Thalakal Rays J. K: Realise what your responsibility in life is....

Thalakal Rays J. K: Realise what your responsibility in life is....

Realise what your responsibility in life is....

Today I witnessed a sweet lil girl around 5 years covering her father's face in the coffin... One of the saddest moments in my life... I wish I were not there... but it moved me... and its time to act... we have responsibilities in life... which we either dont realise or forget or even neglect... Nearing 20 years of Professional life I think its time for me to quit... God has given me more serious responsibilities in life... If you ask me if I had not wasted 20 years.. I wouldnt say Yes  I wouldnt say No either...   but I believe I have much more important things in life to do.... sing for the Lord and Work for the Lord... 

KRISHNETTAN'S KRISHNA HOTEL

Enjoying food with loved ones around a table at the perfect place !! What else can we ask for to brighten our weekend! Presenting ‘Krishnettan’s HOTEL KRISHNA at Kattachakuzhy’ ! Food is the road taking me though the actual interest behind this post is to introduce a beautiful place to have country chicken with tapioca or puttu - “Nadan kozhi pirattu and kappa”. Some of you might have gone already if so join to share your experience and for those not, take your bike (cars as well) and go to ‘Kattachakuzhy’. Its on the way to Vizhinjam from Balaramapuram junction - may be 15km or so from the city. One of our close friends took us to the place. Typical village on the frame but as we reached Krishnettan’s hotel I was shocked to see sedans and SUVs swarming all over the place hardly space to walk. We too joined the long queue to taste and feel the richness of all good flavors. As we got close I got a glimpse of the much awaited hotel. The hotel is a small house transformed. May be a big ‘thattu kada’ kind of appearance. The front area is divided for us to see how the chicken is being cleaned, marinated and cooked. As we stand we are full with this sight of lovely chickens being processed topped with aroma galore. I was salivating more than the street dog who always drool at the sight of biscuits and milk we reserved for him during our childhood. Back to the scene chickens were neatly chopped by a man with immense speed. Three ladies were devoted to clean and marinate the pieces which then straight landed in sizzling hot pan with very little oil to our surprise. Long wait to find a place within the hotel. Majority of the customers were either youngsters or middle-aged men and few families. As in any other thattu kada ladies were few in number but a room is reserved for the families. As our chicken is almost ready our turn came and we dashed into the family room to grab a chair and down came the shutter. Perfect arrangement ! We were actually cut off from the rest of the waiting crowd to enjoy the hot spicy chicken with our near ones. To be honest for the first few minutes it was perfect silence though we were a group of 5 adults and two children. Yummy !! the tapioca melts in our mouth with the spicy chicken never chewy (unlike usual country chicken dishes) wow…. It was difficult to discern the different spices we tasted in that beautifully cooked chicken as it’s a magical mix I feel. Definitely an awesome must eat dish !! After few minutes we restored our balance and had a nice sweet chat as we enjoyed the food served and great service. All in all - perfect ambience to intensify the flavors and to celebrate the company of our loved ones. After the sumptuous lunch our adventure continued. We met the person behind the whole enterprise who lives nearby – Krishnettan (fondly called by the neighbors). A down to earth man in his late seventies. He was delighted to share his experience of this journey of flavors and taste. His wife stood behind with a pleasing contented smile may be the lady behind this success. Now as he retires from active cooking, his son took his role and is now gearing the food ship. Though Krishnettan is a great cook, he love to have food cooked by his wife when he get back home. . . Let him enjoy that homely food and let us enjoy the krishnettan’s kozhi pirattu ! Be careful in choosing the lot to join you as it’s a thattukada kind of ambience. Enjoy the place and stop at Vizhinjam harbor hardly 3km from the spot for yet another lovely evening.

Jesus Loves me -Senior Version

92 YEAR OLD PREACHER
While watching a little TV on Sunday instead of going to church, I watched a church in Atlanta honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. He was 92 at that time and I wondered why the church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applause quieted down, he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gait to the podium. Without a note or written paper of any kind he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak.....
"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials.. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me...the only thing that would comfort was this verse........ .....
"Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
we are weak but He is strong.....
Yes, Jesus loves me....
The Bible tells me so."
The old pastor stated, "I always noticed that it was the adults who chose the children's hymn 'Jesus Loves Me' (for the children of course) during a hymn sing, and it was the adults who sang the loudest because I could see they knew it the best."
"Here for you now is a Senior version of Jesus Loves Me":
JESUS LOVES ME
Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.
(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.
Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.
(CHORUS)
When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song..
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."
(CHORUS)
When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I'll understand His love.
(CHORUS)
I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.
(CHORUS)

God Bless Us All!

