First Shower

Mid morning the sky draped itself with dark clouds
The heavens opened their casements
and the dam burst.

Thisty nature eagerly drank
from the abundance
Washing itself free from dust, dryness and drab.

This is the song of the rain

It was a thirst quenching day.

The first real shower of the monsoon

Its Comin '

It is raining in some parts of western, central and east coast of India.

Elijah 's cloud as small as a man 's hand is growing larger.

Enough of the hot pestilential
glare of the sun

In the evening the sky became grey
and the air ached for the thunderstorm
which did not come.

A cool refreshing breeze tickled us ,
the precursor of precipitation.
I took these pictures of the trees waving up
at the heavens.
Trying to catch the attention of the
vapors above
*******************
Let me show you this short video of an early morning dust storm

taken in the first week of June.
Abner is playing outdoors.


As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.Psalm 42:1-3 (Bible)

Swat Politics

The amazing Mr Obama. This is very funny

My dear friends Crown Of Beauty

and Annette gifted me this award.

Its your lovely blogs which inspire me.

Thank you for your love and kindness.

Your blogs have enriched my walk with God

***************************************

Sorry to hear about Michael Jackson 's passing away. He was a great artist.

Praying For Rain

It is raining bad news all over India with the monsoon delayed by 3 weeks now. Some areas have received scanty rain.
People are performing all kinds of religious rituals to appease the rain gods.


Here is a newspaper report from a village in our district.
Allahabad, June 25 : Women ploughed fields and sang songs in a ritual to appease the rain gods in Allahabad.
Fervently praying for the timely arrival of the monsoon, people across the country are performing various rituals to appease the rain God.
"All of us together performed rituals with flowers and incense sticks. Together we ploughed the land on our
own, the way men do. We prayed to Lord Indra (God of Rain) so that he could bless us with rain for healthy crop yields and greenery," said Ramkali, a village woman.
In a country where nearly two-thirds of agriculture depends on the rains and two-thirds of the population is dependent on agriculture, the delay in the arrival of monsoon is a serious cause of concern for the people especially farmers.
According to the officials of the Meteorological department, monsoon is likely to arrive in the state by the first week of July.
ANI }
I found more photographs on the webHindu priest conducing a pooja

This is a yagna to please the rain god.

Many state ministers and officials are going on pilgrimages

and visiting temples to placate the gods.

A wedding of frogs

to draw the attention of

Deity Indra

Women at the frog 's wedding
They even had donkey nuptials

and a doll 's espousal



Muslims raise their hands in prayer.
***********************
There is a severe shortage of water
and electricity

(A man selling watermelon in Klkata)Food prices have shot up.
Fruits are a luxury


A liitle girl travelling in a rickshaw
The electricity supply is very erratic

and due to low voltage there is frequent tripping.



(An old man sitting in front of a ice cream advertisment)
"There are fears of drought if the rains are patchy
Indian officials say that monsoon rains in the country are likely to be "below normal" triggering off fears about crop failure and high food prices.
Forecasters say that rainfall is likely to be lower than predicted in April, when they said it would be near normal.
The government says there is no need for panic, and that heavy rains in July are likely to avert a drought.
A heat wave is sweeping the country and rains are delayed in many parts. Rains usually last from June to September.
"It [the monsoon] is late," federal minister Prithviraj Chavan told reporters.
North-west India appeared to be worst affected by the slow rains with only 81% rains forecast.
Critical
Monsoon rains are critical to India's farm prospects, which account for a sixth of economic output.
Up to 70% of Indians are dependent on farm incomes, and about 60% of India's farms depend on rains. Irrigation networks are dismissed by critics as inadequate.
The summer rains are crucial to crops such as rice, soybean, sugarcane and cotton.
The Indian media has been full of reports about the patchy rains so far.

