Me, Myself and Tony

Tough times, Jesus and me

2011-12-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking about how the Lord has always helped me through tought times.....times when I have been down in the dumps.....how His love has pulled me out of the darkness....this made me write down a few quick lines of How my Saviour has been and will always be my guide and see me through

There are times when things go awry
And all my plans and efforts fail
Situations and circumstances gang up against me
And the pain becomes too hard to bear

I've been through rough times before
Where Jesus has always pulled me through
But when I face a tough road ahead
Invariably, my mind begins to worry

I try to tell myself not to worry, cause He is near
But my mind insists on going back to failures of the past.
At moments like these, I've learned that the best thing to do
Is to kneel in prayer and trust Him to see me through.

When I talk to him, His love engulfs me and I feel the warmth of His embrace
Oh, such love! Love beyond compare, love unfathomable.
I experience the best moments of my life and a peace so profound,
My worries fly out of the window and trust in my Jesus takes over

The future might be rocky and things might be uncertain
But one thing I know, Jesus is by my side
He will lead me according to His will
And take me safely to the place I need to go.

The words above dont do justice to what Jesus has done for me and His love for me....I will never be able to put that in words....but I've just made an attempt to write down that He will never leave me alone :)

A Midsummer Drizzle

2010-10-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

I bang my fist on my desk and stare at the computer screen in front of me. I've been working on this code for almost 30 hours nonstop now, but just can't get it to work. I've had enough of code. I switch off the monitor, take my stuff and walk out of the office. Saturday afternoons are not meant to be spent working in front of a computer.

The thoughts of my incomplete work are running through my mind as I'm riding my bike on the way home. It's a typical hot afternoon in Chennai. I ride for about ten minutes, cursing at almost everyone and everything I come across. All of a sudden I notice that the weather is cloudy and I then feel the first few raindrops on my body. The rain is the last thing that I want on a bad day. I look up to the sky in despair, hoping that the rain would stop and I won't get wet. I accelerate and pick up my speed with the intention of reaching home before the rain. The drizzle has become quite steady and my mood is going from bad to worse. In tune with the happenings of the day thus far, the signal turns red just as I'm about to go through. I curse the signal and look around to gauge my chances of jumping it.

My eyes fall on a couple of children at the side of the road. They are dancing in the rain and enjoying the water splashing on their faces. The smile on their faces is captivating and I can't take my eyes off them. They jump in tune to the raindrops and I can just feel their happiness, whilst sitting on my bike. Their cheer is contagious and my mood is suddenly light. The car behind me is honking as the light has turned green. I shift into gear and slowly drive away not taking my eyes of the children who continue dancing oblivious to everything around them. A midsummer drizzle is rare and I decide to enjoy it just like the little children. I take in the smell of the rain. Wow, simply wow. I look out for a tea shop and find one. I park my bike and order a steaming hot cup of tea. I eat some bhajji's and enjoy the tea. What more can a man want on a rainy day? The drizzle is still steady. I walk towards my bike and feel the raindrops on my face. I decide to ride without the helmet. As I continue my journey, I forget my work, worry and everything around me. I enjoy those moments, where raindrops keep falling on my head. And just for those few moments, I experience heaven.

P.S: This is a work of fiction. The author of this post does not endorse riding a two wheeler without a helmet or jumping a red signal. Those are dangerous and foolish things to do.

Why Education is Important

2007-06-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

I guess we all take for granted that it's the educated people that are driving India's current economic growth. What is it that makes education so important? Can a person not survive without a formal education? Yes, he / she can most definitely survive.

This whole concept that we need to be educated in order to make it big in life has been imbibed in us by our society and the systems under which we work. It doesn't necessarily have to be that way.

That apart, let me get to the pros of a good formal education. We all know that education disciplines us and teaches us a whole lot of things. It adds a lot of value to you as a person. Moreover, our systems are organised in such a way that only a person with a good education gets a good job and only one with a good job, read good pay, is respected in society. When I was in school my dad used to tell me (especially when my grades were not good enough), that all I had to start with in life was my education and nothing else. What he meant to say was, I'll provide for your education and the rest is up to you; don't expect any material wealth. I probably didn't take it seriously at the time; but today when i look back, I see the truth in his words. I've got a job and am doing well in life at the moment thanks to the fact that my dad sent me to school and college. I now have a good platform and I can build on it from here, but what about those children's whose dads' prefer not to send them to school?
My dad gave me an education because his father gave him one and my grandad gave my father an education because his father had given him one and so on. If you follow this family line or tree, you will notice that at some point in time, there was an uneducated father who decided to send his son to school and provide him some education. That is the turning point.

