Must watch TV shows

So for the last 3- 4 years, I’ve been drawn to (rather addicted) to TV shows. They provide scope, prolonged suspense; they are elongated versions of our favourite movies except that they fulfill that feeling inside us after we watch a movie where we just wish it could go on for longer, to further allow us to be part of their world. So I’ve come up with some absolutely brilliant shows that I believe people must watch, as they offer something far more than just entertainment. My list may not appeal to many, but I’ve offered an explanation as to why I believe they deserve to be watched. So here goes, in no particular order:

1.  Breaking Bad: The hype surrounding this has put many people off to even getting a taste of it. Even I was apprehensive just looking at the synopsis. It’s about an average (yet overqualified) high school chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with cancer and realizes he won’t be leaving his family well off. He has a realization that the demand in the public and the returns for a methamphetamine manufacturer are high, and its easy money with the skills he’s already equipped with. Driven with desperation and frustration he ventures into this trade. But please, this show is not to be mistaken for simply being about making drugs and watching a middle aged man have a mid-life crisis. As you watch it, you will begin to drift away from the what this synopsis mentions and be enamored by the beautiful, powerful irony this show possesses throughout the series to the very end. You will find yourself unable to believe how justice, and injustice is poetically achieved, constantly. Its almost as if Shakespeare wrote it, for he used a similar mind game on his audiences to give them that extra thrill! But that’s not the best part. As the story unravels, your feelings insidiously transform from loving and cherishing the character to absolutely hating him in the end. And that’s the intent on which the show was born. It’s beautiful, absorbing, and in the end you’ll have the greatest satisfaction of having been a part of it. And oh, if that wasn’t enough and left you wanting more, a spin off series has emerged called: ‘better call Saul’ which took all its fans back into that trance.

2. Downton Abbey: If you’re a fan of Jane Austin, and frankly all things English, this show is for you. And even if you’re not, I’d like to see you escape the enchantment this puts on people. It’s a show portraying the lifestyle of an aristocratic family in England, at a time when that was a thing. A time when people used to merely live off their inheritance and manage estates, when a working woman is a recent fad. A time of ‘milords’ and ’milady’, when household help was a needed in big numbers and was a profession of dignity and loyalty. It’s a time, I think all of us who’ve watched the show would want to go back to (even if we’ve never lived in England). The story entails the personal lives of pretty much everyone in the household. A beautifully knit series making us fall in love with everyone from the footmen to the Lord is the result. There is suspense, laughter, joy, sadness, and reality.. There isn’t much to say about what actually happens, but if you’re thinking: “why would I want to watch a show about the personal lives of a household?” please take that leap of faith, I did 😊 More than anything, I got immersed in the brilliant English accent. I almost wish I’d been born English! The dialogues are witty, the acting is excellent, the plot has so much to offer. Just watch it.

3. 13 reasons why: A recent show, which is about a teenage girl who is driven to suicide due to unfortunate experiences she faced in high school; but before she does she leaves behind tapes for each of the people she felt was partly responsible for her decision to give up. It’s a powerful, intense, series which doesn’t hold back in portraying what people go through true the eyes of a teenager, bringing up issues like bullying, the casual nature of sexual assault, the extremes of peer pressure, and most importantly the inability of people to accept what they want to do for the sake of what other people may think. It has something for each one of us to acknowledge and be inspired to make a change in modern society and relationships. It brings up the rarely talked about issue of mental health, and the way people are indifferent to it or can’t see when someone needs help. Its not all depressing and gloomy. In fact you don’t even think about that side of it, cause you are already wrapped up trying to acknowledge the reality of it. For me, its fired me up to believe that so much good can come if people just openly talked with each other, rather than live out superficial relationships.

4. Dickensian: Another one for ‘all things English’ fans, but this one brings you into the world of the great Charles Dickens! A somehow brilliantly concocted plot starring Dicken’s most popular characters, takes you into the beginning of an industrial London, with all its pollution, workhouses, and pickpockets. The plot revolves around the individual characters in their own stories as well as an investigation into a murder which strings everyone along. It’s an absolute beauty of a thing, for it pulls you back to your childhood, and makes you yearn once again to be a part of your favourite book. Unfortunately it only aired for one season but even with that, it’s still worth watching.

5. Homeland: I’m not one for political shows, but I’ve been hung on this ever since it came out, for it gives more than American politics and corruption, etc. The focus is on the concept of terrorism, and the effect of war and hatred on people. Claire Danes. I’ll say it again, Claire Danes. She is one of my favourite actors and in this series you see the overwhelming talent of this woman. She goes from being bipolar, to a person in love, to a person stricken with grief, sometimes all in one season! The show gives an interesting take on terrorism and counter terrorism organisations showing realistic angles from both sides. And I must note how well it was able to deviate from a simple ‘good always wins against bad’ by dedicating a whole season to Pakistan fighting back, and you almost want them to! It’s intense, its unexpected, and the characters draw you in. I must mention at this point another show called “Band of brothers” which I’m hoping you’ve already seen otherwise I must say: stop reading this write now and go download it!

6. Modern family: This is the one show that can always make me laugh, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. The jokes are incredibly witty, so much so you really wish one of the writers was your best friend. A well thought of family consisting of diverse ‘modern’ relationships, each having their own pros and cons, and they make it a point to bring them out in each episode. It’s a pleasant experience to watch them overcome things and get closer to each other, not afraid of sharing their flaws. It makes you wish you had similar building up experiences with your own family. Its heart warming, and is something you can watch at any time, in any mood.

