"If I Win A Lottery"

"If I Win A Lottery"

Its quite interesting to think that I win a lottery of above 50 lakhs.As long as desires rules man,his want of money will never end.I enjoy winning lottery since my desires and dreams are the inspirations of my tomorrow.Also i'm sure that there is no confusion to spent the money as blooming generations have endless wants.
Of cource,as everyone does,I will ask my parents for better suggestions to spent the amount.First of all,I will share my joy with all the beloved ones who aer a real source of my life.I am very well sure that I will have to give them a big and delicious treat as a part of my delightment.All the pleasures that I have today are the blessing of my god.So I will never forget to thank my entrusted lord and will surely give a good donation for modification of the shrine.

Article By: Darshana A,U C College.

My St. Albert's College

My St. Albert's College

“Is Chazhi (corn gnat) wealth?” Prof. T.J.Job asked.

Only a few days had passed after the reopening of the college. I was then doing my Ist Year B.A. Economics.
Students one after another stood up without answering the question. It was soon my turn. I make myself bold to answer. I said “yes sir, “Chazhi is wealth”.
Prof. Job was not taken by surprise. “Explain!” he exhorted.

“It is indirect wealth. Chazhi will destroy crops. Supply of agricultural produce will be reduced as a result. The demand for rice or wheat will increase. The producer will be able to fix higher rates and make more profit. He will save considerably from transportation expenses also”, said I.

Quick came Prof.Job’s rejoinder: “You are a capitalist”.

Yes, it was exactly what the capitalists in the U.S. and other places perpetrate. They destroy wheat and potato to control the market and to make more profit.

The students who had attended his class could never forget Prof.T.J.Job. He was so sincere and loving. Every student attended his class in rapt silence.

He had also encouraged students to partake in debates.
Fr.Xavier Kaniampuram was our Principal. He was affable and considerate. But he never allowed the students break discipline. He used to take classes on ‘public finance’.His classes were excellent. He gave his lectures with gestures and gesticulations. He was tall, stout with a big belly. When he referred to “the World around us” we had no choice but to focus on the “World” in front of us!

We had Prof.K.J.Augustine as our lecturer in English. He was indeed a scholarly person. Once he was teaching an essay entitled “Silver Paper”, written by E.V.Lucas. He always referred to other prominent literary men and great authorities during his lecture. What is there to be written about a silver paper used for wrapping cigarettes in boxes? But it was an interesting essay. What is important is the craftsmanship which makes any subject interesting reading. He quoted A.G.Gardiner and said, “Any peg will do to hang the hat on”.

Prof.K.J.Augustine though a lecturer was in fact a teacher in its true sense. According to him, “Professors profess, lecturers lecture and teachers teach.”

A.D.Hari Sharma, the research scholar and author of several literary works, was also a lecturer in Malayalam at St.Albert’s College. He taught us Malayalam poetry. He remarked during the course of his lecture that critics very often attributed strange meanings to the works of men of literature. He was reciting “Kakka” (crow) a famous poem written by the great poet Sri. Vyloppilly Sreedhara Menon. It was a time when symbolism in literature was being discussed widely. Some critics had said that the poem “Kakka” was a unique example of symbolism. The pet was applauded too by many. But Sri. A.D. Hari Sharma took exception. The attribution of ‘symbolism’ to the poem ‘Kakka’ was far from the truth. The poet was inspired by the crow which was seen scavenging from the surroundings of his house. The critics, however, said, the poet had depicted ‘Kakka’ as a symbol of a philanthropist who helps to remove spites and hatred from the society.

Sri. A.D. Hari Sharma asked Sri. Vyloppilly, the poet directly as to whether he had written the poem depicting ‘Kaakka’ as a symbol of Philanthropy. The naïve poet unhesitatingly said that he never had intended so!

Another important person that comes to my mind now is Fr.Konnully. The tall and swarthy Vice Principal. Being a Mathematician he never had occasions to address the Royal Group, students of History and Economics.

During our time there was closed retreat given for Catholic students for a few days in a year. The participants had to observe silence and pray and meditate only on spiritual matters.
There was roll call every day. One day some students had stealthily scrambled and jumped over the compound wall. I and one of my friends decided to skulk. After the roll call was over, we managed to go out. Straight we went to the house of writer Sri. Ponjikkara Raphy and collected some books. We came back and joined the prayers as if nothing had happened. But later on we came to know that there was fresh roll call! Majority of the students had gone out on that day surreptitiously. Fr. Konnully who was in charge of the retreat got the names of those who had jumped out.

