*From To Sathish* - Thread 3 - Page 85

Dear friends ,
I wish all of you and your families a very happy Pongal .

Pongal is a festival of thanksgiving dedicated to the sun.

I think the sun is actually a female for just like a woman who is the foundation,pillar and roof of the family,it too stands in the center of our solar system holding everything in its gravity and as one family.More of that someday.

I wish you warmth on cold days,i wish you light on dark days and i wish you the energy of the sun when you tire and i wish you all the very best.

Something or other crops up and halts me from writing new chapters for Redemption.

First the loss of internet for nearly 3 weeks.And now i have to shift house again and also have to finish writing a script for a friend of mine for his new project.

So,you can see that satish is not running away or avoiding you,my dear readers but is just burdened with too much work for his limbs and his mind.

I should be done by the 23 or 24th and in between i have to work for thiruttu payale 2 which was stalled from november due to cash flow problems.

Then helping a young assistant director by acting in his short film.Obviously free of charge and very obviously playing a cop.Yikes,naanum intha police udaiyum.

Thanks, Satish.
Wishing you and everyone a very Happy Pongal!

While I do enjoy reading about Thenmozhi's adventures, it would be nice if you could fast-forward her track and focus on Rudran and Renuka.
I have a fuzzy memory and I don't even remember how Rudran's track last ended.

Hope your current work assignments are going well and I wish you more success this year.

Thank you, Naadagam, for your warm well-wishes!
Yes, parenting is a deep learning curve and it is a wonderful privilege too.
Lesson I learnt so far from my little one:
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
My life is no longer the same now...

Don't worry spain for i will rewind,recap and bring everyone up to speed as to what is going on.

Sometimes i do wonder if i chewed on something larger than i can handle but hey it is just a story,a imagination and we can go where we want to go.

But,trust me i will handle the pace and narration and not let any lags or holes spoil the fun.

21st century,delhi,chennai,police,army,intelligence,CIA,japan,world war two,nuclear holocaust,bio terrorism,submarine missile launch,satellite communications,helicam,buddhism,13th century,chola and pandyan empire,aliens,ancient ships and sailors,Malaya and now Islam and caliph.

Come,ride the mad train of my thoughts.

A normal day

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed: "Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day.

God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.
The next morning,sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose,cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills and balanced the check book. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. Then it was already 1P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home. Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework, then set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing. At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.

After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. At 9 P.M . he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.
The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said: -
"Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh!oh! please, let us trade back."

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied: "My son,I feel You have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You'll just have to wait nine months,though. You got pregnant last night."

To all you beautiful mothers and to spain our brand new mother with a brand new baby.

Dear spain,
Congratulations on your new year's gift and i think it is symbolic for it means that the child has come to make all your years beautiful,good and filled with love.

You were born with eggs in your ovaries and that means that you carried this boy the moment you were born and when you were a young baby yourself.So,this child has traveled in your womb,in your body all through your life and is in essence you.Think about it,i mean really think about it.

Wow! what,come again you might say but my mind sings true and i bet that none of you look at childbirth this way.

I fold my hands and bow in salutations to all you mothers and women and wish you well.

Thank you so much for your warm wishes, Satish...
that is really very sweet of you.

No, I have never actually seen childbirth that way...

I remember being a little girl and asking my mother "Where did I come from?"
And she said lovingly "from my tummy"...
I took the literal meaning of her words and taking a measuring tape, I measured the length of her belly and the length of myself and said innocently "but I don't fit inside there..."
My father tried to bail out by cooking up a story and said "We actually found you as a small baby in a trash can...we felt sorry for you and so we brought you home...there, end of story..."
I fell silent and asked "Does that mean I'm adopted?" and a sad realisation striked my face.
Now my father was in a real fix and didn't know what to say...
Before he could find his words, I asked him curiously "So why were you and Mummy too lazy to make your own babies then, huh????"

Hahaha...that is a part of my funny childhood days.

