Easter: ‘Jesus remixed’

Kerala is in the hold of a remix trend. Two movies, ‘Sagar Alias Jacky’ and ‘2 Harihar Nagar’, are sequels to the runaway successes, ‘Irupatham nootand’ (Twentieth Century) and ‘In Harihar Nagar’. The music has been remixed to seal the gap between the decade-separate generations and it is catching on in high spirits.

As the Christians in Kerala celebrated Easter (the resurrection of Jesus), this need to bridge the gulf between the decade-separate generations is being felt. On the one hand traditional churches offered a change in timings of the Easter service to accommodate the ones who found the early morning service a tad bit too difficult logistically speaking. On the other hand the people also are becoming more vocal about the need to make services more relevant for the times.

This is where the concept of ‘Jesus remixed’ comes in. As in any remixed version, there are the pros and cons of taking such a step. The traditionalists argue that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and any change is the distortion of truth. Those who think otherwise are of the opinion that truth itself is not a constant and changes with the times, and it does not mean that Jesus has changed in essence. The priests also point out that the original is the only version and anything else is an attempt at humiliating our forefathers and foremothers, the originators. Further they also argue that what has been handed down has been crafted very carefully and has immense meaning in it. They are opposed by those who say that what should be and should not be is for the people to decide and not by the so called purists.

Can we then say that what is mixed once cannot be mixed again so that the essence is maintained? Or can we say that every generation needs a new mix for a new fix? Or should we call it rediscovering oneself through a remix? As Mohanlal is rediscovering himself in an age well ahead of retirement, we should maybe wait and see as to what will last; the mix or the remix!

Maundy Thursday sea blues

As we sit down at the table of fellowship this Maundy Thursday (Pessaha vyazham) let us also remember that we gain our strength from this fellowship because Jesus chose to be a man who expressed his solidarity with the weak and the poor (both in heart and in life). His disciples included fisherfolk and it speaks volumes of what we should be if we ever fondle any hopes of becoming the disciples of Jesus. It is in this context that we should look out to the sea and the land around us, to the people who matter...God's real disciples who sing from their heart inviting true fellowship...


During hard times and good times
When the sun rises and sets in the distance
Only one thing keeps us going
(And) That’s the sight and smell of our mother the sea

In life and in death, this is what we believe and say

Our frustrations and our dreams
Start and end with our mother the sea
All senses of our humanity
Are captured in the essence of the salt n’ (the) sea

In life and in death, this is what we believe and say

What our mother gives, she takes
Still we honour and respect her in full scale
Knowing we benefit by the natural way
Where humans and nature work together in sway

In life and in death, this is what we believe and say

Don’t strip our mother of her rightful place
By encroachments and waste-fills all over her face
Stop trawling when nature passes through the cycle
And allow all creatures to atleast live in the temporal

In life and in death, this is what we believe and say

Let’s come together for once in good sense
To prevent the waters from swallowing our presence
Let’s respect the sea, it’s creatures and one another
Allowing each one the chance for survival

In life and in death, this is what we believe and say


And thus the story goes. True fellowship does not end in a day or in a particular space. True fellowship is this beautiful relationship; between humans, nature, the world and God. True fellowship is not breaking bread for those we know, but for those we have failed to even take note of.

Palm Sunday: The release into ecstasy

Christians around the world commemorate this day as Palm Sunday, in memory of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Holding up palm leaves and throwing flowers in the air, there are many Christian traditions, who try to relive that moment of faith (history) when the people greeted Jesus on the donkey colt, by collectively shouting ‘Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Truly a powerful moment. The son of a carpenter, a band of ruffians as followers, a donkey colt as the official carrier, and the crowd of people celebrating a big event. It would have been one of the most un-choreographed moments of a great event. And yet it was a notable and therefore a successful event.

But I wish to look at it from a totally new perspective. I want to travel hundreds of years to the present. To the churches that are spread all over India, and who have the tradition and practice of holding palm leaves and throwing flowers in the air as a reminiscence of the great entry.

I remember the Palm Sunday services in my church, which belongs to the Orthodox church tradition. Both as a deacon (priest assistant) and as a priest I noticed the interesting release of the flowers by the children assembled in church. There were these designated times when everyone was asked to throw the flowers (preferably upwards). From throwing flowers upwards, they started throwing against each other and then towards the priest. The battle cries and the missile like flowers would bring about a hostile environment in which the priest had to read the prayer.