A heat wave is scorching the country
"Praying for rain, bracing for worst" headlined the Hindustan Times on its front page on Wednesday.
The newspaper said that in at least eight states, monsoon rains so far had been 60 to 90% below normal.
"There is concern but no worry as yet. There is still time," Farm Secretary T Nanda Kumar told the newspaper.
One analyst said delay in the rains in some parts of India could hit economic growth.
"Delay in monsoon will play the spoilsport and may hit GDP by at least 1 to 1.5 percentage points," stockbroker VK Sharma, told the Reuters news agency.
Economists agree that the delay will cause further stress in a country where food prices are already high.
"The delay is not a good signal. Food prices are already high and any delay could push food prices higher. Food price inflation could emerge as a concern," said DK Joshi, principal economist at credit ratings agency Crisil.
Politicians in many states are holding special prayers for the rains - the farm minister in central Chhattisgarh state held a prayer for the state to get rains soon"
(BBC News)
***********************

This morning during my Quiet Time I read

the story of Elijah from 1 Kings 18 (Bible)


43" Go and look towards the sea, he told his servant. And he went up and looked. There is nothing there, he said. Seven times Elijah said, Go back.
44 The seventh time the servant reported, A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea. So Elijah said, Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel."
I imagine Elijah 's servant running off to gaze unto the sky
and coming back shaking his head.
The seventh time dragged himself out of his master 's house
disgruntled and weary , cynically squinting at the
stark naked sky.
What does he see -
a cloud as small as a man 's hand.
He was not excited, but Elijah was.
He sent word to the King to run for cover!
James 5 (New Testament) tells us
17" Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. "
Our God is the God of Elijah
and as we Christians pray for God 's mercy to rain
down on us He will send it.
Please pray with us.
*********************
My computer has become very slow
and it trips because of the faulty power supply.
I took me a whole evening to compose this post.
Sorry, my visits to your blogs are slow too.
This room is so hot and stuffy I can barely breathe here.

You Are Loved

Today is my mother 's 78th birthday.

Happy Birthday Mummy

At the Taj Mahal

with Papa and Anju

(those sun glasses retro style and in vogue now)

Mummy with her eldest grandchild

Ashish.

Amrita, Mahima,Mummy, Papa and Ashish

*******************

For breakfast I made scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes

garnished with fresh cilantro (coriander)

I will make idlis (steamed rice cakes) for lunch

which we have with spiced dal (lentil soup)

For dinner I have planned

chicken sandwiches with mashed potatoes

and ice cream to end up with.

Mummy can 't have spicy or fried food

so I am making things she can eat.

***************
All your sons (and daughters)will be taught by the Lord

and great will be your children 's peace.

Isa 54: 13 (NIV)

The Lord will... strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well watered garden

like a spring whose waters never fail

Isa 58: 11 (NIV)

Update on Namrita

I heard from Namrita in the afternoon.After the MRI and examination the neurologist diagnosed her as having hemicrania headaches. It is a rare but treatable disorder . Praise God it is not something worse than that.

I found some information about hemicrania on the web.

Hemicrania continua is considered a primary headache disorder, meaning that it's not caused by another condition. Fortunately, it is a rare but treatable disorder. According to the International Headache Society's (IHS) International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd Edition, hemicrania continua is a "persistent strictly unilateral headache responsive to indometh The IHS diagnostic criteria for hemicrania continua is: Headache for more than 3 months fulfilling criteria B–D All of the following characteristics: unilateral pain without side-shift daily and continuous, without pain-free periods moderate intensity, but with exacerbations of severe pain At least one of the following autonomic features occurs during exacerbations and ipsilateral to the side of pain: conjunctival injection and/or lacrimation nasal congestion and/or rhinorrhoea ptosis and/or miosis Complete response to therapeutic doses of indomethacin Not attributed to another disorder Hemicrania continua usually presents a mild to moderate daily headache. However, along with the daily, one-sided headache, it also causes exacerbations of more severe headache, which occurs on the same side as the daily headache and is characteristic of migraine pain. These more severe episodes can last from 45 minutes to days. During these exacerbations, symptoms of other disorders may be present: Migraine symptoms: throbbing pain nausea and/or vomiting phonophobia ( not able to stand noise) photophobia Cluster headache symptoms: conjunctival injection and/or lacrimation nasal congestion and/or rhinorrhoea ptosis and/or miosis The factor that allows hemicrania continua and its exacerbations to be differentiated from migraine attacks and cluster headaches is that hemicrania continua is completely responsive to indomethacin. Triptans and other abortive medications do not affect hemicrania continua. The cause of hemicrania continua is unknown. As with migraine disease and many other headache disorders, there is no definitive diagnostic test for hemicrania continua. Tests such as an MRI may be performed to rule out other causes for the headache. When a patient has the symptoms of hemicrania continua, it's considered "diagnostic" if they respond completely to indomethacin.

