The right person

 

   To choose the right boy or the right girl as your life partner is one of the most delicate things in our life (if not now, at least within another couple of years :P) . We have so many things in our mind, a lot of expectations, hopes, dreams and what not !! . I’ve listened to various friends, they are seriously concerned about not getting to meet the “right person” in their life even after so many years. When thinking about all the difficulties one faces to get the right person, I couldn’t help but remember the way Abraham chose his daughter in law for his son Isaac. I’m not getting into the specificities, I’m just sharing this piece of info for those who are not aware of it. That said, It’s for everyone :)

   Abraham did not want a canaanite girl among whom he was dwelling, instead he sends his man to his “own country” to find the right match ! As a foreword, Abraham was not living in his own country, he was called forth by the Lord to come out of his comfort zone and to lead a life in a far off promised land named “Canaan”. He was obedient, and so he did what was expected of him.. That is, he left his comfort zone and went forward to that unknown place which was promised by the Lord. The first striking thing was this, Abraham did not want to get him (his son Isaac) married to a canaanite gal, instead he wanted him to marry a girl from his “kindred” Things are explicitly quoted here and so I’m not elaborating much.. Abraham wanted to take a girl from his kindred, but he neither told his servant to get a girl from a well off family nor did he ask him to get a girl who was beautiful..

  Even interesting is the way that servant chooses the girl ! He goes near the well where the women of that town come to draw water. He prays to God, that he would pick the girl who not only draws water for him but for his 10 camels as well. If you read those verses a little more carefully, you will know that she “voluntarily” commits herself to draw water for his “10 camels” ! In those days, wells were deep enough, and to draw water for all those camels wasn’t an easy task. It was a test, a simple one from which one can learn about her hard work, hospitality, patience and endurance. Well, I have written them in a simple single line but the truth is, these are the basic traits that one should possess in order to build a healthy family. If she, the woman of the house lacks endurance, it would obviously result in a poorly built family. I remember enacting this skit in my school days, where the man of the house asks her to bring some coffee on a fine monday morning. After sipping it, he acrimoniously remarks “who in this world would drink such kinda coffee, even this puppy wouldn’t drink this shit !1! ” She retorts with this answer: “yea, and that’s why I gave that to you” :D Witty, but the gravity of the issue is much greater than what we think of.. the man of the house in turn shows that hatred to his school going kid and to all his office mates. This is a simple example but on a bigger picture there are loads of things to be aware of !!  Girls today have loads to do other than home making, and so providing water for 10 camels is going to be really really tough, at least they should provide water for the chief servant !! (I guess you might have got the point)

  A little more into the passage reveals one other important information, the chief servant delegated by Abraham was doubtful whether if the girl whom he chooses will come along their way. That is, what if she doesn’t accept to be Isaac’s wife or Abraham’s daughter in law ? But when Rebecca’s parents inquired her if she is willing to go with them, she replies : “I will go”.. Submissive nature, surrendering oneself to the master... She is open to things, she listens to various people, analyzes and then answers promptly. She is not portrayed as a “stiff necked” person, instead her flexibility is highlighted by her well chosen answers..

  Last but not the least, when the chief servant and Rebecca approach Isaac’s place, Rebecca covers herself with her veil as soon as the chief reveals Isaac’s identity. Respect !!! This world which we are dealing with it right now, is a lot different from that of Abraham’s, but it doesn’t mean that those things mentioned above does not apply now. Everything quoted above are so generic and are so essential for today’s families. It’s something that I feel are partially “forgotten”. Age,  salary, family background, degree held, company working for or even your beauty, let them not hold you from “respecting one another”.

  All that mentioned above should not be used to judge one another, whereas to know the truths that has been implicitly given to us through these passages. Above all that, you get according to what you have given so far. Based on the seeds that you sow, you will reap..

Reference: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+24&version=KJV

A Kid’s diary

               

                This post is about a tormented kid and his views about his early schooling. Some might really think this post to be an outrageous slur, but this is the bitter truth. Whenever I had a chance to watch some old Tamil movie belonging to those of the 80’s and the early 90’s, I really wonder how those kids witnessing the murder of his/ her parents (mostly belonging to the protagonists part of the movie) remember the antagonists so well that they avenge their parents death even after so many years ! The point I’m putting forth is definitely not about “avenging”, but the scars such horrible incidents leaves us with. Whenever I get a chance to speak to my seniors or my juniors coming from that school, 9/ 10 times we speak about that ! This post consolidates all such “shared” experiences into one.

                My school was a lot different from the other schools in my town, and that notion was one of the main reasons for me being admitted there. Everything seemed pretty normal at first, and I indeed enjoyed them. Facilities, infrastructure, comfort and even “education” (sad, but yea ) comes with a price now. And I knew that my parents literally struggled to pay it. They did their best to give us this so called “quality education”, but then they did not realize what was in store.

