School of Rock Vs High School Musical Trilogy Vs Moulin Rouge

The Movie which I watched and loved lately :

Oh my God, I could not ask a better Gift than this! Certainly critics don't rate this movie high when compared with Bruce Almighty. But I am quite convinced that this movie will stay in my memories forever. Such a nice movie on God's love, human relations and so on..

Some of the funniest dialogues are : Evan(steve carell) after acknowledging God's love and his commands to build an ark goes through a psychological struggle with this family members. His wife and three kids leave the home leaving Evan to question God's love. Suddenly he asks, "Wouldn't you God ? please , love me less."

When Morgan Freeman(God) speaks to Evan's wife in a cafeteria, those scenes and words of wisdom are celestial and charming. Nothing could replace that part.

It is a must watch, i would give a 9/10 hmmm...

Well I am planning to watch 40 year old virgin too... :-)

The World's Fastest Indian

I happened to watch this wonderful movie named, "The Worlds Fastest Indian." It's about a Newzealand chap's passionate journey of following his heart- building a race bike - all by himself- and making it count in the international motor show held at USA.

His old age(64) or the angina associated with his ageing does not deter his attitude towards the race.The dignity and pride associated with his work makes him oblivous of its outcomed. My perspective has already changed on how I look at people doing mean jobs(meagre wages) around me. I have always pitied them for their destitute situation, and the restricted resources with which they have to ride their life. But now I learn that nothing is mean or rude unless you do it without interest or just for the sake of money. So I urge you all to follow your hearts.When you were created by God, he definitely had a purpose in mind and engraved it in your minds too. When you get a chance to choose between heart and brain, choose wisely.

But the way Burt Munro(Anthony Hopkins) looked on his life was peculiar as well as charming. He didn't even have the luxury of buying tickets to USA -- to exhibit his bike there. But still he kept on working, reminding that God will certainly open a door for him. Then after several hardships, he made it to the place and went to impeccable glory by fulfiling his dream. He recorded the highest speed(201 mph?) ever and that record stands still today (source:Wiki). It was a true story in case you haven't figured it our before.

Hurricane Nisha

Chennai was left shattered and dark for the past two days. Thanks to Hurricane Nisha which made candle light dinners possible in every chennaiites home, with the EB authorities suspending power due to fear of of short circuits. While people started opening small boat shops, the Hurricane slipped away silently into the seas after making most of the damages on Wednesday and Thursday. 

         Our municipal corporation were gracious enough while constructing roads. Seems like they had bigger plans of converting the roads into swimming pools during rainy seasons, to give the Chennaiites a feel of lake riding through the mount road and adequate preparation before the next Tsunami strikes.

       EB authorities were delighted at the possibility of shutting powers indefinitely as a precautionary measure. They were able to save power with water logged streets and flooded area levels reaching past EB posts. If that was not enough, dams were opened to prevent them from breaking. What an idea ? Finally the residents of Velachery could do nothing except to borrow sailing skills from their vyasarpadi residents and making thermocoal cuttings to sail across their homes. 

       The water level in my area reached a peak and had higher chances of entering into my home. If it were not for God's mercy, the rain would have swept across our house leaving us in despair exposing us to infectious diseases and breeding grounds for mosquitoes. I could not relate to the woes of the ailing families caught in isle of waters surrounding their house. Truly it must have been a devastating experience to be dealt with.

       I could not imagine how Noah's days would have been when the rain poured continously for six months incessantly. It must be true that the water reached mountain tops. Thank God. We were fortunate enough to escape such a downpour. But still be on the watchout for potholes in the centre of roads(even .. TAR toads). Don't easily put your vehicle through a water stagnant area without knowing the area road before hand. 

       The TAR roads in my area were the first to succumb to rain forming dentures and fissures with every vehicle falling into its depth making it even more problematic. Adulteration to the core. God save us!!

The Answer my friend... is blowin in the wind...

Ed Ames Song Lyrics :

From the canyons of the mind,
We wander on and stumble blindly
Through the often-tangled maze
Of starless nights and sunless days,
While casting for some kind of clue
Or road to lead us to the truth,
But who will answer?

Side by side two people stand,
Together vowing, hand-in-hand
That love's imbedded in their hearts,
But soon an empty feeling starts
To overwhelm their hollow lives,
And when we seek the hows and whys,
Who will answer?

High upon a lonely ledge,
a figure teeters near the edge,
And jeering crowds collect below
To egg him on with, "Go, man, go!"
And who will ask what led him
To his private day of doom,
And who will answer?

On a strange and distant hill,
A young man's lying very still.
His arms will never hold his child,
Because a bullet running wild
Has cut him down. And now we cry,
"Dear God, Oh, why, oh, why?"
And who will answer?

(Full melody the rest of the song)

If the soul is darkened by a fear it cannot name,
If the mind is baffled when the rules don't fit the game,
Who will answer? Who will answer? Who will answer?

In the rooms of dark and shades,
The scent of sandalwood pervades.
The colored thoughts in muddled heads
Reclining in rumpled beds
Of unmade dreams that can't come true,
And when we ask what we should do,
Who? Who will answer?

'Neath the spreading mushroom tree,
The world revolves in apathy
As overhead, a row of specks
Roars on, drowned out by discotheques,
And if a secret button's pressed
Because one man has been outguessed,
Who will answer?

Is our hope in walnut shells
Worn 'round the neck with temple bells,
Or deep within some cloistered walls
Where hooded figures pray in halls?
Or crumbled books on dusty shelves,
Or in our stars, or in ourselves,
Who will answer?