Retreat was over. Regular classes resumed. One day Prof.Kithu, our lecturer, read out a chit asking me to meet Fr.Konnully. I was terribly afraid. I did not understand why I was asked to meet him. When the class was over, I went to Vice Principal’s room. Fr. Konnully was waiting for me. With grave seriousness he asked, “Now, Mathew, I have report that you went out without obtaining permission while the retreat was going on. Is it true?” I smelt the rat. Something was going to happen to me!

I mustered courage. Politely I said; “yes father. I had gone out one day to bring some books to read. But no permission was sought. I realized my fault. During confession I had said about it and received my penance.

The reply was unexpected. His helplessness had allowed me to go to the class. He, however, did not forget to warm me about the consequences if I had repeated the same.

Fr. Konnully was always seen to be immersed in studies. He was a world renowned Mathematician and the Inventor of”Konnully Theorems”. There were also several books to his credit on that subject.

Fr.Pandethumparambil was another prominent lecturer of our time. He taught logic. Handsome but emaciated. It was very difficult to follow his classes. His voice was thick and resounding! He was a kindly priest of great affection. I am still reminded of his lectures of inductive and deductive logic and classes on syllogisms. It was all about vertical thinking.

Sri. M.M.Mani was our Professor of Oriental languages. He was clad in Khadi Mundu, Juba and Shawl. Pure White! Dark he was with normal height. He had Post Graduate Degrees in Sanskrit and Malayalam. Spoke always printed Malayalam. Students loved him for his gentlemanliness.
I cannot forget two of our lecturers in English, Prof.E.V.Paul and Pro.Thomas Pulikkan: Prof.Paul was noticed always for his immaculate dressing. He never used complex or compound sentences either in his lecturers or in his notes. His language was simple and sweet. Whether it is prose or poetry, he dealt with the subject exquisitely. He had the habit of repeating lectures several times.
Prof. Paul was tall, a little more than 4 feet in height! He had a Mongolian look, with a skin to match.The fact that he was short of stature was a matter of joke for his colleagues. Prof. Thomas pulikkan like the king pin wove several stories.

One such story goes like this. Prof. Pulikkan was walking one day along the Banerji Road, Ernakulum. He saw a car coming very fast from the opposite direction. No driver. It was a horrendous scene. The car was fast approaching. Scared of being run over, he jumped off. But the car came close. He could see Prof. Paul at the wheel!

We had a wall magazine brought out every month. Students were the contributors. One cartoon that appeared in the magazine created commotion. “Prof.E.V.Paul standing upon a chair attempting to hug a woman”, was the theme; Prof.Paul also shared the fun with others. Being broadminded, he had a sense of humor.

Prof.Pulikkan, the comely figure with an Aryan nose was very popular in the college. He was amiable to both students and his colleagues alike. Being a drop out from the seminary, he retained some of the characteristics of a seminarian. He was reputed for austerity in life. Smattering knowledge of Latin which he acquired from the seminary helped him, it seemed, enrich his command of the English language. As a lecturer, therefore, he was a success. His narration of David Copper Field is still green in my memory.

Yet another stalwart to be remembered is Prof. P.T.Thomas. He was the head of mathematics Department well-versed in humanities.His baldness was unique. His head was shaped like a small brownish pumpkin sans corrugation. Not a single hair could be seen on his head! His eye-lid also did not bear any semblance of a hair. He did not require the help of a razor, a no hair dared to grow on his chin.

He was well dressed wearing always a refulgent smile on his face. An at all important function in the college and outside, his presense was felt conspicuous. Most of his time was spent for the spiritual uplift of the people. He was one of the collaborators who brought out the Malayalam translation of The Bible published by the Pastoral Orientation Centre. In recognition of his service to the Church, the Pope conferred on him the honour of Chevalier. Indeed, he was a many splendored personality.

We had a couple of Mathais as our Professors. One was Prof. A.P.Mathai, the Head of the English Department and the other Sri. P.M.Mathai. Prof. A.P.Mathai had deep knowledge in phonetics. Hence during his class special emphasis was given to pronunciation of words. His Shakespeare classes were absorbing.

Prof. P.M.Mathai taught us Modern History. He appeared with utter seriousness in the class. Combed his hair in good style and kept his thick dark moustache well trimmed. Handsome he was, he always dressed in well tailored suits.

