My wish for you, my child!

My wish for you is that you blossom into a strong, confident and independent person. I wish you to stand tall in this world and to learn to depend on yourself. I wish you to find your passion and have trust in yourself so that you can learn to rise after every failure and not rest until you have achieved what you want in life. I wish you to not depend on money or material things for your happiness, but to learn to appreciate the people who love you, the simple beauty that God gave you and to find peace and security within yourself. I wish you to learn to give and earn respect, and above all respect yourself so that you can hold strong to your convictions. I wish you to learn grace, integrity and humility because these are the seeds of greatness.

When Humanity died...

Yes, you guessed it right. This post is about the barbaric attack on a school in Peshawar by Taliban. And I have no words to even condemn it. I had tears in my eyes when I read the newspaper this morning. My emotions brim out when I read people condemning it on social media. No, there are no words that can say in exact terms how so very cowardly and condemnable the attack is.

Yesterday in the middle of a day long training, I opened Facebook on my phone for a breather and saw updates from people condemning the Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar. I instantly felt nauseated. But, then I did not have the luxury to dwell upon it yesterday. Then, in the evening there were messages from concerned mother's of my daughter's school mates questioning whether they should talk to the school authorities to brace up security to tackle such insane attacks. I was surprised. I could understand that they were also affected by the news, but what my mind could not understand - can never understand - is how can one be prepared for such an attack. How can one even imagine such barbarianism from anyone?

Children are the most innocent souls in the world. Does that make them easy targets? Probably yes. And these religious fanatics? Does their religion tell them to kill children? If for one instance, I even believe that all their 'Jihad' is the word of God, or their Prophet, and they should kill all 'Kafirs', I still don't understand how children could be branded as 'Kafirs'.

I am deeply disturbed. It matters not whether they were Pakistani, or Muslims, or Mujahids, or kids of the same army personnel who have fought against my own country. What matters is that they were kids. They didn't know any better. They didn't even understand your war. They deserved to know more, to grow up, to see the world, to see life, to bring smiles to their parents, to make them proud, to... well, I can go on. But, the words that ring in my mind are that they will never come back to their parents now. And their grades won't matter, and their little mischiefs would be deeply missed, and their loud noises will never be required to be suppressed, and their shrieks of laughter will never break the silence of their homes, and everything will go on in the world and Talibans war will continue but the lives of their parents would be forever incomplete.

It's true when they say: "The smallest coffins are the HEAVIEST!"

Refreshing my faith in God

We all might have read this poem somewhere or the other. But it's still a good reminder that God will carry us through all of our life's rough patches.

Someone Somewhere is not as happy as you

Sometimes in life we feel so blue,
but someone somewhere is not as happy as you.
Somewhere far at the border when a soldier sleeps,
missing his loved ones he silently weeps.
Somewhere a mother painfully sighs,
'cause her new born baby didn't open his eyes.
Somewhere a poor dad silently cries,
when he sees his son begging for a bowl of rice.
Somewhere in an orphnage a little girl is sad,
when she misses her mom and dad.
So at times a reason to smile
you may not have any,
Say to yourself that you are happier than many.
'Cause life is beautiful and it's not always blue,
And someone somewhere is not as happy as you.

- Unknown
(poem courtesy: Deepa Chandrasekhar)

I pray to God...

I pray to God so kind

To lead me away from the blind
If darkness shrouds me today
I trust it will soon go away
For God is my light
For God is my light

I pray to God so humane
Not to keep me away from trials insane
But to give me strength to fight
The battles with all my might
For God is my strength
For God is my strength

I pray to God so generous
To give me knowledge precious
To guide through the high tide

To help towards prosperity stride

For God is my wisdom

For God is my wisdom

I pray to God so benign
To let me win hearts divine
To make me amiable and humble
Affectionate, benevolent, gracious and gentle
For God is my tolerance
For God is my tolerance

May God bless the departed souls!

A few days ago, two major tragedies struck India. Two accidents, gruesome in their nature, took away numerous lives: The Mangalore Plane crash and the Bihar Train derailing. My heart goes out to the departed souls; may they rest in peace. My prayers are with their families; may they find comfort in their hours of grief. Death is inevitable eventually, but the suddenness of parting with near and dear ones, moreover hale and hearty joyously bubbling people, pierces ones heart apart. But such is fate and we cannot fight it out. In God’s will we must abide and in his mercy we must rejoice.

I would like to put down a small prayer for all the departed souls:

When sorrow comes, as come it must,
In God a man must place his trust.
There is no power in mortal speech
The anguish of his soul to reach,
No voice, however sweet and low,
Can comfort him or ease the blow.


He cannot from his fellow men
Take strength that will sustain him then.
With all that kindly hands will do,
And all that love may offer, too,
He must believe throughout the test
That God has willed it for the best.

We who would be his friends are dumb;
Words from our lips but feebly come;
We feel, as we extend our hands,
That one Power only understands
And truly knows the reason why
So beautiful a soul must die.


We realize how helpless then
Are all the gifts of mortal men.
No words which we have power to say
Can take the sting of grief away -
That Power which marks the sparrow's fall
Must comfort and sustain us all.

When sorrow comes, as come it must,
In God, a man must place his trust.
With all the wealth which he may own,
He cannot meet the test alone,
And only he may stand serene
Who has a faith on which to lean.

- Edgar A. Guest