If the soul is darkened
By a fear it cannot name,
If the mind is baffled
When the rules don't fit the game,
Who will answer? Who will answer? Who will answer?
Alleluiah! Alleluiah! Alleluiah!

Annie J. Flint - An extraordinary poet with extra ordinary disabilities yet how?

1. He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
   He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
   To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
   To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
2. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
   When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
   When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
   Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
3. Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
   Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
   Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
   The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
4. His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
   His power no boundary known unto men;
   For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
   He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Prayer to my God

O Thou who camest from above,

the pure celestial fire to impart
kindle a flame of sacred love
upon the mean altar of my heart.

There let it for thy glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return,
in humble prayer and fervent praise.

Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
to work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up thy gift in me.

Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make my sacrifice complete.

Love - What is it and how do the present generation fight it ? Yes , How do they win their love ?

'Love' is one of the most sacred words I have ever heard. While there are several types of love as identified by ancient Greeks -- Philo , Eros and Agape . This post discusses the second one which is the most confused as we know.  

Eros is a type of bond shared between a boy and a girl mostly involving romantic relationships.

Some see it as a passage to express their care for someone while others take it as a relationship to satisfy their personal desires and momentary needs. The present day love barely stands on the pillars of media projected love relationship.  Some fall prey to adoloscent infatuation confusing friendship  with love. These to some extent owe their share to peer pressure and the society we live in. Shakspeare once talked about , " Love at first sight ." Well , I am still trying to figure out whether he was drunk when he wrote that :) . Looks and beauty are not a good point to start with your so called 'Love'. Sadly , what Shakspeare said is irrefutably the plight of human beings. Each one will find something different and appealing in others in their first meeting or in due course after spending days together.If it happens the second way, I feel it’s well and good.

 

I have seen people swapping girl friends just like switching channels on a T.V . To those light hearted souls , it is just another mischevious page in their dairy of life - probably beefed up with colour and fun-filled days. They are always on a lookout for someone to support and be with them through their darkest and happy times. Things get topsy curvy when a break-up happens owing to family problems and ego clashes. Some stand against all the odds fighting their way to achieve what they want. Others simply compromise that they were not really made for each other and be on the backfoot , embracing the family and live in memories of the good times they shared - once upon a time. 

 

The last question which comes between people who love is -- How are they going to break the jinx with their family ? Some take a daring attempt to answer this question combating the sorrows and difficult situations thrown by the society while others simply succumb to it , paving way for their parents happiness and social acceptance. It's left to the individual.It all depends on how mentally prepared the couple are. With a society which bases its pride and existence on caste , love is still a blasphemous word to most of the Indian families. They are simply not ready to let off their pride to accept an inter-cultural marriage. Their fears are justified - we should not simply ignore the fact that they will be treated as social outcasts by their own relatives.  Still,  there are good families who are more interested in their children's future , who let go off their caste and family relations , to stand beside the couple and acknowledge their love. But rarely do we find such scenario. 

 

More on the cause and effect , the bonds shared between lovers and who are successful in future posts.

 

A breathtaking testimony

Click here for reading an amazing testimony by Dr. Srinivasa Bhattachary

Sometimes we need somebody to help overcome our ignorance. Hope it helps you in the pursuit of the truth.

Its not a full stop , its just a comma!!!

The dusk of FIFA and the dawn of my understanding:

Here's a confession(it teaches you lessons) of sorts to all Game-addicts, Internet-addicts and whatever-addicts out there :

I once came across this game called FIFA'07 and wanted to master it. There's no wonder that we don't feel this kind of determination to conquer things in our academics or life. Like every other kid, I always loved the air of chill after winning a game. Oh! How glorious it would be to kick a swinging corner shot or a direct fireball from the half line ! The passion which caught me first turned into addiction and I never realised that. I whiled away time neglecting the other little pleasures of this world, and sometimes getting irritated to do my own daily chores. It was something which cannot be simply left un-noticed or convived(GRE padichathula chinna santhosham). Days passed by without any change. The little time I used to spend creatively shrinked and I was nowhere for many days. I achieved nothing except for soar eyes and a cluttered head after every game(even..if I win).


One fine day , I had to make a choice. Choice always comes with his arch-rival called sacrifice. If there are two good options, you have to sacrifice one and embrace the other. After all, you will love to choose the one which returns the greatest favour. My Lord struck me in the form of my friend and rebuked me for bothering least about the other things which I have left un-turned. Things which are to be tested and tasted for its goodness. I was neglient. May be a game or two a day(like an apple a day) can save you time and peace of mind, but I did not want this routine to inhibit my passion for trying new things. I realised that it becomes a habit and it gets worser unless you have some control (it was the case with mine and most of the young people). However there are some rare exceptions like Shankar :) .

Dear friends ,
I don't suggest you to become an 'ascetic' and give-up FIFA once for all in your life. Anything which tries to control you is dangerous. We cannot forsake the little pleasures in our life ; we need something to cherish and laugh about. I can boast that I have got enough of this tonic(FIFA) to convert one of my future mechanical work-oriented life into a merry day just by recalling a memory of it. I have tasted it and found it good. The journey is everlasting and never-ending. I just don't want to miss out several other , FIFA-like-pleasures which God has created me and lying out in the open fields. Its not a full stop , its just a comma!!! :)


Jai Praveen.


P.S: Only God knows, I may install FIFA'09 and try that too.lolllz
For all you folks who haven't played FIFA , you have missed 'something' in your life. Better download hamachi and rock-on for sometime.Make it a testimony of how good life is and not a confession ;)

Wilderness training by God - But why?