Honestly, I never realised I grew up with ovaries until I was in science class one day and the topic of reproduction was being taught.
Even then...I found the topic boring and lifeless and I couldn't understand why the teacher was blushing the whole time like an idiot.
Nothing I read in textbooks or watched in movies prepared me for the emotions I felt while being pregnant...

Childbirth is an amazing, beautiful experience...
and yeah, sometimes I wonder if men had the privilege to have ovaries and endure labour pain...
they wouldn't stop to stare at a woman breastfeeding her child like she is some wild exotic animal in the zoo...
(sorry, I just heard that from a woman in Delhi and that just disgusted me...)

Satish, I honestly wish they were more men like you around...
because you have earned respect in a woman's eyes through your soulful and kind words.
Thank you. #muchrespect

REDEMPTION 171

"Stories come alive in the telling. Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by flashlight beneath a blanket, they had no existence in our world. They were like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth. Or the notes of a song laid out on a sheet, yearning for an instrument to bring their music into being. They lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read. They needed it. It was the reason they forced themselves from their world into ours. They wanted us to give them life." John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things


The caliph sheikh Muhammad Al Bakr sat presiding over his court in Persia as the days proceedings began and watched as his ministers and advisors presented the visitors from all over the world who had come bearing gifts and to plead their loyalty to the newly crowned caliph.Then a steady stream of prisoners,traitors and men who had rebelled were brought in and almost all were sent for execution while a few were sentenced to have their limbs chopped off or their eyes blinded.

But the caliph's interest was awakened when an old man was dragged in and he walked towards the caliph without any fear or signs of pain from the beatings he had been administered.He walked slowly and stood with his head held high and looked at the caliph with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

The caliph looked at him and then asked his ministers what the charges were against the frail looking old man and the minister stated that the old man refused to pay homage to the caliph's power and had instead chosen to ignore it.

The caliph looked at the old man " is it true old man that you deny my power?"

The old man whispered " what power is that?"

The caliph was ruthless but not a stupid man and knew that this was a delicate matter and would have to be handled in a wise manner.

" The power of my caliphate and the power with which i rule this kingdom and the very power in which i hold your life and death in my hands."

The old man " my life and death you say.But i do not care about either of them and so i do not understand what power you are talking about."

The caliph " don't you fear death? don't you want to live a few more years and do you want to throw it away by being arrogant."

The old man " arrogance.Me,an old and physically frail man am being accused of being arrogant.Here i stand before you in chains and i stand before you after having been beaten and starved and i am arrogant.But that aside,tell me who is the one here who is filled with fear and arrogance if not you who is asking the very question which he should be asking himself."

The caliph's interest was thoroughly aroused " fear,who me.what do i have to fear when i am the ruler of this land and am filled with so much power."

The old man " really.please tell me how long will you be in power and how long are you going to live before death comes for you."

The caliph sat back in his seat and judged the old man and began to understand that their meeting was not an accidental one and he gave orders for the old mans shackles to be removed and asked for water to be given to quench his thirst.

Then he requested the old man to sit in one of the chairs and ordered everyone to leave the court so that he conduct his own enquiry of the prisoner.

After everybody had left them alone,he asked the old man " don't you desire for anything at all?"

" I do but my desires have been fulfilled and hence i want no more and yearn for no more and so it does not matter whether i live or die."

" What is that which has filled your heart in contentment and which has given you so much peace?"

The old man " Allah has filled my heart and there is nothing else i want in this life."

The caliph and the old man sat and spoke,discussing many subjects and it was late in the night when the caliph requested the old man to stay back with him and spend his life in the palace.

The old man agreed but placed a condition " i will stay in your palace but i will make my quarters on the roof and all i want is a small tent and nothing more."

The caliph agreed and a small tent was set up on the roof of the palace and armed guards were placed near the stairs to watch over the old man.

A few weeks later,one night,unable to sleep,the caliph went up the stairs to meet the old man and found him sitting on the floor staring into the skies.

The caliph sat next to him and also stared into the night skies.

It was a night when the moon was just a sliver of its yellow and white brilliance and not a cloud hung over the land and so the stars of the heavens were visible like shining diamonds and the caliph looked at the amazing display of the heavens and watched in awe as many shooting stars blazed across the skies.