7. The man in high castle: A riveting series set in a dystopian, or rather a parallel universe which brings an answer to a question, probably no one dared to ask- what if Germany had won world war 2? It’s a magnificent idea, and I congratulate whoever thought of it. Again I’m not one for political stuff but this is far from that as you can imagine. It centers around a woman who was brought up in a japan occupied America and tangles herself into the resistance who believe they’ve found the answer to ending this nightmare. And it involves the appearance of a set of mysterious tapes, the significance of which is unraveled at a later stage. It is produced by Ridley Scott! So you can believe me when I say it’s a work of art. The purpose of series and most visual media is to bring the authors world and its characters alive, which this does pretty well. It shows a frail and paranoid Hitler, and makes him out to be a lesser evil compared to the people setting out to claim his spot once he’s through. It also includes a romantic couple, a troubled Japanese official who may have found the end game of meditation, and the not so comfortable life of a German official. I just can’t wait to see where the story goes.

8. This is Us: A pleasantly surprising new series starring Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore, about a young married couple who end up with triplets. And the series introduces you to everyone who’ve impacted their lives in detail, from the stand-in gynaecologist who delivered the kids, to the stranger who comforted them in the hospital, to flashbacks from the past which have made up the people they are today. It makes us think back on our own lives and think of people who’ve impacted us. Furthermore, it takes us into the lives of the children, the troubles they face. Each having their own unique personality: an aspiring actor who had everything he wanted but felt a void and decides to make a change, an obese woman who has never looked at herself as anything but being fat and finds love, a brilliant and successful ‘weather commodities trader’(don’t really understand what that is) who lives out the struggles of being a black man in a white neighborhood; and gets reconnected with his biological father who happens to have terminal cancer. What makes it worthwhile is seeing the family members support each other, and not support each other at times when you least expect it; making it quite realistic and moving. So moving I can guarantee you’re bound to tear up atleast once. A definite must watch, an elaborate platter of family values making you rethink how you treat your siblings, spouses, etc.


9. 11.22.63: Adapted from a Stephen King novel of the same name and starring James Franco, It’s a story about an average man tumbling into the past, with the alleged mission to prevent the assassination of JFK. In the process he finds love, changes a few things he has the power to, and seeks for the courage to let some things occur as they did. Its actually the best role I’ve seen James Franco play. Admittedly, this doesn’t really compare to the league of the other series on the list, but I felt the uniqueness of the story, and the genuine characters makes it a series no one should miss out. It’s also an emphasis on how the past affects the present, sometimes for the better even if we don’t understand how.

10. Black Sails: Welcome to the world of pirates😊 It’s not the typical ‘pirates of the Caribbean’ effect that Johnny Depp does oh-so-well, but it’s gives the raw, hardcore, through dirt, pain and betrayal nature of pirates. Beautiful cinematography, and well scripted character development. It’s a prequel of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘treasure island’, and so it deals with how those characters became who they became. Captain flint, Long John Silver, Blackbeard… They’re names any pirate enthusiast would’ve caught hold of as a child and it brings an enormous amount of delight to see them make their name. Winning not just hard fought, viscous battles at sea, but personal challenges with each other and with themselves. It gives a deep insight into the motivation of a pirate, the circumstances that make them do things. Its provides a preview into their feelings and aspirations of wanting to earn an honest living and strive towards a betterment of their state. It ultimately leads up to an unexpected united front against colonization by the British, putting aside greed and past exploits. It concentrates heavily on the unlikely friendship between two men, and the turmoil they face in deciding to lead their fellow men together despite each other’s reputation. It’s a beautiful world, with a highly satisfying ending.

11. Westworld: This is a stunning piece of work. An absolute thriller, with climaxes at just the right time; and It keeps you guessing till the very end. And Anthony Hopkins. What more do you need? It’s based on the 1973 movie of the same name, and it’s about a futuristic theme park where highly advanced artificial intelligence (robots) are made to exist, not knowing that they are robots, and live out programmed storylines everyday catering to the guests. I’m not sure if I should say much more! But let’s just say: what happens when one of them figures it out? It’s authentic, it’s addictive, it’s so much more than any of you expect! To quote one of the dialogues: ‘We can’t define consciousness because consciousness does not exist. Humans fancy that there’s something special about the way we perceive the world and yet we live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do, seldom questioning our choices, content, and for the most part, to be told what to do next”. The ending of the first season (infact even the first episode) will leave you bamboozled and ravenous for more!

12. Full metal Alchemist: This is an anime. And that does not mean “it’s a cartoon, ergo it’s for children!” That’s a common but very misinformed (and insulting) belief. I very recently delved into the world of Japanese anime, and my God; I wondered how I escaped this marvel for so many years (the addict that I am). The storylines that these people come up with, the character development, the freedom to create countless episodes… It breaks every restriction tv series seem to have and it makes sense that all the breathtaking ideas come to this platform because to depict them without animation would result in a severe lack of creativity and storyline restrictions, spoiling the entire idea of the creator. Anyway back to FMA. It’s set in a world where the magic of alchemy exists. Based on the law of equivalent exchange, an alchemist is able to mold, or create matter after offering something in return. The story is about two brothers who lost their mother at a very young age and in desperation attempted the one thing alchemy does not permit: bringing someone back from the dead. In the process, one of the brothers lose their body only to have his soul trapped in a metal armor and the other brother loses his right arm and leg. With full determination to find a way to get their bodies back, the brothers set out and end up joining the State police as they figure it’s their best chance. However they get entangled in a conspiracy so deep and convoluted that the entire country is in danger. It’s a personal journey for the boys, and mans flaws are clearly outlined as characters in the form of the 7 cardinal sins. It’s a beautiful story, absolutely immersed in emotion and filled with imagination. Watch it, please. Now there are two versions: the earlier one just called FMA and the later one called FMA: Brotherhood. Both are excellent although I must tell you if you like a darker story with an even darker ending, the former is the one for you.

