I’ve seen clay being fashioned into pottery on TV several times. This was my first live demo. We saw this in Kumarakom by a local potter. It was much more breathtaking seeing the real thing! It took about 10 minutes to transform the ugly lump of clay into beautiful pottery – deft touches of his hand, careful molding, a flick of his wrist and the transformation was complete. Each touch made it more complete and more beautiful. I couldn’t help but think of the bible verseIsaiah 64:8Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.And the song that sprang to my mind was Potters Hand“Take me,…

Vacation time!! Finally Becky and I were on the train to Kottayam and were picked up at the station by a cab and late in the morning we reached Kumarakom – the enchanting backwaters of Kerala. What followed was an amazing mixture of luxury, a feeling of royalty, merging one with nature and hours of just ogling at nature. Imagine 28 cottages spread over 17 acres of garden, canals and bridges. And then imagine – we were the only people there. We were treated like royalty! The cottages were quaint, the gardens lush green (in the middle of summer!) and the pool inviting. We felt like a King and a Queen with people to serve us food of our choice,…

As the best husband in the world I will now run you through a crash course on how to impress your wife in 5 minutes! Follow these steps carefully!Lesson 1:1. Arrive home from work 15 minutes before your wife (The hardest part!)2. Boil some water, add the tea leaves, add some milk and sugar – i.e. make some tea (If you can’t do this step you’re in trouble dude!)3. Look at wedding gifts received and pick out the cute blue tea set with a cute tea pot and cute small cups (Duh…. didnt you get one on your wedding??!!)4. Set it up just in time to hear the doorbell ring.5. Give cute wife warm hug (she needs one after a…

Yo guys… I did it again today…. twice!We were off to church and I quietly passed the turning we had to take – 100 metres before Becky brought it to my notice. U-turn and there was the turning… 10 meters behind me! I had overshot again. Two rights do not make a right – this is ample proof of that saying. Five minutes later we were in church…. just in time for a closing prayer!! Duh…. whats happening!! Luckily we learnt that it was the Youth meeting that was just getting over and that the Church service would start in five minutes!Now thats too many double-surprises to take in one evening! But then as expected we had a blessed time…

I guess you know by now that it’s the car. Last night saw the poor 800cc, 4-wheeled Maruti having his motor cleaned and then he needed a temporary pace-maker while his own battery got charged! And today morning he sprang back to life – I wasn’t very happy with the sound as it wasn’t as chirpy as his usual self. I still feel he may be having some undiagnosed problem with his wiring or that complicated array of stuff under his bonnet – but for now…. he looks like he’ll make it!

Fortunately I’m not referring to a patient! Unfortunately I’m referring to the car – the first attempt to use it in Trichy and thats all it did! Eerie silence followed and my heart sank. My mind is now thinking of the worst case scenario – is it a total breakdown? Will it need an organ transplant? Does it need some fluids? Do we need a specialist opinion? Is the illness self-limiting? Are its vital nerves affected? Is its heart failing? Thats my way of looking at a faulty car – I wonder….. and mentally I look at my bank balance! Wish the car could speak……

Goofy day! Thats what today was. Can you imagine – 5 goof-ups in one day? Yup…. I did it. Luckily they were all minor and we ended up with a few laughs!1. As the official teamaker of the house I quickly went through the motions – heat the water, sprinkle in the tea leaves..filter…. blah…blah and 5 minutes later I was stirring the cups vigorously….. only to realise that I was supposed to be doing it to dissolve the sugar but never actually put in the sugar. Minor hiccup and a funny smile on Beckys face…. thats all.2. We decided to go out shopping and then to Joyce Auntys house. We got on the scooter and Becky went through a…

Valli’s baby has been with us for a month now. She is frail, premature, weighs about 1 kg and today we finally had to make the tough decision – she wouldn’t make it. The parents have been very, very caring and even today they were hoping… but all of us knew that the baby wouldn’t make. She had showed great endurance and courage – ventilation, jaundice, apnea, sepsis, recurrent intestinal bleeds, a failing liver, oxygen dependancy, hypoglycemia, anemia…… the list is looooong…. but finally her frail body was giving up – she was just too premature and sick. the parents were out of money and we were out of medical ideas and options. They left sad but not disheartened –…

Seemed like a pretty easy trip to make – we had booked tickets and were supposed to leave at 1 Pm on Thursday after work for an extended Easter weekend home with family esp Sheba and Jitto. On Tuesday evening Praburam had to leave urgently as his brother was unwell. That left a huge question-mark over our departure! Fortunately I got a call on wednesday and he said he’d be back in Trichy by Thursday at noon.I manned OPD alone and tried to finish off work at 12 noon and bingo – there was a sick kid who landed up exactly at 12 noon. Praburam was still an hour away and as our ventilator was not available I had to…

I participate in a few forums for discussing anything I want to and responding to queries that I can contribute to. I once posed this question on a forum:How did it feel when you held your first child after he/she was born?This answer touched me. I dont know this person at all but I hope she also understands Gods unconditional love through her experience.My first pregnancy was a nightmare of doctors telling me that my baby would be deformed, mentally inadequate, etc. etc. One specialist tried to convince me to give up the child at birth as the challenge of raising it would be costly emotionally and financially and there was no guarantee that it would live very long anyway….