The old man still staring at the night sky " so much beauty,so much life and we here on this tiny place called earth kill each other over Allah and Christ when instead as one we can all move forward living the life we were meant to live.all for one and one for all."

The caliph lost his cool and angrily " please old man,do not talk about religion and or way of life and don't compare it with other infidels who believe in other false gods and prophets."

The old man turned to the caliph " child,what do you think those Najmas(star in arabic)are that appear like white lights?"

The caliph stumbled and stuttered for an answer and finally mumbled " Najma."

" right,najma.But what do you think they are and where do you think they are?"

The caliph was stuck for an answer " i am sorry but i have no answer for that apart for the widely held belief that they are just lights.But i have heard other explanations such as that they are holes in the sky (which was like an up-side-down bowl) through which the gods looked down on humans."

The old man looked at him " that is actually a good description but not true.the truth about the stars is a very vast ocean of knowledge and maybe someday you might begin to understand it.But coming to the point,let me ask you what you know about shams( the sun was called as shams in ancient arabic)."

The caliph looked really lost by now and so fell silent,his silence prompting the old man " our shams is also a najma."

The caliph shocked " Wait a minute,if the najmas are similar to our shams,then do they also have planets around them and if that is true then do they also have people living on them like us."

The old man nodded with a smile and asked the caliph to continue and he looked up " But then that means that there must be thousands,millions of civilizations like us out there in the heavens.Are they gods? Does allah live there?"

" Yes,many millions make their homes in places all over this universe and we are just a tiny part of it."

Thoroughly stunned with this new information,the caliph shook his head in amazement " i hope they are all muslims and worship allah and the one true prophet."

The old man was about to say something but thinking it was better to remain silent turned away from the caliph and returned to staring at the skies.

A few minutes later,the caliph asked the old man " who lives there and what kind of people are they and how do they look? do they look like us?"

The old man nodded " some look like us,others a bit different from us but in all of them and us is the presence of the creator."

" rajul hakim, ( wise man in arabic) how is that you know and are aware of so much about science and other worlds and yet wander around like a beggar without a home or family."

" why do you think i have no home or a family? the sky is my roof and the earth my home and all lives that make their existence are my family members."

The caliph was lost for an answer and both sat for a very long time smoking a hookah pipe and staring at the skies.

The caliph sighed and the old man looked at him in curiosity " what is caliph? why is your breath filled with so much longing and melancholy?'

The caliph waved his hand " me and my silly wishes.But since you ask,i will tell you.I wish i could travel and see these other worlds and the people who make their living there.I wish i could escape this life,this place and fly away to a far off land and start my life once again,new and among strangers so then nobody will have any expectations of me or place so much burden on my shoulders."

The old man " why do you consider them as silly wishes for like you i also feel the same way and want the same thing but finding them or the places where they come and go is near impossible."

The caliph reacted as if somebody had slapped him hardly on his cheek and with eyes wide open " what did you say just now? Did i hear you right when you said they come and go and did you mean they come and go from earth?"

The old man stayed silent and just nodded yes.

" But how is that you are aware of this secret knowledge and none in my court have an inkling about these happenings."

The old man's eyes twinkled " oh,some of the wise and old men in your court know about this but don't know what to make of it and so prefer to stay quiet rather than talk and lose their heads after being accused of blasphemy."

" This is simply incredible news.But how is that you know what is going on so clearly and are able to understand them so well."

" i don't know caliph but i was born with this strange gift of sensing strange vibrations.In the beginning i had no clue as to what they meant but slowly,very slowly over many decades i have come to a point where i know a bit about these things and am able to decipher some of the signals and vibrations."

A few days went by before the caliph came to see the old man and confessed his secret desire which was burning him up.

" wise one,if you can help locate these beings and ask for their help,do you realise how much of help it will be for our arab nation and our religion of Islam."

The old man shook his head " i am sorry sire,but there are many hurdles for this desire to become a reality."

The caliph excitedly " i will break and crumble to dust all these hurdles.I will give you possession of immense wealth and protect you with my entire army,so that you can begin your search and track them and maybe find them."