Honourable mentions:

·         Game of thrones

·         Mercy street

·         Sherlock

·         The walking dead

·         Dexter

·         A series of unfortunate events

·         Fargo

·         Stranger things

·         Utopia

·         American crime story

·         Daredevil

·         The handmaid’s tale

·         Monster, death note (anime)

·         Mr Robot

The story of Dr George Varghese

The story of Dr George Varghese or Dr Laji as most people know him is one of faith, love and passion for Christ. One that radically changed communities and defined the very essence of Christian missions in India.
Born and brought up in Kerala (Alleppey), Dr Laji was surrounded by the traditions of the Syrian Orthodox Church, which his family followed. It was in his teens (pre-degree) that he heard about Jesus Christ through the Billy Graham ministries. It sparked a curiosity in him to know more about Jesus, and so began his spiritual journey.
At around the same time, Dr Mary Mathews (Dr Laji’s aunt) who was in Christian Medical College, Ludhiana motivated him to take up medicine as a vocation. Though under the impression that he ‘was not an intelligent guy’, Dr Laji felt that there was no harm in trying. And so, in the summer of 1971, he entered into the world of medicine.
“Life in hostel was fun!” said Dr Laji. Back then he had already possessed the strong determination to become a life saver. He thoroughly enjoyed dissection in Anatomy and was good at it; so much so his teachers asked him to dissect the entire middle ear with its ossicles which he successfully accomplished! Dr Laji even cultivated a passion for teaching by helping his juniors in understanding things in another way.

Dr Laji accepted Christ as his personal saviour in his 2nd year of college. He says that Jesus is such a wonderful and unique person, that he had the absolute conviction that he was God. He learnt to take God’s word more seriously and so studied it on a regular basis which created in him a special love for the word.
Led by Mr P.T. Chandapilla, he and his friends started CMCL’s first Evangelical Union (EU) with the motive of having students gather together for fellowship and worshipping God; which exists to this very day.
It was in this college where Dr Laji met Dr Sheila. Being batch mates they got to know each other quite well and became rather fond of each other, although they broke apart four times! Dr Laji states: “a word that could describe her best is her middle name- Grace.” Dr Sheila says that she felt understood in her conversations with him and what attracted her towards him the most was his compassion for the poor and his love for Jesus. This adorable couple even then had similar dreams of working in rural areas and burned with a desire to follow God wherever he’d take them. They were both challenged by the fact of there being fewer doctors in rural areas.
In his fourth year, Dr Laji attended the UESI conference in Nagpur where he stepped forward during the altar call, making a firm decision to stay in India and serve the people here.
In his time, or perhaps even now; doctors would rather serve in other countries or higher centers in the cities of India than serve in a small mission hospital. This was partly due to the fact that they had bad experiences during their bond period where they endured a derogatory attitude and there was no planned program, which enabled them to see their potential in such a place. Also most senior doctors in big institutions had never worked in mission hospitals and looked down on those who went to Mission work.

Dr Laji however feels that a lot can be done with good basic education. “It all depends on your teachers and your interest” He said. He had the pleasure of being taught by Drs Betty Cowan, Mary Mathew, Howie, Feiraband, Deodhar, Prior,Chatterjee, and Dr Satow later on in Herbertpur. He not only learned medicine but also major life lessons through these mentors. He also learned a lot by staying over with friends during the holidays.
In his final year Dr Laji topped medicine and though intending to be a physician, he left his post graduate studies four times to work in mission hospitals!
After MBBS, he even travelled around North India to see the country. Through this he realized how wonderful India is and his heart for the needy Indian people grew. This concern for people and loving them as Christ loves us was taught to him early as a child, and he was greatly inspired by Drs Mary Mathew and Betty Cowan who openly portrayed this trait during his college days. He enjoyed his time in Kotagiri and realized that Jesus did not come to start a religion but to give His life to replace our old life and its habit patterns. “Living out His life through my body in this world is the meaning of being a Christian. This was a revolutionary thought. It meant saying ‘no’ to my plans and desires and opening my life to another kind of life, serving the needy of rural India.”
In 1977, he joined CMCL intending to take up medicine but had to leave soon after to Herbertpur as Dr Satow (who ran the place) had to go on leave. Before leaving, Dr Satow prayerfully blessed Dr Lajis hands which he believes to have made a difference in his work as a surgeon. Seeing that there was an enormous need for surgical skill in the rural population and encouraged by the fact that he had good hands, he decided to take up surgery instead but decided to postpone it.
In 1979 Dr Laji married Dr Sheila and so started their beautiful life together. He says it was a patient, growing conviction that made him know that she was the one to marry. As many of us face or will face the question of whom to marry, Dr Laji simply- believes in ‘no sign business’, but marriage requires a lot of self death for it work in a meaningful way. This is hard but possible. He waited, and his love grew.