Mr.Joseph Kithu, our lecturer in Agriculture economics was a character akin to the man- in-black of Goldsmith. He was intelligent and well-versed in the subjects that he dealt with. He could not speak but in chaste English. The students admired, loved and respected him.

Like Prof. Tharakan, prof.M.Achuthan is also a renowned writer in Malayalam. He had taught us for a short period only. He is the author of several solid works. Soon he was appointed Prof. in Malayalam at maharaja’s College, Ernakulum. But the traces of his sojourn cannot easily be erased.

Prof. Dayanandan was also a Lecturer in Malayalam. He was placid in nature. Very handsome. He too migrated to the Maharaja’s College.

All the three commanded much respect.

Prof. Stanislaus successfully bridged the gap created by Prof.K.M.Tharakan. His recital of “Elegy written in a country churchyard” still rings in my mind.

St.Albert’s College Library was one of the fine libraries ever attached to a college. It was well maintained. The Librarian Mr. Vincent was always seen absorbed in reading. There were few books whose contents were not known to him. He was strict but considerate. Always there was a serene atmosphere in the Library.Books of eminent authors, both Indian and Foreign were available.Before closing I feel impelled to mention about my alma mater.

St.Albert’s College belongs to Archdiocese of Verapoly. It was founded by the saintly prelate late Dr.Joseph Attipetty, the Archbishop. It is a living example of His Grace’s altruism and foresight. Tens and scores of students who hailed from poor circumstances would not have seen the portals of a college but for His Grace’s benign efforts. Archbishop graciously helped by providing them with funds for fees and books. Rt.Rev.Dr.Cornelious Elanjikkal, Vicar General, as he then was, had rendered efficacious service as His Grace’s right hand, during that time. Later Dr.Cornelious Elanjikkal also became Archbishop of Verapoly. His grace followed the footprints of Archbishop Dr. Joseph Attipetty.

Archbishop Dr.Joseph Kelanthara succeeded Archbishop Dr. Joseph Attipetty. A former lecturer in English of the college, His Grace had also rendered yeoman service for the progress of the college. Auxiliary Bishop late Dr.Antony Thannikkot had also extended able assistance to the cause of education. A very promising Bishop. But the Bishop was called to Heaven in the prime of life.

It is indeed providential that an alumnus became the absolute authority of the college. The unique privilege was bestowed upon Dr.Daniel Acharuparambil, the archbishop. His Grace graduated from this college in 1969. Archbishop Dr.Daniel Acharaparambil possesses vast experiences as an educationist. Urban University of Rome is one of the ancient and very prominent Universities under the Church. Dr. Daniel Acharaparambil was a professor continuously for more than 24 years in that University. The archbishop also had the rarest of rare privileges to become the rector Magnificus (Vice Chancellor) of the University for two terms during this period. The only person from the whole of Asia to hold the covetable post. It is, therefore, legitimate and natural to hold that His Grace will be a perennial source of encouragement and support for the College and all other educational institutions of the Archdiocese.

I become nostalgic. St.Albert’s College  in my mind, heart and soul. I am proud of all Albertan’s-students, teachers and non-teachers. My sincere salutation to my beloved alma mater! 

Article By: M.M.Mathew,St.Albert's College

MY INTERVIEW AT ST. ALBERT’S

MY INTERVIEW AT ST. ALBERT’S
Taking a little time off ( of course, unofficially! ) from my then employer, M/S Blow Plast Ltd., I had gone to St. Albert’s to attend the interview for the post of lecturer some-time in 1984. I was rather disenchanted with by ‘Sales Officer’s Job with the Blow Plast as the basic qualities of a sales officer were never in my blood. Hence I was badly in need of the job of the lecturer for which I had received the interview card. But my little dreams of becoming a lecturer were shattered when I was told by some of the candidates who had come for the interview that the lucky soul for the post had already been decided by the Management of the College. To add to my shock, some others stated that in any case the College authorities were looking for a hand with ‘econometrics as optional subject (which was never my optional subject)
I had decided to take the interview in the most casual manner since I felt that it was just a ‘formality’. I had a heated argument with the ‘Subject Expert’ as he never seemed to agree with whatever I stated. I had come out of the interview room quite dejected and disturbed. Probably, what hurt me most was the strong disagreement of the Subject Expert with my analysis of the issues debated in the interview.
But to my pleasant surprise, I was told subsequently by the candidate who stood ‘second’ in the interview that I was placed first in the final list of selection, thus defeating all my conclusions that the Management would select only candidates of its choice based on ‘certain’ considerations. In fact, my experience showed that selection was on absolute merits and the same is vindicated by other faculty members of the college. Later I was told that the ‘Subject Expert’ was only measuring the depth of my understanding of the subject.
I maintain very fond memories of my short stint with St.Albert’s College and it is also with pride that I refer to others of the warmth and cordiality among the faculty and the student community of the College. I have immense pride to be a member of the ‘Albertian Family’.
BY:VINCEN M. PAUL, I.P.S.