I saw this unfold before me in college, where one of my friends from a rural background is now working for a multi national and is at present in the US. His father was an agriculturist and a mason. The turning point was when he decided that his son would not be a mason but become something better. He sends this boy to school; the boy does reasonably well. School life is over; now comes the question of whether he should go to college or not. His father decides to send the boy to college. The fees are very high compared to the livelihood that he is earning but he doesn't give up. He somehow gets money on loan and sends his boy to college. The boy does well at college, learns things quickly, excels in his studies, finishes college, struggles in finding a job but eventually gets a nice job in an MNC. After a few months, he gets the chance to go to the US and is currently over there. So, now what made this guy from a remote village in TamilNadu land a nice job and go to the States. I agree that his hard work and effort played a major part in it; let's not discount the importance of hard work. But i believe, the seed for his growth was sown a long time back when his father decided to send him to school. What if his dad had thought that eduction was not important and he could be an agriculturist just like him? This is where the tide turned and now by that decision he has ensured that the standard of living of his son and grandchildren and much better that his. This is just one case. There were a lot of guys with me in college who were the first graduates in the their families. The point I'm trying to make is that the decision by one father has changed the life of many generations to come; how much more can be changed if many such fathers decided to give their children an education. That is the power of education in the current context of our society.

I'm not saying that we have the best education system and all (there are a lot of cons too), but I only want to drive home the importance of primary education. It gives you a good foundation from where you can become successful if you are willing to work hard.

A friend of mine once gave me this one-liner on the purpose of education and it has stuck in memory ever since - "Education is to train the mind to think". Doesn't get much simpler, does it?

My Musings

2006-12-11T06:09:00.000-08:00

Something about children always brightens up our lives and makes us wonder why we couldn't be the same way. I've come across that feeling many a time. Some of my cousins have come over from Australia to my home in Chennai . I got to see them when i went home for the weekend. It's a pity that got to spend only a couple of days with them though I'm seeing them after more than 10 years. They are all much younger than me and are enjoying their childhood. I had a great time and the time just flew by. On the way back I was pondering as to what makes children so much fun to be with.

What is it that makes children different from us. One thing is definitely their innocence. Their quest for knowing something new is almost insatiable. They come up with so many questions; some simple, some funny, some weird and some that we find very difficult to answer. I often wonder why i don't ask many questions like a child. I don't know what happened but somewhere along the line I lost my creativity. My mind doesn't work like it used to when i was 10 years old. I hardly question the status quo and just go about like a machine doing what i'm asked to do. I'm always amused and secretly admire people who ask many doubts when they are taught something new because I struggles to raise up a single doubt. I know it's easy to put the blame on the education system and come up with a phrase like "I was born intelligent but education ruined me" but I believe I also had a part to play in loss of my creative ability. I'm still searching within me to see if I can rekindle my passion to learn, to question, to create something new.

Coming back to the little ones, more than anything, what caught my attention was that children are free from any worries or anxiety. They are carefree creatures and that's why they are so cheerful, bubbling with energy and enthusiasm whereas we are tied down with our own burdens and cares. We start a day wondering how we are going to make it through the day. I guess most of us wonder what we are going to do 2 years from now; what job would we be in? marriage probably?....We have so many things crowding our minds. I wasn't even bothered about what tomorrow would bring when i was in school but now I'm expected to atleast have a plan as to what i want to do in the future. Sometimes i wish if i could just leave everything in the background and enjoy each moment as a child would. Maybe you too wish the same. It's not as hard as it seems. One thing that helps me be free from worries and troubles is to give them over to God cause i know He will take care of things much better than me. It's all about getting our priorities right. We've got to give more time to things we value the most.

To sign off I'm reminded of the lines of a poem called "Leisure" i learnt when i was in 5th standard. I don't remember all the lines but here are a few.

What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see when woods we pass

Where squirells hid their nuts in grass.

........

What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare.