An Artist's Account

In today’s world, the technologies are getting modernized and have a great worth. Day by day with the help of modernized technologies, the communication is become far easier and accessible, than in the past. These advanced technologies have made it possible for people from different countries to interact with each other. These technologies may have far more adaptability and speed but it can never replace face to face communication. It is priceless and especially deepens the relationship and concern for each other. Fro instance, two lovers absolved in love know what worth it is. Here, the message is sent and received in no time. Face to Face communication provides a real atmosphere and it can never be replaced by an artificial atmosphere, created by a gadget. It is true that technologies can never replace human beings and their liveliness. Finally, strengthen your bonds of love, by taking the example of Jesus Christ, a man who knew the real worth of Face to Face Communication. ...

Success and Failure, Advantage and Disadvantage, Right and Wrong, Good and Bad, High and Low, Rich and Poor, all through life we  come across these extreme situations. For example, Our Creations stands for Good whereas the World Wars represent Evil. These extreme situations culminated in the formulation of the universal fundamental values, so that we may abide by Good and avoid that which caused Evil. It enhanced the maintenance of peace and harmony in a certain territory. Thus, was the ideology followed in the past and is also acknowledged by a handful in the present.  With the outburst of post modernity, we have come to appreciate the plurality of situations. As a result, each ones view is accounted. This necessitates that human beings are thinking differently and are aware of the diverse views available. It also serves as a reminder that we are not functioning as robots or as puppets. Instead we are exercising our freedom to think and make choices which will ultimately ...

The worth in me Counts not in size But in the wise thoughts Engraved in me I am a medium to propose My master’s views If it spurs your feelings Hold on to it The reason of my birth Finds its fulfillment As you read, reflect And build it your commitment

Human beings enjoyed and loved, being true to each other. By being truthful, they were free and weren’t restricted to any rules and regulations. ‘Being true to oneself and to the society as a whole’, is the primary rule of our living and prolonged sustenance. Slowly as time passed, some began to show signs of selfishness. They aimed at only acquiring, thus leading to jealousy, robbery and envy. The development of technology in all fields also added to it. Consequently, truthfulness was slowly becoming extinct causing world wars, depletion of many lives and resources. But at the same time, a few still retained the virtue of being “truthful”. For them being “truthful” meant to be in existence and anything apart from it meant non- existence, because to be truthful is in one’s very essence of living. Many of them in the past and even at present beat witness to this staunch belief.

The truth of reality is that good people of excellent caliber continue to live, so as to guide others who have gone astray. Mother Teresa is another eminent personality who changed the outlook of the world by her humanness. She was a Loretto Nun from Albania , her encounter with the poor, sick and forgotten people of Calcutta caused her to be truthful to these very people. This realization set her free and she began caring for the poor, sick and the forgotten. She was truthful to herself and to those whom she nursed and cared for. Those who witnessed her, joined hands with her in forming the ‘Missionaries of Charity’. Mother Teresa knew that “to be truthful was to be human” and her commitment to be truthful to her work won her many hearts and appreciations across the globe. By recognizing one’s essence of being truthful, one comes to the realization of being human.

The father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi was one such person who lived by his essence (of being truthful). All his undertakings were acts of truth. He faced all his difficulties and hardships not with bloodshed but with silence, peace and awareness i.e. the non-violence movement. He knew his creation was not to cause destruction but construction of lives and he was true to it. The moment he realized any violence being cause by his party, he immediately withdrew from that movement. His truthfulness drew his concern towards his countrymen and women who were being exploited by the foreigners. Eventually, his truthfulness projected his humanness. He felt their pain and struggle and as a result revolutionized himself from being a barrister (wearing a coat) to a freedom fighter of peace (wearing a dhoti). Symbolically, Mahatma Gandhi wore the dhoti as a sign of freedom and oneness with his countrymen and women. Gandhiji realized that “to be truthful is to be human” and with this firm bel...

In the 21 st century, with all the development in various fields, one needs to pay heed to this virtue of being truthful. How? Just as the saying goes “Old is Gold”, we need to go back to the way our ancestors lived and employ it to our present day living. Firstly, recognize a wide variety of people around you, dialogue with them, share in their joys and sorrows and ultimately support them in good deeds. The best place to start is from your family, friends and slowly stretching your hand to all those whom you encounter everyday. Our birth was to support each other and that is where our truthfulness lies, rediscovering our humanness. This is a clarion call for all of us to return back to our essence retain our identity as humans.

The birth of the human race was the birth of truth and freedom, since God inbuilt the virtue of Truth in them. With the exposure to the other person, human beings realized the importance of forming community. This community living assured consistent happiness. Wherever they went, they were together, for instance, while farming, hunting, eating, singing, rejoicing, mourning and dancing. They were strongly bonded as a community. Their closeness was ensured by them, firstly by being “true” to themselves and as a result to everyone. The word “true” simply means “real” and when it is attributed to a person, it just means that the person is real i.e. he/she is not hiding his/her personality behind a mask. As a result, human beings by their essence are truthful. They did things for the good of all and lived simple lives.