L-R Namrita, Anjali, Mama and Mahima (1996 summer)

Please continue to pray for Namrita. In His sovereignty God can heal her completely. We all have our "thorn in the flesh" something which God uses to keep us close to Himself.

If anyone reading this has more information about this disorder and its pain management please pass on your valuable information to me.

Summer Solstice - June 21

This is a captivating video from Salten, Norway displaying the magical Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. My Norwegian friends Felisol,Brit and Bestemor Aud will enjoy these splendid heavenly fireworks

June 21 is Summer Solstice when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer (23.5* N Lat.) which passes through Mexico, Sahara - Africa , India and S E Asia.

It means that summer has officially arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. But for us living in the tropics its mid-summer. Our summer in North India begins in March.

Today the Arctic will have its longest day. Friends in Norway can have a midnight garden party.And the Antarctic will have its longest night ...poor penguins.

But I am categorically euphoric as the hot orb will be travelling to lands down under from now on.

I took this photo of an eclipse last August

Its thrilling to see how God had ordained the times and seasons. Each whisper of the universe is decreed by Him.

Psalm 19
For the choir director: A psalm of David. 1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.[a] 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. 5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. 6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.
7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. 9 Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. 10 They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. 11 They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.
12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19 New Living Translation Bible

Rahul Gandhi - India 's Most Eligible Bachelor turns 39 today

Aang Saan Suu Kyi of Burma

Rahul is the son of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi,

and the assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Jun 19: Congress party's youth icon Rahul Gandhi turned 39 on Friday, Jun 19. Rahul will be celebrating his birthday in London reportedly with his close pals.

Buzz up!
Reports suggest that the celebration will be a private dinner, most likely with friends from his Cambridge days and some old family friends. Rahul had apparently asked his partymen not to have huge celebrations and to visit Dalits and slums instead and distribute sweets. However, Congress workers gathered in large numbers at the party headquarters and state offices to wish their beloved lead all the best. Congress party has decided to celebrate Rahul Gandhi's birthday as 'Samrasta Divas' and hold the 'sahbhoj'. Rahul, who emerged as the key leader of Congress after the Lok Sabha polls 2009, will be joined by Sonia Gandhi in London. London is the favourite destination of PM in the making. Born on June 19, 1970, he is a Member of Parliament from Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
OneIndia New
Aang Sann Suu Kyi celebrates her 64th bithday

