Flower Queen

Maharani slept on the pavement with her son. She tried desperately to eke out a living by selling flowers in Chennai, and her mental problems did not help matters. I tried to help her but found it difficult to sift through the facts that she gave me. It was impossible to be completely sure when she was under a delusion and when she was telling me the truth.

She was waiting for compensation from the Government because her husband had been killed in a road accident, and I found that she was no match for the general apathy and corruption through which she would have to fight her way. I published the journal that I maintained at the time, calling my book Flower Queen. It is available at Amazon.com
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An excerpt from the book:
"My husband's sister is our family saathaan and brings misfortune to the family.” Whenever Flower Queen said these ‘profound’ things, she took on an expression that looked like something between a puppy and a learned sage.

She flashed her wise puppy look at me another time when she took me into her confidence and whispered in my ear that it would not rain in Chennai till she got a house because she had cursed the city. She predicted that it would rain in torrents the day she got a house.

“Only after I sleep a night in the new house will it rain, you will see.” She also had some kind advice for me

“Do not go out in the sun because the sun will be extra hot these days.”

“Why is that so?” I asked her absent mindedly.

“Because of my curse. I have cursed the city with a dry spell.” Then she continued. “Amma, if you walk in the sun, you will go wonky in the head like me. Then you will start roaming the streets as I do.”

I was going wonky already. I also had to keep these stories to myself because Philip said they made him sick.

India Gets Her First Woman President

Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential palace)

The President of India or the Rashtrapati is a figure head because the executive authority lies vested with the Prime Minister and the Council of ministers. Nevertheless the President is looked up to for guidance, much like the British Crown, in that the President reigns but does not rule. The President can intervene during crisis situations, and if required, declare National, State, or Financial emergencies.

The President is elected by the elected members of the houses of parliament, at the centre and in the states, and enjoys a term of five years. During the term of office, the President lives in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Presidential palace and the biggest residence of any President in the world.

Yesterday, Pratibha Patil became India’s 13^th President and first woman President. Although the presidential campaign was bitter, we hope her tenure sees many good changes for the great country that she must now guide and lead.

He predecessor A P J Abdul Kalam, the missile man, will be sorely missed. He will return to Anna University to teach aeronautical engineering, nano-technology, bio-technology, and space applications.

NDTV reports:

He liked everything simple in life, but A P J Abdul Kalam got a grand farewell as the country's Head of the State at a ceremonial function on the forecourt of the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The colourful ceremony began with the arrival of Pratibha Patil, shortly after she was sworn in as the country's first woman President, as rain clouds gathered over the Presidential palace adding to its glory.

Patil was driven in a buggy pulled by eight stallions to the forecourt where she inspected the guard of honour by the three services in the presence of dignitaries including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The new President, dressed in an off-white saree with a broad green border, savoured every moment of her reception as she smiled and cheerfully waved at the battery of lensmen gathered to catch on camera the historic moment.

After inspecting her first guard of honour, she was escorted into the red sandstone structure from where she emerged sometime later along with Kalam, according to tradition.

Kalam then inspected his farewell guard of honour and exchanged pleasantries with Singh, senior cabinet ministers, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Supreme Court Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and chiefs of the armed forces.

He even posed for a photograph with the family members of Patil before he drove out of the palatial building, his home for the last five years, accompanied by the country's new Head of the State.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time (1 Tim 2:1-6)

Article 25 of the Constitution of India grants Indians the 'freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.' We must pray that no force emerges in that free land to threaten this precious freedom.

New Age systems Vs Jesus Christ

A friend of mine and a professing Christian wrote that she had done several short term courses in fields of New Age belief systems and alternate healing techniques. To name a few, she had done courses on Pranic healing, Reiki, magneto therapy, Electro homeopathy, Siddha, Yoga therapy and Sutkriyas.

"I understand from holy scripture," I replied to her, "that Jesus is the only Way to true life not just for this world but for eternity. There is no other method that can give us true and lasting meaning and happiness in life. If Jesus shows Himself to you from the pages of the Bible, suddenly the Bible will become living and dynamic and will really be the voice of God to you. On that day, all other popular therapies, including Reiki and Pranic healing and various "ways" to happiness will fade in the clear light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for that day to come for you."

I am not an expert on these "sciences," but at least some, if not all of these, involve spiritual powers. This makes them dangerous for Christians to dabble in. Yoga, for instance, up to a point seems innocuous enough, but after a while it becomes dangerous. The yoga that people are taught in schools and organisations is usually limited to physical exercises, relaxing, and concentrating. I am not sure if it is dangerous at this stage, but certainly becomes so when the concentrating is taken to the next level of transcendental meditation.

