I am just back from a rushed trip to Delhi at the fag end of April.  This trip was totally unplanned.  We had just visited Delhi in Dec/Jan. and had no intention of making another trip so soon.  But things turned out otherwise.  In the last week of April, we received the shocking news that my sister-in-law had suffered a stroke and had been admitted in the ICU.  The news was hard to believe - only last Dec/Jan. we had stayed with her - shopping, visiting places and having a good time with her.  And now this!  Naturally we had to make hurried plans to go to Delhi.

By the grace of God, the stroke she suffered was not life-threatening (it could have been!) and though her right side was paralyzed, she was soon out of the ICU and made steady recovery.  Now she's back home and is making good progress everyday.  She has always been a strong independent woman and we have no doubt she will make a complete recovery very soon.

This incident was a reminder to all of us that we just can't take our lives for granted.  We may have many plans, but it is He who is the Ultimate Author of our lives!

My sis-in-law has received a new lease of life.  While she was recuperating in the hospital, we found this poem among her things, which so aptly describes the many blessings we receive everyday from God :
        God's Gift

I asked for strength
And God gave me difficulties to make me strong,
I asked for wisdom
And God gave me problems to solve,
I asked for prosperity
And God gave me brawn and brain to work,
I asked for courage
And God gave me dangers to overcome,
I asked for love
And God gave me troubled people to help,
I asked for favors
And God gave me opportunities,
I received nothing I wanted
And everything I needed.
My prayer has been answered.

Till the other day I had no idea who Bobby Cash was! So last Saturday when I received an invitation from Guwahati Music Society to attend a musical evening by Bobby Cash, I didn't know what to expect. Small writeups appeared in the local newspapers about Bobby Cash - that he's the only international country music singer from India who has attained worldwide fame, he has particularly received wide recognition in Australia where he participated in the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2003 and ever since it has been a success story all the way for Bobby Cash.  As our country's population had just crossed one billion mark, and Bobby was the only person in India making a living by performing country music, he became "The Indian Cowboy...One in a Billion".

All that was fine, but was he really that good? Can an Indian really attain so much popularity internationally in the genre of country music? If he is so good, why haven't we heard about him before? - All these questions crowded my mind while making a plan for the Saturday evening.  Guwahati Music Society has always promoted good western music and we had a lot of faith on their choice. And since entry was free and we had nothing better to do, we decided to attend the program.

Saturday evening came - balmy, cool and clear (after heavy showers the previous couple of days) - when a motley crowd of country music lovers turned up at the venue. The program started a little late than the given time due to a delay in Bobby's arrival. But the moment he walked on to the stage with his trademark cowboy hat, boots and jeans, with his guitar in hand, a hush fell over the audience. And from the moment his fingers started strumming his guitar and his deep sonorous voice filled the shamiana, we just sat spellbound, listening to one song after another, being transported to a world of pure melody and nostalgia. He sang almost all the songs we grew up with - "Rhinestone Cowboy", "Angelo", "Summer Wine", "Anne's Song", "Take me home, country road", "He'll have to go", "It's now or never", "You look wonderful tonight" and many many more. No backup vocals, no backup orchestra - only Bobby and his guitar! He has a terrific voice and on top of that, he is an amazing guitar player. You'll have to see him playing the guitar  personally to know how good he is with the guitar and it's not hard to realise why Australia has welcomed this talented country singer to their fold.

He sang non-stop for almost two hours. In between all the popular country songs, he also sang some of his own compositions. It was really an evening to remember - all the day-to-day rigmarole forgotten, bringing back to our memories the carefree days of our youth when all those romantic songs used to hold special meanings for each one of us! For a magical time as if we each were transported back in time to those fun-filled days of our youth!

Now I've become a Bobby Cash fan for life. I have already visited his website and learnt some more about him. Born in Clement Town near Dehradun as Bal Kishore Das Loiwal in a family where country music played an intrinsic part, Bobby grew up listening to country music. His father used to call him "Babu" which became "Bobby" - and Kishore became "Kish" which eventually became "Cash"! He started his career as a professional musician in Delhi. After briefly dabbling in "Hindi Pop", he returned to his first love country music. A chance meeting with an Australian Producer/Director in 2002 in Delhi took him to Australia in 2003 where he participated in the Tamworth Country Music Festival and since then there has been no looking back for Bobby Cash. Australia has become his second home and he is tremendously popular there.