THE BRILLIANT EDUCATIONAL CAREER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF VERAPOLY

THE BRILLIANT EDUCATIONAL CAREER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF VERAPOLY
In April 1995 a team of 25 Malaya lee literary men visited Germany to join their counterparts there for celebrating the first Birth Centenary of Dr. Herman Gundert. The team included such luminaries as Dr. K.M. George, S. Guptan Nair, O.N.V.Kurup, P.Govinda Pillai, Chemmanam Chacko, D.C. Kizhakemuri, Scariah Zachariah and others. One of the many centres’ of learning visited by the team during the 7 days programme in the state of Stuttgart in Germany was the University City of Tubingen. The organizers had put up an interesting exhibition of old and valuable manuscripts mainly collected by Dr. Hermann Gundert. One of the exhibits was a rather voluminous Malayalam Lexicon (Acaridae) prepared by a ‘Jesuit’ missionary residing in Verapoly. Such was the notice paste on the important exhibit. Dr. John Ochanthuruth and the present writer both members of the team happened to see the notice. They realized the mistake and at once called the attention of the organizers and got the notice corrected then and there. The Jesuit missionaries never stayed in Verapoly. In fact it was a Carmelite Missionary who composed this valuable Lexicon.
This incident demonstrated how the valuable contributions of the Carmelite Missionaries of Verapoly go unnoticed or worse, arrogated by some others because of default or by a false sense of humility. Neither the Missionaries themselves or their successors did anything bring their valuable contributions and achievements of the Carmelite missionaries of Verapoly lay spread over various fields such as literary, scientific, ecclesiastical, Governmental, educational etc., in this article we confine ourselves only to the educational contributions of the Archdiocese of Verapoly, with special reference to the period of the Carmelite Missionaries.
Just as in the case of literary activities, the Carmelite Missionaries of Verapoly were pioneers in the field of education also according to the need, style and spirit of the time. It is true that they did not adopt the same style and method, which the later Protestant Missionaries adopted in their time. Their urgent and active attention was bestowed on the religious education of the people which was the primary motive of their coming down to India.
The Carmelite Missionaries first arrived in Kerala in 1655. Their leaded was Fra.Joseph Sebastian of immortal memory. He travelled to India courting many ordeals. The Pope had given him the charge of reconciling the St. Thomas Christians of Malabar with Rome. They had severed all connections with the Portuguese on account of what is known in history as the “Koon and Cross Oath” in 1653. When the Carmelite Missionaries settled down in Malabar, they built their first church at Chathith, a hamlet couple of miles to the north of the present city of Ernakulum, in 1673, thanks to the diplomacy of one of the Carmelite fathers, Fr. Mathews O.C.D. In the same year Fr. Mathews himself built their second church at Verapuzha a picturesque island along the bank of the river Periyar. The beautiful church over looked a panoramic view of the conjunction of Periyar by its own branch at Eloor. Though the Carmelite Fathers started residing in Verpuzha from 1673, it was made the seat of the Vicar Apostolic of Malabar only in 1700 when Fr. Angelo Francis was made the Vicar Apostolic (Bishop) of the Vicariate of Malabar. It is this Angelo Francis who wrote the very first Malayalam Grammar by name “Gramatica Lingua Vulgar is Malabarica” (Purushothaman Nair, The Christian Heritage of Kerala. P.135). Two years after the errection of the church at the Verapuzha i.e. in 1675, the Carmelite Missionaries residing at Verapuzha opened a Seminary there, attached to their house for the training of native priests. If you had well educated clergy, then you will have a well informed laity. A Seminary was the crying need of the time. “This Seminary later became one of the best in Asia. One hundred years later in 1764 this Seminary was rebuilt with permission of the propaganda Congregation of Rome instilling new life it”, says Cardinal Tisserant. To the Seminary was added a Catechuminate in the same year (this building still remains as also the Seminary building in Verapoly) in order to educate the new converts not only in religion but also in matters useful for life, such as the three R’s. In those days the converts were in large numbers. Hundreds of such neophytes lived in this famous Catechuminates existed not only in Verapoly, but also in Kottayam and Kalamasery.
Though the Portuguese established several great centre’s of higher learning such as St. Paul’s College Cochin, the Vaipicotta Seminary Cranganoor etc...The Carmete Missionaries who followed them could not pay much attention to secular education because they had to pay special and undivided attention to the preservation of the ancient faith of the people against many threats of heresy and schism. They also had to attend to the effective formation of priests. Moreover they had to grapple with the continual problems of the external threats of heresy and schism arising out of the intervention of Oriental Prelates visiting Malabar and frequent dissention within the community.