After marriage, they left for Pune to the Pandita Ramabai Mukti mission hospital, Kedgaon, to relieve Dr Sheela Gupta who had not taken leave for years. It was there they heard about Manali.
Fully intending to resume higher studies in CMCL, they still wrote to the Lady Willington hospital in Manali (Himachal Pradesh) that was about to close down due to the lack of doctors for the past year and a half, not knowing what to expect. Before long even before their letter reached, a lady nurse from the UK who was running the place wrote to them asking for help in reviving the hospital. At around the same time, a friend who knew nothing of the invitation also wrote to them simply mentioning ‘Manali will welcome you with open arms’. Having prayed about it for quite a while before this, the receptive couple decided this was God’s way of telling them to go to Manali. And so, they left to a desolate place with just an MBBS to show; were offered food for work and no salaries. This they believed, was what faith is all about. They intended to go back to CMCL but stayed on in Manali due to the workload and lack of other doctors in the region.
This meant that they couldn’t complete their higher studies which invited a lot of criticism from family and friends. While most of his contemporaries went forth pursuing higher studies and some moved on to other countries Dr Laji stayed back in India with just an MBBS, not acknowledged for the surgeon he was and was often thought of as old fashioned. It was sad to realize that for many out there, degrees matter more than abilities.
Dr Laji himself felt like giving up: as a doctor due his lack of training, when he felt the economical constraint and when his colleagues looked down on him. But with his faith and love in Jesus, his love for the people of Kulu valley, Dr.Laji stuck his ground. He says, Jesus redefines life, and you can’t walk away from it.

Greatly supported by his wife, friends and senior doctors who visited the hospital from time to time, He mastered his surgical skill to be one of the very best in the country. “He is one surgeon I know who can see or watch one surgery and then be enabled to do it!” says Dr Sheila. “He has a good imagination and imagines his surgeries before he goes and does them.” He became so good in a variety of surgeries ranging from orthopedics to pediatric surgery to gynecology that the University of Glasgow recently bestowed him with a FRCS.
With his growth in surgery came a passion to teach it especially to those who had a fear of surgery. He spent time in Nepal, Uganda, Nagaland and the Burmese border training young doctors and taking away this fear and passing on his skill. If he has taught one doctor one skill, it makes him very happy.
Becoming a surgeon, Dr Laji believes was simply conforming to a need which was crying out when he started his mission work. Surgery is not his passion but people are. To aspiring surgeons: “Learn all you can, really understand basics, have a heart for those who do not have the means. Look at the need rather than what specialty you’d like, study a variety of things!”
With the help of the NRHM scheme of the Himachal government, Dr Laji conducted a number of surgical camps along with others to benefit those who are in remote places. The team would go to a government hospital, take over the OT, and do 50- 90 surgeries in 4 days! Camps are an example of good teamwork and an opportunity to train young doctors and nurses.

In 1984 Dr Laji began to visit a small village called Lahaul -Spiti located at 12,000 feet near the Chinese border, which he reached by trekking and hiking. Here there was no electricity, it was -30 degrees Celsius, and was snowed in half the year. The people were very poor, unaware of health resources and hygiene practices, and there was a gross insufficiency in the distribution of Hep B vaccines.
Dr Laji stepped up and cleared 3 problems:
Installed solar powered fridge to store vaccines
Encouraged parents to give children bath and installed a solar water heater as kids suffered from nephritis and stupor during school hours due to scabies and head lice.
Motivated parents to stop feeding under 5years old children magi and kurkure and asked them to switch to ladoo or muesli from locally available grain flour.
In 1985, Dr Laji started what he believes to be his greatest achievement: the Day Star School, Manali When his eldest daughter was 3 years old, he decided to start a small school which he conducted in an open courtyard with his children and others which made up the first 9 kids of this school. Gradually nearby villagers asked if their children too could enroll and so this school grew to what it is today- a senior secondary school with around 500 children and a variety of faculty! The first batch of 10th grade students passed out in 1997.
The school-
Led a social change in the attitudes of environmental protection and drug/ alcohol abuse in the community (reached top ten in Design for Change Ahmadabad)
Led a campaign to establish a library in a poor school in manali by collecting English/ hindi books from the public
Children who got used to the toilets at school went back home and insisted that a toilet be built at home, thus abandoning the practice of open field defecation.
Produced students into various fields from medicine to lawyers and even actors.