But putting apart the small inconveniences, we have to look at the children who get into the act of the release of their frustrations in church. Even though there are supposed to be other avenues for this, that it does not work becomes clear. So, Palm Sunday helps the children to enter into passion week, putting out all frustrations and anger. Truly, a release into ecstasy, which is one of the aims of religion. So even though the church has a fixed route, the children select their own routes. The solemn service then also becomes fun and adrenalin releasing. Maybe when Jesus entered Jerusalem, this was what the people felt. A release from their usual afflictions and the rules and regulations of the authorities!

I fooled ya!!! April 1

The clear and comfortable morning sleep of two of my friends was interrupted by the same piece of news. A friend had had an accident and it was quite serious. But before they could even comprehend what this meant, the voice on the other side shouted, “April fool.” There was a feeling of being fooled, disgusted but finally with a sheepish smile they finally said, “you got me.”

So it’s April 1st and by now everyone has broken the news of how they fooled whom and what fun it was. Finally most people have taken it in their stride as they have been told clearly to “relax wo/man, it’s a joke.” The dust has settled and the lights will soon go off, the laughter dying off into some corner of the street. But the “I fooled ya” part of the narrative fails to die out.

Signs are a way of leading us somewhere. But we also give various meanings to the same signs. What if I told you that the “I fooled ya” part of our lives is not a one day competition that we attend but a 365 day competition that goes on and on. The elections are a part of everyone’s discussions and politicians are in the arc lights of fame for the moment. There are those who are excited to vote, those who are confused whom to vote for and those who don’t know whether they should vote at all. But after all the excitement and the hope, politicians from several political parties who then fail on their promises, will through various signs tell us “I fooled ya.” Some of us will get it and some won’t. But there will always be enough people who will be misled by these signs.

The April fool syndrome is not only a political reality. It is the same for everything that is connected to money. Therefore even religion follows the same path. After taking people on board and filling their coffers, they are left mid-sea with the same April fool slogan. This year, the month of April is important for Christians because the resurrection of Christ (Easter) will be celebrated. This is preceded by the remembering of the crucifixion of Christ and the pain and passion he went through. In a way it is the reverse of the “I fooled ya” philosophy. It was rather making a fool of oneself that Jesus Christ did. Even though he could turn around from the threat of death, he stood for what he believed in. This “making a fool of oneself” philosophy is inherent in all religions. But this is where we disappoint. We are busy making a fool of other people that we forget that it doesn’t contribute to our community and country in any way. So this time I am trying to struggle with the meaning of “I fooled ya” and “I fooled (made a fool of) myself”.

Emptiness

Emptiness, a deep sense of nothing
A feeling of what is ‘not’
That which stirs and moves
But lies hidden in layers of emotion

A stone on still water
Causing ripples in one direction
What starts ends sooner or later
Stillness and emptiness settles in once more

Emptiness reflects beingness
There’s nothing, which means something
The pain and uneasiness remain
In a place where we have never been

What if I die today?
Will my emptiness go away?
But where will I go today?
Behind my emptiness, with it or leaving it behind today?

International women’s day. Women as the womb (bread) of life: From the floor to the table

March 8th is being celebrated as the International Women’s Day and women all over the world will get together to do things the way they want it done. To see and let see the way they perceive things. As it comes during the season of prayer and fasting as well, it warrants a Christian response to what this day should then be.

Traditionally women have always been seen as child bearers, as surrogate mothers who help to bring children into the world. Their place has been relegated to a spot which suggests inferiority in comparison with males. The church has never been able to break free of this culture of discrimination and in turn has maintained a male caucus in the form of a halo around the church and its institutions. The bubble (halo) can never be justified and yet it has never been broken because no one has tried to pierce the hollowness it contains.

As we experience (I won’t say celebrate as that would be derogatory to some women who are in constant suffering) the international women’s day it is imperative to suggest a lenten involvement towards the setting right of many wrong’s that have penetrated our society. Fasting and prayer are meant to set right what has gone wrong and therefore we should also set right what is inarguably wrong.

