What gives

We reached Edinburgh in the morning ,a beautiful architectural marvel .Mrs and Dr Macdonald hosted us with such warmth.For me it was a lesson in humility to see the resilence of the stalwarts.Dr Macdonald's humility,warmth ,sharp mind and extensive encyclopedic memory,Joan's efficiency,perkiness,ability to embrace,beautifully traditional home-cooked meal both Indian and Scottish ,and seeing an evidence of fruitfullness in their old age. Dr Ann Urquat came to see me from Dundee.She is a marvel.She is a tiny fire-brand for the Lord.I was deeply touched to hear just how matter of factedly she explained why she decided to settle in Dundee.She had been requested to do so for ministry purpose. She also gave me a packet of letters to deliver once I get back to India,impressive in it's earthy connectedness to her place of mission. I had the privellage to meet up with Kathleen Mackenjee and her husband for lunch just talking about Lakhnadon. Two youths from the church were kind ...

We spent the afternoon with John and Jenny who were absolutely wonderful and gave us a taste of English hospitality.We drove up the hill to enjoy the view of Vales,Exmoor and just the expanse of green ,green lawn with horse-riding,amateur horse races and beautiful footpaths.Mid-afternoon,we drove down the valley to this beautifull tea-place overlooking the beautifull hills where beautiful people were enjoying cream tea.It was a traditional place and I would guess awefully precious for the local people. We enjoyed freshly brewed tea and fresh scones from the oven and learned to cream the scone the Taunton way with cream first and jam later. After the relaxing tea,we made our way to see the steam engine which is a national heritage site and has a host of volunteers who run the place.There was an amiable man who calls the engine which stands for Great Western railway,God's western railway.The station was a charming place with some posters from the early 1900s and we caught the stea...

Yesterday we spent the day in Bath.John and Jenny drove us to the train station in Taunton .We took the train to Bath via Bristol temple mead.I had wonderful memories of Bath from the past.It is for me the most beautiful city especially the areas around the Bath abbey and the roman bath.I booked a ticket for Annie to get into the bath while I sat in the sun reading on the bench outside the abbey enjoying the sun,the crowd ,the pigeons and beautiful classics both opera and musicals sung by a lady.It was frightening in it's beauty with the ability to transport you to another place altogether,I could have wept but I found myself clamping down.I travelled to the Doone Valley with Lorna Doone vicariously though. Annie enjoyed Bath ,she took a lot of photographs,bought souveneirs in the abbey and just enjoyed the architecture of angels ascending and descending ,the stained glass windows and the amazing ceiling and then we walked the town of Bath popping in and out of shopping centres,vi...

Today ,Annie and I decided to wake up at leisure and made ourselves walk with a small backpack each towards Taunton after breakfast.As confident as I may have been about walking it ,the incredible look on the faces of the people we talked to made us realise that we had to catch a bus somehow.We had an incredible experience as we sauntered along the highway.There was a sheep farm with some sheep grazing ,Annie wanted to take some pictures.As we positioned our camera and stood near the gate chatting ,all the sheep just sauntered to us and was leaning towards us with such trust.That to us was an unusual experience.It refused to budge from our side and there was not an iota of doubt in their trust for us total strangers.It deeply touched both of us and I was telling Annie how Christ calls us His sheep. We had some coffee by a roadside cafeteria,where they had never heard of anyone using a bus to commute,so had no idea about the timings. We eventually caught a bus to Taunton after raisin...

Reached Taunton after four hours of gruelling travel.John ,the host came to pick us up and waited patiently for over an hour as we were delayed enroute.He even waited patiently while we picked up some groceries and took us around and showed us all the nitty-gritties and the essential. The place we are booked in is away from the hustle and bustle of town,a good five miles or so away.Oakes is a lovely exclusive town centred around an anglican church with a single village shop,a post office,and beautiful big houses with lovely gardens,horses, sheep farms and a pub.We walked around the village appreciating the house designs ,the colour and the beauty of the flowers. The rectory we are staying in is from the 1700s ,a very charming english cottage with lots of books ,very english crockeries and we had a lovely sponge cake awaiting us. Annie and myself are figuring out ways to get to Bath,Glastonbury and the coast on either side before we make our way to Edinburgh.We plan to catch the long...

What have I been doing in London?I have been playing music with Ojasvi to my heart's content .She plays the flute,the violen,bit of panflute,a bit of guitar and we sing the classics.It is quiet a session we have as we meander through the various inflections of 'scarborough fair'.Yesterday she played 'Amazing grace ' and 'Swing Low sweet chariot' beautifully with her flute while I accompanied her in vocals as far as i could while Anu watched us from the couch and smiled. Between painting,singing,reading by the bench on the skywalk which comemorates John and Charles Wesley and just walking ,while Anu is constantly on the phone talking to Dinesh who is in India with her sick uncle..I also wait for Annie to fly in from Inida before I travel down to Somerset for a short break... My guitar is also getting the much needed exercise and so is my intent to buy a violen next.

Church was at Emmanuel church in Wimbledon.It was wonderful meeting up with Dr Raju and Katherine and all their wonderful friends.The preaching was from the book of Job centering around the 28th chapter.In between gazing at the stained glass windows and the art work of the anglican church ,it was a powerful sermon preached by Robin Weekes who apparently has pastored the Delhi bible fellowship for several years. It was about searching for wisdom which is relational and can only come from God and is vertical .The horizontal aspect of it is that it keeps us away from evil.The book of Job talks about the fear of the Lord which is wisdom and because of the fear of the Lord we turn away from evil which is understanding. He went on to talk about suffering. When we can enjoy the blessings of the Lord why do we question Him when we suffer. If our suffering glorifies the Lord ,then who are we to question Him,if our suffering teaches a fellow brethren to endure then who are we to question Him...

One of my favourite bible anecdotes of Elisha and the servant in 2 King's 6:17.It never fails to give me strength and inspire me especially sometimes when I just feel ovewhelmed and out of my depths.It was ,I realise horses and chariots of fire....my drawing capacity limits me but not my heart..

Chocolates and Lollies not my cup of tea.. grime,sweat and a fist full of life taste of blood salty,tangy Did I bite my lips? Did my breathing stop? just for a moment... My heart beats louder.. clearer... I breathe sweeter... a fist full of life...

Now that I am ready to move I have started to pack and as I take stock of things I have gathered over the one year ,it leaves me thoughtful.What did I need to survive?I needed my several pair of jeans,I think I lived casually in those the entire non-working hours and even tried squeezing the non-discrete black ones to work. I gave in to winters and bought a jacket and a pure woollen coat. I bought stationaries and more stationaries,I seem to have a fetish for notebooks because I can write and take down notes wherever I go before i jot them into my blog.I bought a kindle,a small laptop ,a jam box,a beautiful guitar,a panflute,pastels ,art book,an Ashford calender of art,t-shirts from Tate,sketch pencils,a water bottle and a small backpack. Some of the norebooks I would have to shed,the ones I have written in because most of it is already duplicated in my blog. In these years of my life I am slowly but surely learning to filter the things that I need and the things I can do without....