Sunday, June 25, 2006
Will we see more of her again?
Just watched "Kanda Naal Mudhal" last night and we fell in love with the movie. It may be Laila's swan song but what a lovely movie. It is sad I missed this one on screen. Run and get the VCD/DVD. Quick and well paced with good editing the movie was so engrossing the movie seemed to happen so soon and it was over all. Very much worthy of a second-watch. Laila stole the show like she did in her previous good movie "Ullam Ketkume". Yuvan's music was great and so was the background music. "Pani Thuli", "Merke Merke" and "Kanda Naal mudhal" are lovely numbers that I also reviewed on my music blog. Good work by Prasanna and kudos to the director Priya V. Something really refreshing amidst the crap load of blood, screaming and vulgarity profusely used in Tamil movies these days. This movie is good for the family, with friends, with anybody who loves decent entertainment.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Inspiration
My dizzy feeling in the mornings and sometimes in the afternoons took a toll on my happiness in the previous two weeks. My personal blog has suffered quite a bit though I manage to post reviews on Amazon and articles on my other blogs. I had to leave office for home a fourth time ever since this feeling of dizziness has been happening to me in recent times. What is surprising is that it peaks only in the afternoons around lunch time and on some days it's hardly there. My doc suspects it could be reactive hypoglycemia. After putting off my Glucose Tolerance Test for several weeks I finally took it and to my surprise I came so clean in the test that my doc now thinks I may have a phsycological problem. In the meantime I came across two inspiring incidents one of which I would like to share and one that helps me a lot when I would be discouraged and upset with my afternoon condition. The first is about Mark Inglis, the double amputee who scaled Mt. Everest a couple of weeks ago. But what really shook me is the story of Nick Vujicic, the child who was born without limbs. I got this in an e-mail forward and here it is, reproduced word for word.
*****
My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.
"Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
....To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.
The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing.
Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life I'd be able to lead. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school.
The law in Australia didn't allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school.
I liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing me with new friends.
There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength.
Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.
One of the first lessons that I have learnt was not to take things for granted.
"And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him."
That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life.
I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.
I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used.
I am now twenty-one years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.
I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow.
I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show"! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"
I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!
You can reach Nick at www.lifewithoutlimbs.com
*****
My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.
"Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
....To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.
The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing.
Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life I'd be able to lead. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school.
The law in Australia didn't allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school.
I liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing me with new friends.
There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength.
Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.
One of the first lessons that I have learnt was not to take things for granted.
"And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him."
That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life.
I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.
I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used.
I am now twenty-one years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.
I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow.
I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show"! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"
I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!
You can reach Nick at www.lifewithoutlimbs.com
Sunday, June 04, 2006
News from the Vacationers in Kerala
Jaya and Chaithanya just returned after a three week holiday from Kerala where it is raining cats and dogs. The South West monsoon struck during the last week of May and it has been raining without respite in "Gods Own Country". Maybe the repercussions are being felt in sweltering-hot Chennai with showers now and then including a big windy downpour on Saturday night that gave relief to many of the sleepers here in Velachery when we went without power. Amma and Achan had a wonderful incident to tell. They had been to the marriage of my cousin's son in the Guruvayoor temple. Amidst the thundering downpour some 225 couples got married that day. The place was a mess. It being an auspicious day for marriage couples booked slots and time on that day for tying the knot. Besides the decorated brides, grooms and their relatives, there were friends, camera crew and equipment, priests and regular devotees to the temple. At one point there was a small stampede when the gates of the "Sanctum Sanctorum" of the temple opened and some one rushing to the temple trampled one of mother's toes. The wound is still healing. I'd like to add something here about the marriages. For all these 200 odd couples only a handful (sometimes even lesser than that number) of priests conduct the marriages. Every time a couple is to appear before the priest (for the short duration of their marriage) their names are called. Now this is really a close call. It is a time when the the couple or their relatives have to listen carefully as there could be more than one person with the same name. This does call for confusion although mistakes are rarely made. One Malayalam movie was also made based on this confusion where one of the guys ends up tying the knot with the wrong girl with the same name as his bride.
We also had to hear the sad news that one our close family friends is now fighting cancer. We grew up together and she was like a mother to us. We treated and considered her children (like us, 2 brothers and a sister) as our own siblings. I will never forget her prawn curry and the innumerable times we have been at her place for lunch and dinner when we were here together in Chennai. Already having low blood pressure related problems I pray God gives her the strength to endure the 6 hr sessions that she has to endure on a regular basis where she is kept unconcsious for the entire period of the treatment. The other sad news was of a very distant relative Sangeeta who passed away in her early twenties in my mother's village of Arattupuzha. Sangeeta's sad story began 10 years ago when she was paralyzed in a car accident. Her newly wed brother was instantly killed and another suffered damage to his heart. The depression that the parents have been going through has been destroying them morally and physically too. May her soul rest in peace and may God give her family strength to "Go On".