Mother Teresa and sister Alphonso recently have been pushed up to the pinnacle of sainthood and yet these women were never near the table of the Lord, the altar (the holy of holies for Christians). They stood down faithfully on the cold floor waiting for the bread of life to be brought to them. Yet today they have been brought up to glory by a body of men in vestments.

The concept of communion or fellowship among Christians is to come together and partake of the body of the Lord Jesus. It is symbolic and real at the same time. The bread of life is prepared through a process which starts in the field and ends up at the table. So life is inherent and implicit in it. But what about the womb of life present in each woman? The life which begins in communion and ends with the creation of life. Indeed the womb (bread) of life! And yet women are kept at a safe distance. Life is kept away from life!

So this women’s day my prayer is simple. Let us as men move away from the two life giving realities of this world; the bread of life and the womb of life. Let there be a connection and a unification of the floor and the table. Let life meet life.




(Logo from http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/international-womens-day)

Don’t just waste yourself. Rather, manage your waste!

As lent and fasting gather steam and surge ahead as part of the Christian calendar, some people already look tired and even sport beards as part of their piety. The thought during lent and fasting is also one of wasting ourselves, by not eating and sometimes following a strict diet. It also brings about a belief that by doing this we are purifying ourselves inside. Well and good I would say.

But in our quest to find new meaning in an old custom we should also look at different ways of seeing the same thing. In the series of thoughts that we have already been introduced to, we then have to understand one more thought. This is the thought that we have to manage our waste and purify the environment rather than only concentrating on wasting ourselves and thereby purifying ourselves.

The place I come from in Kerala is called Thiruvalla. It is a semi village, semi town which comes under the control of the municipality. In the past twenty years or so, with the changing scenario in the state, as in other parts of the country, and also due to liberalisation and globalisation, numerous changes have come about to the landscape. One of the greatest changes is the huge piles of waste that adorn different parts of the town. The stench coming from this along with the flies pose a health risk to the inhabitants of the town. Add to this the pollution of the water table and what we have is a time bomb right underneath the town. This could be due to several factors.

1. Less space for more people- Due to migration of people from villages and other places, people find themselves staring at a reality of less space in which they are cramped into a certain way of life.
2. A culture of spending- The easy instalments lure and the loans for A-Z have led to a culture of spending on things which are supposed to make our life easy. These are then thrown after use to make space for new models.
3. The proliferation of plastic- Plastic has done what we thought nuclear bombs would do. Silently though powerfully, it has invaded every inch of space and thereby led to adulteration of the soil.
4. Lack of public interest- The struggle to keep up the 9-5 job and the ‘I am not bothered igloo life’ has led to commerce taking over humankind. People don’t have the time or the energy to protest what is happening.
5. Corruption in public office- Maybe we expect too much from politicians and leaders. They are after all only humans like us. Corruption just gets bigger and uglier and money decides and not the people.

When this is what we are facing, our task has to be redefined and reconstituted. Instead of wasting ourselves we have to look at how we can manage the waste we are producing. Can we decrease this, can we say no to plastic, can we take care of most of the waste we produce? Today a few concerned citizens of the town, both men and women are getting together to protest the apathy of the municipality in the management of waste. It is a meaningful protest at a meaningful time. Truly, they are the ones who are making this lent meaningful and worthwhile. Hope the church can also finally free itself from self purification and help in the purification of all.

Slowing down during the great fast

Fasting and controlling one’s diet in all religious traditions is not only a way to appease the God’s and get our individual desires fulfilled but also to evaluate as to where we are going and what we are doing. In this sense we would have to look at our lives and the world we live in and analyse them individually and in tandem.

One of the things that would emerge from such an analysis is the fast way of life that has crept into our scheme of existence. It is not just about the fast bikes and cars, but the whole way of how we look at life itself. Every innovation and invention helps to make life faster and faster. Computer games take us into the level of a speedy, crazy and dangerous virtual reality and prepare us to convert this excitement into the real thing by then using it in our real life settings.

Everything that we have to live with is in this sense fast and furious. We don’t have time to meet each other in person and so we text people and call them on the phone. With the next generation 3G services being offered by phone companies we can even see each other through streamlined video. Everything is brought to the convenience of the screen. We watch beautiful places through the screen because we don’t have the time and patience to go there in person. Our screen then becomes another symbol of our super duper life where time and tide wait for no one.

