that one of the students was writing more furiously than I was dictating. He was a picture of total commitment and dedication. But since I discovered that the rate at which I was dictating was less than the speed in which he was writing, my curiosity was aroused. So I decided to investigate. I asked for his notebook which he reluctantly parted with and tried to convey with his smile that the matter that he was furiously writing on was not one that I was dictating. I sat on the front benches ( there are no table and chair for the teacher - that is another matter) and went through his book. It was all about his likes and dislikes - how much he loved music and novels and would be better off with them. He went on pages and pages of his future line of action - business was for him and so on and so forth. He wrote at length of his friends and how he enjoyed hanging out with them. I closed the book and handed it back to him - trying to match his smile with a thought so!! I did not shout at him - as thoughts that he was going through a delicate phase in his life crowded my mind - I just meekly said all this is fine but you must think of Cell and Tissue Engineering sometime too. Two days later he was at the staff room with "Could I have all your notes . I will just xerox them" Wow it was a breakthrough - he was working towards a solution himself!!My day was done.

New Beginnings

I am thinking of getting back to the blogging world after nearly a year. A lot has happened since then - a lot of grief, moments of comfort, hope and new beginnings. Both my parents went to be with the Lord in May 08 - in a span of only two weeks. We missed them a lot and celebrated their life and legacy in the Lord . They were pillars in the christian community - hospitable to young students who regularly attended the biblestudies and prayer meetings in our home. My mother was known for her untiring efforts to provide the group with mouth watering snacks and eats and seeing that one and all were well fed. In fact the graduate group named EGF (evangelical graduate fellowship) was lovingly said to mean Eat Good Food (EGF)!!!!! My father had a kind ear for each individual student and listened patiently to their woes and rantings and ravings offering them Godly advice and encouraging them to seek the Lord in prayer. Both my parents were always there for us through our academics and loved to hear about our teachers and the progress we made. I remember one instance when I was doing my Ph.D and had submitted my thesis but my viva voce was delayed. My father without my knowledge ( for I would have protested) went and asked my supervisor why my viva voce was delayed. My supervisor didnt take too kindly to being asked - but that was Dad !!!

We miss seeing them dozing off on the sofas - in their later years but are assured we will see them one day and they are relaxing in a better place.

Now the responsibility of looking after my physically and mentally challenged sister falls on me. But God has been gracious and the trials have not been more than I can endure . I love her immensely and race back each day after teaching at the SRM University to see her. We do not know what the future holds but know the One who holds the future will see us through.

Blogging holidays

I will be blogging once in a while only until my next grant writing assignment - blogging in between my computer work worked well for me= I am having computer problems too among other things so I am not going to be a die hard blogger - atleast for sometime. It has been raining of and on here and the weather calls for curling up with a book and hot chai (tea). A few weeks ago my little niece was christened Suzanne Abigail Anand and she slept through the entire procedure- 3 hrs straight including the little luncheon that followed. She exchanged many hands but that didnt disturb the sleeping beauty!!Her proud parents were here last evening showing off her latest skills - a lot of meaningful baby talk and crawling all over the place - like a little crab!!! She likes her grandfather a lot and the two always seem to hit it off = they seemed to be chatting quite some serious stuff ,they would have us believe.

pumpkin pies and all things nice

SooN it is going to be Thanksgiving in the US and the delicious fragrance of pumpkin pie evades my soul. Haloween and Thanksgiving were both a much enjoyed festival in the US . Haloween had costume parties and pumpkin carvings creatively made - one surgeon carved a face on the pumpkin and used a blown up glove and attached it to the nose area - and named his pumpkin - the common cold or some such thing. Lighted candles went into most pumkin's giving a lanterned evening look. THe cat that Aurele and I had was called pumpkin ....but no no he didnt land up in a jar...every kind of rasberry and cranberry went into the jar ...but it would have killed Aurele if pumpkin ended up in the jar...but it was good to celeberate thanks giving with corn cobs, slabs of delicious turkey , cranberries and other goodies.Thanks giving I loved and still love...