When I finish this post , you will be able to explain anyone 'Why evil exists in the world and why there is suffering in this world?'. Pastor Teju started the sermon with a scripture from

Hosea 2:14
"Therefor, Behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her."

'I' here refers to God and 'her' refers to God's children and that includes not only Israelites but also us. Why does God want us to enter into wilderness? Is God a sadist to lead us into a dangerous path and then take pleasure in watching us suffer ? [ Definitely NO!] He lead the Israelites towards the fertile land which flowed with honey - Canaan - as promised to their forefather Abraham. He promised us heaven and eternal peace for eternity, but do we have them or atleast are we on the path to reach them? God made us know the destination and endpoint but what about the route?? Is God playing the fool with us by leading us astray into the wilderness and then comforting us? I ask these questions just to trigger your thoughts and opinions.

Three things are to be noted carefully from the above scripture verse and what does God want to communicate from it?

1.] Imagine a case where the Earth is full of heavenly places and desert was some place which was hard to find. The mere thought of it creates a nice feeling and comfort. But will it always keep us in a close relationship with the Master who made us ? We will soon forget Him and remember only His works. Not only that, we will attach ourselves closely to this world and forget the place which our father in Heaven has reserved for us . God wanted to test and correct our ways before we reach Heaven. So he created something like wilderness which is devoid of all earthly beauty. While we go through the tribulations and sufferings , God speaks to us during our times of our endurance. Soon we will start to depend on Lord for everything and reciprocate his grace towards us. He takes us through a journey of tears and pain , teaching us to trust in Him even at times of despair and depression. It also creates a hatred towards this worldly pleasures and when we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will show us great and mighty things which we have not seen. Of course, God created the world for us to enjoy and live in harmony. But the technology advancements have only widened the gap between God and mankind besides creating a materialistic and self-centered society. It is rare to find people who really do care for their fellow human beings nowadays.

I Corinthian 7:31 clearly teaches us not to misuse this world.To sum up, " Too much of friendship with this world is enemity with God."



2.] This point will be incomplete without starting with the centre verse of the Bible ,

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" says Psalm 118:8.

When we go through the wilderness, it's easy to catch up with fever or allergy . When we have a doctor at our side , we will take the medicines with great faith in his diagonsis skills and rely heavily on it. Eventually we may get cured. But under certain cirumstances, when we get an incurable. In a similar way, God wants us to learn, to trust in Him , in all our ways - whether it be small or big.

This was the second reason for God to take the Israelites through the wilderness. Their faith was shattered and mended - it grew with time and learnt from God. Similarly whenever you face a tough time in our life , just say 'I trust in the Lord with all my heart, mind and soul'. He would love to hear us saying that and will not allow us to be tempted beyond which we can bear. The moment you raise your hand and heart in prayer, he will start fighting for you. Sometimes our situation may seem desperate and totally lost, but He will watch us closely and bless us till our cup overflows once we cross the temptation.


3.] The crux of the third point is , " God wants us to love Him , more than anything in this world." When I say this , most of us may get a feeling of ascetic and spartan life. The answer my friend is -- please think carefully. He wants us to lead a God-centered life rather than a world-centered life. It doesn't mean that we need to surrender all the good pleasures of this world for God's sake. When we live a God-centered life loving him alone and setting a limit for all the worldly things, he will give us all those things which we need. Its true and His mouth has said it,

"For your heavenly Father knows that you need ALL these things. ' But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'" Matthew 6:32,33.

All these things include all that is good for us in this world. Once we focus on God and his righteousness, he will add all the worldly things which we need to our life. Entertainment, happiness, pleasure and other worldly needs are addressed by Him in our life.

Why did God love us? --- Tough question to be answered. Are we sinners , worthy of his unfailing love and mercies? The Answer is pretty simple. There is no reason for Him to love us and that makes God's love unique from Earthly love(sometimes confused with divine love in the case of laila-majna,romeo-juliet :-) ). He wants us to love Him the same way and most of the time we fail when he keeps a simple test. We would have prayed to him the other day thanking Him and singing how much you love Him.But when you fail in an exam or rejected in an interview after long hours of prayer , we start to mumble if not curse or question his existence :-) !!

I would like to end this long blog with a quote from Song of Solomon 8:5 ,
'Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved.'

When we truly understand God's love and trust in Him completely, we like the woman in the desert may come out of the wilderness(world) leaning on our beloved Saviour(Jesus).

Jai Praveen

The Light of the world

Jesus said , " He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light " in John 5:35

'He' here refers to John , the Baptist . In the present world, we always linger in darkness both in mind and heart. There are thousand ways by which we are distracted in our spiritual life. First we need to surrender ourselves to God's will , as John did. He was chosen to announce the coming of the Messiah. He was the sound in the wilderness. He ate nothing but grass-hoppers and honey. He submitted himself to the will of God. No, I don't ask you to eat grass-hoppers and cloth like John(he wore animal skin). We need to draw inspiration from his life.

Jesus , the Light of the world declares John as the lamp. A candle whose source was God with the fuel of the Holy Spirit. There are three things before the light starts to shine upon us :

1. We need to grieve for our short-comings, weaknesses and sins to the Lord. We are nothing but dust made to glorify God. We should acknowledge our creator for what He is. When the first light enters us, it shows us the way we are -- nothing less nothing more. All the dark secrets within us, so far are made to shone in the light which comes from God. For the first time in our life, God gives us a chance to realise ourselves who we are and where do we stand from God?