As our lives are transformed, the products of entertainment follow suit and sometimes even set the trend. Such a product is the 20-20 cricket league which has been such a huge success in India and kicks off it’s second edition in a month’s time. The justification for such a format is that people don’t have time and therefore we should compress things and offer it in a capsule of entertainment with images that will make them glued to the presentation. The game should be so fast that it should be over before we realise it.

But how long can we keep up with the fast and furious talk? After the first 20-20 match of the Indian cricket team’s tour to New Zealand, Dhoni, the Indian captain, was seen telling his team mates that one should also show patience as even twenty overs is a long time. One can’t think that every ball can be hit out of the stadium. It was quite a bit of a revelation from the captain. Wonder if the poster boys of Indian cricket got the point! And even more, wonder whether those sucked in by the 20-20 hysteria got the essence of the 'slow' comment.

The words fasting and fast for me thus refer to something else. It sounds as if we are preparing to be faster and more aggressive in our lives when the essence of a preparation should be to rather slow down and examine our lives and enjoy what the world has to offer. In that sense I would like to say that I am slowing down and not fasting!



(Image from http://www.hscripts.com/freeimages/icons/mechanical/sandclock-clipart.php)

Every move you make, every step you take… let your daughter free

Every move she made was under my surveillance
Every step she took was onto a choreographed foundation
Every person she met depended on my green signal

She was my child in every sense
Brought into the world with good intention
Bringing name and fame through careful creation

One day she would be married in full celebration
To a man who closed in on my expectations
Leading to everlasting joy and fulfilment


How many times have we heard something like this? Fathers being over protective of their daughters and yet using them for their own gains? Let’s be truthful about it. How many fathers have whole heartedly greeted the news of their wives giving birth to baby girls?

The disappointment would then be converted into over protection and safeguarding of property (as they are sometimes even denied the status of human beings). As soon as someone gives the idea that this ‘property’ can be invested for good income, they are then let loose into the flesh market, movies (where they end up being used as a commodity rather than being taken seriously for their acting talent) and any job where good returns can be expected.

The final major decision will be the one of who the daughter will marry. Even though things have changed drastically, fathers in India still like their daughters to get married to their choice of a groom who will continue the work started by the father.

There definitely needs to be a change in perception and the way women are treated right from their birth to the end of their lives. The season of fasting and prayer also has to bring forth the concept of equality of the sexes in all it’s fullness. The pre-defined concept that boys can take care of themselves and girls need protection and safeguarding has to be replaced by the concept that each individual has it in her/him to decide on what she/he wants to do. And if they need help they are capable of asking.

I know what you did last summer: Sowing guilt and reaping profits

What is the one thing that we find difficult to handle but which resurfaces time after time? The feeling of guilt which comes out when we read something, listen to a talk or watch a programme on T.V. But what happens when this horrible feeling is manufactured in an assembly line, marketed and advertised in the truest professional sense and sold to an unsuspecting public who then have to buy the product which will help them overcome guilt?

This is then the spiritual commodity of guilt which is sown into the minds of the believers and non-believers, leading to the reaping and filling of the coffers of religious institutions. Rather than dwelling on the liberating aspects of equality, love, peace and justice, religious leaders like to dwell on what has gone wrong in the lives of the ordinary person. Even prophetic voices have turned into ‘I know what you did last summer!!’, sending the believer crashing down into the lowest of low’s with drooping shoulders and negative thoughts.

But does it mean that we should not discuss our past and deal with what has happened in our lives? That would also be running away from what and who we are. The effort rather should be to come to terms with ourselves, not judging others, and knowing that we should do things out of genuine love and concern rather than out of guilt and fear. Religion even in this different era is reluctant to let go of the tried and tested model of playing with guilt.

Churches both in India and abroad work up the emotional quotient of people by showing pictures of poor children and their surroundings. People then pay money out of guilt rather than genuine concern. We also get a very skewed picture of spirituality that we can buy ourselves out of this feeling of guilt, by paying huge sums of money to the church. But guilt is not something which can be washed away with pieces of paper. Rather it has to be dealt with on a people to people level at first.