With the establishment of the British power in Malabar with the conquest of Cochin on 20th October 1795, the Carmelite Missionaries in Verapoly were free of the skeptical Dutch yoke, but had to contend with a new challenge-the spread of Protestantism. Protestantism made its advances on a three pronged front namely large scale conversion of the low caste people into Protestantism, modern English Education which attracted thousands to Protestantism and the vigorous dissemination of Protestant literature, which was made available in plenty. We confine ourselves to the subject of modern English Education which changed the face of India on a large scale.
One of the most efficient vehicles through which Protestant Missionaries, with the strong backing of the EAST India Company and later that of the British Crown spread Protestantism, was Modern English Education. The British wanted to rule India as a country in Britain. The best method for achieving this end was evidently to make English, the language of administration. This they did by introducing their system of Government, administration, Judiciary and even their system of parliament though to a lesser degree. All transactions took place in English. Literature and Journalism also developed in the English language. Naturally any one wishes to learn English. Thus were opened several English schools all over India from the elementary to the University levels. This, of course, was very attractive and empowering.
“The first English language school was opened in Travancore in 1805 by a German Protestant Missionary Rev. W.T. Ringletauble. The famous British Missionary Organization, the Church Mission Society established itself at Kottayam and started English education there in 1816 in what is no known as the Old Seminary. In 1838 the C.M.S. College was established”. This has been quoted by Prof. L.M. Pylee in his book “St. Thomas Christians and the Archdiocese of Verapoly.” P.213. Conversion into Protestantism was to rampant that under the influence of the Protestant Missionary Centre, Kottayam, there were some 36000 Protestant Christians in and around Kottayam alone in 1900.
The first English School- Christian David School-was started in Trivandrum in 1821. The first Government English School in Trivandrum was established by the Protestant Missionary Mr. John Roberts in 1831 at the insistence of Travancore Maharaja Sri. Swathe Thirunal. This school later developed into Raja School and still later into the Maharaja’s College, Trivandrum. All these and similar efforts in Travancore under various Protestant Missionary organizations were instrumental in spreading English education far and wide through which vigorous Protestant prosylitisation made great headway. Tracks, books and leaflets published in English by the Protestant Missionaries also contributed greatly towards conversion into Protestantism. Naturally this posed a great missionary challenge to the Verapoly Vicariate. The Carmelite Missionaries in Verapoly realized the great importance of having a network of schools both in English and in the Vernacular as a means of religious instruction and also for safe-guarding the faithful from the Protestant errors.
As a result of these developments a few elementary schools were started in various parts of the Vicariate. The earliest one was started in Vypeen Murukumpadam in 1836. Another school was opened in Thykoodam, near Thripoonithura in 1840. The third and fourth were opened in the Perumanoor parish in 1868 under the names K.P.School and St. George School respectively.
Archbishop Bernadine Beccinelli who ruled the Vicariate from 1853 to 1868 was one of the most illustrious Vicars Apostolic of Verapoly, was responsible for some of the most important historic development of religious congregations for men and women. Though couple of schools was opened before he became the Vicar Apostolic, he formally inaugurated a new age of formal education in the Vicariate. He published a formal Pastoral letter making it compulsory on every Parish Priest to open one or more elementary schools in each parish which were open to all children irrespective if caste or creed. This was, indeed, a revolutionary measure with regard to education in general and universal literacy in particular. At that time literacy was allowed only to the Hindu high caste. The children of the low caste got the first chance to learn the alphabets in these elementary schools which were commonly called in those days “Pallikoodams”, which means attached to the Churches. For supporting the schools, apart from permitting the Parish Priests to allot a portion of the parish income, he encouraged them to raise money by such means as “Pidiyari” and “Kettuthengu”. (“pidiyari” is a handful of rice taken from the rice which every family was about to cook each time and stored in an earthen ware, which will be delivered to the church at particular intervals and auctioned. “Kettuthengu” is the practice of allowing the parish the use frucks of a certain number of coconut trees, whose yield church will take). The system of “Pidiyari” was primarily stare for the construction and up-keep of the Seminaries and Monasteries, it also helped the parishes and “Pallikoodams” to a great extent, particularly for remunerating the teachers who were in the beginning mostly Non Christians. “Pidiyari” system got further formalized in the reign of Archbishop Leonard Mellano in October 1868 that is shortly after he took over charge of the Vicariate (L.M.Pylee Op.Cit.P.323).