2. The second light comes and provides solace at our times of trouble. When we are able to see our own sins, the light shows us Jesus , our saviour who has already carried all our sins on the cross. We enjoy a father-children relationship with our creator. We are made heirs in Christ. Oh, what a privilege? There's always a person waiting to take our sins, if we confess. He has already removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. We need not condemn ourselves for our sins. What better can this get?

3. Once we have witnessed and cherished the first two lights, the third light is all about dis-integration of our self. We need to relieve ourselves from us. 'Me' and 'I' should change to 'You'(GOD). He is the source of everything. His hands made the heaven and the Earth. Once we have this wonderful feeling, we can let our light shine upon others.

This light will even expose other people's darkness and make them aware of their transgressions and sins.

This is an excerpt from a short message given by Pastor Joshua. The first time meeting with him happened at MIT Hostels. I was shocked to hear that he was visiting the hostels for the past 15 years! What a God-fearing man , he should be. Bless him Lord and Praise be to Lord forever. Amen


Jai Praveen.

Discouragement

Discouragement is dangerous , started my church Pastor.Get rid of it , else it will even poison who are near you and multiply like a virus.It can kill you spiritually as well as literally. When the Israelites reached the boundaries of the promised land, which is just forty days journey from Egypt, they camped outside Canaan and sent twelve spies to espionage the land that the Lord had promised to them. Ten of the spies brought news that Canaan had abundance of riches,water and fruits , but the land was full of giants and , added that they looked like grass-hoppers before them. But the other two spies said that although there were giants, it was possible to conquer the land since it was assured to them by the Lord himself. What happened then?

The whole of Israel grew discouraged hearing the words of the ten spies , who uttered words of discouragement. They all started weeping and God became angry, since they have refused to believe in the covenant that God had made. What did he do ? He made them wander in the deserts for forty years(!) and favoured their children(next generation) to enter into Canaan - that was their punishment.

When we take a closer look at this incident, we come to know that the people faced words of encouragement (from the two spies) as well as discouragement(from the ten spies). Its natural on the part of human beings to incline on the side of peer pressure. The ten spies compared themselves with the Giants and, the Giants appeared BIGGER whereas the other two spies compared the Giants with GOD and the situation appeared a lot SMALLER. Oh ! What a beauty!
They believed in God's word and assurance.

Whenever we feel dejected or drained out of hope , we may start to question God . Does he really remembers me ? ; -) Has he forgotten me? Where is He? You may be lonely , or even would have prayed all the time seeking God's intervention and help. Sometimes silence kills more compared to thunder and lightning.


When God instructed Noah to make an ark and get into it , before the flood , he gladly heard His voice and did as God commanded. The rains came and washed away all the place on Earth and filled the valleys, and reached the apex of mountains. He stayed inside the Ark for 150 days ! An astonishing fact was that God did not speak to him during those 150 days -- there is no recorded conversation in the Bible. He would have been inside feeling lonely and oppressed under terrible fear of whats going to happen next. He would have been jolted back and forth by the roaring waves and the rough waters. He would have felt horrible like you and me , seemed to be forsaken by God. But something more wonderful happened before the flood.

Genesis 7:1 (King James Version) says that God stayed in the ark with him !!!!

"Then the Lord said to Noah , 'COME INTO the ark , you and all your household because I have seen you righteous before Me in this generation'."

Whenever we are faced with a situation, do not see how big the situation is ? We may appear smaller compared to the situation. But imagine how big our LORD is ! What a mighty God we serve! He's always there to protect us. Sometimes he prevents a danger from happening to us. Sometimes he lets the danger happen to us and reveals his protection in an unimaginable way making us think and trust in Him more.

We may get into a situation of morbid fear where we lose our senses. We won't be able to come to a decision. Suicide and condemnation seems simple compared to living. But then , you may think that no prayer or words of comfort can win you solace. Discouragement can lead to such things. Whenever somebody says that they are discouraged, rebuke them and let them know what a mighty God we serve!!!

Jai Praveen.

Chrisitans and the end of days..

They will put you out of the synagogues ; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service

John 16:2

This was written during the time Jesus lived and I am astound by the relevance with which it addresses the present situation

The massacre of christians is increasing world-wide and to everyone's attention , I can see it happening in my own country. Are the Christians safe here? When a nun being gang-raped and paraded naked in the streets , with the police serving as accomplice, makes me put forward such a question. What has happened to our "democracy" and "image of secularism"?

The end-time prophecies are getting fulfilled every day and the Chrisitians are already preparing a banquet to celebrate the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Besides creating terror in the hearts of Christians in Orissa, Karnataka and parts of Tamilnadu, it has triggered Christian communities to pray fervently for the redemption of the lost flock in a never-before-way. To some of us, who are absorbed in a mechanical work-oriented life , it is just another story where people are killed and fighting in the name of God. We are all busy preparing for a life that will end shortly !

Where will I spend my eternity ?

II Corinthians 5 :1 says , "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ."

Everyone who believes in Christ , that he died for all our sins has already a place reserved in Heaven to spend after eternity. The beauties and glory of Heaven is beyond words and human understanding.




Paul says that in one or other way , every one on this earth has sinned and falls short of the Glory of God. It may be a petty lie, murder, lust,greed and you name it.

Scripture says , " As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions(sins) from us ." What a loving God we have ? He has removed all our sins by the crucifixion of His son.

John 3:16 says , " For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life ."

This is a promise and covenant made by God with the mankind. He wants us to accept all our sins, and sin no more! He is not cruel to condemn us for eternity just because we refused to hear his voice! He gives us chances and opportunities to get closer to him. We may be absorbed by the worldly desires and pleasures ignoring the word of God, yet he will come to help you when you call on His name! Blessed be His name forever. The Bible is not just another book in the shelf preaching moral ethics and disciplines to run our earthly life. Its something more than that -- A PROMISE -- A HOPE -- which every Christian cherishes as he waits upon the Lord to come and put an end to all the tears and sins.