Why good aunts insist on mangoes

When I was in Baylor College of Medicine ,Houston between 1998 and 2000, my research was on the role of important enzymes known as detoxifying enzymes in the mopping up of harmful free radicals produced in our body due to exposure to harmful substances and metabolism.
Free radicals are oxygen atoms that have lost an electron and have become unstable and this damages the cells . When a cell is damaged, it can become cancerous. Antioxidants help conteract these free radicals through the action of detoxifying enzymes. Antioxidants are present in green vegetables and rich colored fruits such as peaches, blueberries, carrots, mangoes etc. Since this is the mango season and the markets are abuzz with these delicious fruits here in Chennai , I thought I would talk about the antioxidants present in mangoes.

Puréed mangoes were divided into two portions. One part contained known antioxidants such as the yellow carotenoids that include beta carotene. The other portion contained components that easily dissolved in water, similar to water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C.
.
"Both of the portions inhibit cancer formation. However, it seems that the water-soluble fraction is a more potent or more efficient inhibitor. The researchers said the water-soluble portion of the mango puree contains phenolic compounds -- the class of compounds to which most known antioxidants belong.But more research would need to be done to identify the specific compounds that provide the increased cancer protect.
"The goal is to isolate and characterize these compounds and maybe even look for them in other fruits and vegetables besides the mango," said Stephen Talcott, a UF assistant professor of food science and human nutrition who also worked on the study. "Then a breeding program might be able to incorporate these compounds into other fruits or vegetables, or increase the levels of these new antioxidants if they are already found to be present."

Love rules

1 Corinthians 13

Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

What does all this mean

We all can say God answered all or some of our many prayers , so we have exercised faith to some measure - maybe not to the extent of moving mountains - and who on earth wants mountains moved - and then faith to move mountains requires at least two people (minimum) (it is similar to moving other things ) case in point 1): if two or three are gathered in my name or ask in my name I will be present or answer them , The Mighty one says 2) classical example of Abraham( the man to head future civilizations ) had faith to obey God - not faith in his own prayer requests but in what God had asked him to do by faith. True God grants the desires of our heart but thank God only if it is to our future good.3) on another healing occasion Jesus says anything is possible if you believe - which is again two people - Jesus(God) and that person.It was agreed upon by Jesus that the healing would occur - it was not how much faith the man had but if he had faith in Jesus (GOd) if He agreed to do it He would do it. This seems very reasonable because even for earthly matters if I say to my students I will give you what is necessary ,believe me - it is no point to give if one does not believe in me -

The next is hope - for what -things not yet seen .. one would expect something like this at the end of our spiritual journey when all our earthly moorings are left behind or gone for something far more valuable ..

But imagine Paul says of more value than this is love....not Gods will or trusting God for the unseen but Love

All this brings me to the point :My brother is planning to take a team of Canadians to Allahabad next February. I hope the spirit of love truimphs in all this. He may not have a posh way of speaking or a sophisticated eloquence but his heart beats for God..He is simple man who has achieved great things. He has struggled and toiled to bring good things to his family .He, like all of us , due to our southern upbringing do not believe in ourselves despite studiously working towards good professional goals .Wegrew up in Mumbai but all of us could not statewhat our favorite or for that matter the things we liked were..it was only when we went abroad that we could slowly state what we liked..

My brother is an expert in the Textile field and he has invested a lot in his family and ministries and I hope that his life's heart beat to bring the Gospel to the man on the street is fulfilled . He is a man who can empathisize well with the both the sophisticated and the common man simultaneuosly. He can converse with both with equal ease.I hope his spirit of mission is not crushed and he is showered with love. Like Jesus was showered with love in Mary and Marthas home . It was a safe place for him to do His mission.The qst of whether Mary or Martha had chosen the greater part has always been taken to mean that Mary had taken the better part ..to listen to Jesus..which is true but I dont think Jesus was belitting Martha's role -- maybe if Martha had listened to Jesus she would have held the physical and spiritual aspect of our lives in balance. But I think the reason why Jesus did not commend Martha's role in kitchen is because she was complaining about Mary - Mary did not on the other hand complain about Martha.

The other thing is also that in John 11 after the death of Lazarus Martha tells Jesus if you were here this would not have happened (she definitely believed in Jesus miracles)... but then she says she knows in the resurrection Lazarus will rise again ..I think till that time she was a women of prayer and who believed that Jesus was a man of God who could heal and cure people...it is in latter verses when Jesus tells her He indeed is the resurrection and life and asks her whether she believes that -- she replies Yes (that is when she signs the dotted line)..and goes to tell Mary ,the Teacher is here!!!! Prayer and faith go a long way . Praise be to God..

