Meena Mangalathil:

Today, I asked a foreigner whether he believes in Rebirth. He immediately and emphatically said "No". And the Orient believe in Rebirth. How did that happen? We are all human race in the same old Earth and still we have different attitudes. How? Well, to be frank, I do not know. But there is one thing which you might feel funny, Look at your physical body, you have one body and different body parts with totally different functions. Don't you feel it weird? Yes. I do. Just look at all things in nature. This diversity is what makes it picture perfect. You know, the hand that works cannot do the job of the eyes or nose or the heart. But it is an integral part of the body, why because it makes the body run smoothly. So whatever the attitudes each person have, they are here for a purpose, whether they believe or not, whether they live or not, etc... So don't bother of others belief or yours. The only thing that matters is, you are here for a purpose and that,

Today, my colleague and myself were talking of boarding life. You know, children being brought up in the boarding. Now its not in vogue. But in the 70s and 80s, most of the kids were in the boarding, including me. You know, the life is so pampered, with nothing to do, just learn, play, eat, sleep. No work at all. Our world, our life. Everyone have money. All needs fulfilled, everything. But there is one thing missing. We lose the freedom part. We can do everything, but in a framework, or else, you are out and my brother was so naughty, that he couldn't get a boarding. You might think, why he was naughty. Simple, he wanted the freedom of love. You know when we are with the parents, we do not need to look at rues, regulations and restrictions and that is what we call the freedom of love. But the current generation of parents, know it in full force and that is why, now-a-days, children are more at home and shoot the boarding. Now, there is a drawback which we parents are inculcati

That is a question I always ask, before I take a risk. You might think, why I ask such a weird question. Its simple. We should have something to lose, if you have a problem in taking risk, right? So putting a value to my existence, I would say zero and those goes to all living things on Earth. We all come to an end one time or other and we cannot take anything, not a single penny. Even our relationships. But there is one thing we take with us, our dreams, our actions, our reactions, which we had done in our lifetime to be passed on to the next life. These are all bank balances of our next life. If you do something good, then be sure, you have deposited a lump sum into your life account, which would give great dividends and that is what we should be worth. And the risk you take, should be for the good of others and for that you should love and respect yourself because, you do this for yourself. How come? When you do something good to others it naturally comes back to you. S

Today, it was the day of Mother Teresa, I feel because I happened to hear about her in two different places and the topic was the same. How she set out to help the poor with just Rs. 5/-. I really was awe struck of a lady, who single handedly threw out her safety and followed her call. You know, nuns have a call. Its the dialogue of all Christians, who are called for the church. Now, when this call comes. No one can control it. It so powerful that we just throw away whatever we have. In the New Testament too, there is a part where the disciples are being called by Jesus and they just drop their nets and boats and follow Jesus. This is what happens when the normal people who have the only source of hearing the call in churches, temples or mosques leave all the work and commitments, just to be with the Lord. In India, the parents, grandparents, they take their children, when they are small, along with them for worship. At that time, the children, gets the opportunity to have a walk

Do you know, that I had a problem. I couldn't remember anything. You know, we are all aware of lots of diseases, which causes this forgetfulness and my fear was for the worst, Alzheimers. And this fear was the small spark just to light the chain of fire crackers. I woke up in the middle of the night and started to rewind, what I had done the previous day, the name of the people, the dates, etc.....etc.... It was difficult, but I managed to scrape through some information, but still some were missing. Then I thought of an idea, why not write each and everything in a diary and the phone too. So that I don't forget what I had to remember. And I looked frequently into all the notes. It was a two month practice and I decided I am not going to allow my fears to overcome me and then I prayed, in the sense that I prayed literally. This I wanted to say because, sickness can catch up with anybody because, we have a physical body and there is always a cure for it. The only thing is

Today, I received the shock of my life, when one of my cousins openly acknowledged that he has lots of friends and they are friendly in every away, including sexual relationship. I really got stuck. He has reasons too. God has given a life to enjoy. We all die and at that time, all what we have will be gone. Even the beautiful would be deteriorated. Then why waste our beauty and opportunity. Hearing all these I just sat there open mouthed. I really didn’t expect him to be like that. I was very sad. What do you think? Are you of the same type? I do not want to criticise or advice you. Remember sexual relationship is not the root of happiness. It would bring the lightning sensation and that is finished for the time being and again after sometime, man would feel, it wasn’t sufficient and again the process starts. It brings a short term satisfaction, which is so short, that man would like to reliven the experience and for that he tries with other mates. But, there is one thing, which h

I am continuing with yesterday's blog, "The Joke Of Life". Now, what I have told about nothingness is true. Read the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible. There was nothing, no Universe or whatever we see now was there. It was total darkness. Then one by one, everything was created. How? By the word of God. For Hindus, they say Om (The Word). Which means, that the thoughts I went through was true. Every human being gets an opportunity to understand their root of existence. But we should have the antenna to receive it. I do not remember, my mom and myself having a long chat, but this situation rose because, it gave clarity to my existence. I had given meaning to the word of creation in another light, different angle. It might be right or wrong. But this one just clicked into place, which means, it is true. We might give reasons and explanation, but if we are not able to answer our own doubt, then what is the use of answering or explaining, the same thing to othe

