Articles that educates, enlightens and entertains

A VALENTINE TEASING
INCIDENT

6 AM, February 14, 2000. The weather was cool and sleep inducing. My telephone bell started ringing disturbing my deep slumber. I ran to the front room and lifted the receiver. “Yes, please”, I responded. “I love you, I love you, and I love you so much, Darling”. A cool romantic voice cooed in on the other side. I was shell shocked and stunned for a few seconds, but soon regained my composure. Matching the tone in Maddy’s cinematic expression I chirped responding.

“ I too love you, sweetie. Thank you so much for understanding and appreciating that even at 68, I will be able to manage situations arising out of love”. Her instrument fell dead. - It happened –Mathew Thomas

AM I RIGHT?

If you happen to live in a country - countries are carved against the will of the CREATOR - where social justice does not prevail in any realm forgetting its great vedic traditions, where politics and institutions are administered for selfish ends ignoring basic ethics, where hypocrisy rules the roost, where family life wanders and social life decays, where class systems exist favouring the haves, where rules are twisted by legal professionals to the benefit of the upper class, where wealth is accumulated by one section, where religions function in luxury by spreading ignorance and blocking thoughts, creating fear of the wrath of God, where society favour only those who have a say and ignore the poverty of the masses, where history is written glorifying the undeserved challenging individual scrutiny, where genders are considered unequal, where food rots in go-downs while people starve, where trade stands for exploitation and accumulation of wealth, where commercial transactions are tainted, where education and assimilation of knowledge is the privilege of the privileged few, where rape and violence is a daily occurrence, where citizens fight against their own country in the name of religion, where fundamentalism grows on a fertile ground, where conversion is not considered as an act against the will of God, where brokers emerge between the creatOR and the created, where aged parents are relegated to a pathetic low in homes, where elders are treated as unwanted, where materialistic thoughts flourish, where crimes committed by the rich go unnoticed, where men of no qualification ascend to the throne building hallow around them using the two ‘M’ (Media and Money), where the health system is excellent for the wealthy and abysmally low for the poor, where billions are spent on arms ignoring poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, where precious and delicious natural products gifted by the nature are denied to the people and exported to rich countries to import worthless materials such as arms, where eminent sons of the country rest in grave yard, and are forgotten, where road politicians’ memory is perpetuated on road slabs, where tomb culture and annual ceremonies are celebrated, where the rich title self or are titled by the Governments of the day, where poor are harassed, jailed and beaten while the rich escapes the clutches of law, rules and regulations, using money power, where election is a comic event played by castes, communities, races, religions and regions sowing the seed of hatred attacking the root of communal harmony, where bureaucracy is impotent and incompetent, where there is a basic social divide, built willfully for political gains but remains un-mended, where population is on the increase encouraged by religions making even basic needs such as water, clothing, shelter and food inaccessible to the poor, where equal opportunities are professed but denied, where promotion of a scientific temper is guaranteed but ridiculed by unscrupulous faith healers exploiting the ignorance, illiteracy and miserable living conditions and life of the subjects, where champions of the down trodden live in five star luxury and comforts ...such a system would you call it Democracy? If such a democracy exists and still not totally dead, the credit goes to the Judiciary which is the only pillar left to support the massive weight of a sinking system although it functions under various limitations. More.........

In such a rotten democracy, if you find a beggar begging to satisfy his natural urge to live on, don’t look down on him. He does not wear a veil. Be understanding to his plight and his needs and respect him. But think; where is social justice?

In such a democracy if you find a helpless woman selling her body embracing the wolf to keep another wolf away (hunger) from the door, to earn the minimum to meet her family needs, don’t go by hypocrisy norms. Stand in attention and salute her. But ask; where is social justice?

