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)

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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..

Total synthesis of taxol

TAXOL, a substance originally isolated from the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) more than two decades ago, has recently been approved for the clinical treatment of cancer patients. Hailed as having provided one of the most significant advances in cancer therapy, this molecule exerts its anticancer activity by inhibiting mitosis ( which is the division of the cell into two during cell growth) through enhancement of the polymerization of tubulin and consequent stabilization of microtubules.Microtubules are elements in the cell that are important for mitosis to occur. They are rod like structures that help segregate chromosomes during mitosis to the two regions of the cell much like a rugby ball. The scarcity of taxol and the ecological impact of harvesting it have prompted extensive searches for alternative sources including semisynthesis, cellular culture production and chemical synthesis. The latter has been attempted for almost two decades, but these attempts have been thwarted by the magnitude of the synthetic challenge. The total synthesis of taxol by a convergent strategy opens a chemical pathway for the production of both the natural product itself and a variety of designed taxoids.

More of my family...

I have two brothers who are my life...My oldest brother Premkumar is married to Anjali -Amritas sister - He is one of the greatest pillars of our family -that is what my younger brother keeps saying ..- He is a thriving Textile Manager and as a young lad he used to bring home and show us the various spinning items very nicely cataloqued by him -- the warp and waft of spinning I think..We never made as much money as him -(He was in Nigeria and is now in Canada) - he is the proud owner to two houses in Allahabad ( I cry every day knowing the sacrifices he made).Now he owns a house in Canada..He might not have a Ph.Dbut he deserves two Ph.Ds for what he knows in the Textile world . My younger brother had a B.Tech degree from the one of the top institutes here in INdia theIIT but in Chennai he has had a terrible life - he has a posh rented house (he is only 37 ...the husbands of my cousins here have bought their house only at age 60...In India it is not like US ) and car and all but at a very heavy price.That way you can say my older brother had a much betterlife ...but what could my younger brother have done , my father double pushed him to achieve such a high qualification from a prestigous university as IIT( I heard even Infosys Chairman Mr.Narayan Murthy's son did not make it to that Institute - and he had to go the States- Mr Narayan Murthy's son ) - without the emotional warewithal to sustain something like this - and to top it all his adolescence was screwed up when my father decided to settle inChennai when my brother was only 18 -a young impressionable age ( my father did not have the capacity to think ahead that either my younger brother Anand should have lived in Chennai ( perhaps in a hostel) all his young life , bonded here and raised a family here or he(my father_)should have stayed in Mumbai till my younger brother was 26- 28 married and with child /children and then moved to Chennai . Even now I worry if things will be okay for him- whether his daughters will grow up with a good pleasing life - I worry and worry and worry.That is what we should do worry ( not be anxious though I am that at times) and pray I have a Ph.D certificate but alas no two houses I f you see all my education (ididnt get high marks BTW but knew my subject matter better than most- but in India high marks denotes a culture that must be preserved otherwise they will be smoking ganja I think) it seems a real waste because it never ever achieved the two house status it was meant to ..
Currently I hold a HOD cancer research ATRI positon - but doesnt have the kind of infrastructure one would need such as cancer Institute ,Adyar Chennai where I have contacts and also worked before I taught Cell Biology , Molecular Biology at a Institute called AIMIT where I was HOD of Biotechnology. The reason I did not work in Cancer Institute Adyar ,,,was they did not have a HOD post - the scientific director there was also HOD.I am not really liking my current post of HOD ATRI because it still lacks good infrastructure.But I love my brothers .. and there joy is all I care for. I love my father too ...I have forgiven him for his all wrongs in the past towards his children and hope my brothers will forgive him too. May God be with him now and always