Into the valley Above the ground Engraved in blue Is the cloud Their calm nature Imbues peace Discard your tension Be at ease Their clear appearance Glitters all around Open your eyes Listen to the sound Come out of the ally Admire the sky Enjoy your life’s rally For awhile.

Land kept aside For divine intention Filled with prayerful atmosphere Stands the S.T.I. institution Decked with Novices Covered with staffs Away from vices Is their task Enrolled with prayer Shouts and fun Working together Leaving none One year of intimacy One year of peace Brings us to Christ Crossing the crease Come to S.T.I. Feel on high.

Life takes us through, Undesirable whirlpools Which worries us For the Moment Our failures of past And the desire to succeed in the future Deprive us of our experience For the moment All these thoughts Will only decay our health Forgetting that life is so beautiful For the moment So let’s tune ourselves With joy and zeal And cherish the life For the moment

The heart yearns for something, Unable to guess. God’s love will provide everything, And won’t be less. Happiness it will impart, Freeing one’s  soul Will never depart, At crucial hordes. Relationships have grown, Stronger and thicker. An experience of integral life Now I love they I live, Because God’s love is unconditional.

Serve others With your heart This will gather blessings In your life chart It’s true Experience it Don’t take it as a hue Otherwise you won’t feel it Start it right now And you will endow That serving others is a blessing

God created me You discovered me I have a an armour To shield me from evil’s clamour Ask me not to sing a song Strike me, you will heat a gong Inside me there’s nothing  But you fill me with everything  Be an empty  vessel for the Lord And be the miracle to the world.

   I believe that Salesian spirituality primarily caters to the heart of a person and while the heart is taken care of, the whole person automatically forms part of it. Though, it seems to be the most appealing way of life, concomitantly it is also a challenging one when it comes to practicing it. One needs to experience it, in order to give others a similar experience.      Right from his Childhood, Don Bosco developed a way of life through which he could communicate to the heart of a person, which later came to known as the Salesian Spirituality.  Many people helped him directly and indirectly to develop this spirituality. Mamma Margaret is considered to be the prominent one among them. She was his first catechism teacher who sowed the seeds of intimacy with the Father within Johnny Bosco. And she imprinted within him the idea of a provident father, whose love is unconditional and immeasurable. She made him aware of the abundant graces that G...

Writing by itself has a very expressive power. A person is able to express in words his/her view and thought. On the other hand, creative writing has a more attractive significance. Nowadays, creativity is on high demand. The Creative a thing appears; the faster it gets sold in the market. Creativity as become the watchword in all streams of our times. Be in sync with today’s world or else you might find yourself nowhere. Let’s make our life here on earth worthwhile and meaningful by just thinking differently and emerging with new adversaries and gadgets of daily use. So let your mantra be ‘Think Differently and Be Smart.

Appreciating Beauty is an experience that all of us have. To see beauty in everything is something more than just recognizing a work of art and music as fabulous and we are in a world where everything can be appreciated for its beauty. It is easy to connect with people who are attractive in themselves, these are positive experiences and we cherish them the most. But what about finding beauty in negative experiences like meeting a beggar in the street or when you are overburdened with difficulties. By jotting down these experiences of appreciating beauty, I would be limiting your freedom of recognizing beauty in all circumstances. You might get a feeling that I’m just paraphrasing or rewording the notion of being optimistic so as to the appreciate beauty in everything. The very fact that you are appreciating something makes you feel great and you are filled with positive vibrations. Therefore, optimism is an outcome of appreciating everything and finding something special in it whic...

We, human beings, possess a gift given to us by God i.e. to be human. A Human Person must be able to understand d the other and so he/she will be understand the other and so he/she will be understood or recognized in return. One must be willing to share his/her time, resources and talents with those in need of it. This needs to overflow from one’s compassionate heart. A Human Person needs to  respect the other as his/her equal. Though this vision seems to be good in imagination, when it comes to living it, by oneself, it is a challenge. If one is caught in such difficult situation, don’t lose hope, there is a way out of it. A Human Person needs to learn the good values being lived by those people in his/her immediate surrounding. Hence, one needs to be attentive to these role models, appreciate them for the same and make an attempt to live these good values in the best way possible. A Human Person must have the heart to love oneself and the other. This love needs to be genuine....