We also had to hear the sad news that one our close family friends is now fighting cancer. We grew up together and she was like a mother to us. We treated and considered her children (like us, 2 brothers and a sister) as our own siblings. I will never forget her prawn curry and the innumerable times we have been at her place for lunch and dinner when we were here together in Chennai. Already having low blood pressure related problems I pray God gives her the strength to endure the 6 hr sessions that she has to endure on a regular basis where she is kept unconcsious for the entire period of the treatment. The other sad news was of a very distant relative Sangeeta who passed away in her early twenties in my mother's village of Arattupuzha. Sangeeta's sad story began 10 years ago when she was paralyzed in a car accident. Her newly wed brother was instantly killed and another suffered damage to his heart. The depression that the parents have been going through has been destroying them morally and physically too. May her soul rest in peace and may God give her family strength to "Go On".
Sunday, May 28, 2006
What a concert!
I had the feeling we were in for a "treat" and so it was. For one and a half hours Ganesh-Kumaresh, Arun Kumar, Keith Peters, Shyam, Satish Kumar and Ravichandra made Saturday night at Narada Gana Sabha an unforgettable one; the best contemporary Carnatic music or in my words "Fusion Music" concert I have ever been to in my life so far. Everyone present on Saturday night got their money's worth and more. Both carnatic music lovers and rock fans from the cosmopolitan crowd couldn't have got it better. The loud cheers and claps after every composition said it all. Each composition based on a popular raga was embellished with bass, drums and the piano giving it a universal appeal. Though not a single song was played from the "Colours of India" album it was a concert to remember.
Arun was the one I came to watch and with searing hot solo's including a nice duet with Keith on bass he delivered the stuff we came to watch him for.
However meeting Ganesh, ArunKumar and the others personally and talking to them was the icing on the cake. Ganesh with pen in his hand was already signing autographs and he gladly signed the back of our tickets. When my brother asked Ganesh why he hadn't performed "Taj Mahal", Ganesh reassured they would perform the number in their next concert very soon. I did tell both Ganesh and Arun that I had reviewed their "Colours of India" on my music blog as my very first review and Arun seemed very curious about it. If only I had written out in a card for them to remember. When asked about his kit called "Traps" Arun told me that he had purchased it when he had gone to the U.K.
While this was going on here, miles away in Indonesia over 4000 lives are lost to mother nature's fury. My prayers go to those suffering, dead and the bereaved. May their souls rest in peace.
Arun was the one I came to watch and with searing hot solo's including a nice duet with Keith on bass he delivered the stuff we came to watch him for.
However meeting Ganesh, ArunKumar and the others personally and talking to them was the icing on the cake. Ganesh with pen in his hand was already signing autographs and he gladly signed the back of our tickets. When my brother asked Ganesh why he hadn't performed "Taj Mahal", Ganesh reassured they would perform the number in their next concert very soon. I did tell both Ganesh and Arun that I had reviewed their "Colours of India" on my music blog as my very first review and Arun seemed very curious about it. If only I had written out in a card for them to remember. When asked about his kit called "Traps" Arun told me that he had purchased it when he had gone to the U.K.
While this was going on here, miles away in Indonesia over 4000 lives are lost to mother nature's fury. My prayers go to those suffering, dead and the bereaved. May their souls rest in peace.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
What Luck!
I must be really lucky. Ganesh-Kumaresh along with Arun Kumar on drums, Keith Peters on bass and others are performing in Chennai on Saturday the 28'th. Arun Kumar is the one I want to watch. After getting the mail from Sathi this morning I rushed to Landmark in Nungambakkam to get my tickets. At Odyssey in Adayar they have already sold out the Rs.100 tickets but at Landmark I could them. Can't wait for their concert that at the Narada Gana Sabha and to hear the songs "Taj Mahal", "Utsav" and the rest. Colours of India was my first review of an album on my music blog and I can't believe I am going to see the musicians of the album. Vijay (my brother- in-law)who is going to be back from Dubai on Saturday morning day is in for a pleasant surprise as I haven't told him of the tickets or the concert unless he is reading my blog. I am sure Arun Kumar is going to deliver what we missed at the Mynta concert where we longed so much for a drum solo and returned disappointed. Till then let me listen to "Taj Mahal", "Utsav" and "Ghambira" once more...
Friday, May 12, 2006
A break and a new "link"
Last week was plagued with computer problems and poor health. My dizziness had returned and it doesn't seem to leave me completely. I only found a little time to put a link from my site to my reviews on Amazon.com. I have been reviewing stuff since 2004. Three of my well researched reviews on the horrible movie "The Passion of the Christ" were removed. Yes, you can report reviews and they will be removed by Amazon. I hadn't written anything against Christians or their beliefs. However I was vehemently against the unnecessarily barbaric and exaggerated brutal depiction of Christ's death. Amazon retained the votes I got for them though. It was then that I decided to start a blog on the same but the blog never took off. You can check my reviews by clicking the link in the links section on the sidebar on the right.
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