Blog@GraceJunction

Citius. Altius. Fortius.

Well, you guessed it right. I couldn’t keep myself from being bitten by the Olympic Games bug. The grandeur of the event this year has finally caught the attention of many a nonchalant audience like me.

And in all these of watching a few hundred athletes compete for those precious (and not so precious) metals, it is probably for the first time that I was able to sit back and gauge upon the gravity of their endeavour. All thanks to our very own gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, not forgetting the record stint of Michael Phelps and the extravagant Chinese hosts.

However, what will stay on with me forever is none of these current events but one of the past Olympic Games; somewhere in the middle of the First and the Second World War. It dates to the Paris Olympic held in 1924 which, among several champions, featured a humble athlete who went on to clinch a gold medal in the 400 metres running race. Read the rest of this entry »

This August 15th we as a nation will complete 61 years of independence. Independence from British imperialism and a period of exploitation of the country, its resources and therefore its psyche. The Indian Psyche was crushed under the fierce desire of the English empire to colonize the whole world.

The British Empire started its Raj after the Battle of Plassey, in 1757 when the Nawab of Bengal surrendered his dominions to the Company by granting the ‘Diwani’ or the right to collect revenue. The Indian sub continent saw many upheavals since then, violent and non violent, but not much inroad was made till the entry of Mahatma Gandhi. Read the rest of this entry »

Doctor,

It’s been a long time since I spoke to you. I remember when I first met you during a counseling session at my college. Well, I have been greatly helped by you in getting rid of some of my addictions. Your techniques to counter them helped me to come out of it easily. My parents were really happy to hear about my de-addiction.

I wanted to invite you for my marriage, but circumstances were such that I could not. You know Reema who was my junior in college and you have been our common friend for a long time. Even now when we talk, we do remember you. Well after those good days when we met, both Reema and I took a liking for each other. We loved each others company and things just worked out. Read the rest of this entry »

Samir, are you there? Whenever you read my message, give me a call. Switch on the TV and look at the news. All of them are covering it. They say that the police and the media are still trying to figure out, who is the culprit.

My whole house is glued to the TV set and it is giving me nervous moments. Do you even remember what we did last night? How will you, you were so drunk, that I had to drag you out of the party and hurl you in to my car. Yesterday, it all started when you had more than your normal intake of alcohol. You got in to a fight with a guy on the dance floor. His group of friends charged on you and then what followed was total chaos. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Sis,

Am writing this letter at a time in life, where I have been overwhelmed by a sudden turn of events. Somethings which I never expected in my life, things that I thought were innocent have come back to haunt me. I need help.

I know, you would say ‘I told you’ but it is now too late to dwell on those issues. I am ready to take your counsel. All my life, you were the one who guided me and I was the one who always spurned the good advice thinking you were from the old school of thought, narrow minded.

Remember, Raj who used to be my research partner. Yes, one of the many boyfriends I used to date and the one you hated the most. Well, I liked the guy for his lavish spending and deep pockets. The relationship was just a way for me to enjoy life, the added advantage that he was a good student just helped. I always knew that none of these guys would be my life partner, I knew that marriage needed somebody who was more dependable, mature and understanding. Read the rest of this entry »

My eyes saw spreadsheets everywhere and I just wanted to get rid of it. I put aside my plans to paint for a while and yearned to finish dinner in a jiffy and plunge onto my bed the very next min. It would have been just another evening but for the phone call. The urgency in the tone of my sister at the other end made all my other-wise lousy senses alert.

Half a minute was all it took. O Boy! If times were to snatch the sweet memories, I would cling onto them tightly…cuz it is all that is left with me now. The songs we sung together at Sunday school, breaking the file we were asked to stand in, rolling with laughter at senseless things, pulling each others leg and all those stupid talks during the drama rehearsals which would go on and on much to the Sunday school teacher’s dismay. Read the rest of this entry »

It was fun to see this Sunday our children enact the story of King Solomon’s judgement on the two mothers. Even though it was not the best performance in the world, the children did a very good job. They portrayed the story in the best way they possibly could and left the audience laughing with their dialogues and honest acting, while ushering in some powerful thoughts in to the mind of the audience.

Let’s rewind, go back in to the room and see the teachers trying to teach the kids the story and then the acts. It’s very important to have the sequence this way, because if the storyline has not seeped well in the children then no matter how hard you try to teach the kids to act, they are sure to goof up.

Now the entire act made sense because they followed the story line of the teacher. Picture this – during the training sessions many of the children would act as they would think right, would want to say the dialogues, as they think is correct and many a times never follow the story line. Some of the bold children would want to change the story and do it their own way, add other stories that they have seen and impose their will in to the act. Some children would never want the role that they are having and sometimes everyone wants to do the lead role and be the hero. The teachers did a good job in making the performance make sense. Read the rest of this entry »

You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them!

Since over a decade, thousands of British teens head for Crete, a Greek island, for their holidays. They usually stay over for about a week. A very chaste and innocent choice at face value but in this one week’s time, they create mayhem on the island. Read the rest of this entry »

You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them!

For any generation, these are really tough and seemingly rude words. However, the acridity pales off before the events that play out before us daily. The news pouring in from different corners of the globe are appalling and shattering and only confirming to the confession we read above. Read the rest of this entry »

Democratic systems derived from British democracy have the system of recognising a official opposition to the ruling party. The traditional role of the opposition can be classified under three broad headings:

1) the voice of the voiceless,
the opposition expresses the view of a significant section of the electorate and helps to ensure that concerns of the various groups and other interests not represented in government are not forgotten or trampled upon.

2) alternative to the ruling government,
the oppostion constantly reminds the electorate that there is a viable alternative to the incumbent government. One that has a real or imagined potential to improve the quality of life of the people and let them realise their aspirations. Read the rest of this entry »