It is a perfect example of how Dr Laji reached out to what the community wanted and desperately needed instead of focusing on his own preconceived goals. In fact Dr Laji believes that more salaries should be given to community doctors who prevent disease in the community than curative physicians/ surgeons at the hospital.
A question arose during our conversation: “people are people whether rich or poor, and so there shouldn’t be a difference if you save lives in a village or in a tertiary care centre. Then why should there be a preference for the poor?”
‘The poor’, Dr Laji explained ‘are at a disadvantage as the rich have means to get what they want and it would not make a difference if a doctor was missing for them as they could easily get another one. However it makes all the difference to a man in the rural area who has already had to travel miles before reaching even a Primary care center. Oppression by the rich is very real and is one of the main reasons for poverty. Emergency admissions make borderline people really poor.
The poor are in no way better people but are open, more grateful, and respond to kindness. God sees them as sheep without a shepherd and looks at them with mercy. ’Our job is to care for them and be a voice, to echo their plight and be a healing balm, to help them rise above their misery and find some happiness’.
Another dimension was added to this answer when Dr Sheila explained that people do not have to be financially poor to gain our service. “Many people are poor in emotions, physically poor, intellectually poor, poor in relating to people (and still be financially rich).” So the question is not God help me serve the poor but should be what do you want me to do? As God may want you to work with people who are financially rich but are poor in other ways.
Drs Laji and Sheila gave up their position and all that they started a few years ago and became just ordinary people in the village. Dr. Laji believes that the greatest challenge was and continues to be – “to show kindness and grace to people who don’t like you and treat you as a burden”. In fact his regret is his own inability to love people all the time.
“One can truly love only through self denial. The cross is the ultimate weapon for this. As long as I want to preserve self, to that degree I will be a poor lover”
He says the totality of love is only in God, but we can be partakers of this divine quality in some small ways. Love is an act of will but also a decision of the heart. It’s easy to love people, who love you, but the opposite is tough and to be able to do that without a selfish motive is almost a supernatural act! Then why do it, against such a strong inclination of our flesh to hate?
“Contemplation of the man on the cross till my heart is melted away is the beginning of such love.” This is how we are to know what love is, experience it from the truest, purest of lovers, and then be able to share that with others. “I must get sick of my emptiness to love before I get filled.”
‘A mission hospital’ by Dr Laji’s definition is- a hospital run by a group of committed Christians not for monetary gain or power play but to incarnate God’s love through their service.” He describes ‘mission’ simply as to deny yourself, go to a small village, become part of that community, make a difference and die there. Now people are looking for ready-made hospitals where everything is available for them. Many are looking for various benefits from the mission rather than giving themselves to bring God’s kingdom to their place of work.
This has become a very difficult reality, as not everyone has the same vision. ‘Most mission hospitals have become just become another business and are power centered. Trust level is zero both vertically and horizontally. It is sad to see Mission hospital’s reason for existing change from serving, to, being served.’
Only a few hospitals exist in India today, and I pray that we can work to restore the image of these hospitals to what was once meant to be ‘our work, for a king’. Mission Hospital work ought to be an expression of Churches’ concern for the world around.

Currently Dr Laji and Sheila help some patients during the week, who usually come for reassurance or insist that he is the one to do their surgery. He still travels to Nagaland to train young doctors and take out the myths of being a surgeon.
He enjoys not just being a doctor. His hobbies include: photography (nature and children), watching good movies, listening to music, and writing down thoughts. He spends a great deal of time just talking to villagers about life, purpose, love, hope, death. He enjoys story-telling to kids.
He says there is no greater joy than talking about Jesus of Nazareth. He also teaches health and spirituality to Buddhist monks and nuns in Spiti.
Unfortunately 10 years back he was diagnosed to have Sjogren’s syndrome, which caused all his teeth to break. He finds it difficult to eat or speak, read or even do long surgeries. Despite all this, he never complains and has learnt to accept it as a part of life and finds joy in being alive otherwise!
Dr Laji is a rural doctor in its truest sense. He was ever ready to heed his call from God and made a difference in enumerable lives through his openness to let God in and spread His love to others.
This man exemplifies the greatest commandment our lord has given us and continues to fight the good fight.
“He is a rebel and a non- conformist who asks hard questions to himself and others forcing us to challenge the status quo fervently seeking to have the mind of Christ.”- Dr Vineet Jaison (Laji’s nephew)
“He makes people laugh and has a great sense of humorHalf the patients recover from their aches and pains by the jokes he cracks and makes them laugh!”- Dr Sheila
This man was able to deny himself, take up the cross and follow Christ. Shall we aim to do the same?

Eric Williams

Skin Deep

Hi, how’re you? Fine right? That’s the usual, everyday response to the question. Even if we’re not, we usually go with “I’m fine, just that I had a fight with a friend, feel a bit lonely now and then, etc..” and then we smile and go with “But how’re you??”

I’ve had a lot of accumulated emotions over the following topic, and I just had to type it out.

I just finished watching this new series “13 reasons why” (Because I watch a lot!), and if you haven’t seen it yet please check it out. It’s about a high school girl who commits suicide and leaves behind a series of tapes for certain people in which she records why they were a part of her decision to give up. It’s quite powerful even though the scenes are filmed from the viewpoint of a teenager living perhaps a typical high school life in America. I was particularly relieved when I confirmed that it wasn’t based on a true story. But it might’ve well been. I understand that media these days are quite extreme and exaggerated, but if we look at them as works of art; we can certainly see them as a hyperbole for what goes on in the world today, and there is a saddening reality to it.

You may say “that’s what’s wrong with the western culture, families are too detached, etc..” Firstly, the western influence is spreading madly across the east. I’ve been to school both in India and Sri Lanka, and looking back I’ve seen that almost everyone in school looked up to the west for a standard of behavior, and catching hold of the latest trend. Secondly, we tell ourselves that we are proud of our heritage, our traditions and customs. How our families are always together. How ‘nuclear families’ are only a recent concept. But none of that makes our culture bulletproof to the problems that youth are facing in any way! A vacant security of family does not translate into trust, or transparency. Further in a country like India, I would say such issues are misdiagnosed, pushed to the side and ignored because you know: “how can that be?” With the education system prepping us to not think for ourselves, parental pressure to enter “the top 4 professions deemed worthy of bringing pride” and peer pressure; along with that the added pressures (deadlines) and expectations for a girl in India.. Our youth are in far more trouble than we think.

In my life so far, I’ve known one person who committed suicide due to the stress of board exams, and 3- 4 people who attempted it due to depression/ relationship issues. Yeah, that’s serious stuff. They’re people I’ve seen around, said Hi to, talked (small talk) now and then.. And each time, I felt I was partly responsible. That we all were, our society. Our mandate as Christians. Even earlier this month a 24 year old male jumped from the Taj hotel Mumbai after streaming himself live on facebook first..