Inspiration is a touch which calls for an immediate reaction Not a clutch that changes the gear formation Inspiration is a smile that passes on Not a tile that breaks down Inspiration is a call that awakens you Not a fall that injures you Every inspiration turns every moment a new Are you ready to inspire And stop many form a slew

A plant spreads its roots far and wide Networking with the soil maintaining its side It expands its coverage to ever glow And grows in age until hit by a blow Its projecting roots Serve as its source Fulfilling its life’s course Being a plant reach the heights And be firm to say “I am rooted in Christ”.

Faith in God, which is often at stake in many peoples lives, is a condition very relevant in today’s world. People fall prey to these situations due to their difficulties and problems in life. This same problem or rather an adverse one was faced by Job, a great biblical figure in the Old Testament. The only people who were there with him, made his condition worse by urging him against God with never –ending questions. This brought him to a state, left with nothing but a strong inclination of faith in God which was vibrant in his heart. Faith, an act of the heart, empowered by the love of God, made Job think that all his sufferings had a purpose. That is why, Job confesses before God that he was wrong but God assures Job that he wasn’t wrong, instead those who were with him were wrong. His encounter with God brings back his happiness. All that he longed for was not happiness, but God. And surely this faith of Job in enduring the suffering brings him to experience God. Job, a person fu...

Can I live without the other? Certainly I can, but not for long. Only in the presence of the other, I am recognized as I am. Isn’t it marvelous. The other makes me enjoy my living and adds meaning and flavor to it. Therefore, the love that I receive from the other, I share with others. This will eventually form a chain of ‘love’ being shared with many more fellow men and women. Thus arises the ‘We-feeling’- I am there for the other and he/she is there uplifting moment. Don’t miss it, its never too late to love other or receive one. Feel the ‘we-ness’ wherever you go and you will never miss a moment pass by without cherishing it.

It is very easy to speak or voice out our opinions but a bit difficult to listen that of others. Listening to others opinions is always a challenging task and if one is open in this regard, he/she can learn much from this. Our Education should strive at shaping our minds in acknowledging others views and opinions. Therefore, a good communicator would always value both expressing his/her own views and then patiently listen to others views, so as to enrich his views.  Happy Sharing and Listening...

Oh! I see an Old man passing by. Oh! I see a dog chasing a rag picker. Well, I see myself enjoying all of it. It’s because I perceive all of it with a positive outlook. May be the old man is intending to keep himself fit by walking about the locality. May be the dog is chasing a robber who has come in the guise of a rag picker. Well, it isn’t that very easy as it appears as an ideal. Experience will surely get one to a close nexus with this ideal. If we aware we can utilize it to profit us in a positive way. Eventually, we gain ‘good’ in such situations, the fruit born out of it would be much sweeter than the former situations.  Everyday is a new day compressed with surprises and hardships. Our interaction with these surprises and hardships helps us to knit a pleasant day for us. A surprise may not always be a positive experience and a hardship might not always be a negative one. A failure in exam may come has a surprise to a bright student and the task of studying hard fo...

Giving, though, in idea has a very powerful message of growing. It does hurt a person when it comes to do it in act, especially if a person is not enjoying a good social status. This calls for a realization of the essence of Giving. Giving simply means being detached from material goods and being attached to the love experienced form people and God. Therefore, your Giving away of something (money, food, and shelter) must cause you to be more loving. Concomitantly, giving need not necessarily be in ‘material’ but emotionally and spiritually. Giving has a broader horizon then usually conceived. As a result, it is in giving that we grow in love for each other and with God.

A person is known more by his character than his personality, because it is character that makes a person. Even Mary, our mother possessed and exemplified a character that always kept her in the presence of God. She was the most magnificent creature that God had ever created. The creator had created Eve perfect but her disobedience distorted her character.  “Talent develops in quiet places and character in the full current of human life “-said Johann Wolfgang. So also, Mother Mary’s exemplary character upholds  five  qualities that shone vividly in her life. I would like to call it the five point Marian programme - 1. Her obeying character – At the time of the Annunciation , Mary’s  “Yes “ to God’s call in bearing the Messiah revealed her obeying character . She entrusted her will completely to God by saying –“I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to your word”. 2. Her caring character –Thirteen years later, when Jesus was lost in the ...

The youth of today are engaged in all walks of life and are vacillating from one work to another, finding no fulfillment in one. A Majority of this age group implies a good future of the nation. Largely, because they are full of energy and are alive with a young spirit, ready to do something new. At the same time, this age group also faces a lot of challenges, exploitation and more especially are contracted with various vices. Though their material need is being attended, their spiritual need is still unnoticed. These youth of today form the “U” In Turin, when the need arose to eradicate the problems of youth who were ending up in prison, God sent Don Bosco to take care of these youth. Likewise to tackle the problems of today’s youth, namely, the danger of being misguided and falling into bad company, God is continuously sending his help. We (sons of Don Bosco) the servants of the young are a part of this divine help given to the youth of today. We form the “Me”. Without us knowi...