Revelation 21: 4 says , "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed way ."

Dear beloved in Christ , if you are reading this article , it means that God wanted to speak to you and reveal His purpose for you in your life. You may be lonely, oppressed, rejected, sick beyond cure and under demonic influence. Whatever it might be , ask the true God to reveal His ways for you. I pray to God that he may touch your life today and lead you to the eternal life giving waters. God bless you!


Jai Praveen.

Engineering and God

My friends have already started questioning me whether I have become a sage(or in its process) ? My humble answer is No, I have just started to realise my Creator. Sometimes my parents are also disturbed by the fact that I spend too much of time in religious activities, which in turn may disturb my daily chores and studies! Well this argument seems fair and just to a confused mind.

I have confused my daily chores with my spiritual explorations, sometimes getting too absorbed in scriptures that I end up looking half-foolish with incomplete assignments, records and study-oriented activities.

I have questioned myself and wanted to know whether I was in the right path.Then I met my friend who also had similar difficulties.Thank God! I found one for company. While cherishing this new found similarity, I had my normal life running between college and my house(@ Radha nagar). I used to listen to some classes and dump others -- this is the place where I experienced my free will, at its extremes. Sometimes out of empathy(or sympathy :-)) for the living creature standing before me and trying to squeeze information into my dunter head, I force myself into a listening state(engg.students know how hard it is to stay focussed for more than two mins! - ask them). Sometimes I felt like it was my duty and passion to study.Its not Jai Praveen's instincts(good) or some mystical forces.I sorted it out , its partially because of the motivating words and lectures of wisdom which mocks at our Engineering standards(MIT).Thanks to those wonderful persons.

Now that I have introduced the first word of my topic "Engineering" , let me dive into my favourite word "God". I suddenly had this thought in my Optical Communication class(most part of my good brain works during Prof.Ganesh Madan's class).

I , earlier said that it was my nature to confuse Science with religion. Some end up boasting evolution and its (ultra-extra ordinary)orderly behaviour in the formation of Earth and the living beings.Sadly they simply ignore the concept of soul and even the Second Law of Thermodynamics(read it for yourself from Wiki).

Romans 1: 20 says, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and God head,so that they are without excuse."

This was written by Paul to address the non-believers who do not have any idea about God at all.

Ha Haaa! Here I got the point revealed. Looking at things around us, we can easily recognise/acknowledge the existence of God. We are studying for thousands of years,the Omniscient Creator's work , in different branches of studies ranging from Mathematics, Physics, Geography, Chemistry etc., This holds the key to bridge the relationship between Science and Religion.I am happy that my Master gave me the key very soon.

Notice: Subject to update without further notification :-)

Jai Praveen.

GRE and its consequences

I prayed a lot before taking the GRE second time.Unfortunately I did not prepare as well as I prayed ! God did not answer me.My higher studies dreams were a little shattered when I looked into my GRE score on the computer screen at Prometric.Neither could I swallow nor could I vomit.I decided to turn my face away from God for the next few days, the reason being --he failed to respond to my prayers.

When I was in this depressed state, I easily forgot what all I have prayed and asked him.Just then I realised that he had answered some of my prayers.I had previously prayed for a nice heart to accept will and never ever turn away from him.It so happened in the next two days.

After two days of persistent bad mood - somehow I slipped silently into my normal state.God again created the opportunity to speak to Bro.Regis. He made me understand how God gave me chances to get the REAL flavour of life.We cannot get everything we desire.He has a set of plans carefully drafted to fulfil his purpose through me.No one can change it or deny it.

He asked me to meditate on Proverbs 3:5,6,7

"5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart.Never rely on what you think you know.
6 Remember the Lord in everything you do and he will show you the right way. 7 Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you really are "

I remember a song which one of my school teacher(James Sir) taught me while I was in my twelfth standard.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart ,
and lean not unto they own understanding,
Acknowledge him in all his ways,
And he shall direct your path". This song is sung with a very fast pace and it proves how involuntary it should become of us to grab him, as soon as we lose our peace of mind.

He also asked me to read Matthew 6:33 : "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you ."

This instilled in me a sense of divine wisdom and I had a smile(like a child knowing its father) on my face while drafting this blog.

He advised to stop requesting worldly things and pray for the gifts of God!(quite tough to do but lets see what happens in the future).

He advised me not to go behind worldly pleasures.Our eyes must be set and focused on hearing God's word and acting according to his will.

I had a heavenly peace descending upon me after hearing his message via phone.Each time he speaks with me, I can feel the unseen creator speaking through him.It is as though like a wind which cannot be seen but can be felt.I feel in my spirit that I am in the right path with Jesus as my light in my dark days of trouble as well as my a Good shepherd by my side in my merry days.

Professor Ganesh Madan said..