I want to bring up this ideology, or this theory I have. It’s about having genuine conversations. I will not pretend to be an expert on human conversations, mostly because I’ve been an introvert for most of my life. In fact most of what I do know is cause I observe others talking, figuring out what makes people laugh, and wondering what there is to talk about. Think about your day, and what exactly you talk to people about. Is it mostly about events, news, what’s gonna happen next, yourself?

Someone out of the blue once asked me: “when did you feel most loved today?” I couldn’t give an answer, mostly because I’ve never heard of such a question, nor have I had to think of such things. You see what I mean? A bunch of friends, families even could go through years of knowing each other, without being able to share the essence of who they are, their visions, ideas, passions. I’ve seen it happen. It’s cause small talk takes over, the deceitful need to keep rambling to avoid ‘awkward pauses.’ I’m generalizing of course, but it is there.

We’re used to saying so many things which may not make a difference in anyone’s life that when it comes to moments of passion we help ourselves to lines from the movies. Talk people, talk! Talk to your parents, tell them how much you love them. Get to really know your friends and share what you feel about them, don’t just post it in FB. No its not awkward, It’s the highest potential of human interaction, to be genuine. It’s what we were meant to do. It’s how we can surpass the list of things unsaid and hold on to each other; and God knows we need each other!

I’ve heard somewhere that the commonest reason of conflict is misunderstandings; and I agree with that. Have you seen Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd? Quite gruesome to some, and the music is quite fantastic (Stephen Sondheim) but for me it’s a perfectly written tale depicting how misunderstandings can lead to an extreme of conflict! We very often misunderstand how someone is feeling, or their circumstance. We fail to think how it is to be in their shoes. All of this can simply be avoided by telling people what they feel. I’m not saying be blunt, or sugar coat it. Talk about the why, and it will lead to a deeper understanding and a chance to actually know the person for real.

I’m not sure what I mean to say at this point, only that we can’t let anyone in our community be without genuine friends. Friends that know and value your beliefs and visions, of how you look at the world and what you want to change about it. After all isn’t that what we’re all trying to do, in our own small way. It’s the only play we have at bringing out the best in a person, and that is important or people look for alternatives to make them feel better, or worse; an exit.

As Christians, isn’t our belief an integral part of who we are and what motivates us to do what we do? (or supposed to). I’ve been ashamed of the gospel a number of times so I understand this quite well. Because if it is, having genuine conversations would mean a lack of hesitation to talk about Jesus…

In a country like India, I am scared about the fate of individuals we’ve chosen not to take the time to know and involve. Because we know that here, we wait for something drastic to happen to initiate any sort of movement. And mental health is buried so far beneath the ground, it will keep being trampled under the feet of people on the top who are more concerned about whether we eat non- veg.

So talk. Really talk. Don’t spend a lifetime of regretting things you didn’t say. Don’t sit back and exclude people, they may need help; perhaps you need theirs. This world is full of varied people with the craziest of passions and dreams. Only if we know and encourage each other can we believe it is possible, no matter what CBSE tells you. Don’t let your interaction only be ‘skin deep’. We’re not needed to be superficial, there are enough sources in the world to give us that.

If we don’t, we loose touch. Jack Johnson describes it quite well: “Sometimes it feels like a heart is no place to be singing from at all.” – All at once.

Eric Williams

Leading Worship

Whatever I am to tell you comes from experience and what I’ve learned from others.

Now worship is essentially talking to god. Forget leading for a minute. It simply means talking to him, praising thanking acknowledging the brilliance of god. After all god’s done for us, it is the time for us to offer him our praise, and this we could do through many ways. In some ways I think prayer is very similar to worship through music. Therefore we establish that praise and worship is a form of worship and not the only one. Music is a believe one of the greatest gifts of god to us. And is a personal favorite of god cause his pl worshiped him through music all through the bible. Somehow the act of singing out our heart to god is easier than to talk, or rather makes it more meaningful. And from the word we learn that god sings to us too!! So what better medium to worship him than through this? Being a leader is difficult if we fail to do this by just being by ourselves in our room with a guitar. As in we shouldn’t need a crowd everytime we want to worship.

But you already know all this. Now when it comes to leading worship (or leading PEOPLE into worship), I read from a max luccado book that being a worship leader means to simply reflect god’s glory. Nothing else! That means when pl are lead into worship by us, they should feel the presence of god and nothing else, you’re just an instrument of god standing in front for god to use as a mirror to reflect his gory to those around. Looking at it that way can bring up lots of things.

Firstly to be able to reflect his glory means to be filled with the spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to be able to lead people. Because the ability to lead pl into worship doesn’t mean we’re better than the rest, infact we’re the same or even less. It’s the Holy Spirit that can give us the proper leading ability. I’ll explain later what that practically means. When I first started leading, it was the Holy Spirit that actually pushed me into blurting out that I wanted to try it out, and it went great.

Now, in order to be filled by the spirit, do you think it will come if our minds and bodies aren’t cleansed or focused? This is why we never go into worship with a stressed, impure or distracted mind. Make sure you pray sometime during your preparation to submit yourself to god as you are and for forgiveness. If there’s any dispute with someone, clear it. Unless you are able to worship with a clear heart, people around you won’t either.

