Thoughts on Women 's Day -March 8th

Last  Saturday  I  dressed    Megan  up in  a  sari,

the   one I  wore for Namrita 's  wedding.  she  looks  like  an

Indian  Princes.

About half and hour  ago  a  plane  bearing  Ashish and  Megan  took  off  from  the Delhi  International  airport on  its  way  to  Canada with  various   stops. It  seems  my  heart  has  flown  with  them  too.

Participating in and  enjoying their  youthfulness,  vibrancy, vigor and  versatility was like  elixir  or  tonic  for  me. I  live  a  very  reclusive  life - I love  to  socialize  and  meet  people  but  my  physical  challenges  limit and   drain  me. I  have  to  be  on high  alert  all the  time - decoding the  stimuli around  me  and  solving  problems and  giving  assistance to  people in  my care.  I  am not  complaining  about  it,  it  is  what  God  has  set  me  aside  for, but   its  good to  feel  sheltered and  covered by  others.

Although  there  was  lots  of  activity  and   full  days while  Ash and  Megan   were here and  I  got   tired -but HAPPY-TIRED  as I  term  it. Both my  knees  are  very  painful,  but  I don 't  care -  the  pain is  worth it!  Please  pray  for  my healing.

When  I  went  to  the  railway  station  to receive my  guests I  caught   some  allergy  and  my face  and  eyes were  swollen   for  a  few days - but   that  did  not  stop me - I  just  took  my  allergy  pills  and   got  better.Ha-ha!

Laughing  and  joking   and  having  stimulating conversations  with  them was  such a  joy. I  laughed  so  much  after  ages.

As  I  am  growing  older and  my  challenges  are increasing I  need  someone  to  be  my  hands, feet, eyes  and  ears. I  am  confident  God  will  send  help as  I  work in His  tiny  garden.

Pray to the  Lord  of  the  Harvest  friends.

What  a  God  He  is! How  perfect in   every  way! All  His  promises  prove  true  (Psalm 18;30 The  Living   Bible)

A Royal Wedding - Jodhpur Style

Prince of Jodhpur weds in style

[ Date : Nov 19th, 2010 ]
The wedding ceremony of Yuvraj Shivraj Singh of Jodhpur and Gayatri Kumari of Askot on Thursday was probably the largest congregation of royalty, only after the ‘Dilli Durbar’.
When the baraat from Jodhpur reached the Jaipur railway station on Thursday morning, the entire platform was decked up to welcome the royalty. There was elaborate rangoli — including the traditional mandana made from 20-25 kg material and floral decorations that used over 500 kg of flowers.
The guests spent the rest of the day just re-arranging the traditional attire. In the evening, when the “baraat” ( groom 's party) assembled at the gates of Hotel Rambagh Palace, they were all in traditional Rajput finery — embellished achkans, churidars, breeches, swords, kamarbunds and colourful safas or headgear embossed with their ancestral sarpech, or the turban ornament.
It was a sight to behold as royalty from all over the world could be seen dressed in their traditional state attire accessorised with the neck piece ‘kantha’, gems and jewellery and jooties(shoes) embroidered with pearl. “I’ve never seen men folk wear so much of jewellery,” exclaimed a guest from London.
Source: TOI
This video gives an idea of the pre nuptial prepations and festivities.



The groom 's party went to the bride 's palace in Askot where the wedding took place. Traditionally the womenfolk stay at home awaiting the return of the newly wedded bride and groom. But most people are breaking that tradition these days.

Two days ago the official, auspicious Hindu wedding season started. All the wedding halls, hotels and guesthouses in our vicinity are bustling with activity. It time for everyone involved in the wedding industry from the humble cooks and musicians to the snobbish fashion designers and decorators to make good money. Even the dozens of family soap, sagas and serials on TV are featuring weddings.


Each culture has its own set of rituals and traditions connected to bethrothal and marriage. Joni Eareckson Tada wrote about a Jewish marriage custom from which we can draw a precious lesson.

In the old Jewish tradition, this is how a bride and groom became engaged: The young man traveled to the home of his loved one to ask for her hand in marriage. A dowry was agreed upon. It was the price paid by the groom to secure his loved one (it demonstrated to the father that the groom had the means to properly care for his daughter). The betrothal contract was sealed, culminating in a formal ceremony in which the bride and groom confirmed their covenant by drinking together from a cup of wine. After the marriage was established, an engagement period ensued during which the two were officially married, yet did not live together.During this period, the couple would prepare for the time when their marriage would be consummated. The bride-in-waiting learned all she could about being a good wife. The groom returned to his father's house to prepare a place for them to live.Usually he constructed a large addition on to the house where they would live under the same roof with the family. After many months, the groom would come for his wife!This tradition provides a beautiful parallel.