As usual he entered the class with all his slides and motivating thoughts.He was disheartened by the lack of interest in the subject - one could easily guess it from his face.I will write those things that came from his mouth in first person, "If you can write that you do not require this course with a majority of students signing it, the course can be easily removed from your curriculum.It will do more good than you expect.I will be relieved and will have a lesser burden.But also remember, when you do the same for all the subjects you dislike, you will have nothing left and tangible to differentiate between your course and IT. I do not know for what reason you all took ECE.If it was by chance or some parental pressure, you can always reconsider your decision as you are all final years.I will give you all attendance and those who are interested alone can come to my class.Rest will be permitted to write the final exam, irrespective of their attendance. Government spends 5 lakhs to each and every student who graduates out of the college.Had you used your opportunity wisely , some other hard working student who has a real passion for Electronics(even with lesser cut-off ) would have benefited out of it.Please don't advise your juniors(in 12th) and relatives to take up ECE, just because it is considered a hot stream ! People will have to suffer, and ultimately deviate during the years.There is also no sincere effort from the student side to understand a complex subject.It takes some pain to understand the stuff behind the real picture." He finally had a meeting with the HCL guys and left the class.He promised to show us some animation and we are not sure whether we will get that opportunity.

Two people in our department openly and frankly to students expressing their deepest regrets to the present situation of the Electronics Students : Prof.Ganesh Madan and Prof.Kannan. They are extremely talented and MIT must make the most use of them.Sadly, the opposite thing happens! I will share Prof.Kannan's innovative talks to motivate us later in this blog.


Jai Praveen.

Black-out and its impact on my life!

While many troubled souls speak about the power cuts and the practical difficulties associated with it, I would love to write my thoughts about it with a different perspective – the good things which the scheduled power cuts have brought with it ; especially for those at homes during the black-outs .

Reader Attention: Don’t mistake me for a grisly character of misanthropist with an aura of cynicism – I may sound so easily, with the following simple & humble () reasonings.

During power cuts, we are mostly detached from the advancements of human technology , which has made our survival dependent on some energy resource. When a black-out occurs,we are carried away to a dark age , void of light and unwanted noise(caused by machines and 24*7 TV running in our house) – forget emergency lights for my Blog’s sake :) .

We are forced as well as given an opportunity to sit back and enjoy the nature and praise the Intelligent Creator(Jesus Christ, in my case) behind it. Since the power-cuts are scheduled for a day, we not only prepare our daily chores in advance, but also our mind mentally even in the case of whiling away our time.Physically speaking, we sweat a lot and that helps to maintain the proportion of toxic substances in our body. I think we now have enough reasons to say a “Big thanks” to our EB department who have STARTED WORKING with a great vision to make us strong both physically(use our eyes during the darkness) as well as mentally.

Looking at the dark side, the power-cuts are really a pain in the ass for small industries and students. Alas , to the poor planning and blaming of one authority over another.

I spend time reading books(non-academics, of course!) and staring at stars lying flat on our house terrace.I have not done it in years although I would die to do them! ‘EB’ has finally re-kindled the child in me.Wow ! what a feeling it is to take some time in my busy work schedule(includes watching movies, chit-chatting, sleeping ; courtesy:youth, college student) to sit(lie) down and stare at everything, other than computer screens, table cluttered with gadgets and what not!

Other things which I do includes playing FIFA in my new HP laptop gifted by Jesus through my Chithhapa -- giving freely , some drops of my blood to every little mosquito(only fellows with happy faces during the black-outs) buzzing around me .(Karuna parambarai!!).

I look forward gladly for a future, where I can sit idly without any disturbances and temptations to distract my mind and thoughts,still drafting my success story in some corner of the Earth devoid of current and light. Will it happen or is it another page in my book of fantasy? I have more to talk about living and fantasy(my idea of living as projected by my imagination).I will put them later when I fall in proper resonance with my mind again.

Jai Praveen.

God's infinite love and righteousness

Infinite love of Jesus – Secrets of Bible I :

Sermon by Pastor Regis and its short compilation(August 15^th):

I have never ever seen a love as pure and unfathomable as Jesus Christ’s!!

I have attended many sermons and prayers and I never knew why Jesus died on the cross? The day he(Pastor) revealed the truth, I felt how horrible and pathetic it is, to sin against the Holy One of Israel! Pastor Regis said that he asked the question to himself and prayed with tears at the feet of Jesus and he got the answer finally.

Here goes the TRUTH :

The first creation of God(Adam and eve) sinned against him by eating from the ‘Tree of fruit and knowledge’ in Eden. We are also told that Eve was tempted by a serpent to eat from the ‘Forbidden Tree’.

What is that serpent? Where did it come from ?

Well it’s a Biblical secret available only for people in union with God. However Ezekiel chapter 28 speaks of the prophecy against King Tyre(?). Notice carefully and you can see the words ‘Eden’, ‘Angel’ and so on. Read it for yourself.

Now Adam and Eve have sinned and it’s time to come under God’s curse. God had previously said that they will die for sure if they eat from the “Tree of fruit and knowledge”. Did they die as soon as they ate them?

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Before explaining this , let me put forward an analogy for a better understanding:

A day will come when all the old people will have to pass away. Their bodies will lay speechless and motionless! It’s a kind of permanent separation and we don’t expect them to speak again. This is a permanent separation and we call it ‘Death’ in other words.

What if a relative of ours leave to foreign for his career/education?

It’s a kind of temporary separation and it is not called as death.

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Now coming back, God said that Adam and Eve will die if they eat from the “Tree of fruit and knowledge”. They were finally cast away from Eden so that they may NEVER come back. What do we call this separation?

The obvious answer is ‘Permanent seperation’ and we have equated it to death already and thus God’s word is fulfilled. Did God stop with this ? NO.

Genesis 3:24

I have put up verses from a Tamil Bible for better comprehension and wordings.

‘Jeeva virutcham’ is Forbidden tree, ‘F‘Pattayam’ is a sword , ‘sudarolli pattayam’ is burning sword, ‘kerubeankal’ is Angels.