If we feel that we have wronged someone we have to try to talk to that someone and see whether there is an opening for rapprochement. Sometimes this might not be available easily and therefore it is a process of building bridges over a period of time. The record has to be set straight though. It is okay to feel guilty, we are all guilty of various things, guilt wont go away by paying money and we have to try and set things right with those whom we have wronged and thereby come to terms with our guilt.

What we can: The Lenten prerogative

Christians go through a journey of preparation and soberness lying in wait for the resurrection of Jesus, every year. The Lenten season or the fast has been initiated this year again and people all over the world have decided either to not eat till evening, not eat in the morning, not eat meat, or not eat meat, fish and any milk product. Depending on one’s tradition the lent attains a time of what we should ‘not’ do. The list thus spills over to what not to see, what not to speak, where not to go, whom not to meet and what not…

Coming to think of it, lent brings about a sense of what we should abstain from. But is this just a personal commitment and discipline which we undergo to make ourselves healthy (both spiritually and bodily) or is it truly a time when we think of others and help others? In this sense lent could be seen as a time not when we follow a set of rules but a time when we break them! Christianity like other religions has had it’s share of good times and has made an impact in several places, but has it made a change to the skewed understanding of society and has it fought against the manifold discriminations?

In this line of thinking, there are people who need our touch and acceptance. What will our abstinence do for them? How will our list of not to do things help them? Traditionally lent and fasting have also been associated with helping others. But in today’s scheme of things fasting and food control is being sold as a personal benefit to the individual and therefore what everyone should follow. This being the path that the church takes during lent, it is important that we debate the issue of lent and fasting. That is why we should maybe think of lent and fasting as a time of ‘what we can’ do rather than what we can’t.

Amen comrade!!!

Kerala is being blacked out sector by sector and town by town. Every day, whether the sun shines through the cloudy skies, whether tourists with their back packs touch down or not to Trivandrum or Kochi, whether dogs howl at night sensing supernatural engagement, whether liquor shops resemble crowded rock show’s or not, the lights will be culled and the candles will be lit.

Candles have a special place in churches. Apart from the number of candles to be lit and displayed, many church traditions agree that we should light candles as it signifies how we should burn out while we provide light to others. But lighting candles for day time services takes the glitter out of the lighted candles as we cannot concentrate on them.

Just as we thought that the significance and place of the candles would fade out, the communist led government in Kerala introduced the power saving power cuts, also called, load shedding and electricity cut. Families are now put in darkness for half an hour when they light candles and look at them as if they are a new addition. (The same goes with the beauty of watching stars in the sky in the absence of any other light).

Recently I realised that it is not just that the induced electricity cuts have brought back the candles into the limelight, but prayer has also become a part of Christian families. With the onslaught of television soap operas (serials) and reality shows, the folks at home started finding it more and more difficult to find time for prayer. One programme would follow the other and prayer would then go to the back burner.

All that has changed. Now many families time their prayer to the time of the electricity cuts. When the power fails, everyone flocks together like chicks and start praying. It is strange and funny at the same time. The ones who say they believe in the power of prayer, start praying when the T.V. goes dead and the ones who question the existence of God, provide the fillip or the stimulus for prayer. Lal salam…ahem…amen.

You have been sold!

The second auction of the Indian Premier League cricket league was held last week. With the second edition of the league coming close, this was a time for teams to snap up a few players who were not available for auction the first time round. A record amount was bid for two players from England, Kevin Peterson and Andrew Flintoff, with each going for 1.55 million dollars each. As in any auction, the ‘item’ for auction was ‘sold’ to the highest bidder. The rich and the powerful and company honcho’s sat at their respective tables, sipping their respective drinks and eyeing the wares on show.

I cant help drawing comparisons to the slave trade which refuses to go away from the collective psyche of the rich and powerful. The thought that one can buy anything one wants and use it for whatever one wants, re-surfaces in different forms, well disguised to hoodwink the otherwise reasonably alert public consciousness. Has cricket become a gladiator sport, whereby all that happens in the country is forgotten and heroes rise in shallow heights and take the spectators along with them? Has sport become an extension of the commercial plans of corporations and companies?

The commodification of the public space, whereby stadiums let people with longer and deeper pockets to go in and enjoy while the ordinary ones have to struggle to manage a ‘ticket’, as if it is the pass to heaven, is now replacing the concept of open public spaces and parks. So, everything is sold. The players are sold, the tickets are sold, the spectators are sold, we are sold...

