For Freedom We Fight

I am much saddened today for today is one of the darkest day in my country's modern existence. Today I stand not a proud Indian, the apex court of my supposedly great nation has shamed me. My head is no longer held high, but it is loose and downward. I stand before the whole world ashamed of the leap to medieval era of ignorance that we took with the verdict today. I am no longer from a country that values #freedom, #liberty, #fraternity and #justice above all but from one that has sent millions of it's inhabitants to jail for their exercise of their fundamental freedom of expression. They have been thrown in along with murderers and rapists because they choose to stand by what they are. Unfortunately today the nation has sacrificed everything it once stood for in the name of religious sentiment. India had repeated that one mistake that has caused several great human tragedy and has been corrected with the blood and lives of many martyrs. Todays verdict on #Sec377 was one of the greatest human tragedy to have befell on Indian citizens in over several decades.

But this fight is not yet over and this is only the beginning. The night is darkest before dawn and dawn is certainly coming. Every freedom in the history of humanity has been won by hard fought battles and this will not be an exception. It will be won and will have to be given, for it is a matter of time before that happens and nothing can stop that from happening. What #HarveyMilk did to the world our sisters and brothers will do in India and from the clutched hands of India's pseudo religious inhumans we will snatch the victory and along with it the very freedom that we deserve. 

Many may think that it is not our fight but don't be illusioned by your procrastinatory attitude for every freedom lost whether the ones we exercise or not is another freedom willingly surrendered. If we let it happen today then soon will come the day when the freedom we exercise will have also to be surrendered. A nation will lesser liberties is not a progressive society it is one heading towards obvious oblivion. 

It is our fight as much as it is anyone's. We cannot let the supreme court or a bunch of prejudiced judges take away from us the freedom of choice. We cannot let the state dictate to me whom to love, how to love and most of all what is love. Indian judiciary has a made a grave mistake today by the contemption of a marginal section of society that is already under tremendous exploitation. They have injudiciously made that mistake of pitting itself against a progressive ideology for the sake of medieval and hippocratic views. 

The day will soon come when that will have to east their on words and grand top every one the freedom they rightfully deserve. No amount or armor and bureaucracy can stop the inevitable change from happening for change is essential to a progressive society or it will have to be forcefully induced.

Chennai and I in short

Its been almost an year since I reached Chennai and by now, I am as much part of this city as  I am part of any. My tamil is now good enough to deceive innocent samaritans into believing that I am one among them and I can make ends meet in tamil. This mustn't come as a great surprise as malayalam (my native tongue ) is quite similar to tamil. I have been among and have constantly engaged with the commonest of individuals, who have made this dusty humid city their abode. To make it short and concise I am home here and certainly not in a "fish out of water" state at the very least. The city has started meaning something to me, this is where I started, this is where I hope to start a family and no matter where life takes me to from here on forth, this would certainly be where it all began.

Dear Friend.

Dear Friend, Listen hard,

For of our hearty bond I speak.

Listen to these covenants I so praise,

See in your many after noon reveries,

The truth I seek to share.

We met when the glass was much fuller,

Bonded over a youth in its spring

In those days when to the clouds we soared,

With many a dreams on our wings,

And a heart ever so light.

Do you remember the palatial clouds,

And the heaven that we build among them?

Do you still hear the birds that flew,

Along side us over the oceans vast?

There in our dream I looked in your eyes.

Do you remember the silence of a promise,

A promise that in our hearts we crossed.

Do you still not see that,

In words unseen, un heard,

We made a pact that may never be broken.

Up in the vast solitude over the blue seas,

And in the infinite expanse of the azure skies.

When the only sounds that rose

Barely breaking the splendor of our silence

Was the symphony of our hearts

Dear friend, There is never a need to remind,

That in sickness and health shall persist

The promise we once forged in our hearts

And on our shared wings all our sorrows we shall bear,

And over the beautiful ocean we shall soar.

Dear Friend, Listen hard,

For of our hearty bond I speak.

The bond that we forged in our hearts

And to our heavenly tombs we shall take.

The Kiss

A small poem that I wrote for a past post and that was rediscovered now.

The day was dry, moments wary,

and then there was the kiss.

The sun shone and clouds gone,

and there was the Spring

Butterflies had come, birds sang

and then there was the KISS.

Read the whole article about the kiss here The Story of a Kiss

Navigate by Norman Vincent Peale

"The best thing to do id to get healed of negatives in life, become filled with faith" hence goes the words by Dr Peale as it appears n the introduction of the book and that exactly is the purpose and vision of the book. He seeks to replace the negativities in life with a positive outlook through the medium of prayer and faith. Dr Peale was a minister by occupation and this has aided him in bearing witness to the many sufferings there is and as he himself states that the sheer volume if published as a book could be consider as the account of all human suffering. This very aspect of his occupation has also helped him witness many miracles and has shown him what the human spirit can achieve ones it is determined to so so. This book is a guide to help realize that potential.

That being said one of the greatest back-draws that I experienced when reading the book was also culminating from the fact Dr Peale was a minister and that his proximity to his religion and its intricacies. The book is full of references to Bible, anecdotes, events and stories from the Bible and the christian religious world view. Now I don't mean to say that the book is a christian doctrine, but any person totally unaware or illiterate of the christian world view would find it hard to comprehend and fully appreciate the wisdom of Dr Peale. 

Peale at length talks about the importance of faith and the power and potential of the human spirits and all the chapters in the book is directed towards discovering that potential and that faith. He asks for unflinching faith and he preaches of the enormous life altering strength that is dormant in every one of us. he seeks to liberate that strength by means of prayer and faith. He believes and with the aid of several examples from his life and the ones he touched emphasizes on to the reader this belief of his.

The whole essence of the book can be found in the phrase "Be filled with love and faith" and he prophesies that all your vows will be gone once that is achieved. The book is an excellent guide to any one who finds himself in a doldrum and seeks to escape that impasse. Once you are willing to look deep into the elements of christianity in this book and seek out its meaning and why he choses to use it, this becomes and excellent guide but even without that all you have to do look beyond them and the book will serve its purpose, and will help navigate you through your life.

In association with Jaico Publishing House