For the Love of Ireland!!!

Hey people.. there is this really beautiful blog I just came across on the web.. if anyone of you truly love Ireland and miss being with her.. this is an awesome treat... :D

http://irelandgo.blogspot.com/

I heard Angels singing...

The last few weeks have been kinda like a struggle for me. But I knew something was up for me on the other end of the tunnel... Yesterday my friend Virginia, introduced me to worship leader Jason Upton's songs. She gave me a few of her collection and there was this album 'Remember' which was recorded live and was a compilation of two nights of worship.On the first track, he is heard rebuking a tornado which was tearing through Oklahoma City at the time and was headed directly towards the building that he was worshiping in. Some say the tornado broke apart at the moment Jason spoke against it. And there is this 6th track ' Lullaby' where he asks the Father to come and play with him and just after that the last track 'Fly' you can hear an unknown high-pitched voice. Jason Upton credited it to 'An Angel'. I usually don't fall for these things, but when I heard the track I had tears in my eyes.

I didn't know what was it, but I never felt like it before. I have always been a Christian and never shed a tear for my God. And this moment was totally different. I think it was all real. I believe the Angels were already there. They were there to protect them from the tornado, maybe they couldn't just stand there when everyone else was worshiping that they joined in. I think everyone should experience this. I am attaching a video below here, check it out and be blessed... :)

This Moment... That Year...

It's been 2 years now but I still cant get over Dublin... the beautiful city that stole my heart away. Yeah its actually literally like that. So now as the day arrives this year I cant help myself but cherish those moments I had then.

I was supposed to fly on the 28th April 2008 (Saturday) by the 2.50am flight but I received my VISA only on 27th April at 7.30pm. And I am still at work. I was still wondering how do I come home, pack up my bags and leave in 2 hours... when my boss got it postponed to 30th April 2008 (Monday) for 2.50am. So I could attend church that sunday and by evening I had all my friends come to meet me. It was an awesome feeling.

Though I was flying outside the country for the first time, I wasn't really excited about the flight. Cos I was too busy preparing for my days there. My mind was all pre-occupied with everything I had to do when I land in Dublin. So the initial 2 hours of my journey was the most lousiest. Cos I wasnt really thinking about Dublin but just about my work. So then I reached the airport by 11pm and was listening to my cd player until 1.30am. I boarded the plane by 2.30am. And exactly at 2.50am the plane moved away from the gate and took off. Just then it sank in me that I was moving away from my country... I was flying to Dublin...

At 3.15am I had my meals, which I don't remember but it was cool. At 3.30am they put on a sad Salman Khan starer Bollywood movie. I believe I was the only in the flight who was watching the movie. I woke up at 8am to be welcomed by fresh warm breakfast and followed by another movie. I landed at Frankfurt airport by 7.50am. I walked around aimlessly around this massive airport for an hour killing my 2 hour stop-over time there. As I was window shopping I came across a Tommy Hilfiger Showroom. I bought myself a jacket for Euro 153.

By 10.15am I took my flight to Dublin. I arrived in Dublin airport at 11.30am. I got my immigration checks done by 12pm and I got my cab and got to my office in Dun Laoghaire. My Project Manager Sandra drove me home in her car and I was home by 1pm. Well there's so many things to write about but I don't want any of my friends/visitors to fall off to sleep reading them...

Still Missing Dublin

I was missing Ireland a lot today.. so i thought about doing this video... as a tribute to this magical land and my beautiful friends I made there...

Please note that this is a low res file, hence the jitters in some parts of the vid. Please let me know if you need the High Res file. :)

And then I turned 25...

So this is the account of what happened hours before I turned 25 on March 01st 2009.

Friday evening I returned home after work and had this terrible headache because of the tough day at work. I hit the bed at 9pm only to be woken up by my boss about the antic we put up on Facebook. I really didn't sleep well after that. Saturday was pretty dull as I was really exhausted and tired. Mike came over in the morning and we talked a bit.. Carmeline was happy for everything that happened and thought 'God is just'. Afternoon I fell off to sleep while I was still having lunch with the plate in my hand. Was a terrible sight... never been thru something like that before. Evening we had our church practice as usual and then late evening I had went along with the IC folks to play guitar for a worship meet.

The worship meet was over by 9pm and we went out to Bamboo garden for dinner. Mike and Abi were make fun of me as Ben and Laveena began to take my case. But it was a nice evening with these sweet people. I came home by 11.30pm. And I began getting calls right after.

The first person to call me was my friend Scarlet who called me up at 11.50pm and continued until 12, as she wanted to be the first person to wish me. And then there were numerous other calls and sms following her. But this night too I couldn't sleep well. I have no idea why but I slept at 5.30am and woke up to go to church at 7am. Church was as usual. I didn't really feel anything special about this day. I came home after church and tried to sleep a bit but didn't really managed to get a wink as I had friends calling again to wish me. By evening 5pm I managed to get some rest only to be woken up by my grandma's arrival at 5.30pm. It was one of the most dullest day of my life until I went for the Youth Service in the evening.

