Unnecessary complications

 As it is we have been having great trouble keeping up with the numerous Income Tax demands and notices that keep coming in every other day.  Added to that there is the constant flux of FCRA norms and rules.  

But the icing on the cake is when we have to explain to confreres how to send out mails: where to find 'reply all', how to log in using the recovery phone, that there is a thing call 'incognito mode', to send out a reply the main first mail using the text received in one of the subsequent mails in the same conversation, where to find 'bcc' or even 'cc' - leave alone explain to them what each stands for and does! 

Today is one of those days, where explaining a simple thing as sending out a multiple reply or logging into a mail account lying dormant for months, was more complicated and taxing than what those mails were about!!

Prayer and meaning - mismatch

 This particular thought occurred to me the first time when I was in the UK.  All of a sudden, when deeply engaged in reading the heavy philosophical texts as part of my study, it hit me that I was not really paying attention to what I was reading!  It was true that I wasn't distracted, or was not paying attention to the text I was reading, just that my mind was simultaneously busy with something else. 

I could conveniently read a text and still be gladly letting my mind think of something else altogether, without breaking the flow of reading. I tried if reading aloud helped me concentrate on the text, rather than let my mind be on something else and surprisingly I found that it was easier that silent reading!! 

I couldn't get my mind around this strange phenomenon that I noticed in myself and tried to see how and where could I have picked up this habit of disconnecting my eyes, mouth and mind! I soon found the source: during prayer! One day, sooner than later, it struck me that I was praying the breviary, the psalms, but my mind was elsewhere.  That's when it hit me that over the years, I've learnt to think of something totally unrelated to what I am reading - thanks to my community prayer moments!  I can confidently, in a loud and clear voice, read the psalms from the breviary, all the while thinking about my office work or plan a budget!  

Over the years I've tried to break this unhealthy habit, but with no success. I realise I've deeply imbibed it unconsciously, perhaps. 

'Head'lines

 Some headlines and the accompanying photos are a hilarious mismatch... 

The arrived

 Every group has a variety of members and a greater assortment of leaders! The Salesian community or Province too is no exception. 

Glancing at the working style (without making any moral or character judgement) of the leaders of our communities, we get to see a wide variety.  There are those who are simple. They know they are not complicated or omnipotent and therefore go about their work, seeking assistance and are open to guidance. Then there are those who go about as if they know it all. No consultation. Unwilling to alter course, even if they recognise they have made a blunder. And it is always somebody else's fault - everytime.

I remember a particular phrase Fr Camillus, the former Provincial of Chennai, would use to describe the latter: the arrived confreres!

A little help, please

Five-year old Jack was in the kitchen as his mother made supper.  She asked him to go into the store-room (the place where much of the provisions were stored) and get her a can of tomato soup. But li'l Jack didn't want to go in alone there and cried: "It's dark in there and I'm scared, Mamma" 

She asked again, and he persisted in his refusal. Finally she said, "Jack, look… there is nothing to fear in going to that store-room. Jesus will be in there, with you…" 

 The constant request and this assurance made Jack to walk hesitantly to the door and slowly open it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, got all frightened and started to leave… … when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you, please, hand me that can of tomato soup?!"

The anecdote ends here.

But just to add a twist... Jack does get his request fulfilled and he gets a can of the soup, standing at the door. He is ecstatic. Runs back to the kitchen clutching the can like a trophy. And tells his mum what happened. What would mum have said?

Medical donation

While in the UK, I was fortunate to enjoy good health.  So much so, I had to visit the local health centre only once in 5 years.   Nonetheless, I am also aware that in some centres, getting an appointment was sometimes so delayed that by the time your appointment date draws near, your ailment has either naturally healed or aggravated to such an extent that one would have to call for an ambulance.  

The primary reason for such delays was because some (particularly elderly) would book appointments practically everyday.  And that too for small petty health issues, which actually need no medical intervention. Their health anxiety and fear of mortality was so high that they needed constant treatment. 