Jesus gave his life as his dowry. The cross shows us that he and his Father agreed on an exorbitant price. Every time we drink from the communion cup, we remember him and the new covenant. As the bride of Christ, we prepare ourselves for his coming. In the meantime, Jesus has gone ahead and is presently preparing a place for us in heaven. It only required seven days for him to create the earth... and he's had almost 2,000 years to work on our rooms in his mansion.
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14: 2,3)
I am looking forward to my room, are you?

Gandhi Jayanti-International Day of Non Violence

"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."
Mahatma Gandhi The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1927

"Non-Violence", a sculpture by Karl Fredrik Reutersward, sits permanently outside UN Headquarters in New York. UN Photo

The International Day of Non-Violence is marked on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence.According to General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness". The resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence".

Introducing the resolution in the General Assembly on behalf of 140 co-sponsors, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, said that the wide and diverse sponsorship of the resolution was a reflection of the universal respect for Mahatma Gandhi and of the enduring relevance of his philosophy. Quoting the late leader’s own words, he said: "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man".

My brother in Christ and spiritual mentor during my student days wrote this note on his Facebook page. I would like to reproduce it here.

Letter to My Son Joel
by D Phillips
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
-- Mahatma Gandhi

I just have to make a comment on this one; this statement, [and many similar] are used by people who are unwilling to swallow the hard statement of Christ, such as 'I AM THE WAY...no one comes to the FATHER BUT (ONLY) by Me'.
Mr. Gandhi made politically nice statements for Christ, and claimed that he accepts His teachings. But the problem was that Christ teaching, “Take up your cross and FOLLOW ME” was NOT acceptable to him and many leaders then. By 'Christians' he meant the East India Company that was largely run by ungodly heathen British who were responsible for brutally killing protesting Indians against British regime. But then Mr. Gandhi did accept the good works done by many Christians missionaries that gave India the best of its schools, gardens, colleges, & hospitals and many other ethical & moral values. Amongst many such people was the famous William Carey. The city of Calcutta now called Kolkata still honors William Carey for his works.
One is not honest with himself when they use the same argument as Mr. Gandhi used to reject the Lordship of Christ. Mr. Gandhi was a famous freedom fighter like many others, and we should give due respect to him for that.
You cannot say 'I like Christ'', as he said and do not accept His LORD ship. Christ does not leave that option to us. Either you accept His Lordship as the ONLY true God, or else you are rejecting Him. Some one has said; and rightly so, "Either Christ is LORD of ALL, or else, not at all.”
We are not following Him because some one else is following Christ the right way; we are following Him for WHO He IS, and Indeed, there is no one like Jesus;
He never went to college, yet He commands more loyal disciples than anyone in human history.
He never wrote a book, but each day more books are written on Him than anyone else ever in the world;
Humanly speaking he was seemingly a failure at his time, since one of His own disciple deceived him and he died the death of a Criminal one the cross,
But He is the ONLY one who ROSE AGAIN from the dead and is alive and well and commands Lordship on many more that all the leaders put together in their lifetime.
If I do not accept His cross & His resurrection, then it is like eating the topping of a pie but leaving out the crust. Christ & His resurrection is the CRUST of the matter.
In India, it takes a lot more courage to publicly acknowledge Christ as your Lord than to stand before a hungry Lion. We keep getting the news that there are hundreds each year persecuted, burnt & killed, & beaten.
I am taking this time to write this to you to give you a reasonable perspective on some of these statements. Hope you won’t mind this since it is not written to attack you (since you already know me, and gave me an honor to call me a spiritual father). I am including some of the dear friends here who know a lot more than me and they too might have something to say here that I might have missed, or might better clarify things on this above statement.

Lovingly ~ Dad

A Date With The Maharajahs

Would you like to go a date with the royalty of India?

Well. if you are in London between Oct. '09 to Jan ' 10 you can.
I read this in my newspaper sometime back and thought I 'd share with with you and specially my friends in the UK.

The Victoria and Albert Museum’s autumn exhibition (10 October 2009 – 17 January 2010 in London),
Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, will be the first to comprehensively explore the world of the maharajas and their extraordinarily rich culture. It will bring together over 250 magnificent objects, many on loan to the UK for the first time from India’s royal collections. The exhibition will include three thrones, a silver gilt howdah, gem-encrusted weapons, court paintings, photographs, a Rolls Royce, Indian turban jewels and jewellery commissioned from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels in the 20th century.
The exhibition will cover the period from the 18th century when the great era of the maharajas began to the end of British rule in 1947. It will show the changing role of the maharajas in an historical and social context and look at how their patronage of the arts both in India and Europe resulted in splendid and beautiful commissions designed to enhance royal status and identity.Many of the objects have never before been seen in the UK.