SING FOR THE LORD

Longfellow wrote... I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where;..............And the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.
This is what I believe, God want me to do... Sing and sing... it will be a breeze to some one.

My parents are my first music teachers. Still remember the evening prayer at home where i learned so many songs. Joined the Mavelikara Christ Church Choir at the age of 8. Acha-Raju combination was awesome. Later started learning Carnatic Music. Bit of the violin, guitar and later the Organ.
In 1984 I started training choirs. God has been so kind enough for the past 25 years that I could train so many choirs. Most of them in Trivandrum.
The Jerusalem Mar Thoma Choir, Trivandrum, The Trinity Mar Thoma Choir, Tvm, The Trivandrum Christ Church English Choir, The Orthodox Choir, Thiruvalla, YMCA Trivandrum,are a few among them.
Now training the Christian Music Academy, Trivandrum.
Choral music and Choral training have become my passion... but to have a steady choral group is very difficult.
Conducting workshops on Choral music and training is something which I love. Its fun. Now conducting classes in theory of Music, tonic-Sol-fa, Singing and Keyboard.

Chicken and Chicken Pox....

Did I tell you my friends that my wife had left for UK for a short while.. Every one said oh.... now you are free bird.... how can i be a free bird when I have one tweety and a bull at home... Kosho (my younger one) reminds me of the bull(spanish fighting bull)ha ha ha... poor boy.... he is very loving... Another friend asked me, " How do you enjoy your bachelor life?" I said, "I am a married ineligible bachelor" True na... what a sweet plight of a man.... I used to enjoy this life... not now... Its really boring... no one to share your thoughts, ur feelings, ur sorrows... ur joy... Its expensive to share your feelings with a person sitting 4000 miles away... Oh.. sad now she is also feeling the same thing... sitting at home as she is affected with varicella zoster virus.. strange .. she had to go all the way to the Englsih land to have that.. poor girl.. she is all alone during day time... I was just thinking if there was any connection between Chicken and chicken pox... no nothing.... Most people, however, reckon the name comes from the resemblance of the chickenpox spots to chick peas, with the blisters looking like they have been placed on the skin. So there you go. http://ilovebacteria.com/pox.htm
Keep in touch friends.. (i dont have many...)

Its a long time since I have scribbled something. At times I even forget about this blog. he he he... There are so many evils in the society against which i feel like reacting...I dont know how much I can .. or I should.... 22 years back when i came to trivandrum.. this was a reasonably good place to live in... with enough privacy .. calm and quiet...not much pollution.. clean... it has changed a lot.... no privacy...especially if you are living near a temple.... whether its needed or not...50,000 watts will be banging into your ears... from 4in the morning till midnight... whether people are sleeping or not who cares... crackers blasting your eardrums... pity pits everywhere on the road... people throwing garbage on to the road cleaning their house.... the two most dangerous things in the city are.. the poor auto rickshaws and the city buses.. reckless... so tired of fighting with these people... looking seriously for a change... i will have to do that soon....

A mail to my friend...

I thought of posting a mail I sent to my friend in Muscat... nothing private...

hi Bijoy
thanks for the mail. Happy to know that u r in muscat now. Didnt know about that... Its always nice to work in schools which i always would have liked to do... when you are with children you yourself tend to be so.. that's psychology right?? hows work... enjoying?? all the best.... Psychologists and counsellors have a great job these days as the rate of suicide and depression among children is shooting up..
yesterday I was reading in the Hindu that something like almost 26 school children committed suicide in Mumbai in the last 2-3 weeks.... horrifying.... reasons vary....
we teach our children a lot and make them the best .. but forget them to teach them the values of life... Parents need to season the kids for a value-rich life.... I think you better need to practice parent counselling as well... because I believe parents are at fault often.. putting their children under heavy pressure.... trying to make them what they couldnt be in their life.... without asking the kids what they like to be ... its all in the system...

Anyway have a great time there.... ALL THE BEST..... my prayers for you....