So, folks, if you ever get a chance to hear Bobby Cash, don't miss it! I can tell you, you'll love his music!

On Sunday night I had the rare opportunity of watching the recording of the A R Rahman Concert held at Delhi, which was telecast by StarPlus. It was a super fantastic and visually stunning show.  Rahman is equally versatile in Indian Classical and Western music.  Not only is he a fantastic singer himself, he is a super composer as well, and the percussion beats set by him are to be seen and heard to be believed.  No wonder he is considered as one of the greatest musicians of our country.
At the concert a few of his songs were rendered by such versatile singers like Hariharan, Sadhna Sargam, Kailash Khera and several other young artists whose names I don't even know.  Specially the "Maiyaa, Maiyaa" song from the film "Guru" rendered by the beautiful young singer was unbelievable. Earlier I've heard many singers sing this song and always thought I liked them.  But this was set to the original A R Rahman's heart pulsating music to the percussion beats of the great Sivamani accompanied by stunning stage performance. It couldn't get better and one would wish it  will go on forever and ever.
All in all, it was a concert I'll remember for a long long time. Now I know the accolades showered on Rahman are truly justified. He deserves all of it and more. It is a matter of pride for us that this great musician belongs to our country.

Hi, folks! Last week was one of
the worst in my life – whole week I was down and out with a bout of Herpes
Zoster. I bet many of you don’t know what Herpes Zoster is! To enlighten you,
HZ is an affliction caused by the chicken pox virus.  It seems the virus never leaves your body
after you have had a bout of chicken pox in your childhood.  It lies dormant in your body for many years
and then one day when your immune system is weak and vulnerable, it attacks a
particular nerve in your body and appears on the surface as ugly red rashes
along that nerve.

In my case, it all began with a
burning throbbing sensation on my right brow. 
When I examined my face in the mirror, I could see nothing out of
place.  Then a tiny bump appeared on my
forehead right above the brow which, at first glance, looked like a
pimple.  But on close scrutiny after a
day or so, I found that it was no ordinary pimple, but a cluster of tiny
blisters.  That started the alarm bells
ringing!  I had some idea about HZ though
I had never seen a real patient before. Anyway, I immediately went to my family
doc who confirmed my fears and started me off on medications right away. The
tiny blisters became bigger and spread all over the right side of my forehead,
eyebrow and eyelid (shutting down my right eye for a couple of days!). It was terribly
painful, making me miserable for the whole week.  Thank God I went to the doctor at the right
time and though the medications didn’t prevent the rashes from coming out, it
did help to control it to a large extent. It could have been worse.

The right medicines, lots of
prayer to my God and plenty of rest – that did the trick. I’m back to my
job.  I’m told that it takes two to three
weeks to get over from HZ, if not longer. 
I guess I am fortunate to have made a quick recovery.  It may take some more time for the scars to
disappear completely. But, hey, I’m alive! 
Isn’t that great?

"HAPPINESS IS NOT A DESTINATION, BUT A DAY-TO-DAY JOURNEY."
I came across the above quote while reading my daily devotion this morning. It really set me thinking. Most of us probably think of happiness as something attainable in the distant future through our present hard work and single-minded effort. While toiling, striving and trying to do our best every day in the hope of attaining happiness in our life ahead, most of the time we overlook the everyday little things that bring us tiny tiny happiness. We don't take them into account and always look forward to a day when we hope to grasp a 'big fistful of happiness', as if happiness is something like a car or a house or a piece of jewellery! What fools we are!! Why can't we count our everyday blessings and enjoy the simple little things that bring a smile to our face?
Lets not be too hard on ourselves and learn to enjoy the bright side of life along the way!

Hi, folks, sorry for being silent for so long! It’s not that
I had gone away somewhere or something like that. No, not at all! I have been
here all the time, visiting my iland almost everyday and reading up all the
blogs that you folks have been posting! But to my great dismay and frustration,
nothing flowed from my pen! It’s not as if my life has been dull or
uninspiring. On the contrary, as I look back at 2007, I find the past year had
been a much better year for me in many ways. I have been blessed by God in many
things and the year ended on a happy note when I got the opportunity to make a
trip to Delhi in the last week of December.
It was exciting to visit Delhi
after ten long years. So much has changed in Delhi
in the last decade – a change for the better. 
So many new places to see, so many sights and sounds to soak in! All in
all, it was a memorable visit which I enjoyed to the fullest.