In such a democracy -wherever it is in this earth - if you find a corrupt person (bribe receiver) fishing in troubled, muddy waters tampering the rights of his fellow citizens, retrace one step and advance in full force and spit on his face. He deserves it. -Mathew Thomas

ON PARENTS AND
TEEN LOVE

The adolescent love is always dominated by infatuation. It is also called calf love and puppy love. Falling into the trap of infatuation can totally ruin a person’s life. The mind runs amuck and imagines situations totally different from reality. The infatuation of a person on a person is exploited as one sees around and studies the trend. A person who is a victim to infatuation needs help and understanding. Parents, teachers and friends have a great role to play to bring the victim back to the right path. It is time to attribute a different meaning to HOME DECOR. At a ‘home adored’ for better family interaction the children will feel free to express themselves to their parents including their attachments. Good parents are good friends too. Character formation is best achieved through free expression of feelings. Wise parents can always shape the destiny of their children to their advantage. Such children can never go astray. If children go astray the parents rightly deserve the punishment. Mathew Thomas

UGLY SEX

Your body is a temple where your mind performs the sacred rituals. Absurd sexual practices are promoted by the ugly and practiced by the pervert. When forced on an involuntary spouse it is the worst among all sexual abuses. If you value your rating by your spouse - most cherish that honour - abstain from vulgarity in sexual acts. Momentary pleasure should not hurt one’s pride and self esteem. Mathew Thomas

A CHILD’S PRAYER

“My Lord, I am yet to enter into my teens. Now when I look around me what I see astonishes me and makes me sad and confused.

My Lord, you gifted me with enough intelligence to understand that when you created mankind, you made them as male and female - I leave the third as a creational flaw - with physically identifiable features. You also created the earth for common good and harmonious living.

Now your creation, that is mankind excelled over you and created hundreds of countries - some rich and some poor - and hundreds of religions subdivided into thousands of communities, castes and what not.

Now my Lord, learn from us. Here in this world there exists a system of regularisation. Why not, my Lord, regularise all the divisions we created by giving them physically identifiable features as you made male and female which should no longer exist with the implementation of your regularisation process. So far as earth is concerned each continent should be gifted with only one favour, water to Asia, Air to Africa, Fire to Europe & America and natural gas to Australia and teach them to live with it and with that alone.

Now my Lord, you think I am stupid. Any better alternative, my Lord, so that we, the growing-up children live in peace and tranquility in a mad war minded crowd of your creations” Mathew Thomas

“It is a
National
Shame
that we classify
our brethren
by their
religion”
Mathew Thomas



BIBLE RELATED
THOUGHTS
ON LOVE & BROTHERHOOD

Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NIV). Love is, in other words, the fulfillment of the law of the Lord

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10, NIV).

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:20,21)

VALENTINE DAY

Observance of tradition and legends enrich the psyche of a clumsy world. Valentine Day is observed as the day of the lovers, now more associated with romantic love. The day - February 14 is named after St. Valentine. Lovers exchange flowers and gifts on that day. Colourful cards with poetic expressions of love are exchanged between lovers. The history of Valentine Day and its Patron Saint Valentine remains vague although it is known that the day and its observance contain vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions.

St. Valentine’s death occurred probably around 270 A. D. Many believe that Valentine Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the death anniversary of St. Valentine. Others believe that Christian church wanted to Christianize the celebration of the pagan Lupercalia festival by celebrating the Valentine’s feast in mid-February. In ancient Rome February was the official beginning of spring and was considered the right time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed and salt was sprinkled along with a type of wheat called spelt in the interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The boys then sliced the goat’s hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goat-hide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D. The Roman ‘lottery’ system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February — Valentine’s Day — should be a day for romance.

The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Principle 1 - Customer Care
Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements, and strive to exceed customer expectations.
Principle 2 - Leadership
Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives.
Principle 3 - Involvement of People
People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit.
Principle 4 - Process Approach
A desired result is achieved more efficiently when related resources and activities are managed as a process.
Principle 5 - System Approach to Management
Identifying, understanding, and managing a system of interrelated processes for a given objective improve the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency.
Principle 6 - Continual Improvement
Continual improvement should be a permanent objective of the organization.
Principle 7 - Factual Approach to Decision Making
Effective decisions and actions are based on the analysis of data and information.
Principle 8 - Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships
An organization and its suppliers are independent, and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability to create value.

Definition of Quality Management Principle:
A comprehensive and fundamental rule or belief, for leading and operating an organization, aimed at continually improving performance over the long term by focusing on customers while addressing the needs of all stakeholders.

LOVE IS SACRED!