Sometimes, these 'sciences' are taught along with ancient systems of medicine like Siddha and Ayurveda. I do not know anything about Siddha, but about Ayurveda, I know that the system includes extremely valuable information. However, like much of ancient Indian scholarship, religion and superstitions were not divorced from science, the ancient sages having had a holistic approach to learning. Ayurveda includes information that is valuable as well as information that is erroneous and even dangerous. The task of filtering out the erroneous has begun with scientific organisations and pharmaceutical companies subjecting the material to modern medical research methodology and stringent laboratory testing. Some companies like Himalaya Health Care have brought out some excellent products.

Over 15 years ago, my brother, a psychiatrist in Texas, had a colleague with some terminal form of liver disease. She had been told that nothing more could be done for her. At that stage, my brother offered to have Liv52, a popular Ayurvedic drug shipped to her from India. My mother would buy several containers of this drug and ship them over to her regularly. The diseased liver healed completely.

Organisations such as American Association for Integrative Medicine and several others across the world are useful for our purposes only upto a point. They may rule out an ancient medicine as dangerous in the light of modern scientific knowledge. However, they are attempting a "multi-disciplinary approach" to medicine to provide "maximum therapeutic benefit" and will not therefore balk at most of the "sciences" I feel are dangerous from a spiritual stand point. In the future, we are in for even more medical confusion. As we move away from the principles that God has laid out for us, we move towards confusion and chaos in every sphere of our lives.

If lay people do short term courses on subjects like the Ayurvedic system, they could endanger those to whom they minister. As a rule of thumb, I accept medication or therapy only from medical doctors of Western medicine. All other systems must conform to the high standards of testing and research of modern science to be usable in our day. I use this rule of thumb in all cases except two, relaxing it for one and making it stricter for the other.

I relax the rule for some simple home remedies. I feel a bowl of chicken soup is good for a cold because my aunt made me some when I was sick and I felt better. This is a very unscientific subjective approach and should be avoided for anything more than chicken soup.

I would be careful about some forms of treatment, even if a medical doctor approved it, if it has something to do with the mind. For instance, some doctors recommend Yoga as a form of exercise to help concentration and breathing. The spiritual baggage that comes with Yoga is not an issue for many doctors, but it is for me. Even worse, psychologists in India often recommend Reiki and Pranic healing. Both of these involve spiritual forces. I have heard of some who tried these therapies, felt better initially but ended up even more deeply depressed than when they went in for treatment.

Most people learn about these belief systems in their quest for happiness and answers. The New Age movement focuses on powers that supposedly lie within our minds in a latent state. People believe that they can draw on these powers to be healthier and happier. Most of them take up this route for a while and give up. Many of those who go on end up with depression and other problems.

To those who have surrendered their life to the Lord Jesus, He offers far more than any New Age system can even promise to offer.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”(Jn 8:12)

as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, . . (2 Pet 1:3,4)

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Col 2:8-10)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (Eph 1:3)

Surely we have no need to look elsewhere for direction, truth, and life.
Jesus said . . ., “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Where the mind is without fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening
thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country
awake.

By Rabindranath Tagore

Everyone who has been educated in India is familiar with this poem. It was written by one of India's greatest sons, Rabindranath Tagore, who also penned the Indian national anthem. The depth and economy of words in this poem is striking. In school I had to study this poem many times over the years, and every time it gripped me with its profoundness and motivated me to be fearless with the fearlessness that comes from knowing that you have truth on your side. It motivated me to be honest and clear in my thinking.

Tagore lived at the peak of India's struggle for independence and wrote to encourage his fellow countrymen in their struggle. His poem almost reads like the writing of a Christian. His vision for his country may just as well apply to Christians who are locked behind denominational doors, unable to recognise and understand one another, because of tradition, ignorance of the historical backgrounds of other groups, inadequacy in the right handling of the scriptures, and a lack of love. May we endeavour by reasoning from the scriptures to come together in fearlessness and truth?

I like to think that I have no axe to grind, that my allegiance is only to the Lord and to no one else, and that when I speak or write, my words come out from the depth of truth.
The heart is deceitful above all things . . . (Jer 17:9). When I am not watchful, I fail to recognise dishonesty in the way I respond to the Lord's word. I am sometimes unconsciously intimidated by weighty tomes and sermons and by the words of loved ones and preachers, into maintaining a position that is not really convincing to me. Oh that I may tremble at His word and His word alone, on the basis of which all men will be judged. '. . . that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. (John 12:48)'
Search me, O God, And know my heart . . . (Psalm 139:23)
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. (Psalm 51:6)

Then shall my mind indeed be without fear.