Rays
(kindly read the following article also.. ponder.... )

(http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/02/07/stories/2010020750010100.htm)

Childhood's end?

KANKANA BASU

The series of juvenile suicides — 26 in four weeks — has Mumbai on the edge. The pressure to perform and the lack of supporting family structures often lead youth to the precipice. Perhaps it's time to reassess our notions of success and well-being?

Photo: K.K. Mustafah

Too much pressure too early in life?

There is a new kind of disease rampant in the city of Mumbai, one that does not respond to the usual lines of treatment. With more than 26 juvenile suicides reported in a span of just four weeks, parents, teachers, counsellors and students in the city are on the edge. While the causes are varied — parental permission denied to learn dancing/ watch television, failure in examinations, tiff with parents/ classmates, child suspended from school for bunking classes/ copying etc. — the recent victims are terrifyingly young (10-20 years). The apparent cause of suicide, feel the specialists, is often merely a trigger for a deeper and more complex underlying problem. There is a definite indication, worry social scientists, that the social fabric of the city, which is supposed to nurture and enhance the growing years of children, is beginning to shred in places.

Need for empathy

“What most disturbed children need is a patient and sympathetic listener. Many a suicide has been averted with a bit of timely empathy,” says city-based student counsellor, Swati Naik. “Some decades back, the joint family system ruled supreme in Indian society and a child upset about something usually came back home to sympathetic grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins who were always willing to pitch in with assistance and lend a ear,” she expands. However, the domestic structure undergoing changes and giving way to an age of nuclear families has resulted in disturbances at various levels. With both parents frequently working, children often let themselves into empty houses after school/ college. This could be depressing when a child is overwrought about something. Added to that, parents, when they return home, are often preoccupied with career and relationship hassles. It is this feeling of being isolated in a crisis that often tips the balance for troubled youngsters.

Cutting across class

The specialists are worried to note that the recent spate of suicides makes a clean slice through different strata of society. While 14-year-old Rajesh Yadav, who hanged himself from the ceiling fan, was the son of a humble floor polisher, Mahesh Poddar's daughter, besides hailing from an affluent background, had scored 82 per cent in Class X. While the former was suspended for bunking classes, the latter had missed out on securing admission to the college of her choice. Mahesh Poddar looks back with heartache as he recalls his daughter constantly checking her palm to see how long her lifeline was, days before she killed herself. Poddar has now turned an active crusader for the promotion of mental health in the city.

Social scientist Dr. Harish Shetty feels that besides poor emotional contact between parents and children, bad dietary and sleep habits are also to blame. City parents, on the other hand, are quick to turn defensive and blame juvenile depression on the education system which places examination marks above holistic learning. “The multiple pressures of coping with city life are enormous. My daughter is only 13 but due to the high expectations of her house mistresses, she feels compelled to shine at academics as well as sports. A year back, she was marginally plump but due to unbearable peer pressure to look good, she went on a starvation diet that has left her with weak bones and coarse hair. How is it humanly possible for a child to excel at everything?” asks the distraught mother, Shanti Malhotra.

While the blame game between parents and school authorities continues unabated, psychologists feel that filling a child's life with a series of classes could have adverse effects on mental health. “Very often, working parents feel a child is safer and more accountable if after school/ college, he rushes from one set of classes to the other. I see children around hopping from drawing classes to karate classes, from karate to swimming and from swimming to tuitions. From tuitions it is back to homework with barely time for a quick dinner before crashing into bed. Most parents don't realise that zero hour is very essential for sound mental health,” says Swati Naik. She describes zero hour as a time slot when the mind is allowed to roam free, day dream or just chill — an essential exercise for the human brain to declutter and sift through the day's sensory load. She also emphasises the need for robust outdoor games with friends as an effective means of destressing. “I was shocked to find my son playing football with the building kids a day before his IIT entrance exams till he explained that it was the best way of clearing a jumbled mind. Right enough, he cracked his exams with excellent marks,” recalls M. Nidhi, parent of a first year IITian. That sunlight is essential to the formation of endorphin is a well known fact. “Ever wondered why one feels so good after a brisk outdoor walk or a hearty laugh? These activities release endorphins in the blood. Spending a major part of the day in a sedentary position, in the cramped neon-lit classrooms of school and coaching classes could leave a child low in this feel-good compound, cautions Swati.