                I was asked to read the names of all the acrobatic feats one by one, as my friends performed them live on the stage. It was some kind of a display, and the organizer did not like the way I pronounced few words. He called me to his room for rehearsing it, but then he vanished into thin air by 4.00 pm to the other unit. The very next day, I went by his room to tell him that he had left pretty early the other day, as cool as ever. But the odds turned against me, I don’t know how they punish a 6th grade student for not being punctual, but I was punched on my face. Note : I’m not using the word punch just for the sake of rhyming, I mean it !  Is this how you treat a new student ? what kinda impression  do you think you give them about your school ?

                 A family’s position in the society depends on how good the head of the family leads and organizes it. This applies for an institution as well. Monetarily , that school started flourishing, from a single large house to a huge unit and then a new ground etc., .It was a great investment for all the school board members, as they created this “demand” –> 25 per classroom concept (and no new sections opened). That was the bait But when all these were happening outside, beneath the surface we were facing a lot of issues with the head !

                Lunch was the most thrilling hour as we’d say, we never knew when he might come and what reason he might say to get hold of us, uh mhhmm  sorry punish us.  Once he made us enact a play since we said we didn’t know that story, with a friend playing the lead role in THE EMPEROR’s NEW CLOTHES. Chair on his head as the king, few as ministers and two others as the tailor etc., slapped, punched, kicked and finally asking him to wear that invisible dress.. (Avar veetla thanni varala na kooda adivaanginathu naanga than) isn’t that the dumbest thing ? Uh Uh no wait...  I was the class monitor that time, and one of my cousins who studied with me in that same class had a dirty white shoe, he said that I ignored his mistake just because I was his cousin. And yea, I was beaten to death for the next 25 minutes. Vijendar Singh would have surely lost to him if he was allowed to put up a fight.

                      I was once made to stand out of the classroom with my chair and missed half my exam because I "supposedly" kicked the chair while i was getting up to keep my lunch bag. The chair , it seems , was a property of the school and hence , in the eyes of mr.xx , i kicked the school and that’s why i was made to stand out with the chair.” (yaaruku pirantha enna da ? Suga presavam thaanae- that logic applied),..  don’t start judging I say, hold on… !

               Once myself and my frd were drinking some water from the can after the games period...(4-4:20 hour - compulsory games)...As I was drinking water, my friend suddenly grabbed the tumbler from behind....the whole glass of water spilt on the floor...mr.xx saw that, caught us by our collar and took us to his room.. he then gave us a full drum of water, two tumblers and asked us to empty the whole drum of water eventually we had to drink d full drum... (periya arunachalam appa, panathoda vaadayae thegaataatha mathiri oru punishment vera)

                 Playing with a football beneath the table tennis board just before our real football game, resulted in a “sitting on the ball and rolling it ~ 1 full round”..  so that everyone on that campus is aware of my new punishment ! Whattae, I’m damn sure he has a book written by now : “experimenting with punishments”. Not over yet, I was slapped in front of every single member of the school, hit with a flag bearing 3 foot pole just because my marching was erroneous. And then, My class made some noise  (well which class doesn’t make noise ? :P ), and so they had to kneel beneath a neem tree for that whole hour (red sand + hot sun = his favorite) . Well, I didn’t complete my homework one other day and so I was asked to do “BUNNY JUMPING” around that campus 3 times ! If you forget to bring your swimming costume, you will be asked to "DUCK WALK” around that pool for the next 40 minutes (dreadful you know, you cant walk properly after that)

                Trolling someone is a deadly sin, well even if he punished someone who was in that scene or who went for that excursion then it’s fine. But punishing someone who has never met his friends for the last 15 days and holding him responsible for everything that happened there, is absolutely ridiculous.  (pakkathu veetla paavadai kaanama pona kooda athuku enna than your honour arrest panraanga). One of my classmates delivered a speech (compulsory one), it was a last minute preparation and so he stammered a lot. Instead of punishing him, one other guy was sent out of the class claiming that he introduced this style of preparation.. (nalla kelapuraainga ya beedhiya).. There are so many such incidents that can even make me give a precautionary note as “not for the weak hearted or pregnant ladies” :D

                 Students are mischievous, and I guess that’s how normal kids behave. They way to bring them en-route is of course not by means of such terrible punishments but by love. We are the clay in the hands of the potters. Molding is such a tedious task, look at Dr. Ambedkar’s life :) that shows how well he was molded by a “teacher”. I know a certain friend who writes down mr.xx’s phone number in all those advertising forms or registration forms even now after so many years. Look at that, I mean look at that type of scar !