Now practically to be filled by the spirit means to be in a total communication with god. Now in front of you are people, yes. But this time is not about you and its definitely not about them. Its all about god. So don’t think about the people, whether they’re enjoying it, or worshiping, or to meet they’re expectations. The only one you need to please out there is god. If you can lead people in this way than they will feel the presence of the holy spirit as IT works through them. We can’t make people worship or talk to god, that’s the job of the spirit. All you have to focus on is reflectionJ

Finally, if we’re truly reflecting his glory, and worship becomes all about praising god, then people who worshiped with you shouldn’t be coming up to you after worship saying “I loved how you played that guitar”. It means that they weren’t focused on god as much as they were on how you played the guitar. Which brings me to talk about a balance between performance and worship. Yes god doesn’t expect the technical aspects to be perfect as long as our hearts and minds as fixed on god. But where near perfection can be attained, wouldn’t it mean that we are putting in our best for him? For example (and I’ve experienced this myself) worship is going splendidly and suddenly a totally wrong chord is played by my rhythm guitarist. It totally ruins my concentration with god which is of utmost importance to maintain both as a leader and as part of the congregation. Now obviously we can’t worship with a clear mind during worship if we keep worrying about the technical aspects. So practice is crucial for that. In practice we can go all out to make the best of the music or performance aspect. But during worship every single member on the team should come out with the single minded aim of humbling and putting aside yourself and allowing god to shine. I’m not saying we can’t worship without instruments. But some of these songs which are written are written in such depth that certain chords in the song put in an extra boost into the emotions of the song such that it may not make as much of an impact if not played right. You’d understand that when you start writing songs. Though the words of a song are obviously the main arrow to strike the heart.

Preparation:

Start with prayer, as god to guide to in your song choice and to cleanse your mind and heart.

Now for song choice, remember worship is a part of the meeting. And imagine the meeting is on the ‘majesty of god.’ Imagine how much more meaningful the whole meeting would be if we strongly proclaimed and emphasized the majesty of god. So just check with the speaker for starters to see what the topic is and you align your worship towards that. Now that’s not always possible, the theme may be vague or there is no theme. Maybe there’s no speaker. Now I know worship leaders who use a particular theme to the worship and choose songs and talk about that throughout and others that don’t and choose songs based on how the spirit leads them. There’s no right way to do this. I sometimes have a theme, sometimes don’t. so talk to god about itJ because god knows all the pl that are gonna worship with you and he just might give you a thought or idea that specifically touches  or relates to them. For example once when I lead worship in new life, god put in my head to talk about the love of god and I did. And I had a bunch of pl tellin me after worship that it was what they had been discussing the night before and they were blessed. At other times I don’t pick a theme. Infact sometimes I just put in songs we haven’t done for a long time. But even through that I have to receive god’s approval.

I had one leader who told me that he never prepared, just used to select songs, Go through the words of each song and find out what the god wanted to tell pl through these songs, and then speak whatever comes into mind during worship. Which he said was the only way he knew how to worship cause if he’d prepare he might forget something and not say stuff properly or at all. And he’s a really good leader! Whatever is most comfortable with you and god.

Its called ‘praise and worship’. And rightly so because we start with praise and end with worship. A simple difference can be fast and slow, but you know the difference when you hear the song. Uncle rajkumar, a man of god who was vital to me getting to know god and lead a session on worship which taught me most of what I know examined a psalm and realized the Israelite way of worship was to start of with a song of:

·         Praise (simply joyJ )

·         Exaltation (invite god in)

·         Thanksgiving (for everything)

·         Acknowledgment of god almighty (as king and creator, and our salvation)

·         worship (surrender)

now we don’t need to stick to this but it’s a good guide of what to achieve.

A simple example of something like this is oh happy day, open the eyes, mighty to save, who am I, my jesus my saviour. But ya this is my way of doing stuff and doesn’t need to be your way at allJ

Another aspect of song selection is the scales for each song. Some leaders pick songs of a similar scale so as to maintain the flow of the worship so instrumentalists don’t need to produce a drastic change (which won’t be so drastic if there is talking in between but I’ll come to that later), which is a good thing but isn’t always possible, and actually is usually not. So its not essential, but do understand that the instrumentalist (which might be yourself) would need a proper moment to revert to another scale in a smooth manner. And make sure your instrumentalists know the scales before worship. Very crucial!! Some songs have horrible scales which might favour only boys or the other way around. I’d say to try and avoid those and introduce them as a special song…

And never ever do a song based on popular vote or cause someone asked you to do it. Because if you aren’t comfortable and if you don’t have a personal connection with the song then it will not go well. I did something like that in camp and it did not go well. Don’t do it! Also do maximum one new song per session. I know that’s a big restraint but you yourself will know the difference when you face a congregation who knows the songs and ones who don’t. You shouldn’t leave people out just because you want to sing newer songs, rather do them as special songs so they can worship with it the next time. And do new songs either at the beginning or at the end, never last.

After selection I pray again to see if god’s happy with it and have a quick runthrough with myself to see if it flows.

Now the thought will come, what am I supposed to say up there? J

My simple rule is don’t say anything unless its from god. People didn’t come there to listen to what you have to say about god (contrary to what some people actually come for), they wanna listen TO god. So let god do the talking. Why would you wanna break up a conversation between god and some person in the congregation? Unless the lord gives you something to say, don’t say it, or it just becomes mindless chatter, noise unto god. In the beginning yes you’ll need to say something just to make them prepared to talk to god. For the rest I prefer to let the songs and god do the talking. Especially towards the end when people are directly talking to god. The songs could say a thousand more than we could, I mean they’re built with such meaning its brought tears to people. Again, unless you get a thought in between or something that you know you have to say. Especially when your open to say stuff to god. Never say anything cause you think people want or expect you to say something, that will only please men, your aim is towards god. Worship is different in different churches and I read that if god wanted the same sort of worship he wouldn’t have created so many diff types of people!! In my church back in delhi for example, we have a short 20 minute worship with 5 songs and hardly any speech in between. That’s what allows them to talk to god better. Who’s to say it’s wrong? When it comes to diff forms of worship I just do what’s comfortable with me. Nothing is higher than what you and god decide for worship.