Its my right

Many people in India know that we have certain rights because of the fact that we live in a democratic setup. Some of us have learnt this through books and some of us have heard it from others. Regardless of whether we have asked for these rights, we have knowledge of them. But as we grow with the republic that we stay in, our rights start growing with us and express themselves in new ways.

Such is the right to communicate. It is not explicitly mentioned in the constitution, but does find mention through other words. But just like the air we breathe and the water that we drink, it is a right that should belong to us naturally. No government or group should be able to prevent us from being natural, who we are, and thus expressing ourselves.

But look around and one will see that we are being caged and repressed beyond repair, that we are being brought to the point of extinction and death, because if we cannot communicate, cannot talk and cannot express, we cease to exist. Each one of us are thereby coming close to the experience of death and the only reason that we don’t completely breakdown is that we still have small openings through which we can express ourselves, albeit in a small fashion.

So, when we are faced with a situation where our own democratic system becomes an autocratic behemoth and limits expression in the name of security or when right wing groups take over the function of expressing for everyone (whether we like it or not), we have our backs to the wall and are silenced by it all. But we still have a choice. We can either continue our subdued existence with unheard whimpers of displeasure or can ask and demand for what basically belongs to everyone of us, all the people of India and the world. ‘Its my right.’

From debating conflicts to actions of sense

Doing my theological studies in Bangalore in the United Theological College, has been one of the highlights in my academic life. It was not about discipline, punctuality or anything else that one may associate with studying in such an atmosphere. It was about being real, and learning from various experiences to be real. There were for those who chose to open their eyes, plenty of opportunities to take off the unreal mask that many of us are used to wearing. The problem with these masks is that we then become so comfortable with it, that we never take it off, even in the presence of friends and family.

For the purpose of the stimulation of the mind and to test and develop one’s oratorical skills, we had the option of attending either the hostel general body or the student’s general body. This was a place where we would discuss our problems, sometimes for hours unending, mount a verbal assault on each other and then finally shake hands in mutual admiration. You could call it the parliament of theologians. It was not that every solution was hammered out with ease and every problem would be looked into, but that there was a space for discussion.

Among the many matters that came up for heated discussion was the age old one on ‘water.’ The hostellers had an aqua guard for purifying water before consumption. Ten years ago, this was not the heavy duty one, or the one promising reverse osmosis and sweet tasting water, but one which did ordinary work, in ordinary time. For years, we had used water from it, shared water with one another with not a bother. But the complex question was finally raised. “How can we share this water with students from the family quarters when this is supposed to be only for the bachelor and spinster hostellers”? The question shook everyone out of their slumber and a vociferous debate followed. The pendulum swung from one side to the other. Allegations and counter allegations did the rounds with regional affiliations and sensitivity to the ‘other’ being used. There appeared no solution. Because of water, food became an issue as we had to stop the meeting to have dinner. But this was one issue that could not be done away with a closing argument. Even the two teachers could not do anything.

This day, we got our share of reality bites. We could gauge the different groups we were divided into and the reality that we were not willing to part with the water which we were sharing for such a long time.

Amid the growling stomachs and the ayes and the no’s, one hand was lifted. A very weak one I would say. But silence followed nevertheless, more because everyone would have been tired by then. The hand was followed by a question to the chairperson. The question itself ensured more silence. “Respected chairperson, how many litres does it take before we should change the filter of our aqua guard?” There were whispers in the background and a frenzied calculation followed. “3000 litres, replied the chairperson.” Then the weak hand continued, “That means at a minimum rate of 100 students we use 200 to 300 litres every day. And that means in ten days we would have crossed the 3000 litres limit.” More silence and then, “How long has it been since we changed the filter?” Atleast six months said the chairperson after checking with others. The voice concluded, “That means we are sitting here and fighting over water that isn’t purified anyway? So what is the point?” A few gasps here and there were followed by incessant laughter. The chairperson got up to conclude the heated debate and said, “Shall we pray?”

This was indeed a lesson I learnt and still keep close to my heart. We fight over things which are not there. Land which is not ours, water which comes and goes, religion which appears near yet is so distant. Maybe its time for a bit of sense!