So whoever dies will go into a bottomless pit and never ever enter into Eden again!! If at all they try, they will be struck by the burning sword. What happened then? God so loved the world that he did not want this to happen anymore and wanted to redeem them(us) from the pit. It is for this reason, Jesus Christ was sent to redeem the sinners.

Read Mat 26:31

Did you notice something odd here? It is said that Maipanai vettuvaen? Was Jesus cut or crucified? He was crucified on the cross for all our sins and bought Salvation for all of us!! Why is it ‘vettuvaen’ ?Read Zec 13:7

This was written in the Old testament times and you can see the TRUTH for yourself.Jesus was the Lamb of God(Maipan) who was struck by the burning sword at the Eden to make way for all of us(for all our sins).He bought us salvation this way for : Sins which we have done, we do and which we will do in the future.I cannot describe in words how righteous and loving our Sovereign Lord is! His infinite selfless love !

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Meditate on these verses for a while to understand God’s love.The God who made the Burning sword himself, righteously sent his only Son to suffer and die for us on it.

Pastor Regis meeting and introduction

Pastor Regis meeting and introduction:

Praise be to Lord. Whatever happens , happens according to his will.While I was having fun in my hometown(Tuticorin), I had this opportunity to listen to Pastor Regis counseling and prayer. He was a man of authority ! He was humble and had many gifts of the Holy Spirit : driving out evil spirits, preaching the word of God and so on. I asked him certain Biblical questions which I considered trivial . After briefly narrating about his early days and how God found him stories, he started to ask certain basic questions. He understood that we needed guidance. He appreciated me for my desire to know about God and explained the significance of knowing(or craving to know) the Holy Bible and God’s word.

What is the need to read Bible first?

This is a very important question to be answered!
We need to understand who God is and how glorified he is?

Read Isaiah 1:2-3

2 The Lord said, “ Earth and sky, listen to what I am saying! The Children I brought up have rebelled against me. 3 Cattle know who owns them, and donkeys know where their masters feed them. But that is more than my people Israel know. They don’t understand at all.”


Read John 17:3

And eternal life means knowing you, the only true God and knowing Jesus Christ whom you sent.

Read Hosea 6:6

“I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burning offerings to me.”

says the Sovereign Lord.

Read II Peter 3:18

“But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.To him be the glory, now and forever ! Amen.”

I wish I learn a lot through him and other spiritual members of my family.


Jai Praveen

Corollary for sin

Is sin a concept we have moved beyond in our culture as we have learned to psychologize all our actions and attitudes so that we are not really responsible for our own selves?

To Read more about it : Visit Dr.Brad Munroe's page


Jai Praveen

Q & A : Any problems/depressions?

Check this site for any problems :

Living Bold

These are a compilation of sermons made by Rev.Dr.Brad Munroe and I found them interesting as it related Bible with present day scenarios :

Sermons by Dr.Brad Munroe


Jai Praveen

Assessment vaaram(week)

The first assessment of my final year begins with this subject called Wireless Communication.Very interesting subject - many people are doing their final year project in the networks domain - they may find it interesting not I.Well just joking. I don't hate or like any particular subject.
I opened my book which I borrowed from Spectrum Book bank yesterday(It's a xerox). My mind is cluttered and not in a state to accept information flow.Thank God, I have my exam only at 11'0 clock tomorrow morning.I may wake up early and try to squeeze in some information for the sake of filling the paper.The reason for writing this blog is to get rid of this guilt feeling of being very care free. Besides I am also not able to concentrate on anything else.This happens occasionally and I get into this blues as often as we have full moons(nice analogy hehe!). It takes some time to recoil and return to normal state.. but till then I will not know what I will be doing (Right now, I am blogging).

Virtual Split
Samuel Eto'

My Career Dreams

Basically I lost my interest in Electronics due to lack of motivation and deviation in the first two years.Although I had a good set of friends, I was not intelligent enough to explore the world of electronics.But by Jehovah's(God's) grace as usual, I got introduced to what is called Image processing by my IT classmate Raghavan.I had this unusual habit of creating visuals and patterns in Adobe Photoshop right from my childhood.I always wanted to create something new and which others have not tried before. I have observed that I do things better when I am interested(like all,may be a cliche!). Transistors or diodes did not attract me much as compared to Image Processing. The difference as I noted is that I did not channelise my efforts in learning about the practical side in electronics. But when I started to juggle with images, I had some idea and got my hands into it whenever possible with this amazing tool called MATLAB.Probably I owe it to the easy user interface and the lack of tutorial stuff available.I consumed a lot of online courseware getting help from technical experts in forums.

I realised one fine morning that I had to start with my final year classes.It all came so soon that it took some weeks to realise(hyperbole).I did not have a second thought in choosing my domain for my Masters.

But I tried to ask questions like : What is your career ambition? What are your long term goals ?

To my surprise my mind(or heart) was not able to answer it. Rather it took a complacent view of the world with my increasing spiritual desires. I haven't understood myself clearly! (phew!) Ramblings of a spoilt brat!! But my family and relatives were always there to guide me.

Musings about my future career:

Basically I am a moody person. I don't love to do the same thing again and again.I wanted an environment where I can interact with Biologists, Chemists, Nature Scientists and what not? I wanted to help them with my engineering prowess(which I am yet to develop).Only for this reason, I detest software jobs, I don't like to code with the same C Lang or D Lang.

Classes dull your mind.There's no chance of authentic creativity

--John Nash, A Beautiful Mind.