behind bars today

Campaigners across the globe are honoring the birthday Friday of Burma's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Burmese pro-democracy leader spent her 64th birthday at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where she is on trial and facing up to five years behind bars. Activists and politicians are marking Aung San Suu Kyi's 64th birthday with gatherings of support from Thailand to Europe and the United States.In addition, a coalition of 23 Burma rights groups has formed "64forsuu.org", a website where supporters can post messages urging her release from detention.Johnny Chatterton is with the Burma Campaign UK and Project Manager for 64forSuu.org. He says they have received over 9,000 messages of support, including from politicians and celebrities."I think the site is very important in showing that right across the world people have not forgotten her," Chatterton said. "And, that there's a huge political support for her and there's public support calling for her to be freed. So, I think it's a great help in showing the Burmese regime that they can't just get away with this and that the world won't forget her."Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing an uninvited American man to stay over without official permission.The trial has been widely condemned as a sham designed to keep her locked up through next year's controversial elections.Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won Burma's last elections in 1990. But Burma's military rulers ignored the results and placed her under house arrest, where she has remained for most of the last 19 years.Burma's military rulers cite ongoing fighting with ethnic insurgent groups in the country to partly justify their continued grip on power.However, rights groups and exiled politicians say the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, along with more than 2,000 other political prisoners, is the real barrier to peace.Zin Linn is a spokesman for the Burmese government in exile."Aung San Suu Kyi is key to the national reconciliation in Burma," Linn said. "Without her, Burma cannot have genuine national reconciliation. That's because all the ethnic leaders, ceasefire leaders, all the ethnic party leaders, all dissident leaders, all the leaders, they agree to give their mandate to Aung San Suu Kyi to sit down at the dialogue table with the military junta."Aung San Suu Kyi led Burma's non-violent resistance movement for democracy, and in 1991 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.She is the daughter of Burma's revered founder, General Aung San, who was assassinated just months before the country gained independence.Paulo Pinheiro was the U.N. human rights envoy to Burma from 2000 to 2008 and on several occasions met Aung San Suu Kyi as well as Burmese officials. He says if it was not for her famous father the military government would probably have executed her by now."Because she has an enormous charisma and she is the only leader inside Burma of the opposition," Pinheiro said. "And, they don't want to risk having her in freedom. They don't want to deal with a strong opposition movement."Burmese authorities have already re-worked the constitution to ensure the military remains in power regardless of the 2010 elections.Pinheiro says it is almost certain the court will find Aung San Suu Kyi guilty, but would likely put her back under house arrest rather than prison.Supporters are concerned her health would quickly deteriorate in prison.But there is little doubt about the resilient spirit of Aung San Suu Kyi and the movement for democracy in Burma that she represents.
Remember to pray for the suffering Christians in Burma

Good News

The central government is going to block the anti-conversion Bills that have been introduced by various BJP governments but the response is not uniform.
Home Minister P Chidambaram has decided to take a firm stand on the controversial anti-religious conversion Bill blocking Presidential assent. But the response is different for various state governments
.
So, in Rajasthan where the Congress is in power the Centre has asked the Ashok Gehlot government whether it plans to drop the Bill passed by the earlier BJP government.
In Madhya Pradesh where a BJP government is still in place, the Centre has decided to withhold assent.
Centre stops anti-conversion laws:
Rajasthan: Left it to Congress government to drop Bill
Madhya Pradesh: Rejected BJP government's Bill
Broadly the Bills provisions banned conversion by force or fraud or inducement and made it punishable. But all this, the Centre says violate the freedom of religion as laid down in the constitution.
"When I was CM in those 10 years there was no case for forcible conversion," said Digvijay Singh, former Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh.
"This is unacceptable and goes against Supreme Court judgements," said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Leader, BJP.
The BJP-led states had proposed laws in response to the increase in conversions by Christian missionaries.
But ironically they weren't the only ones, the Congress had passed a similar law in Himachal Pradesh and Orissa too has one which was passed in 1967.
*************
Indian Christians should rejoice at this move of the present newly elected government. This is an answer to prayer. The anti conversion bill curtails the basic fundamental rights of a person to change his/her religion and humiliates minorities. It was aimed to obstruct evangelistic work and harass Christian workers .

We will pray that this bill is shelved forever

Namrita

This is prayer request for my younger sister Namrita.

She is married and lives with her husband and 2 young boys in Meghalaya, N E India.( L-R Namrita and Anjali when they visited us in 2006)
(more recent with her son)
Since the past one week Namrita has been having severe migraines.
She cannot cope without painkillers.
She has a slight swelling on her head too.
A doctor said it could be an injury which she concurred
as a child and is now resurfacing.
She feels very weak and ill.
Cannot bear noise .
She has to go to Guwahati in Assam
for MRI tests and consultation with
a neurologist.
She will travel with her husband on Sunday.
The proceedings will begin on Monday.
My dear baby sister has had many struggles of her own.
Her name means "gentleness" which is included in Gal. 5 fruit of the Spirit list. Namrita is an excellent home maker and teacher, very much loved and respected in her community and school. Pray for healing, correct medical intervention, spiritual comfort and strength.
If I did not have my caregiving responsibilities I would have gone to her.
God is with us in all our trials and troubles.
He never forsakes us even in the toughest of times.

I like this Rap

Great video . Your Sunday school kids and Youth group will like it.

Rapped on the Fingers

I was rapped on the fingers by God last Sunday and I want to share

this"blessing" with you.

