Santhosh's ramblings

Solomon says in Proverbs, “ You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions.” I took this literally, today morning. Following an army of ants on a colony and house shifting project. I did not see a project in charge or the multiple supervisors, we as humans need to get a task done. They were focused and on a such a fast pace, so that the pictures I took were blurred. The journey was through a thin wire stretched over a pathway, potential for slipping and falling , even for ants. I saw an occasional one struggling to keep the grip tight!  And they were carrying things larger their own size, and obstacles on the route tackled by climbing over or going around the same , but these obstacles never prevented them from their focus of helping each other to shift their colony . In this journey, there were ants walking backwards helping one another to ca...

Walking around in the garden I came across few pictures that challenged my thinking today morning. A picture of saplings being prepared for replanting. Kept within a plastic container, being nourished, and grown till a day and place where it can be replanted.  To be plated in a place where it will find space and freedom to grow to its full potential. Today it is limited but tomorrow it will no longer be because it will be where it can send out it deep roots, grow tall and spread its branches tall and wide. The limits today are for freedom tomorrow. Freedom to rise above the challenges of this life, a higher perspective from a growth into the skies. That tall tree is stable because of the deep roots it has. The growth of the roots is unlimited because of its strategic location that allows depth. But some limitations are intentional. Intentionally caged in to protect from danger, like these two pets. Cute and loveable but their limits set in to protect them from other animals...

Lord strip me bare Strip me of my intellect On which I put my dependence Strip my will bare The will that loves control  Strip my heart bare Heart that preserves self Strip my soul bare A soul that longs for appreciation To expose a naked spirit Spirit that finds oneness  With your Holy spirit  So that I may be full Filled with your mind, your will and your desires.

The world around and the world wide web, is openly offering freedom for my mind. Freedom from the traditional beliefs, ways of thinking and values that I have held on. Whether it be for the values that undergird my personal life, societal or life as a nation. It offers alternative frameworks and answers for the foundational questions, that I thought I had a grip on. Even for the logical thinking and scientific temper, the world is offering an alternative. The question I am grappling with is, what is offered as freedom is it another form of slavery. Freedom from one way of thinking to be enslaved to another way of thinking.   The promotions through the AI based algorithms, are so efficient that once I put one step into the waters of thinking differently, the systems start pulling me back in, with regular updates on the same themes. Of the varied alternatives that are being offered – three remain upmost in the wanderings of my mind. One – the values that undergirded my personal and...

The pandemic and its impact on our lives have been an eye opener. With many known people passing on, many still struggling to come out of their various health and broader issues due to pandemic - the issues that I have been challenged about in the past no longer seems important. Of many issues, three stand out with fast losing priority in life. Yesterday I would have struggled with it, today it seems irrelevant. One - personality differences. People who see, think and behave differently from what I think they should, always was a challenge. But today this does not seem so important. These people are to be celebrated and encouraged because one does not know who might suddenly face a crises and move on.  This is what Jesus did too - got 12 people with totally different personalities and celebrated life together with times of meals, washing feet, retreats etc.  Two - the perspective differences on issues that matter to me. Today it seems very irrelevant. I have strongly disagreed...

I had heard about Father Stan but did not know much about him. Yesterday, attending his funeral was a challenging and encouraging time. Challenging because, listening to his life over last two years, I was wondering how an 84-year-old frail man with Parkinsonism can be considered as “dangerous” and imprisoned.   One knows that such a person with multiple comorbidities have no reasonable chance of survival in Indian prisons! Encouraging because, here was a man who intellectually analyzed situation (Social analysis) and lived out a life that makes a difference in the lives of the people who had come to adopt as his brothers and sisters, or in one sense his family! Last year or so, the information about his life and what he shared prior to his imprisonment, was very encouraging. A man who had the clarity of thought, convictions that moved him, courage to live out that convictions, and compassion that drove him to the very end, despite being labelled as a criminal! Why were the p...

I came back after spending a few days with some Good Doctors. Yes, there are good doctors these days too. These days when doctors are being beaten up supposedly for their misdeeds! How did I label these doctors as good ones? Let me take you through 6 sets of criteria. Why are these people in Medicine ? They have a sense of fulfillment! They are there, yes for a job, they do receive a salary, they have a job satisfaction, not because of the salary they get only but things beyond the salary. They are some of best in their field among their peers in college! Though working in not so well-known locations, they are doing much in their career, bur career advancement is not what gives them the fulfillment. They see the career and job as a platform to care for those who do not have easy access to health care. And they find fulfillment in the fact that Medicine is a vocation – to be part of something bigger than just a job or career, though these are important. Where do they practice...