Pure love is a non detachable bond between two persons, sustenance of which calls for nurturing, cherishing and sharing common feelings with a strong resolve that no action is misunderstood as an action with an intention to separate. Then real love blossoms in full and an attitude to forgive and forget develops to supplement it. Be warned that when a person professes love on you, you have to apply hard your common sense and scan from A to Z of realities that surround love. If you think that all your yardsticks are met, the next time when you are told, “I Love You”, respond it with “I Love You Too”. Love is sacred and is the noblest of all human feelings when expressed and practiced untainted. Mathew Thomas

Oath for
Children
The following oath was administered by our President
A. P. J. Abdul Kalm,
to a representative assembly of children to be observed by the Indian
community of children at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan on 25.1.2004

1. I will pursue my education or the work with dedication and I will excel in it.

2. From now onwards, I will teach at least 10 persons to read and write those who cannot read and write.

3. I will plant at least 10 saplings and shall ensure their growth through constant care

4. I will visit rural and urban areas and permanently wean away at least 5 persons from addiction and gambling

5. I will constantly endeavor to remove the pain of my suffering brethren

6. I will not support any religious, caste or language differentiation

8. I will be honest and endeavor to make a corruption-free society.

8. I will work for becoming an enlightened citizen and make my family righteous

9. I will always be a friend of the mentally and physically challenged and will work hard to make them feel normal, like the rest of us

10. I will proudly celebrate the success of my country and my people.

The honeymoon is over when the husband calls home to say he’ll be late for dinner and the answering machine says it is in the microwave.

Marriage is a three ring circus:
1. Engagement ring
2. Wedding ring
3. Suffering

An English professor wrote the words, “woman without her man is nothing” on the blackboard and directed the students to punctuate it correctly.
The men wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”
The women wrote: “Woman! Without her, man is nothing.”

“A man reserves his true and deepest love not for the species of woman in whose company he finds himself electrified and enkindled, but for that one in whose company he may feel tenderly drowsy.” Author: Thomas Moore

BEWARE! – VALENTINE CARD BUYERS

At card galleries, there are naughty cards that deftly dance on the borderline separating plain naughty but DISGUSTINGLY filthy, attracting the full attention of school and college students who are the ones most into the valentine mood. As a card reflects the character, intention and personality of the sender, please select and send only cards that suits your dignity and decorum to avoid being looked upon with disgust.

Mathew Thomas

Honey, why are you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?
Response: Because I married the wrong man!

True love

True love can only occur when we stop seeing the “other” as an object to have our (sexual) desires fulfilled through. Unfortunately, many people spend the greater part of their lives being a slave to powerful hormonal urges or ego desires for power and glory. Transforming lust to love allows us to enjoy a higher vibration and helps quiet the restlessness of our monkey minds. Realizing that our egos are nothing but a collection of thoughts from the past, frees us up to be fully present NOW.

LOVE

It is sometimes unfortunate that we are so diverse in our humanity. Such is the case in defining love. The best approach circumventing misunderstandings is to create a base definition for the word love. This would be a definition that we can build upon through additional factors such as commitments, body language, gifts, etc.

Every experience in life that brings a sense of satisfaction could be regarded as being that which we love. This is especially true in respect to persons. When used of people the word love carries additional attachments, trailer emotions, come-along commitments, all likened to a musical accompaniment that when heard together as one, gives true definition to the word. These are the building materials that provide specific definitions to love—our own tailored definition—independent of the word itself.

When love is used as a general expression there is always a sense of satisfaction being communicated. This could be gracious and giving (I love you sweetheart), self serving and neutral (I love this kind of pizza), or abrasive and destructive (I’d love to kick his face in). The words and actions surrounding the word love becomes that which defines it.

Lust

The enjoyment of thoughts, words or deeds at the
expense of another person’s rights.

One enters the realm of lust when they lift their Wall of Integrity leaving nothing in the way to stop them from proceeding down the Big Slide to an act of transgression against a person’s rights to life and personal happiness. Lust reflects a lack of patience and trust, sidestepping the natural order of obtaining personal preferences through standard ethical means.