Our Pastor is away on vacation for 3 Sundays

and he told us that had arranged

Mr SJ to come and take our services.

I turned up my pseudo-intellectual nose

at the mention of that name.

Because in my estimate Mr SJ was a

poorly educated non sophisticated preacher

ministering to semi-literate and

dalit people.

I wondered what would he have to say to highly evolved

mind and spirit like mine.

So I trudged to church under spiritual duress

just to make a good impression on God and people.

But the Master put me into place (in a corner).

Mr SJ preached a simple but good message.

The music was lively.

And he asked us to write our

prayers requests and give them to him next

Sunday so he can have a

prayer group in Korea to pray for us

and contact us by phone too.

I was further put to shame for my

bad attitude when dear Mr SJ

gifted me George Verwer 's book Someone had given it to him and since

he doesn 't read English books, he passed it to me.

I started reading this book and have not been

able to put it down. The message is really

challenging and reviving me.

George Verwer is Founder and former International Director

of OM or Operation Mobilization which is a ministry of

evangelism,discipleship, training and church planting.

The book narrates and assesses how, in spite of the amazing mixture of victory and defeat, success and failure, joy and pain, peace and battles, happiness and brokenness, lives that are committed to Jesus can move forward.The content of the book reveals George Verwers knowledge of 50 years ministry.This is an exposition of the most revolutionary message of God in the latter half of 20th century and the present days.It motivates us to embrace the pain and hurt and allows them to make us better people for his glory

ACCEPT YOUR BROKENNESS AND

EXPERIENCE THE TOUCH OF GOD

says the back cover.

Verwer says

- Our choice to walk with the Lord and to serve Him

will bring us good as well a unpleasant experiences.

- God answers prayers,but not all prayers will be answered

the way we want them.

- Victory is our privilege,but not all seeming defeats

can be erased from our history.

- Obstacles are sure to come into our lives, yet His

all sufficiency will help us

overcome them all.

**********

The good news is that you can go to his website

http://www.georgeverwer.com/

and download this book free.

You can email George

george@verwer.om.org

and request free copies of a bunch of books

and he will send them to you anywhere in the world

and maybe in your own language too.

I wrote to him and he has directed his co-worker to send

me some of books.

I strongly recommend this for you.
God blessed me miraculously and I want

share this with you.

FLY BOY FLY

This is my nephew Ash

getting ready for skydiving

Hi Ash, you just became

our family hero.

First one in the clan

to jump off a plane!

Thirst Quencher

While shopping with Sonia in an old part of town

we had fresh sugarcane juice to quench our thirst.

I had it for the very first time in my life from a roadside seller.

It was deliciously refreshing.

He served us the juice in glasses and being doubtful of

how clean they were

so I poured it down my throat

causing it to dribble down my chin.

The man gave me another half glass free because

I lost some of the drink.
These pictures are from the web.

BENEFITS OF SUGAR CANE JUICE
Fresh raw sugar cane has less calories than refined sugar or syrup
It is pretty good for digestion and can also work as a mild laxative due to its high potassium content.
It is also high in magnesium, calcium and riboflavin (Vitamin B2).
Traditionally, drinking sugar cane juice is good to ‘cool’ down the body especially during hot, humid weather like what we have here.
Best of all is that the fresh sugar cane juice is sweet to drink but it is not as bad / unhealthy as drinking syrup!
*************

"Whoever is thirsty,let him come

and whoever wishes let him take

the free gift of the

water of life"

Revelation 22:17 (Bible)

********

Rain Relief

Flowers braving the summer heatspread cheer
sprinkling the withering garden with
splashes of color

I am not sure what the red flower is called

This morning we had a pre-monsoon

dust and rain storm

which brought down our temperature

and washed the dust off the vegetation.

Although it knocked out our electricity for the

whole day.We survived.

Thank you for praying for my mother

she did still better today.

I want to share a rain dance song from a Hindi movie.

It is a Bollywood fantasy.

The scenes are very picturesque.

The rural images authentic.

Catch a glimpse of India

The actress Ashwaria Rai is a former Miss World.