The youth meet was fun... we didnt have the usual way. There was no word shared but we played games and had skit. After the youth meet I was taken over to Rob n Ann's place. When I entered the lights were out and the guys screamed 'SURPRISE!!!!" right into my ears... and I found this beautiful black forest with 7 candles displayed as 2 and 5 representing 25 on it. I cut the cake with everyone feeding me most of it. After the cutting of the cake we played a quiz game.. which is totally fun... i was really surprised to know how much we have known each other and how we have been really with each other for a long long time... and the more I think about it.. it becomes harder to think about being separated from each other.

Anyways... Joel won the quiz game.. obviously by cheating but he shared his gift with everyone. After which we played some more crazy games, had pizzas, posed for the camera... gave me group hugs, and tortured me by tickling me for over a minute... I thought I would die... And then they gave me the gifts they got for me.. the best one of it all was this one photo frame they gifted me where they collage all the pics of the people really close to me. It was the most beautiful thing ever... There are just so many people I would wanna be with at the same time but I can never be. But this photo frame was over whelming cos it had all the people I would love to be with on it.

All in all, all I can see is that this was my best birthday ever... and I wanna thank all of my special friends for making this day really special for me... I love all of you guys so much... :)

Dancing with God!!

Pic Courtesy: klairy

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other. My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.

When I saw "G": I! thought of God, followed by "u" and "i". "God, "u" and "i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead. My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday. May you abide in God, as God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

- Anon.

Cartoons speak better than words...

Courtesy: www.joyfultoons.com

Marine Drive... The Queen's Necklace

I didn't really have any intention of posting this... but I just love this picture of 'Marine Drive' that I had on my computer I thought share it with you all... This is so beautiful... some thing that make us proud bout being a mumbaite.. :)

PS. For all my Non-Indian friends... a 'mumbaite' is the local term used to describe 'Inhabitants of Mumbai (Bombay)'

Fun In Unpredictability

It so happened last Friday... Everything seemed as usual, I attended by Red Hat training at 7am and reported to work by 11.15am. I didn't really have anything particular in mind about what the day in store for me. I thought perhaps I would return home and laze around in front of my computer. But my 2pm Ajay pings me on gtalk and asks me if I am available to play the bass guitar for a gig that evening at Bandra, as their bass guitarist wasn't available for the evening. I asked what time is the gig and he replied it would begin at 6.30pm and I had to report by 4.30pm for the sound check.

I casually checked with my boss if there was any chance I could leave a little early for the gig. My boss was too cool to give me a break. I left from work by 3.30pm and reached Bandra, the National College Auditorium right on time with Abigail. We didn't get to do a quick rehearsal and played most of the songs Live. It was one crazy night... we loved every moment of it. It was a wonderful time with some of my friends and fellow musicians...

But the best part was the unpredictability of that day... with the surprising turn of events that unfolded that day. It was an amazing feeling. I so hope every day would be a very unpredictable packed with lots of surprises just like this.

If You're Gone...

We had this church camp for 2 days the other day, and it was quite a encouraging time with the Lord and one another... and ever since I came back from the camp, this song has been playing in my mind. It just feels so real like God himself singing it to me.

If you're gone - maybe it's time to come home
There's an awful lot of breathing room
But I can hardly move
If you're gone - baby you need to come home
Cuz there's a little bit of something me
In everything in you

I found that so powerful especially the last line,
'Cuz there's a little bit of something me, In everything in you.'

So true... there's a bit of something about Jesus, in everything in us...
He paid the price for it.

Slumdog Millionaire... The Movie that brought back the smiles on the Indian faces...

'Slumdog Millionaire' directed by David Boyle created a wave all around the world... the story about an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions.


Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its storytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love...

But the reason this movie brought about a smile on the Indian faces is because it won 64 awards (so far) globally and has put Indian Cinema & music on demand in the western market. Everyone was indeed exhausted and emotionally drained with the frequent terror attacks in the country and this comes as a fresh breeze of life... Everyone in the country is excited about this movie being launched in India on 23rd Jan 2009.

The Party That Lasted 2 Days...

My parents left for Kerala on 28th Oct for a week's Vacation. And we folks have been planning a party that we all would remember forever... a party that would last for a week... All right that was little exaggerated but we started it off pretty good... ;)

My Parents left the house at 9 am and we entered in at 12 pm. We had our lunch of Pizzas and Chicken Biryanis... and then watched 'Get Smart'. After which we played some music and got down to posing for the Camera. Here are some of them:








































Well after all the photo shoot was over... it was almost 9.30 pm and we proceeded to Silver Coin Restaurant where our dinner was waiting for us to feed on... :P

But the posing didn't stop there either... seems like we just a bunch of posers after all...




























We feasted upon a couple of starters... don't even know what they were... for the main course I was high on Chicken Steak... while these folks ordered some Indian Naan and Chicken... followed by deserts...
















Soon we were back... and goofing around again... until it was 3 am... and continued goofing around again...































We slept at 4 am at last... and woke up at 7.30 am the next morning... and this what it looked like the next day...