I often felt this battle, having fear of what pl might think, and that I might go blank and not say anything in worship ending in disaster. In those times I remind myself that I’m not doing this for people, I’m doin this for god. And all things work for the good of Christ who loves you. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. So don’t think you can’t do it aloneJ

Now an important thing to understand (and sorry I’ve written so much!) is worship is sacred. It’s a communication with god. Not a performance and definitely not a time filler. Which is why I’m totally against doing songs just cause there’s ‘extra time’. We shouldn’t bring down the sacred feature of worship. It can’t be used to just have fun. 

Imagination

Imagine one day you reached into your bag, and happened to pulled out a tiny green, scaly creature you believe and know to be a dinosaur. What next? You’d have to actually ‘imagine’ wouldn’t you? So what exactly is this ability of imagination.. Some of you may have started thinking: “well that’s for kids”. But changing that manner of thinking is my goal here, so I hope you’ll bear with me.

If I may be so bold, I define imagination as the ability to travel to another world, complete with its own set of principles and possibilities, so uniquely ours to borrow ideas of creativity that adds not only a whole new dimension to the world we live in but also dares us to venture past any sense of hopelessness.

Relive with me our childhood; the days we spent occupying ourselves with only our hands for guns, or sticks for swords, and a mind full of infinite leisure. When anyone our age no matter the socio-economic status, religion or language became our best friend, or partner in crime. And then we grew up to a world of books (unless you had cable) where we cherished the scent of the pages of a new book, when we eagerly and secretly read through the night under a blanket with a torchlight, and wished (oh how much we wished!) we were one of the characters in the story. Just to get a glimpse of this world that the author had painted so wonderfully in our mind, where dreams do come true and rabbits wear waistcoats.

How we so deeply immersed ourselves with wanting to be one of the famous five, or have a magical finger, or couldn’t sleep for a whole night because R.L Stine petrified us with ‘the headless ghost’, how we longed to find a magical rabbit hole in the forest, to chill out with archie and the gang, or to fly on buckbeak’s back above Hogwarts…

Unfortunately, such thinking is not encouraged in most schools in India. But I will not dwell further on that as it would be article of its own.

I must say I find it very annoying when I walk into a bookstore and all the authors I admire for their ability to stretch their imagination as vast as an ocean are neatly fitted into the kids section.

But tell me what would science be without imagination? Most of physics only makes sense if we imagine. If you look back at most of the greatest scientific discoveries, they came either out of a ridiculous, spontaneous thought or because people dared to ask ‘what if?’

Take a look at medical- related discoveries. Tetralogy of fallot was a hopeless condition before 1944 until two surgeons dared to try out an anastomosis between the subclavian and pulmonary artery.

This is the core of my debate: to suppress the will to imagine is suicide to any hope of creative progress; and without that we could never hope of making a difference in this world.

So take a leap back in time, and go back to the days when our only responsibility was saying bye to our parents before leaving the house to play.. Encourage your mind to see what fascinated you as a child, and it would enable you to not only look past problems you thought were big but realize that you can do so much more to sever the problems of people around you.

Perhaps that why progress in all streams of life have come to a stagnant phase for a while.. at least, that’s what I’ve inferred from the songs and movies that come out these days. Except technology of course. My theory is that this one field which strives to make our lives more comfortable and longer only to replace the necessity and passion for hard work thereby ironically actually shortening life (based on the fact that non communicable diseases are almost the leading causes of morbidity these days).

What did you want to become growing up? I assume most of those answers would not have included an engineer or a charted accountant... I personally wanted to be a barber, or an author. One of my childhood friends wanted to be an ice cream man. And why not? Cause we’ve been too lazy to follow through with it and have allowed ourselves to be pressurized into falling for what the world thinks is success. I know some people who wanted to be an engineer but didn’t like physics... Does that make any sense to you?

So I hope you take this journey with me, and venture into an unknown world full of excitement and wonder. Let your mind break free from all the restraints you thought you had and experience something strange, daring and most of all: satisfying. Let your inner child run around tweaking your thoughts, a little here and a little there, just enough to make you smileJ

Eric Williams

Freedom

It starts small, but start it did;

Sometimes with no reason or rhyme.

The clock’s ticking, though it always had

Perhaps now it’s just running out of time.

It does nothing at first, neither move nor mind

The wait it’s expected to keep.

“I’m happy!” it said “for one day I’ll be free

to take that giant leap.”

The time has come, and it spreads its wings

Taking flight into the unknown.

Merrily it flitters here and there;

Soon it’ll reach the bone.

It took a momentary glance at what he left behind

To strike an air of doubt.

The slight breeze became a storm of guilt

“Is this all my life is about?”

He tugged and tugged but the sails would not listen

“This is who you are.” They replied.

Is this freedom at all- to be yourself

For the end had come, and he cried.

If this is freedom lord, you make me a slave.

I know not what I do.

Instead give me the freedom to not be myself,

And be like Jesus.. yes, just like you.