Friday, August 26, 2011

Love my work!

As many of you know, hurricane Irene is passing through the Atlantic, impacting many countries as it is moving on. The beautiful Island of Puerto Rico too has been affected by this hurricane. All 78 municipalities are affected with the main rivers overflowing, hundreds of houses flooding and numerous trees broken down. Many people had to take refuge in shelters and many are still without electricity and water.  



We were without electricity for almost two days, one of our trees was also uprooted, house was flooded a little bit. For at least three nights, we couldn’t sleep because of the heavy rains, gusts of wind, and  thundering. Thankfully, there was no major damage.

This was the first time, when I was both the survivor and the responder to a disaster. I would work until late night and then get up early in the morning start working. Like always, got the opportunity to know a lot of good people who are always ready to help. What an honor to work with such people! 
The most beautiful part of this experience was that even we had problems of our own; they didn’t bother me as much because my focus was on action that would help those who were in greater need. And honestly, those days passed very quickly and now we are back to normal. I am better able to focus on work and support the recovery efforts.

Two lessons were reinforced during this experience, (a) when we focus on those who are in greater needs we are better able to appreciate our situation and (b) helping others recover facilitates our own recovery.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Meet my God

I am a Christian, believe in Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I also follow some Christian traditions such as going to Church and kneeling down to pray. In addition, I talk to God, ask Him questions, show Him my gratitude.

When I bow down in front of God and feel His presence, I get insights about how to live, how to love, how to forgive, how to embrace and promote peace. Time spent with God is very dear to me.

Never ever during this time, have I ever felt that a person is bad just because s/he is Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, or follows any other religion. Have you? Oh and He tells me that I am not special to Him because I call myself Christian but because He loves me.


He says, all those He created are His children and it is okay if they fight once in a while but they must respect the fact they are a family and must remain united and must take care of each other's welfare. 

He feels sad when those who He created listen to their own selfishness and anger and call it His voice.


My God tells me that He values everybody who has faith in Him and even those who don't. It doesn't matter to Him what type of clothes they wear, what language they speak or what name they give to their faith. He says He is above and beyond the terminologies and traditions. 

My God tells me that he has manifested Himself in different traditions, cultures, and times. He is more updated than the best intelligent agencies, his data system is more sophisticated than the latest computer software. He contextualizes His Glory, Grace and Salvation for those who look up to Him no matter what time and/or space they belong to.

Is your God the same as mine? If yes, we belong to the same religion, the religion of peace and harmony! 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Did the NATO troops really have to loose their lives?

Watching news is so hard for last two days. Every time I see the faces of the fallen in the recent attack in Afghanistan and hear their wives and other family members, sadness fills my heart. I feel sick to my stomach when I think of thousands of others who die in the name of war that we don't even get to know. Countless questions haunt me repeatedly.

Why these young precious patriots are sacrificed?

Why those who make the decisions to send the brave men to wars get to sit in their comfort zones? Why can't those who actually understand the pain of war and have excellent strategies to run the world in peaceful ways don't get to be the decision makers? Until when are we going to engage in wars?

Today, how many spouses and children are grieving for those who lost their lives in the name of war around the world? I dread the answer to this question.  If all their sadness could be summed together, would it be greater than the collective desire of those who wage war against each other, would it be sufficient to invoke compassion to end violence and wars?

I urge each one of us to use our influence to stop the wars. Contact our leaders and tell them we want prosperity for our loved ones not the devastation and pain that wars bring into our houses, our neighborhoods and our countries. Let us openly denounce the deaths of our youth and pledge that we will do everything possible to prevent it in future. Let this post be not just another article that you read today but make the decision for peace before you close this page. Do it for those little children who haven't even realized that they've lost one of their parent. You never know when your children or grandchildren would find themselves in a similar situation. Stand up for peace before it is too late!

I am not OK

I am writing this on behalf of thousands of people, particularly the humanitarian workers around the world, who are not perfectly ok. Many o...