Meena Mangalathil:

          Yesterday I watched the movie, Sister Act. I do not know, how many times, I have watched this movie. But it has really moulded my life a lot. The main character, Sister Mary Clarence, who has a past, is running away from it and gets into the most sanctified of places, where she feels suffocated. But eventually her life changes or lets say, she gets transformed. She is involved in what she likes best, singing. The funny part is the mother superior, who couldn’t tolerate Sr. Mary Clarence gave her duty to sing as punishment. But that became a blessing for both the sisters. She not only bloomed but helped the other sisters who got stagnant in their call to serve God renew their love for God and brought the people around to know God. In the process Sr. Mary Clarence was relieved from her past.           That is life, a maze and the people, the pointers. Some help us to lead to our destina...

          I had not known the value of hope until I lost it. It was not that bad. I had lost the sense to feel. I was normal outwardly. No tears, just smile, in short I was an automaton. I had nothing to lose or gain just a dead person inside. It was at that time I happened to stay with a group of nursing students. Seeing their work schedule and their daily routine, there was nothing. Their life was just like mine, a robotic life, work, sleep and eat, but they had one more thing, which I hadn’t, lots of expectations and hope. Its good, they have just stepped into life. Its just a beginning for them. If ever they talk, it was about their patients, their diseases, the doctors, the other staff, the complaints, the gossip.           In all these talk, there was one thing in common on a daily basis. Most of the patients didn’t want to live. 90% were poison cases. They consume all the ...

            I go to this place every year to have my system checked up – A Thorough Check Up. It was not a 'one fine day morning decision', It has now become a yearly tryst. “As you all have heard about the saying “Precaution is Better Than Cure.” I make sure, that I do my thorough check and do the necessary rectification, before my system shuts down wholly. You might be thinking about which  place and which system.             The place is a Retreat centre, and the system, my soul. Now you might be thinking, why all these junky talk. Anyway do hear me first. So, this year, as usual, my spiritual clock went off when my last year’s spiritual energy started dwindling, I really started getting so much screwed up and a feeling of loneliness and depression started to creep in,  I knew  then , “Meena, it's time to look around for a place to recharge ...

            I had a picture of Delhi before I arrived, its usually, the best view, which they project in news channels and news papers – A clean Delhi, usually it would be the Red Fort and its road, where not a strand of hair lies on roads and coming from the airport too, I didn’t have a clue, what was awaiting me, then it started trickling bit by bit, garbage, here and garbage there, then the dogs – stray dogs. I was shocked to see it, as Delhi is famous for Animal Welfare Societies who treats the animals with much care and voicing all sort of legal issues in papers, that I was struck with the pathetic situation of the dogs here. Since it was dark, I didn’t have much option of going to look for it, but to settle for the night. Dogs are the best friend of Man. That I cannot deny but when the dog overgrows from friend to a burden, then what would be the situation of the dog? Well it has to roam about the streets, naturally and ultima...

Yesterday I attended a mass service of the seventh day of demise of a nun. I had no personal contact with the nun, but my invitation rose from the friendly neighbour relationship. So when the bishop who was presiding the mass, highlighted the nun’s personality, I was awed by the different facets he touched about the nun. And he concluded with a phrase which really moved me. She is a person who smiles even when her heart is breaking and I was awed by this comment from a bishop, so how much hardships she might have gone through, to bring such a comment? Life is too full of problems, big, small, fat, thin, long, short, goes the criteria of problems. Human being has an inbuilt mechanism to solve problems. But the way he utilises is the problem. There are two ways to solve it. One, by running away from it and the other by facing it. Whether facing or running, there are different routes, people utilize it. I had a friend, a farmer, who had a small financial problem. He took a loan from his f...

            After a long time, I meet not as the same old Meena, now I have become in the language of the young, a weirdo. Yes. Now when I say, weirdo, it's real weirdo because I have learned some real truths. Will you believe it? The truths which all people ask at some point of life, whys and hows and wheres, etc...             So you would like to know, what happened to make me a weirdo. Well, I have been writing a book - A book of adventure to find Self . It's actually a children’s story and while I started the first word, I had an odd feeling, I didn’t know what to write because a normal person doesn’t think of all that type of nonsense. But I wanted to write. For me it was breaking the shackles of my being. So then I was really stuck because I literally am not that genius. If I do not know, then what will I write? So I used my weirdo behaviour, I prayed, talking with God t...

I have had many a dreams about missing trains and flights and seen movies, about running to catch it. During those times too the fright really rose from within but when the actual sequel happened in real life, we were laughing.             It happened last week, when my sister came to meet me. She had booked a train ticket for 2 nd A/C from Delhi – Hyderabad. It was a limited stop train and usually, tickets to these types of train has to be booked weeks ahead. Likewise, she booked and got an RAC ticket for Andhra Express, which here is well known as Rajdhani Express. Whenever she had taken train from Delhi, she had only taken it from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway station in Delhi. So she concluded that this train too departs from there itself. Nobody felt to check the ticket, as she was a seasoned traveller and etiquette called for it that we accept her experience.             We r...