A little bird I am- By Madame Guyon

1. A little bird I am,
     Shut from the fields of air,
   And in my cage I sit and sing
     To Him who placed me there;
   Well pleased a prisoner to be,
   Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.

2. Nought have I else to do,
     I sing the whole day long;
   And He whom most I love to please
     Doth listen to my song;
   He caught and bound my wandering wing;
   But still He bends to hear me sing.
3. Thou hast an ear to hear
     A heart to love and bless;
   And though my notes were e'er so rude,
     Thou wouldst not hear the less;
   Because Thou knowest as they fall,
   That love, sweet love, inspires them all.
4. My cage confines me round;
     Abroad I cannot fly;
   But though my wing is closely bound,
     My heart's at liberty;
   For prison walls cannot control
   The flight, the freedom of the soul.
5. O it is good to soar
     These bolts and bars above!
   To Him whose purpose I adore,
     Whose providence I love;
   And in Thy mighty will to find
   The joy, the freedom of the mind.

Madame Guyon

A Christmas Hymn-proclaiming Messiah's birth

Angels from the Realms of Glory

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!

Shepherds, in the fields abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant Light;
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great desire of nations,
Ye have seen His natal star;
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!

Saints before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!

http:///www.hymns.me.uk/ 

Anne Frank on Nature, GOD, Jews and Writing

Anne Frank Quotes on  Nature and God

 "When I looked outside right into the depth of Nature and God, then I was happy, really happy. And Peter, so long as I have that happiness here, the joy in nature, health and a lot more besides, all the while one has that, one can always recapture happiness.

"Riches can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it will still bring you happiness again, as long as you live. As long as you can look fearlessly up into the heavens, as long as you know that you are pure within, and that you will still find happiness." Wednesday, 23 February, 1944

 "I've found that there is always some beauty left-in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance. And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!" Tuesday, 7 March, 1944

Anne Frank on Jews
Quote 9: "I could go on for hours about all the suffering the war has brought, but then I would only make myself more dejected. There is nothing we can do but wait as calmly as we can till the misery comes to an end. Jews and Christians wait, the whole earth waits; and there are many who wait for death." Wednesday, 13 January, 1943, pg. 48

Quote 8: "I feel wicked sleeping in a warm bed, while my dearest friends have been knocked down or have fallen into a gutter somewhere out in the cold night. I get frightened when I think of close friends who have now been delivered into the hands of the cruelest brutes that walk the earth. And all because they are Jews!" Thursday, 19 November, 1942

How writing strengthened Anne Frank in her hiding place
Quote1: "Still," she writes, "what does that matter? I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart." Saturday, 20 June, 1942, pg. 2

Quote 19: "I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me. I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn." Tuesday, 4 April, 1944

Dalai Lama's new book-Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World'.

Tibetan Guru Dalai Lama has come forward with another book after his previous one published in 2010.
The recent book is -Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World.
He states in the book that India has been his second home for more than 50 yrs, ever since he was forced to leave Tibet due to Chinese occupation.
Still pressing forward with Tibetan Liberty , Dalai Lama has his headquarters in the beautiful Daramshala in Himachal Pradesh

Legend of cinema Prithiviraj Kapoor From Lyallpur to Bombay

Legend of cinema Prithiviraj Kapoor From Lyallpur to Bombay

"One actor who changed the eco system of Indian cinema by his sheer presence and then giving birth to 3 sons who also became legends.

Best known as Shenshah Akbar in Mughal E Azam, Prithiviraj Kapoor is the patriarch of the Kapoor family of Hindi films, five generations of which, beginning with him, have played active role in Bollywood. He is also the founder of Prithvi Theatre.

Prithviraj was born on November 3, 1906 at Samundri near the town of Lyallpur (now known as Faisalabad in Pakistan) to a middle-class family of Punjabi Khatri origin."
The elders of Dhaki Munawar Shah, birthplace of Indian film heroes such as Raj Kapoor, Shami Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, still recall the days they spent together

Cannibalism Normal For Early Humans?