“All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of love. Good battle is objective and honest - never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive and brings to a marriage the principle of equal partnership”- Ann Landers

If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there and worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the loss of sleep.” Dale Carnegie
“This art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of energy in our great men.” Captain J. A. Hadfield

Children!Try this tongue twister for fun -
(after your exam please)
“How much dope could the dope dealer deal if the dope dealer could deal dope”?

Good salesmanship is selling what the customer needs at a fair, competitive price and not selling what you want to sell. Mathew Thomas

PROMOTING HELL

When a young salesman met his untimely end, he was informed that he had a choice about where he would spend his eternity: Heaven or Hell. He was allowed to visit both places, and then make his decision afterwards.

“I’ll see Heaven first,” said the salesman, and an angel led through the gates on a private tour. Inside it was very peaceful and serene, and all the people there were playing harps and eating grapes. It looked very nice, but the salesman was not about to make a decision that could very well condemn him to a life of musical produce.

“Can I see Hell now?” he asked. The angel pointed him to the elevator, and he went down to the Basement where he was greeted by one of Satan’s loyal followers. For the next half hour, the salesman was led through a tour of what appeared to be the best night clubs he’d ever seen. People were partying loudly, and having a, if you’ll pardon the expression, Hell of a time.

When the tour ended, he was sent back up where the angel asked him if he had reached a final decision.

“Yes, I have,” he replied. “As great as Heaven looks and all, I have to admit that Hell was more of my kind of place. I’ve decided to spend my eternity down there.”

The salesman was sent to hell, where he was immediately thrown into a cave and was chained to a wall, and he was subjected to various tortures. “When I came down here for the tour,” he yelled with anger and pain, “I was shown a whole bunch of bars and parties and other great stuff! What happened?!”

The devil replied, “Oh, that! That was just the Sales Demo.”

Taking bribe, the filthiest act a person commits, is wide spread in our country and is accepted meekly. The saddest part is that women are no exception.
- Mathew Thomas

A couple came upon a wishing well,
The wife leaned over, made a wish and threw in a penny.
The husband decided to make a wish, too, but he leaned over excessively, fell into the well, and drowned.
The wife was stunned for a moment but then smiled, “It really works

THE LORD’S DILEMMA

A man walking along a beach was deep in prayer. All of a sudden, he said out loud, “Lord grant me one wish.” Suddenly the sky clouded above his head and in a booming voice the Lord said, “Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.” The man said, “Build a bridge to Hawaii, so I can drive over anytime I want.” The Lord said, “Your request is very materialistic. Think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking. The supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of another wish, a wish you think would honor and glorify me.” The man thought about it for a long time. Finally he said, “Lord, I wish that I could understand women. I want to know how they feel inside, what they are thinking when they give me the silent treatment, why they cry, what they mean when they say ‘nothing’, and how I can make a woman truly happy.” The Lord replied, “You want two lanes or four on that bridge?”

“You have only 30 seconds [in a TV commercial]. If you grab attention in the first frame with a visual surprise, you stand a better chance of holding the viewer. People screen out a lot of commercials because they open with something dull ... When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire.” - David Ogilvy

Real love exists, qualified by the word “seldom”. A girl has to be intelligent to identify carnal passion of love and lust from true love. Foolish girls always get entrapped and cry in repentance of their foolish and reckless acts. The leaf alone gets hurt either when it falls on a thorn or a thorn falls over it. - Mathew Thomas

Before marriage, a man yearns for the woman he loves.
After marriage, the “y” becomes silent.

Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage. He didn’t have to hear about all the men she could have married, and she didn’t have to hear about the way his mother cooked. - Submitted by Lois Misiewicz

A dietitian was addressing a large audience in Chicago: “The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is awful. Soft drinks erode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. Vegetables can be disastrous to some and none of us realize the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water. But there is one thing that is the most dangerous of all and we all have eaten or will eat it. Can anyone here tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?” A 75 year old man in the front row stood up and said, “Wedding cake.” - Submitted by Lois Misiewicz
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“Congratulations, my boy!” said the uncle. “I’m sure you’ll look back and remember today as the happiest day of your life.” “But I’m not getting married until tomorrow,” the groom protested. “I know,” replied the uncle. “That’s what I mean.” - Submitted by Lois Misiewicz

I never married because there was no need. I have 3 pets at home, which answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot, which swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late at night. - Marie Corelli