Today, I do not know, but I had a weird sense of laughing out loud in the church. You might think, I have gone crazy. Yes, in a way. Yesterday, my mom and myself had a heart to heart talk, which brought something weird from it. She always quotes the Bible for each and every act. Though I'm not an expert, I too can stand up to her, for a shot or two. She was criticising me on something I did fifteen years before. So I replied, Mom, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.(Luke 6:37) Immediately, my mother replied, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the

Today, I read a story about a man, who met with an accident. Before meeting with this accident, his situation was, he was angry because he had lost his promotion. He was fed up of his life. He was not able to keep up the expectation of his children or wife. But the moment, he met with an accident, he wished to live. Unfortunately, he got consciousness after 15 long years and sees, how his wife looked after him so devotedly, throughout these fifteen years and brought up his children single-handedly, married them off, etc..etc... The man try to recollect, how this all started and remembered the lost promotion and not able to be a good parent. He felt ashamed because his wife took care of everything without his promotion and with just his dead person. And they were happy to see him, conscious. They treated him so lovingly after this fifteen year toil. But there was a glitch in his consciousness, he would return back to the coma. So it was just a wish fulfilled, he had asked for. And it

How would you feel, when you have to carry a box full of goodies on your head. Its not easy. But if someone takes off some goodies from the very box which is still on your head, what will happen? Either it would shake and tend to fall, or it would literally fall on the floor breaking the box and the goodies. You might think, why I am saying all these. The box is your expectations, or our expectations. Its connected with people, which means, our expectation begins with people and ends with people. But there is a choice, you are creating that box. If you do not have that box of expectation, then we do not really need to rely on people. Then the chances of breaking that box is nil. Nobody has the power to break it, if we do not have any expectation in the first place. People, including us cannot fulfill the expectation of others. We would not be able to come up with their standards, then how can we expect others to fulfill our expectations. So don't ever make the mistake of cr

I do not know why, but I can't stand people criticizing others, whether, they are family or friends. Today, I literally shouted at y son, saying, "Just shut up and do not say a word against anybody. I really hate it. Do your duty and that's that. Never, ever make the mistake to talk to me like that. You know, we all have flaws and we are living in a society and not the life of a hermit. If it was a secluded life, we just have to tolerate only ourselves. But that is not what we are doing, we are facing the whole world. If you are planning not to live your life and find the mistake of others, then someone would throttle or stab you to death. Its your choice, whether you find fault for each and everything you have to face. We are here to make our self perfect, not others. Its time, we know, that finding fault with others does not make you perfect. It would highlight your flaws more, than we had bargained for. If you are planning to get the best bargain, then better criti

I do not know, whether you would believe it, but today one of my long forgotten wish was fulfilled. I wanted to visit an island, which was not very far away, but it was inaccessible to the local people. I could have created a circumstance and entered into this island. But, I had not taken the initiative and I had totally forgotten about it or I had lost interest in it. Today, I was forced to take a trip, if I had a choice, would have surely avoided. So I half heartedly started the trip in a lightweight boat, which was like a matchbox. It was a bit scaring as well as sea sickening experience. Since we didn't expect such a boat, we had to change boats in between and we embarked on a much more better boat in this island, which I thought, WoW. I just wanted to say is, if you wish for something, it will come to fruition, no matter, how much delayed it be. And you would have to fulfill all your wishes which you have wished, to take off from this world, or else, you would wait here.

I know, its not fair to say, but today I had the most incredible speech, which I rendered to my mother. It was the continuation of a dialogue, which I had told, to my friends, which my mother misinterpreted. I had a very pampered life, no work, only study, play, eat, sleep, pray. My hands and feet were always clean. I got to wear neat and wrinkle free dresses, rich toys, etc...etc... Because I was in the boarding. So whenever I have something to say, it would naturally be connected to my boarding life, which my mother feels, that I am criticizing her. So today, the same happened and I do not know, how I was able to get those words, correctly, but I did it, which made her happy. You might be impatient to know, what I said, right? "Meena, I really felt hurt, when you said that about me." "Mom, I would never criticize you for putting me in the boarding. You did me a great service. You made me a spiritual person and thank you so much. That life purified me a lot. Even i