Cannibalism Normal For Early Humans?:

"Scientists from England, Australia, and Papua New Guinea say that cannibalism is the most likely explanation for their discovery that genes protecting against brain diseases that can be contracted by eating contaminated flesh have long been spread throughout the world.

A growing body of evidence, such as piles of human bones with clear signs of human butchery, suggests cannibalism was widespread among ancient cultures. The discovery of this genetic resistance, which shows signs of having spread as a result of natural selection, supports the physical evidence for cannibalism, say the scientists

The brain diseases, called prion diseases, are characterized by loss of coordination, dementia, paralysis, and eventually death. Modern examples include Creutzfeld Jacob disease and kuru in humans and mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in animals."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0410_030410_cannibal.html

Languages on Papua vanish without a whisper

Languages on Papua vanish without a whisper | Entertainment | DAWN.COM:
"New Guinea is home to more than 1,000 languages — around 800 in Papua New Guinea and 200 in Indonesian Papua — but most have fewer than 1,000 speakers, often centred around a village or cluster of hamlets.
Some 80 per cent of New Guinea’s people live in rural areas and many tribes, especially in the isolated mountains, have little contact with one another, let alone with the outside world.
The most widely-spoken language is Enga, with around 200,000 speakers in the highlands of central PNG, followed by Melpa and Huli.
“Every time someone dies, a little part of the language dies too because only the oldest people still use it,” said Nico, the curator of Cendrawasih University’s museum.
“In towns but also eventually in the forest, Indonesian has become the main language for people under 40"

from http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/21/languages-on-papua-vanish-without-a-whisper.html

A Bird's Song

When I would play my song
You used to sing along.
I always seem to forget
How fragile are the very strong.
I'm sorry I can't steal you
I'm sorry I can't stay
So I put band-aids on your knees
And watch you fly away

I'm sending you away tonight
I'll put you on a bird's strong wing
I'm saving you the best way I know how
I hope again one day to hear you sing

You know we're not so far away
Get on a boat, get on a train
And if you ever think you're drowning
I'll try to slow the rain
In two years or so
Drop me a line
Write me a letter
I hope to find you're doing better, better than today, better everyday

I'm sending you away tonight
I'll put you on a bird's strong wing
I'm saving you the best way I know how
I hope again one day to hear you sing
I'm saving you the only way that I know how
I hope again one day to hear you sing
I hope again one day to see you bring your smile back around again

The Saudi Arabia of Potash

The Saudi Arabia of Potash

This is the new name for the much sought after grey dust province in canada.
Saskatchawan province of canada is much in news due to the presence of huge deposits of Grey dust --Potash, lying at a depth of 1000mts.Potash is an important fertilizers , infact one among the three most needed fertilizers in the world.In proportions with nitrogen and phosphate it increases the crops yield.

In 1940's it was first discovered in Saskatchewan.

Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/potash).Apat from fertilizers it is used in chemical and manufactured products.

India to overtake China in 2014: Ernst & Young

India to overtake China in 2014: Ernst & Young: -
India will overtake China in 2014, according to a forecast by the Ernst & Young's report on Rapid Growth Markets (RGMs). In 2014, India is expected to grow at 9 per cent while China is expected to grow at 8.6 per cent.
India and China would probably be less impacted among the 25 Rapid Growth Markets (RGMs) in case of a deterioration of the Eurozone debt crisis.

The 7 billion mark

We are 7 billion today
..............what is happening ..................


increasing life span,
better medical facilities,
fertility rates dropping,
increasing aging population

Apple Cake Recipe - Food.com - 291057

Apple Cake Recipe - Food.com - 291057

• cup self raising flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 3 tablespoons butter (melted)
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 apples (peeled, cored and thinly sliced)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius.
2. 2
   Grease pie plate.
3. 3
   Sift flour with and sugar and then add the egg, melted butter and milk and mix well.
4. 4
   Pour mix into greased pie plate.
5. 5
   Mix cinnamon and sugar together.
6. 6
   Arrange sliced apples on top and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mix.
7. 7
   Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean once pierce

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/apple-cake-291057#ixzz1bg4UnQtg

Are You a Role Model?