Luckily in India, we are a bit more resilient.  Perhaps it also has much to do with the financial burden that one would like to avoid.  We visit a doctor or a hospital only in extreme cases.  Otherwise, most of us resist going anywhere near a health centre.  When all home remedies and suggestions of every aunt has been followed, but with no improvement; or rather, one is totally bedridden, then we think of visiting a doctor. But among the Salesians there seem to be a few who prefer this medical tourism. Every other day they come asking to be taken to some doctor or the other, on the pretext of some ailment or trouble. To one such, I had the joy of saying, "'No!  There is no need of visiting any doctor or going to a hospital.  There is nothing wrong with you!" But I'm aware he is approaching everyone, in the hope that someone will actually take him or let him go by himself to the hospital.  

I have a better proposal: offer him to Gandhi Hospital (government hospital of Hyderabad) for medical research.  He can stay at the hospital itself, offering his illness for experimental treatment. It would do a lot of good to everyone! 

God's inadequacies

 Watching the movie, Karuppu, reiterated even God's inadequacies in the face of human free will.  In a fantasy world, God can play the 'God mode' and 'set right' all things! But in reality, even God is limited! The movie attempts to 'liberate' God and assist him work 'outside the God-mode'. It even throws an open challenge to God to work in and as the human mould.  So far so good! 

However, the rest of the movie takes recourse to a fantasy, without making any serious effort at addressing an evil plaguing our Indian judicial system. The closest the movie comes to making a possible response or proposing a way forward, through the maze of the judiciary is citing fear.  Fear among the people, especially those directly involved in judicial matters: lawyers, judges, court staff... Fear primarily of the Divine.  But, that is a very lame attempt.  

For if those involved in the court process were God-fearing, the whole system would have never got corrupted in the first place.  And if everyone was so obedient to God, the courts would be redundant! 

In comparison to this movie, the other recent movie of Surya titled Jai Bhim is a much more powerful and sensible one. 

Nonetheless, the movie is a rather good trigger for discussion in a Theodicy class.  God is omnipotent, and almighty, all powerful; but before the human free will, God makes himself and is 'limited'. 

Travesty of Justice

To take my mind off the hundred and one things that were literally eating my brain, I watched the Tamil movie Karuppu, yesterday. Wrong choice!! It only added fuel and angst to my already preoccupied mind.

The movie is centred around the Indian judiciary system, or rather the inbuilt corruption and red tape that cripples the system so badly that while apparently everything is as per the process, the results are totally skewed and wrong.  The process itself, is so prolonged that even when justice is served, the intermediary costs are exorbitant.  The movie clearly indicates that even if God himself were to follow the legal procedure, he/she would be unable to do anything differently!  

Having to undergo the same judicial trials of matters concerning various issues of the communities, in the last four years, I could very much vibe with the sentiments of the victims, as I watched the movie.  The only difference being, the dozen cases that I'm involved in aren't anything serious or life-altering for me personally or for the community that I'm representing.  But that is not the case for most people approaching the courts for justice.  Their needs and demands are far, far, far more pressing, basic and absolutely human.  A decision - if at all, one arrives at it - is enough to break a family, shatter dreams, plans and even alter the lives of individuals and families irrevocably. Besides the corruption underlying the whole system, the duration these court cases take is perhaps the most agonising and traumatic aspect. 

During my 5 year tenure so far, there is only one case that has seen us walk out of the court for good. Only one.  That too after 17 long years! Presently there are 11 ongoing issues, with 9 of them being initiated within the last 5 years!  

The part and the whole

 What if one confrere constantly gets his various parts repaired!  He is regularly getting some part or the other of his body treated. Sometime it is his eyes that need check up.  Other times there are multiple operations to cure his hearing.  Then there are visits to the dentist.  Not to count the number of hospitalisations for various other reasons. 

By itself, it sounds odd. But what is more annoying to me is that the person himself is doing no good.  As a whole he is not involved or actively contributing to anything anywhere.  So I'm wondering what is he getting himself repaired for?  

Or perhaps I'm getting paranoid or manic about the individual!

Stay hidden

 The pic says it all!