Today, there was a christening, you know, the christians give their initiation to christianity through christening. The child is unaware of any such process, just the discomfort of having to be petted "Oh!!! Jooji Booji", Oh!!!! Nnnnnnuuu Nnnnnuuu", etc..etc.. by the whole lot of friends and relatives. But for the parents, it doesn't matter, because its a tradition passed on from generation. And the people who started, our forefathers, they knew one thing. If they hadn't take the initiative, then we would not be, what we are. People think and criticize, regarding initiating babies into a religion. They should be given the freedom to choose, what religion to take and all the reasons of not to initiate. I do not know, what would be your mentality. But I am on my ancestors side. Initiate immediately after birth. Can I ask a question? Why do our parents save money? Why do they build houses? Why do they give education, from when we are toddlers? Why do we tak

Today, I had a big talk, where we got to say about rebirth. I know, you might think it crazy and I have already spoken about it before. But I met a person, who told, she doesn't want to be born again. I was surprised because, in this day and age, no sane person would believe about rebirth and all. What do you think? Am I right? If I had not been insane, I would have been in that boat of non believers. But when you live with your heart, where you feel, when someone gets hurt or rejoice or cry, then you live with your heart and these people are not of the world. We can call them "Crazy". But believe me, they are the winners of life because, they have nothing to lose. They have everything to gain. A mother, who is a housewife, has nothing to give to her family, except her love, which would naturally be in the form of good food, clean dress, neat home and above all a shoulder to cry on. No financial perks. But all the family members comes to her and she is one hell of a p

Yesterday, while I was in the boat, I had a talk about being spiritual. When we say that word, the first thing that comes to mind is prayer or going to a place of worship regularly. Frankly speaking, are you sure, that these people are the people who are spiritual? I would say a big "No" . I have my reasons. The people who are regular pray people, who go to church and temple are a nightmare to deal with. They are inhuman, they are inconsiderate. They feel they are always right because, they have the added bonus of going to church daily and praying from dawn to dusk. But a normal person, who doesn't have nothing to hold on or no set of rules, have only . They bring out what is in them, their innate behaviour - humanity. You know, its the synonym of love. It comes from the very heart and the heart doesn't need any rules. The best of everything comes from the heart and the people who feel that they are right are always a calculating machines, which we could gu

Today, a most weird conversation took place at my home. A french lady was speaking about a dream she had. She dreamt, that she was in Paris and was surprised that she was in her hotel in India. So, I asked her, how she felt. "Did you feel sad or happy?" She replied, she didn't feel anything. But when she returns back to Paris, she would really have difficulty to change from Indian to Parisian. When I thought about it, I too had this problem, to adjust to the atmosphere, where we have been replanted. Everything in nature too have this problem, the plants, the stones, the animals. This situation is so precarious, that we would have a tendency to flee to our safe cocoon. But that is what we shouldn't do - flee. We are being replanted for a reason - to grow. When the child takes his first standing from the sitting position, it is a growing up and that continues with the first step, the first run. These stages are nail biting situation for the child. he might f

Have you ever been restless? I have been, several times, when I was a kid. Today I met a lady, who was restless. Her being, was deathlike, when I started speaking to her. She had lost hope, expectation. I could feel it, that I asked, "Are you OK?" She said, she was not feeling well. She was having fever and she was taking antibiotic, etc..etc... but we all know, how we feel when we are sick and otherwise. So I put the next question. "Are you happy?" Then the reply arrived, "I am restless. I really want to go from here. I have stayed too long here and there is no one to look forward to here. So I want to go." Here she has a reason for feeling restless, there is no one to say as her own, a person or persons to love her. Its innate. We all have it at one point or the other. But believe me, if you are searching for that one loving person or persons, then baby, you are doomed. You would never find it. You came alone to this world and you return alone

Today, it was not an easy day because, it was a holiday for me. You know, we tend to put loads of priorities on this day. And when all the activities take priority, we are doomed. But, have you ever thought, why we get a Sunday holiday or Friday holiday? To recharge our faculties. Its very very important. When God created this Universe, He took rest at the end of the week. So this holiday is our necessity and not a luxury. But how are we going to recharge ourselves? Eating, drinking, washing and watching movies. Right. ? But that is not what we should do. We are spiritual beings, we are not here to make ourselves smart and beautiful. We are here to become like God, to the level of God and how do we reach to that level? Through only one way can we reach that state and that is through love filled prayer. And for that, we should focus on the communication between us and God. Only then, we would get recharged. So from today, Sundays are here for a purpose fulfill that and

Today, during our family prayer, we have this Bible reading session too. So today, it was my turn to read. I got the part where St. Peter heals a lame man outside the temple. And this man had never gone until then inside that temple. It's really weird, isn't it? Because, we all go to the temple or any place of worship to fulfill our needs and the real gift is distributed outside it. When Jesus was alive, He too did the same. Why is it like that? Have you wondered? Well, I became aware of it today. There is a reason. People, who believe that they have not done any wrong in their eyes and in the eyes of the Lord are the people, who go to pray inside a place of worship and they are sure, they are entitled for a sack full of gifts. But for the people outside the place of worship knows for sure, that they are not eligible to be in the vicinity of the Divine and that is why, they stay out. But there lies the truth, no man is perfect. We all make several mistakes a day wit