The "Crossword"

The word of the Cross – that of the Jesus – is plain and clear: love one another and have faith that the Lord will save you . The only condition is that you should have total faith in Him and it will work wonders for you. And, it's just for anybody.

Just after I read about the Lord on Maundy Thursday listed on the newslist below the particular item was the usual Crossword slug. But that day (in April first week of 2010) to notice it immediately after I finished reading the item about Good Friday was more than a coincidence I thought.

The word then I thought was Crossword – the word of the Cross.

That's what the world needs more than anything else: faith, love, humanity, acceptance and tolerance.

Time and effort

It will look as though time is flying and we can't keep pace with it. When everything goes well, everything seems well. Once things go awry, one tends to find out why and perhaps may not get the real answer.

On close analysis one will find that the effort one puts in anything worthwhile doesn't go waste after all. In short periods of time so many things happen around us. Keep your eyes and ears open.

Well, one would not have earned praise, favour, recognition, awards and rewards, and other materialistic things despite doing one's best in the face of odds. But, hey, wait and watch.

All these efforts are going to reflect in one form or the other, here now or there later. Someone has seen or monitored your thoughts and actions. And you will be appropriately rewarded or punished.

And that's when you stray into the territory of the unknown. Just who takes note of all your actions, when do these things fructify and who will be the beneficiaries?
You may get the answer now or later in this life or next life.

The possibility of those who knew of your thoughts, actions, ideals and goals getting the answers or enjoying the beneficial effects or otherwise is very much
there.

Heredity and environment

What we think and do today is not just influenced by thinking and previous experiences in this life. Something extraneous to our thinking and not influenced by present thinking power could be felt by anyone at some point of time. Whether this is a result of our past karma or our genes working taking leaves out of our ancestors' life codes is what is to be explored.

When I listen to old Hindi songs, for example, I do not know how my mind and brain connect to the sounds and lyrics, though I do not understand the language. This could be partly attributed to some films I had seen in my childhood and songs listened to from radio as TV was not there then.

I wonder whether the detailed reading of newspapers evolved from my maternal grandfather's trait. In my childhood I had seen him read the paper line to line with "hmmm...hmmm" sound from his toothless mouth. He was too old at that time. But his analytical outlook could be seen from the comments in his diaries about different writers on various issues in the then Karachi.

Genetic traits apart, is there anything that influences a person's thinking and behaviour?

God particle

The scientific community, including Stephen Hawkings, has defended the experiment, citing the benefits that will accrue like breakthroughs in the energy area and forming of theories of how the universe was formed and why the world is what it is today. They also defend the expenditure saying the costs involved is much less compared to

what is being spent on the International Space Station. The project director said that clash of protons was already taking place in the upper atmosphere and no black hole had formed there.

Despite all this they cannot be 100 per cent sure of what will happen in case a black hole is formed and the complex machine and experiments go out of control.

They are trying to zoom in on what is called the God particle that matters most and about which scientists admit they know little.

My answer is we should be happy with the way the world is and focus on research that will solve pressing problems such as pollution and global warming. With the likely danger of an atomic mishap -- mind you they are trying to create conditions that existed after the Big Bang -- is it really necessary? Further, all atomic research carries

the great risk of technology passing into the wrong hands for wrong uses like the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japanese cities.

And unlike space exploration we are doing this test right under our feet. And what if God decides that the world shall end the same way it was formed!

Of water in moon

Did it take such long
For earthlings to
discover water in me!
Mother always
Knows springs of
Affection that wells up
In me quite often
And my love for her
Can never dry up
As much as my tears
Of joy and sadness

(Written three days after it was announced -- in September 2009 --
that Chandrayaan-1, the aborted moon mission,
discovered water on moon.)

For a sane society

The media, chiefly electronic media, went to town again with the tragic death
of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) in a helicopter
crash in the jungles near Kurnool.

If newspaper reports are to be believed, as many as 140 people died unable to bear
the loss of his death. How much of this is true is a moot point. But at least some deaths
could be attributed to the shock and grief graphically conveyed by the media.
Mass hysteria, among the supporters, spurred by the almost non-stop
coverage of his death and its impact was a factor.

The hype that surrounded YSR's death was such that one wondered whether he was a
national leader of such standing who deserved so much coverage. Even a small stone
is a big brick for the TV channels to throw at the public. The one news channel that
tried to maintain some balance was Headlines Today.

After all the dust has settled, the question that remains in focus is the mindless
and sensational coverage of the electronic media on senstive issues. Clearly, some
guidlines are needed and some self-regulation will go a long way in ensuring a sane and
healthy society.

When Moon visited India

It comes once in a bluemoon
When the daughter
In the sky
Visits celestial mother

Comes calling
Soon after the search
For her beautiful face

Casting her might
Her silken saree
Caressing mother
For longer time
Before vanishing

Back in her spot
She starts smiling
Till mother sees
The bloom
Then hides again

(Written after the total solar eclipse on July 22, 2009)