The royal collections of Udaipur and Jodhpur are lending several spectacular paintings and objects. The V&A is reuniting four portraits from the 1930s by Bernard Boutet de Monvel depicting the elegant Maharaja and Maharani of Indore. One pair depicts them in Maratha dress and the other in modern Western dress. They will be shown together on public display for the first time.Another object on show in the UK for the first time is the Patiala Necklace, part of the largest single commission that Cartier has ever executed. Completed in 1928 and restored in 2002, this piece of ceremonial jewellery originally contained 2,930 diamonds and weighed almost a thousand carats.The exhibition will begin with a recreation of an Indian royal procession with a life-sized model elephant adorned with animal jewellery, textiles and trappings and surmounted with a silver howdah.The initial displays will explore ideas of kingship in India and the role of the maharaja as religious leader, military and political ruler and artistic patron. Symbols of kingship will include a gaddi (throne) from Udaipur, elaborate turban jewels, ceremonial swords and a gold ankus (elephant goad) set with diamonds.A palanquin from Jodhpur used to carry the Maharaja’s wife will provide a rare glimpse into the lives of ladies at the royal court. The interior of the palanquin contains original framed prints and cushions.The next section of the exhibition will focus on the shifts of power and taste in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The disintegration of the Mughal Empire led to a period of political change in which rival Indian kings laid claim to territory. On display will be the golden throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who united the warring factions of the Punjab into a powerful Sikh state, as well as weapons and armour owned by Tipu Sultan of Mysore and the Maratha ruler Yeshwant Rao Holkar of Indore.This period also witnessed the rapid expansion of the territorial interests of the English East India Company. This led to a new hybrid Anglo-Indian style which will be seen in objects such as a Spode dinner service and an Egyptian-revival style chair designed for the Nawab of Awadh.The exhibition will then look at the grand imperial durbars of the Raj through large-scale paintings and rare archive film footage. This section will include a carpet made of pearls, rubies, emeralds and diamonds made for the Maharaja of Baroda and exhibited at the durbar of 1903.The final section will explore the role of the ‘modern’ maharajas during the Raj and the increasing European influence on their lives. The exhibition will show how they were portrayed in both Indian and European style through portraits of the maharajas and their wives by photographers and artists including Man Ray, Cecil Beaton and Raja Ravi Varma.The maharajas’ patronage of European firms resulted in luxurious commissions. On display will be saris designed by leading French couture houses, a costume by Madeleine Vionnet, a diamond and emerald necklace designed by Van Cleef & Arpels, a Rolls Royce and a Louis Vuitton travelling case.The maharajas were also patrons of the emerging European avant-garde. The exhibition will include modernist furniture commissioned by the Maharaja of Indore for his palace in the 1930s and architectural designs for the Umaid Bhawan palace, an Art Deco style residence commissioned by the Maharaja of Jodhpur.Mark Jones, Director of the V&A, said: “There has never been an exhibition like this before, showing the spectacular treasures of the courts of the maharajas. Many of the objects are leaving India for the first time to come to the V&A. This exhibition will show that India’s rulers were significant patrons of the arts, in India and the West, and will tell the fascinating story of the changing role of the maharaja from the early 18th century to the final days of the Raj.”Tickets: Ł11 (concessions available). For advance telephone and online bookings (booking fee applies) call 0870 906 3883 or visit http://www.vam.ac.uk/

There was another king of yore whose wisdom, riches and power

were incomparable.

He was king Solomon, who ruled Israel thousands of years ago and his story is found

in the Old Testament part of the Bible.

Solomon asked God for the gift of wisdom and understanding

and he was granted his request

together with untold riches.

He is known for his sound judgement and intelligence.

The kings of the earth bowed before him.

But what did he think of his elite luxurious life.

Here are excerpts from the book he wrote.

Ecclesiastes 2
Pleasures Are Meaningless

1 I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem [a] as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless

12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done?
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
15 Then I thought in my heart, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?" I said in my heart, "This too is meaningless."
16 For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
Toil Is Meaningless

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

After experiencing the most elite and luxurious one can every imagine,

what conclusion did King Solomon come to ?

Towards the end of his book he writes -

Chapter 12;1

"Remember your creator in the days of your youth'''

13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Those are the words of the most richest and wisest man on earth.

What can we learn from his advice?

Let us lay our treasures in heaven ,as our Guru Jesus taught us,

because in heaven our keep safe will not be touched by moth,rust, decay or thieves.

Our treasures of faith, trust and worship for God.

What are your treasure and

where are they?