Photo: AFP

Extreme measures: Neha Sawant, who committed suicide because she was withdrawn from a dance school.

Media sensationalisation?

A large section of Mumbaikars feel that the media is to blame for placing undue emphasis on student suicides. “Teen-aged angst and juvenile depression are age old problems, as a survey of statistics will clearly reveal. By sensationalising the problem and making it breaking news, the media could be contributing to the current epidemic,” says Mitali Bhattacharya, a professor of Computer Science at the Institute of Catering Technology. Ruma Nath, an English teacher at St. John's Universal School, seconds this opinion. “Certain pesky students are capitalising on the present suicide scare. The moment you pull them up for misdeeds, they turn back and remind you what the outcome of our scolding could be!” says an exasperated and amused Ruma.

The need for family support has never been greater. Aviation expert Navjot Singh recalls her harrowing experience many years back when her young son started plucking out tufts of hair from his head, leaving behind bald patches. A visit to the trichologist revealed that there was nothing wrong with his scalp but a problem of deep-seated mental insecurity as servants were changing every week. Both parents, high profile figures in the field of commercial aviation, got a further shock when they learned from puzzled teachers that their child was learning his alphabets in reverse formation. A bit of investigation revealed that a semi-literate maid-servant was sitting across the child to teach, forcing him to pick up the alphabets all wrong. It was only after Navjot's elderly parents moved into the neighbourhood and took charge that the child's progress went remarkably up the performance graph. Today, the teenager is the head-boy of one of the most prestigious educational institutions in Mumbai's suburbs with a promising academic future ahead of him.

Nervous times

With the examination months looming close, city parents are a wary lot. “Earlier, we would goad our children into pushing the envelope but now mental stability comes above academic achievement on our list of priorities,” says Mayukh Wasan, parent of a Class X student from the ICSE board. “Happy children are more important than successful children,” seems to be the new mantra in town. Reading between the lines, one gets the definite message that there is something badly amiss in the city, the tempo and quality of urban life requiring urgent analysis by social scientists. The warning signs are there for all to see, caution the psychologists, one only needs the right kind of vision to recognise them. Mandatory counselling at the school and college levels, special training imparted to teachers and parents could turn the tide of thinking trends in the city's youth. Helplines that one could get through to quickly, revival of neighbourly contact and fellow feeling, family support and hordes of city volunteers willing to spread cheer and sunshine are the need of the hour. It's a kind of poetic justice that the elderly, once relegated to the sidelines of urban society, are once again in huge demand. “Get back the grandparents” is the cry going up from all around as these gentle folks could never fail to bring in the magic with their timeless wisdom. Get back the old family values for good measure, advise the specialists, and to move forward in a happy manner, fast forward to the past.

Kankana Basu is a Mumbai based writer and author of Vinegar Sunday and Cappuccino Dusk.

Warning signs of juvenile depression

* A normal child suddenly turning quiet and withdrawn

* Loss of self esteem

* Inability to accept failure gracefully

* Long silent unexplained visits to the bathroom or behind locked doors

* Loss of appetite and/ or loss of interest in favourite activities

* A frank child turning suddenly secretive

* Unhealthy interest in suicide cases reported in the media

* Talking of committing suicide, casually or in jest. Suicide is never a joking matter. Period. Free helpline: 022-2570 6000

Welcome 2010

How meriful was our God to us during the past years... specially 2009. We have had times of joy and sorrow .. sickness and good health.. financial gain and loss.. but we have overcome all the negatives... by the love and care of our Almighty God... and have we learnt any lessons during the past year..?? Love God and love your enemy... difficult um...?? still try...
Lets welcome 2010 with hope.. Our God will not put us in trouble where you will be alone.. His hands wil be there to cover us from any harm, hold us from any fall.. because we are His own....
HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR...

Christmas

Christmas at Cheshire Home, Trivandrum was really a time of joy and self consolation. I forgot my pains and am really boosted up when i saw the smiling face of the inmates there.. Sarasu Thomas who is in a stretcher for decades is the woman with the most cheerful face. She is the author of two books. It was a time to realise how blessed we are in life. What have we to boast? The worldly riches? Power? Influence? Education... ?? oh.. no.. have a cheerful face.. Be content with what God has given us.. Be thankful to the Lord Almighty... Then sing.. Our God is great.. Our God is great... Our Gjavascript:void(0)od is great... Our God is great...