The day I have a choice to choose between solving an engineering problem and taking a beautiful girl for a ride -- And I can boast on the day about my engg.passion when I choose the former option(geez-criticisms not welcome)


Jai Praveen

The Last Lecture

Every Christian's dream is to be in the Kingdom of God.Well in case I make it to that great great place, I have a whole list of people to see.It starts with Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, Elijah, John the Baptist, and ... Randy Pausch.Yes, he is an Computer Science professor who died recently because of pancreatic cancer.The lecture which he gave at the verge of his terminal-illness inspired thousands. He lived as a role-model and spoke with authority on money, relationship and love.This man seemed so confident on his philosophies and unlike others he lived upto what he preached.He left behind three children and an ailing wife.

His lecture on : Achieving childhood dreams has been a hit among the youtube users and it seems 5 million people have watched it so far.It is all about life and what to get out of it.

Randy Pausch's last lecture at Carnegie mellon university on Sept,2007

This video shows his surprise visit to the graduation ceremony in May'08

The Professor I like..

Imagine yourself sitting in Satyam with popcorn at your left and a girl at your right! I bet you can get this feeling in Prof.Ganesh Madan's class.To put it the better way, his classes are intellectually stimulating ; not to mention his witty sense of humour.
He is an impromptu speaker - you name it - bessel function - optical communication - maxwells equation or even better... a sleeping student.He stuns you with interesting anecdotes and witty sentences to explain complex phenomena.He has the capability to rise the dead back to life with his lectures. :)
I can't still figure out how he learnt so much in this short span of academecia - upto date in his field and technology.The way he guides students amidst his administrative work(over)load simply puts one on their heels.He offered an elective last semester "Opto electronics" and I now realise that I am one of the less fortunate for having missed his classes.But still by God's grace, he's handling Optical Communication for us.Some of his views which he shared in class:

• He expects us to know the limits of a function and have some idea about the solution about the problem we are working at.He often narrates about a student who arrived at an answer of 10^6 Ampere for an 10V circuit.
• The Bottom-up pyramid : if the foundation is not strong, it means the pyramid was built the other way - it was very obvious - The Abdul "Kalam" days are all gone and its now "Kalm" days for MIT - its true! its true!.
• The mathematical assumptions of infinity for solving numerical problems.He often comments on it and says that they are for our understanding.

More to come.I have just attended 7-8 classes and he has left an lasting impression in my heart.Though I don't understand much of the stuff which he talks about, I take that on myself for having a inverted-pyramid structure.I know I can reconstruct - geeez!!

Its raining movies! - Watch Freedom Writers

I refrained from watching movies sometime for now.Thanks to programs which run for hours and my room mate who left to his home town - I had a spare computer to watch movies besides my computer crunching numbers at the other end.Bravo ! I watched three movies together back to back ; one of them inspired me very much - Freedom Writers.The other two movies are Kungfu Panda and Forbidden Kingdom.They both deserve an applause for the "special special" effects and -- thanks to Kungfu(Master Oogway hehe).





Freedom Writers(2007) starring Hillary Swanks is a movie based on "The Freedom Writer's Diary" by Erin Gruewell(American teacher) and her class students.This movie is based on the gang wars and racism thats holding America(and other countries) by its neck.It is a must watch movie and I wish I had someone like Erin Gruewell(as a teacher!!).

Bottomline: Please watch it.Its worth spending two hours!

Secrets of Heaven

I will start off with the verse of this week's(20.07.08) Yabes:

Matthew 16:19
19 I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.





If God can give us the key to heaven -- we can say that the door to Heaven has a lock.The keys referred here are the power and authority given to those who pray fervently.Elijah(old testament prophet) prayed and he opened the sky to shower rain.What are the power and authority which God has promised us? Well its secret - its upto us to pray and get to know about them directly from Him.Some of the following are God's gift through the Holy Spirit to multitudes:

• Gift of tongues
• Gift of driving out demons
• Performing miracles
• Healing the sick and countless others

Pastor Teju quoted three essential qualities which one should possess before one gets access to the authority or Gifts of God:

1.Spirit of Christ:

It refers to the attitude one should possess.Once John and James accompanied Jesus to a village where Samaritans lived.The people resisted Jesus by not allowing him into their town.Suddenly James and John grew angry and wanted to burn the village with the fire from heaven.But Jesus had all the authority one can imagine of.But he never wanted it.He asked John and James whether they wanted this in the right spirit ? Jesus was tortured, battered and insulted but he never cursed anyone for all their misdeeds against him.Instead he prayed to God even before his death to forgive all those who sinned against him.Such is his great Spirit.

2.Mind of Christ:

This speaks about the sufferings which he underwent.He found pleasure in doing God's(Fathers) will.Readiness to suffer for the sake of God is discussed here:

Mark 4:35-37

35 On the evening of that same day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." ... 37 Suddenly a strong wind blew up, and the winds began to spill over into the boat, so that it was about to fill with water. 38 Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping with hsi head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up and said, "Teacher, don't you care that we are about to die?"
39 Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, "Be Quiet!" and he said to the waves, "Be still!" The wind died down, and there was a great calm. 40 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Why are you frightened? Have you still have no faith?"
41 But they were terribly afraid and said to one another, "Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Then Mark 5 says that Jesus healed a man who was possessed with demons and returned to his place.

The crux of this scripture is that Jesus obeyed God's will to sail across river to heal a man off-shore.He could have stayed in his usual place preaching and building the faith of thousands of people.Instead he did what pleased his Father.God will have a different plan and his plans cannot be understood.This point is stressed in Matthew 7:21-23 (Click to see it)

and the last point is


3.Character of Christ:


These were few topics discussed by Pastor Teju in this week's worship.
It happens at The Pentecostal Mission at Tambaram.