TV heads

Mariamma of BC fame ( Breaking Chair fame) is back... Yes she was away for sometime ...My brother and I sold her some of our old furniture and TV(yes an almost brand new .sofa) after which she decided not to show up for a while.We figured with the sofa and TV,installed in her son's place...she decided to live it up ..you see Mariamma was a avid( if not chronic) TV watcher and for that matter she was highly networked in the cinema world.She has seen every Tamil movie in town - can recount every dialogue and every scene with great accuracy. She cooks only for short spells of time and then one can see her watching TV uninterrupted for hours on end...Ask her to list off the stars of yesterday and today and Mariamma is a picture of animation and delight. It is no wonder then, my mother an old (75yrs old ) conservative Christian pounds her periodically with the scriptures (because that has been her upbringing...watching cinema was a sin ,,and so much of it ...God help) Ofcourse she (my mum) overdoes it , robbing herself (I think) of all the good in her ...like..she is a good story teller and teacher ..(my mum) but here in godforsaken Chennai( atleast to me ,on annoying days) all her ancestral goodness is forgotten (ironically) and all her Bible pounding eventually brings out the demon in her and after while in Mariamma too..Soon the two are sitting their ..each on their respective sofas ...one hammering out the word all out of context and the other ( a robust 45yr old) gloating with her wise repartee...it is a scene right out of a Flannery O'Connor novel,I think..I sit there trying to concentrate on my Taftee ..on the book of John ..will the Light come through ..and I can distinctly hear Mariamma screaming --"God appears to me on the TV screen" ..I diplomatically pipe in " In the God Channel ,Mariamma?" "No",she responds...this is no time for diplomacy "no in the regular Vijay Channel " she continues with such fervour noone can doubt her , it seems.I am out of here,I think but then one look at my mum ,her aged faced -once so sweet and agile with the gifts of teaching -now totally in control of the demons ..(of fundamentalism I think mostly)...I feel so frustrated...I scream at Mariamma ...she (my mum) watches TV too but couldn't she(Mariamma) revive the good in her(my mum)..ask her about Bible stories ...bring out the good that was in her ...who knows you might find a Shivaji in the Bible too..but all this is too much for Mariamma ofcourse..I dont know what mariamma will come up with next...that Christ appeared to her in the idol....and what would my mum's reaction be then... I can say "good for you" and run off ...I have made peace with my Creator, now if He chooses to appear in several unwanted places ,that is His choice not necessarily mine.

The downside of blogging

Blogging can be hazardous,... as I unwittingly found out . You may wisely say,it is only for the bravehearted..I would think it is both for the bravehearted and fainthearted (like me I think) I can only speak for myself.As I said earlier, I blog irregularly ( it is not my prime displayable work or for that matter my prime work) ..I visit blogs that, by and large ,inspire me and have found much good in...sometimes,however, because I am pressed for time or I blog...(.not cough)..right in the middle of my serious work ,on computer ,to relieve stress or have a good moment and .I only view the photo and comment,and return later to actually read the blog in part or whole..So bear with me if some strings of thought get twined needlessly...or a story line develops between blogs based on a word or two that was never intended, least of all to hurt.. there is good wholesome fun and hurtful fun..the latter I dont indulge in. Maybe in my haste to create delightful blogging space for myself ,I might have tread toes,unwittingly ..toes I never meant to tread ..( not that there are toes that I mean to tread, no and no..unless I have to buy good old Britannia bread ..the ancestral pain subsides between the rhyme and the read..s)Okay Iam out of here . Talk of blogging taking away time... when I lost a lot of precious time recently trying to jump start my friend's dead car...