Are You a Role Model? - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review
"Deep generosity — generosity that requires personal sacrifice — is something else altogether. It's the $15-an-hour worker who puts $10 in the collection plate every week, or lends money to a friend in even greater need, and therefore has less money available to put food on the table for his family.
"To whom much is given," the parable goes in Luke 12:35, "of him much will be required." Fairness is the sine qua non of any sustainable society."

Being Alone by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Being Alone
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Every day,
put a few minutes aside to be alone
and think about the coming day
or the day that has just passed,
about people you have met.
Also think about yourself
and what you are lacking.
But never brood excessively by yourself;
rather let the One who knows your secrets
participate in your solitude.
Each of us has things we never utter,
things we conceal
like a beloved treasure within our solitude.
Only God knows them;
Hence draw God
Into your solitude.

Nikos Kazantzakis quotes

Nikos Kazantzakis quotes

• Die every day. Be born every day. Deny everything you have every day. The superior virtue is not to be free but to fight for freedom

• Every man worthy of being called a son of man bears his cross and mounts his Golgotha.

• Overdraw me, Lord, and who cares if I break.

• All hopes and despairs vanish in the voracious, funneling whirlwind of God

• I love, I feel pain, I struggle. The world seems to me wider than the mind, my heart a dark and almighty mystery.

• I said to the almond tree: "Speak to me of God"

               and the almond tree blossomed.

life sweet and sour: JONI EARECKSON TADA

life sweet and sour: JONI EARECKSON TADA

JONI EARECKSON TADA

JONI EARECKSON TADA

The great land grab for personal, political and corporate gains

The great land grab of India

Be it the Raman Singh-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh,

BJP Govt of Madhya Prades ,

Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh,

Biju's BJD govt in Orissa,

previous CPI(M)-led Left Front government's initiatives in West Bengal , they have all , for the immediate personal and political gains , overlooked the rights of the farmers and tribal land rights by taking up huge industrialisation and infrastructure projects

They have ignored the livelihood concerns of these land based communities,

-leading to unjust agricultural and forest land acquisition ,

-displacement of local and tribal communities,

-economic and social marginalisation of farming communities

-increasing risk of environmental hazards

-and increase in the number of landless labourers

Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore show



Tagore known for his literary works across the globe was also a versed painter, a facet of his not much known to the world.
 

From 1928 onwards, Rabindranath began to paint images laden with memory and fantasy. He used very simple material – any available paper, coloured ink, crayon, gouache pigment, brush, rags and fingers with frenzy. He painted heads, figures, bizarre animals and flora, and landscapes of the mind.” It took India time to ‘accept' him as an artist. Tagore had his first show of painting in the early 1930s in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to a lukewarm response.
The National Gallery for Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, is celebrating it with a unique art exhibition titled “Circle of Art: The Three Tagores”.

Annihilating caste and Ambedkar

Annihilating caste

Baba saheb Ambedkar in his time took lot of initiatives to overcome the caste barriers and hurdles that most poor indians were facing.
He tried his best with the then British  government to create a seperate electorate for the lower caste marginalised Indians , so as to bring them up in he political and educational circle of country, but he could not suceed.Yet his efforts have not gone in vain.

The less priviledged have been able to come up the creamy layer because of his efforts.

Ironically in India Where politics has its tentacles spread into every nook and corner of the Indian society, one sees caste based politics and caste and sub caste based ooganizations flourishing just to gain the vote bank , much less for the development of the marginalised.
According to Ambedkar, caste destroyed the concept of ethics and morality. To quote him: “The effect of caste on the ethics of the Hindus is simply deplorable. Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has destroyed the sense of public charity. Caste has made public opinion impossible. A Hindu's public is his caste. His responsibility is to his caste. His loyalty is restricted only to his caste. Virtue has become caste-ridden, and morality has become caste-bound.”