What gives

It was a difficult Sunday.One of those days when things looked all uphill.The heat of the day was only beaten by the deep discouragement I felt within.I decided not to go to the church and wallowed in my room hiding behind a veil of confusion,fatigue,heart-ache and just sleeplessness.Normally when I miss the church I get an up-date from someone ,but none of my friends were around so there was no way I could get one. The pastor had a discomfort in the chest after church so I struggled to the casualty and examined him.Prescribed some medicine and then returned to my room when suddenly a storm broke out.I got up to my window to look out at the fury of the storm. Even as I looked out I cried out to the Lord, “Lord,I am feeling discouraged ,tired,it hurts and my faith is wavering,please give me a sign that you are with me.Will you break this tree in front of my house as a sign just to encourage me?” Next moment there was a crackling sound and the biggest branch,the size of a ful...

Maghe Ram is eighteen but with a mental age of a five year old.He was brought to the casualty with hyperthermia and in severe respiratory distress.The moment I saw him I thought he looked familiar ,till it struck me that all patient's with Down's syndrome look the same. His vulnerability brought with it a gift of compassion .Even as we tried to bring down his temperature and relieve him of the distress ,we decided to pray for him. Alem prayed ,while I placed my hand on his head ,when we opened our eyes we saw tears in his eyes.Even as we blinked away our own tears ,we had a deep peace in our hearts.Next morning his fever was down and he was sitting up on his bed,his distress relieved. Each time we come for rounds , my heart lifts up at the sight of him because these days there are  few things that make me cry........ I was thinking tomyself ,how precious are the vulnerable,they keep furrows of our heart dug and soft!

The last week has been overwhelming .With Sushil headed for Vellore,the bulk of the medicine load has left me 50% functional.Thanks to Alem who has been a big help.Yesterday a sardarjee was wheeled into the casualty with a history of snakebite in his last breath ,gasping .We resuscitated him and put him on the ventilator.To start with his pupils were dilated and fixed,half the relatives had a mind to put a stop to it all then.One educated youth decided to persist and go on with whatever we were doing.48 hrs later he is sitting on his bed and eating chapatti and subji whilst his brother who had sort of given up was emotional.His son who must be in his twenties worked as a nurses assistant all the while in the ICU,helping the sisters with everything and anything,I suppose a helpful person by nature.It was almost comical to hear the sardarjee grumble as soon as we had extubated him about how the whole day while he was on the ventilator he had asked for some water to drink and nonone had ...

Mrs S fell into my plate for counselling entirely by accident.Her daughter had consumed poison and was admitted in the ICU.Paramjeet our physiotherapist and a local pastor with a heart for evangelism happened to chance upon her crying.He requested me to talk to her.She seemed to be a mass of nerves.The wound of having lost her husband four years ago seemed very fresh and with three teenagers in a tow, life was not any easier for her.She seemed agitated ,upset,confused and absolutely hay-wire. I started by listening to her even as she poured out her struggles amidst the chaos of the sobs....when she had finished I gently introduced a suggestion for her need to be stiil if she wanted her children to feel secure.One thing led to another and when I mentioned the name Jesus,suddenly her faced cleared ,for a moment she gained ground and full of joy she recounted how in her school days her friends had taken her along for fellowship and how she had been so much a part of it.With time the wor...

I was sitting in the home of a kindly senior couple who had invited us for dinner when a family breezed in.The young kid had just finished his tenth with a 65% marks and was in a delimna because the school he had applied for needed him to get a higher marks for the science stream he wanted to take up.I was requested to counsel the kid as to what he should go about doing.Even as I started putting the various options before him every nerve in my body protested but I continued nevertheless saying what I thought was the safe thing . Even as the board exam results are out and there is a lot of hue and cry as to who has passed and who has not and I see a lot of parents tensed up for their wards I watch it all in a relatively detatched manner and pity the children who seem to have no idea as to where it is all leading them. Strangely enough the picture of a group of skulls standing in a queue....getting up in the morning,going for walk,coming back,...

I had a lovely weekend with the Eicher's in Landour. The family was enjoying their much deserved break and was generous enough to accomodate me in their time together.The kids were a joy as always startling one with their candour and alarming wisdom which sometimes leaves you speechless. We had an evening of colours with Stephen encouraging us to experiment with shades..it was an engaging time. The next day while walking through the figure of eight in Landour I was pointing out my painting to Sheba in the woods below. At the last minute we decided to attend the FOG church (friends of garhwal) which is just below the hospital.it happened to be a youth sunday.The worship was an awkward affair,the youth not really comfortable leading the worship.I was dumbstruck and deeply touched by the sharing.There were groups of youngsters spread out all over the church fidgety,giggling and restless.The leader reprimended some of them for chewing gums and leaving the paper inside the church.F...

"Ghaziabad: Murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar's parents, Nupur and Rajesh, have been charged with murder, destruction of evidence and conspiracy in the sensational double murder case in which their domestic help was also found dead. Rajesh Talwar has also been charged with misleading the investigation in the double murder case.  "-CNN IBN live This morning ,during my quiet time I found myself sobbing my heart out to the Lord...somethings I think had upset me.One was the news of that young child Aarushi,her grotesque murder and the horribly twisted conclusion to the whole case scenario...this whole episode has kept me upset right from the onset. I look around at the world around me and see the potential and the stimulus for evil.My heart aches for the young kids growing up in a world like this. The gospel needs to be preached and there is no alternative to it. The gospel is  spirit breathed and is the Word of God.It has the power to sanctify. It has the power to hea...