The baby's name is almost official...almost because till the day she is officially christened we wont know if she has an additional middle name...( we are talking of my brand new neice's name ...just a month old ...my younger brother's offspring ) the name is going to be Susanne Anand .I love the name for several reasons now : it rhymes with her older sibling 's name for one thing , it has a good meaning and it is also biblical to stay the least..This whole process has taught me valuable lessons,one of them being ,.in a culture and community where the wounds (of North against South) need to heal with much love and thought ( but a people averse to poetry even if it is in the Bible) her name ensures the birth of love, goodwill in the family (immediate and extended) and who could ask for more...her older sister calling her pappu only adds to the flavor of love ..Preethi (my choice) would have been a suitable choice had my brother decided to move to Mumbai and raised his family there...here it would have been hurtful (unfortunately,God didnt promise us a perfect world) . It is amazing how these things matter. On the other hand,can one think that far ahead and plan all good things for the young?I wish it were possible ..how I wish it were possible to totally ensure the safety and wellbeing of all young ones . But, as far as possible, we can do just that,I think ..after all there are only 5-6 milestones or imp stages in a lifetime..young, adolescence,young adult, adult and old age...if for you, this is oversimplify..ing ,it is better than what one chappie said at an informal gathering at conf .lately- he said there are only 3 stages in life-hatched, matched and dispatched..only a vernacular like me can interpret that ..he meant birth,marriage and death..If we pay attention to young and adolescence then half or even the full battle is won--(like hugging and rocking the baby,have all the relatives hold the baby,love and kisses at all times, music ,education acc to the place it will marry and raise a family etc etc for boys adolescence is very important)- an astute parent or aunt knows that till the young have a successful marriage and family( includes job/carreer obviously:)) the battle is not over. Yes, the battle belongs to Lord but He wants us to pitch in or atleast pray assiduously ( I have to use that word even if misspelt ,which I am sure it is-certain compulsions like eating channa batura and farezi stuff-)

Plan ahead.

I was just thinking I have a lot of material on theology, material for tracts on Christ and His teaching, the OT rules as pertinent to INdian society , why is God a Bengal tiger sometimes and a peacock at other times and many other pertinent ways to share the gospel- what the stars foretell- but I dont have an office space for the same. If we can put together an office here with a secretary, a peon and a local christian - it will cost about 300 dollars/per month for the same, you can avail yourself of an effective short term mission house- I will be very busy with my scientific work so I wont be able to help out with logistics of things but with prayer and faith you can have the material - ( it is written in rough and will take another 10years to be fully completed - but it can start now) and work the other details with the local Christian here. Think about it..

Also

I am trying hard to have a single line of thought ..but it is going to take a few years down the line for that to occur. Had my father remained in Mumbai for the rest of his life, yes that would have been possible ..I would have sent roots down nice and proper..here I have sent roots only upwards given the situation I found myself in. I feel girthed (if that is an authentic word) to the heavens themselves at times , but it is very very odd to live that way. So I try to maintain my identity as far as possible (or impossible)and concentrate on my work at hand. I havent emoted (can you believe that) in the last 7years I think. Terrible . I have only paid attention to work - teaching,notes and fellowshipping at Taftee ( the latter very frustrating with the Malayalee crowd- the tamils have taken a beating from them in that respect- though there are exceptional Malayalees like Mr and Mrs Thomas who have been kind and good and prayerful) Work has been a blessing in many ways but not like the good times in US- you just had to walk to the nearest deep freezer and get your enzyme of choice or the refrigerator and get your tissue culture medium without expending much energy. I even had my own phosphoimager packet - a luxury unaffordable by the Institutes here. I am very excited about my work here though using nanotechnology for imaging migration of cells in cancer. My two favorite subjects were Physics and Cell Biology(also Mol.Biology) I was a nerd in Maths.Could never do the Arithmetic. It has to do with my father (whom I have forgiven and hope my brother's have forgiven him too) He used to give us math problem ( called sums here) to do even during our summer vacation and never used to explain how it is to be done..He would scribble very intelligently something or other and then look up the last page for the answers. And when his answer was right he would jump up and down in his lungi( indian night dress) and vanish from the scene. I was good at Calculus in school but floundered in arthimetic all the time. But ofcourse I was good at the Biological sciences so I dont feel too bad. On a different note, it is still raining here in Chennai ( pretty much unseasonal, it is supposed to rain only in Oct, Nov and Dec-) The city looks well ploughed in many ways...