We also made an overnight trip to Jaipur, visited the City
Palace, the Observatory, Jalmahal
and Amber Fort. What can I say, folks? Jaipur is really a city worth visiting.
The drive from Delhi to Jaipur and
back on NH-8 was a memorable experience which I’ll remember for many many
years.

So, here I am, back on my iland and hoping to be able to
write something regularly. The first month of 2008 is almost over. But I hope
it’s not too late to wish you all a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2008!

They made a perfect young couple – he – fair, tall, handsome;
she – svelte, lissom, good looking. 
Together with their cute little daughter they made a pretty
picture.  Lets call the couple Joel and
Nisha.

Those who knew Joel, were happy for him for finding such a
nice girl for himself, ’coz they knew if anyone deserved happiness, it was
Joel.  In his young life he had seen many
ups and downs.  Joel’s father was an executive
in a big company.  But alcoholism ruined
his life and his family.  When Joel and
his sister were quite young, his father left them and went and began to live
with his mistress.  It was a turbulent
time for all of them.  All efforts by
relatives and friends to reconcile the family got thwarted.  Joel’s parents didn’t divorce, but neither
did they stay together.  It’s hard to
imagine what trauma Joel and his sister went through in those formative years
of their lives.  How their mother fended
for the family was questionable; there were rumours which, of course, were
never proved.  Since there was no
conducive atmosphere at home, their education suffered; Joel and his sister
never went past high school.  They had
aristrocatic good looks, but no education or enough money to go with it.

Then Joel’s mother died of cancer.  A few years later his father also died from
alcohol related complications.  Now Joel
and his sister were alone in the world (though they had many relatives, the
question of staying with anyone of them never arose – maybe because by this
time they were not so young anymore!). 
His sister left for Mumbai to try her luck there, but Joel stayed on.

Then he met Nisha and they got married.  They set up home in a rented apartment, Joel
started a small business, Nisha found a teaching job in a private school.  Everything seemed perfect.  Joel’s relatives and well-wishers heaved a
sigh of relief that at last he has been able to leave his unfortunate past
behind and make a new beginning with a nice homely girl.  Nisha really seemed to have made a lot of
difference in Joel’s life.  She even
changed her religion willingly to that of Joel’s and became a Christian,
attended church regularly, took active part in church activities and showed
just the right amount of respect for elders and Joel’s relatives.  All in all, they became quite popular in the
social circle and all were in praise of Nisha.

It seemed nothing would go wrong with this seemingly happy
family.  Then after about a year and a
half of this, it was heard that Joel and Nisha had split and Nisha had gone
back to her parents with their daughter. 
At first, nobody took the news seriously and thought it was just a
regular tiff which happens between husband and wife every now and then.  But quite soon it became apparent that the
matter was serious.  There were accusations
and counter-accusations which literally left everyone stunned.  There were many attempts to reconcile the
couple, nothing worked.  Though Joel was
willing to give it a try, Nisha would not budge an inch from her decision not
to come back to Joel – not even for their daughter’s sake.

As for Joel and Nisha’s well-wishers, they were left feeling
let down.  It was unimaginable that such
a perfect happy picture could hide such terrible bitterness and bad blood that
their marriage was not even worth a second try!  How could anyone break off a relationship just
like that?  It is not for us to pass
judgment – who was right or who was wrong. 
Because we don’t know the whole truth. 
Was their marriage based on truth and honesty?  Did Nisha know everything about Joel’s past
before marriage?  Or, did she get afraid
of the financial struggle that seemed to lie ahead of them?  We don’t know.  What we know is that in this sorry mess one
thing that was no where to be seen was – the emotion of love.  The pretty picture they presented before the
public was just a façade.  Such a clean
break would not have been possible if there had been any love between the
couple.  Their marriage was over before
their daughter was three-years old!

So, Joel is back to square one – a broken marriage like his
parents – a little girl who will grow up without a daddy (for no fault of hers)
– and the story goes on!

