There are three good reasons to be a teacher - June, July, and August :)

A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism. ~Louis A. Berman

I was thinking about teachers the other day and I realized I have had only a few great teachers who have left their mark on me. Since I have always been a ‘problem’ student, the single qualification for this role was the ability to grab my attention and get me interested enough to learn.

No matter what I may say about my mother, one of her greatest accomplishments is that of being a teacher. My mom has always had an amazing way about her to make people sit up and pay attention. As the fresh batches of students pile in each new academic year, anticipating the challenges ahead in finding something novel for every student always puts a smile on her face.

More than thirty years of being a teacher couldn’t have been easy or fun. However, if you asked her, she would say teaching scores of children the lofty principles of math and science, were the best days of her life. And they ain’t over yet. To my mother, teaching is a gift and an addiction. It gives meaning to her life and defines her. She would go into her grave, happily teaching.

She is one of those few, rare people to whom teaching isn’t a job but a vocation. If you had spoken to any of her students while they were in her class, they would tell you she was the most horrible teacher on the planet who lived to torture her students. Talk to them ten years later and she’s one of the few teachers they remember and are eternally grateful for.

A cross-eyed teacher can keep twice the number of children in order than any other, because the pupils do not know who she's looking at - Anonymous

Monsters Among Us

When one hears of serial killers, one thinks of a good plot in a movie or a juicy plot in a book. One thinks of it as a gruesome phenomenon happening far, far, and far away. When it comes to serial killers, we adopt an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ policy. Sure, when the chilling news first hits, we sympathize with the victims and are shocked at the inhumanity of the killers, but we do all this from afar. Because no one expects a killer so close to them, no one expects one to emerge from their own backyard.

"Every man to his own tastes. Mine is for corpses." - Henri Blot

I doubt any of the Londoners knew or suspected that a modern Jack the Ripper was brewing in their midst. He was a graduate student who was studying the work of serial killers. The police have said he bludgeoned his victims. These murders seem to have links to the standard MO of a number of serial killers, the most prominent being Jack the Ripper. It’s chilling and scary to think that somebody would be so entranced by the work of a murderer that they would carve out a similar legacy for themselves in the most gruesome Hall of Fame.


Once again in Bombay, a serial killer has surfaced. The police suspect one man is behind three murders that took place in Bombay's Kurla area over the last five months. The victims were all young girls, who were raped before being killed. It takes the lowest scum of the earth to prey of defenseless, little girls and kill them. It takes the worst kind of monster to snuff out an innocent’s life on a mere whim of lust or for game.

The Bombay serial killer seems to strike on the sixth of every month since February, taunting the Bombay police. With a death toll of three young, innocent girls, the police are desperate to find him. They launched their biggest manhunt for serial rapist and killer to date. They have announced Rs 2.5 lakh reward for information on the serial killer and have released a sketch to the public. Let’s pray he’s caught before the horrors continue and another life is taken.

Dancing the night away ...

In a family of dancers, people with two left feet are alien and rare. I have yet to meet someone within my family who wouldn’t get up and dance at a party. I had this epiphany at a family wedding a few days ago where all my close relatives, second cousins, various aunts and uncles gathered together. These are once-in-a-blue-moon occasions where everybody turns up to enjoy in a big way.


When my family gets up to dance, they’re just good. There’s no other word for it. Their movements are confident and sure. No one stumbles or missteps. Gracefully they will flow together, anticipating each other’s moves. These are dances they have danced a thousand times before to songs they have grown up listening to. It comes naturally and effortlessly to them. Whether they are jiving or dancing a waltz or just moving on the dance floor, it’s graceful and beautiful to watch.

The men twirling their partners across the dance floor, the children dancing together, everything moves as though in sync. It’s like someone up there has choreographed the entire performance. Yet at the same time it seems so natural. These people are so delightful to watch because they genuinely love to dance. Nobody is forcing them to dance. They want to get up and have a good time, just dancing to those old, forgotten classics. From the young to the old, it’s lovely to see people enjoying the music of yesteryears.

Above All ...

From the moment I first heard this song, it made a huge impact on me. With its simple, beautiful lyrics, it reminded me of all the things about my faith that I held dear. This song has always been a personal favourite of mine. It reminds me of the price that the Lord paid for me, how he humbled himself and sacrificed his life for me, a sinner, someone who couldn’t be worthy of his unconditional love and mercy.

This song reminds how amazing it is that when Jesus died, he was thinking of me.


Crucified, laid behind a stone;
You lived to die,
Rejected and alone,
Like a rose,
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all.

- "Above All" - Michael W. Smith

Angels storming Heaven

Coming from a large, close family is annoying. They’re times when you feel overshadowed and lost in the crowd and times when you feel so overprotected, you think you’ll go crazy. It’s easy to argue with one set of parents but you can’t argue with seven sets of pseudo-parents who are only looking out for your well-being. Yet, recently when someone in my family fell seriously ill, my entire perspective changed. I realized how amazingly lucky I was to come from a close-knit family.

For most of my life I lived in a nuclear family (two parents, two siblings), returning home to my large family only for brief holidays. To then return, for good, to such a large family is a stretch at first. I felt surrounded on all sides in both a comforting yet frustrating way. Like a security blanket that’s both warm and smothering. But when my uncle fell ill, the way my family banded together and rallied, it tipped the scales into comforting. I realized I was blessed to have such a family.

My family, like all others, is constantly fighting and squabbling. But when they’re needed the most, they’re there, supporting each other and taking care of each other, all grudges aside. No matter the curves thrown to them, they’re in this together. I know how lucky I am to have that because I know that most people don’t. I know they would put aside all fights, squabbles and grudges to support me and be there for me if I was ever in trouble. That’s what I’m grateful for the most, to know that Im incredibly loved and protected.


If I’m ever seriously ill, I know without a shadow of doubt that my family would be there for me, praying for me. They would be angels storming Heaven for me.

Happy Valentine's Day !! :)

3 idiots

Anybody who’s seen the movie “3 idiots” will leave the theatre in stitches, an instant walking advertisement for the movie. Because the movie is just that good. During a time when the multiplexes are filled with dark films and typical Bollywood dramas, this film is a breath of fresh air. With a new spin on 'ragging' and the Indian system of education, it is a light-hearted comedy tackling social issues.

An idyllic early morning fast train

Standing by the doors of a fast train in the morning (when it’s reasonably crowded) is the perfect start to a wonderful day. To feel the cold breeze mingled with the warm sunshine while the miles fly by is pure bliss.

The cold buffeting wind makes your eyes water, your fingers go numb and your hair whip about your face. Yet, you know you won’t exchange that idyllic sense of calm and happiness for anything in the world. There’s that moment where all your worries and anxieties float away from you and everything seems right in the world. It’s that sense of perfection that permeates and lingers throughout the day that almost makes you glad you rose before the sun, to catch that fast train.

G.K. Chesterton wrote: "Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed."

- Criminal Minds

“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” - Tom Clancy