To blog or not to blog-

I think I am going to take some rest from blogging..I wish I could confidently say it like that girl -who said she wasnt going to blog for the next 3months-in one of the blogs I read , I forget which one-because undoubtedly it has met a need for chit chat and a bringing back into memory the good times enjoyed in US. It was in some ways I think, akin to being in Gratia Leger home ( one of my US friends)and discussing neighborly news and views. And as said earlier in one of my blogs ...I blog to relax..I dont mind getting no comments though fortunately for me I have had only very kind comments sofar ..but I think I dont have the mettle or constitution( it is a Tamil English word meaning physical condition) to reply to all comments ( since like my old bowels I blog irregularly always)Also with age and with the various condiments ( Tamil English word for flavor ful additions) that follow of feeble eyes, grey hairs, wobbly legs to name a few - I find myself increasingly in need of supportive structures -be it long cane sticks, black umbrellas or good blog hang outs - where I can join the melee and contribute my two cents. Also I find it difficult to maintain a single line of thought, the circumstances being such and so (how do I end this sentence) I will endeavor to dish out the right stuff (whatever be it) So bear with me.At the home base Chennai rains are lashing right, left and centre further puddling (if not deluging) a much puddled city .

More of the family

Olym Olympic organizers are starting to recruit torch bearers for the spic organizers are starting to recruit torch bearers for the longest relay route in Olympic history. There will be 21,880 torch bearers for the 137,000 km torch relay route.

Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the official Olympic body, BOCOG, said, ‘There are two ways of becoming a torch bearer. The first one is through recommendations by various organizations and institutions. Another way is an open process in which public recommendations are accepted.Isnt there a third way - of the Govt deciding - ( at least that is how they do it in India- in a truly democratic country thats possible or doable - it can be accomodative to several yardsticks and standards to ascertain who the torchbearers should be)

That set me thinking ofcourse of the now - the real torchbearers among my family . I think they are my two brothers. I am quite grateful that way that my older brother has neither an MA or Ph.D degree but a very good qualification (equivalent to MBBS) in Textile industry or field. He made a lot of money like a physician or lawyer would in a foreign country ( MA or Ph.Ds in biological sciences cant make that much money) He and his wife and kids a have a very good comfortable life in India and Canada because of him- He has supported a lot of people as part of his ministry. While I slaved in the US(yes yes we are called to be slaves in Christ - that one verse I never forget) , he supported so many people in India. I hope they continue to carry the torch he has helped light. Likewise my younger brother despite finding himself in the wrong city 20years ago(due to no fault of his) - came through the furnace with a good job( he has several awards to his credit -He got an ISO award and several others) , a family and children .He takes Bible study or Biblio study as I call it ( whenever he has time ) , lives out his faith in his workplace ,shops around with his wife, drives his daughter to school (he still needs a supportive fellowship group - pray for that or that he should bring up his girls in mumbai. Pray He will apply to IIT Mumbai - that is wife would suggest it to him ) . Like their father, they have had best of both worlds .As for me and the rest of the household we live in the freedom of the now and present- ( when I think of any good times in US dementia or amenasia sets in - why? read the chronicles of the post doc and you will know why)ooohbut I can't help mention I enjoyed the pies ( blueberries esp) ,quiches ,cheesecakes, carrot cakes, sloppy joes,pizzas and hot dogs ..yum yum yummy to the last bite ( it is not the same here - the mushroom here on the pizza is dry dessicated-and the rest of the stuff is not even available - the chocolate chip cookies are too biscuity . But if I start whinning ...I will start missing my good old church friends in US ( here nobody whines unfortunately..everything is either fine or super fine)

Advertisement

I was just thinking I have a lot of material on theology, material for more divergent tracts on Christ and His teaching, the OT rules as pertinent to INdian society , why is God a Bengal tiger sometimes and a peacock at other times( peacock's by the way are common fowl when there is no rainbow over their heads) , why is Christ the beautiful rose,common yet so tenderly beautiful, and other pertinent ways to share the gospel- what the stars foretell- but I dont have an office space for the same. If we can put together an office here with a secretary, a peon and a local christian - it will cost about 300 dollars/per month for the same, you can avail yourself of an effective short term mission house- I will be very busy with my scientific work so I wont be able to help out with logistics of things but with prayer and faith you can have the material - ( it is written in rough and will take another 10years to be fully completed - but it can start now) and work the other details with the local Christian here. Think about it..