I don’t know why I feel this way!
After all, it was just an inanimate object incapable of thinking or
feeling.  Yet, I feel deeply sad as if I have
lost a dear family member and can’t help feeling guilty as if I’ve let it down,
betrayed its trust and sent it away when it became too old and weak!

I’m talking about my old ’fridge
which I exchanged yesterday for a brand new, gleaming double-door ’fridge.  My happiness at procuring a new ’fridge is
dampened somewhat by the fact that I had to send away the old one. 

The old ’fridge was in our
household for many many years, giving excellent service.  Only once we had repainted it and changed the
gas.  Otherwise it had never given any
trouble.  I remember when many years ago
we had opened up a fast food joint and had no money to buy a new ’fridge, we
had taken it down to the joint and used it there for many months.  That was a particularly tough period for us,
but the old faithful ’fridge performed its duty even then!

Of late, it was not working
properly, it was not cooling enough and the door lining had become loose
because of which cockroaches were getting inside.  It was painfully becoming apparent that we
needed a new ’fridge.

The new ’fridge was delivered yesterday
and they took away my old ’fridge – don’t know if it’s lying somewhere in a
dark corner of a scrap godown!  Come to
think of it, don’t really know what they do with the old ’fridges!  Do they scrap them or give them to some
second-hand dealers who repair, repaint and then sell them?  If that’s the case, I’d be happy if it finds
a new home.

I know I’m an emotional
fool.  An object can’t think or
feel.  Yet it hurts so much when you have
to send away a thing that has been part of your life for so long!

That’s why I’m writing this piece
in remembrance of my old refrigerator.  I’m
doing this for myself (it’s okay if no one reads my blog), because I want to
immortalize my old refrigerator on this page, to make it live on somewhere in
the world wide web.

[I know this feeling of loss will go away after some days and I’ll be
okay once more.]

Finally the verdict is out – Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced
to six years imprisonment in the 1993 Bombay Blast Case and immediately sent to
jail.  I think it’s a sad day for all of
us who had watched him grow from an impulsive, reckless young man to a
responsible, warm-hearted, generous man. 
There is no doubt that after the incident Sanju turned a new leaf and
atoned for his misdeed and the Indian public has forgiven him long time
back. 

But I guess justice looks at things differently – it was not
looking at the man Sanju has become now, but was passing judgment on a crime
which happened 14 years back.  And he did
commit a crime then and is being made to pay the price now.  As such, I think the sentencing has been just
and proper.  It is unfortunate that it
took so long to wind up the case (perhaps there was no other way, since it was
such a huge case, involving so many people) and the verdict came when Sanju has
become a completely changed man.  I just
can’t help feeling that if he had committed the crime at any other time, the
verdict would have been quite different.

The only ray of hope now for Sanju is the Supreme
Court.  I hope they will review his case
from a different angle (if that’s possible) and perhaps reduce his sentence or
even set him free! 

Anyway, I can only say to Sanju – “Be brave, Sanju!  Since you had caused no harm to anyone with
your mistake, surely the Almighty will look down on you with mercy.  Our prayers and good wishes are with you!”

There is a saying, “Too much of a
good thing is bad.”

A few weeks ago I had written a
paean to rain, exalting over the comfort and respite it brings to our lives
during the hot summer months.  Now after
incessant rain for almost two weeks, the same me wants to scream out, “Oh, God!
Please stop the rain…!”

Haven’t got a glimpse of the sun for
almost two weeks now…everything has become damp and musty.  Many areas in our city are under water.  I’m fortunate in a sense that I reside in an
area where there is no water-logging and my workplace is only a short distance
away.  But imagine the plight of those
whose houses are inundated, who have to wade through knee-deep water or slush
to go to their workplaces or markets!  My
discomforts are negligible in comparison to the woes of countless people of our
city and our State.

Our whole State is reeling under
flood.  Lakhs of people have been forced
to leave their homes and hearths and take shelter in relief camps. They have
lost their crops and cattle and perhaps everything they hold dear.

Sometimes I can’t help but feel
guilty that while I keep complaining about the small discomforts in my life,
scores of people are experiencing real nightmares and they don’t know when all
these will end and they’ll be able to go back to their homes and start their
lives anew.

I can only say a silent prayer, “Please,
God, stop the rains and please bring out the sunshine…!”