The old man looked at the caliph with a twinkle in his eye and nodded " caliph,what you seek is in the direction of the east and beyond the lands of the hindu kush mountains.Last week,i felt a tremendous vibration and this particular vibration has told me that a very great and powerful individual has been born and along with him has come his companion, a female who is as powerful as him."

The caliph by now totally involved and excited " give me a month and i will ready the forces and you can begin this journey to these beings who have come from the skies.I will send my brother who is the commander of my army to protect you on this quest."

The caliph got up to leave and then suddenly in panic turned towards the old man " but,wise one,what if"

The old man grabbed the caliphs right arm and a surge of power burst through the caliphs hands and deep in his soul a vision came alive and he saw for himself the two beings they were after.

One was a boy being breast fed by a woman who was obviously blind and in another place he saw a baby girl staring at the sun and trying to reach out for its light.

The old man released the caliph's arm and sat quietly for he felt drained of energy and the caliph sat quietly next to him and then looked at the old man " wise one,were my eyes deceiving me or was it just my imagination for i thought i saw a huge lion sitting near the male child.I have never seen such a massive beast in my life and moreover what was that strange aura around the boy and the lion and the baby girl."

" That is how you can find them and know who they are for they have a strange and colorful aura and yet only a very few can fathom their depths."

The caliph " strange,wonderful and yet so beautiful.Allah is really mighty for his grace touches every part of this universe and creation.Wise one,prepare to leave soon and promise me that you will return with these beings for using their power,islam can conquer and rule this world and this entire universe."


Long after the caliph had left him,the old man slept peacefully under the stars and dreamt about the boy and girl and the lion.

Deep in his mind,drowned in his dreams the old man saw flames bursting and reaching the skies and then through the raging fire came a woman drenched in blood and she held a thousand heads in her arms.She stared at him and then with a smile threw the heads towards him and roared in laughter.And behind her,deep inside the flames stood the man tall and strong and the lion on his left side roared its challenge.

I am Thenmozhi.These are the stories of my voyage to a new life and a new destiny.I am heaven and hell.I am fire and water and i will bring peace to you.

There is a dark resource within all of us, a reservoir of hurt and pain and anger upon which we can draw when the need arises. Most of us rarely, if ever, have to delve too deeply into it. That is as it should be, because dipping into it costs and you lose a little of yourself each time, a small part of all that is good and honorable and decent about you. Each time you use it you have to go a little deeper, a little further down into the blackness. Strange creatures move through its depths, illuminated by a burning light from within and fueled only by the desire to survive and to kill. The danger in diving into that pool, in drinking from that dark water, is that one day you may submerge yourself so deeply that you can never find the surface again. Give in to it and you're lost forever.

Randy Pausch died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. He wrote book 'The last Lecture', one of the best-sellers in 2007. Check this out ..really Good one...
In a letter to his wife Jai and his children, Dylan, Logan , and Chloe, he wrote this beautiful "guide to a better life" for his wife and children to follow. May you be blessed by his insight.

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

Gods and Goddesses


He brought down the newspaper and looked at her
she stood in the kitchen across the hall from where he sat
she stood lost in recipes,spices and flavors
he watched with love and smiled as he remembered the small flare up
the flare up came from the one burning issue that had caught fire
and had been simmering,smoking and still alive after all these decades

She believed in God,He did not believe in god
she went to the temple while he sat at home reading newspapers
she told him of her trip while he gave her the condensed version of the news

He looked at her and his heart skipped a beat as she stumbled
the arthritis that had flirted with her knees
had now become the other partner in their twosome
and was more active with her than him

He placed the newspaper down and he stared at her
why would i want to go to the temple
why do i need god or his blessings
when i have both right here,right now
in you as you and around you

She turned suddenly and stared at him and a smile bloomed
and spread on her wrinkled but still beautiful lips

she went back to her cutting and frying of vegetables
and she thought i go to the temple and pray to god for you
for you and for little strength to carry on beyond this pain
that are like hot spikes in my knees