No doubt, girls’ education is an important catalyst in social change and amelioration. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Archbishop Bernardine for the beginnings of girl’s education in Malabar. The Theresian Carmelite sisters (CMC and CTC) who were started by his initiative at Koonamavu in 1866 became in due course of time the premier institution in Malabar for girl’s education. It is, indeed, a heroic success story which, for lack of space, is not described here.
Archbishop Bernardine laid but the foundation of modern education in the Vicariate, which at the time comprised almost the whole of Malabar. It was his illustrious successor Archbishop Leonard Mellano who ruled the Archdiocese for almost thirty years from 1868 to 1897, first as the Vicar Apostolic and later as the first Archbishop of the first Archdiocese of Malabar, who laid the foundation of modern education in the Archdiocese. “For this purpose, he issued his famous Pastoral Letter dated 7th November 1872, calling upon all parishes to open schools and gave detailed directions for conducting them in the manner of real Catholic schools. He even ordered the opening of Sanskrit Schools for the purpose of imparting instruction in the Sanskrit Language.”
He bestowed his special attention on giving hi flock education in English thereby ensuring them of a chance to enter the ruling class. As already pointed out the British had opened English schools throughout the region either as Government run schools or as Protestant managed ones. Since there were no English schools under Catholic management in Malabar, the Catholic girls and boys were not able to acquire English education without running the risk of losing their faith and morals. So strong was the attempt on the part of the Protestants for Prosylitisation.
Seeing the need of the hour the Archbishop at first introduced the study of the English language in the curriculum of studies in the Puthenpally Seminary. In 1880 with great expectation, he opened the first English school in Fort Cochin by name St. Joseph’s College which was taken over by the Cochin Diocese in 1886 when it was bifurcated from the Archdiocese of Verapoly. Since then it has become the present Santa Cruz High School of Fort Cochin. “The object of the institution is to afford the Catholic youth of the Vicariate a good and sound education and a facility for prosecuting their higher education in English and Mathematics. Youths of other perusions are also admitted. In 1886 there were 187 students on the rolls a sizable strength for those days” (L.M. Pylee Op.Cit.P.325).
Likewise another school was opened at Fort Cochin around the same time by the Vicariate for the education of the girls, which received Government recognition and grant in aid. Similarly the Carmelite Missionaries working in Alleppy realizing the increasing influence of the Protestants their started a school there for the education of girls in 1879. This was entrusted to Miss Grace D’Lima, an English teacher brought from Madras especially for the purpose. Strange are the ways of God! Miss Grace became a Carmelite run taking the name of sister Theresa of St. Rose D’Lima. When the Cochin Diocese was resuscitated in 1886 Sr. Therese, however shifted her abode to Ernakulum in 1887, and thanks to the indomitable efforts of a veritable Carmelite Missionary Fr. Candid us, she opened a school for girls in Ernakulum. This institution steadily grew and became what is today known as the St.Theresa’s Educational Complex (This was the first women’s college in the Cochin State, started already in 1925 as a second grade college under the Madras University. This indeed was the premier educational institution in the erstwhile Cochin State, having won several recognitions from the Maharaja of Cochin).
St. Philomena’s High School, Koonammavu (residential) started in 1891 and St. Albert’s High School Ernakulum started in 1892 (initially with 30 boys on the rolls) were two others citadels of learning which owe their existence to Archbishop Leonard Mellano. St. Joseph’s Convent High School, Verapoly, St. Philomena’s Anglo-Vernacular School, Koonammavu, St. Joseph’s Convent Girl’s School, Kottayam are some of the other educational institutions which had their origin during the time of Archbishop Leonard Mellano. All these institutions are premier one in the state now.
Thus when the Vicariate was raised to the status of an Archdiocese in 1886, there were five Government recognized English schools in the Archdiocese which were attended by about 600 students of all denominations. In addition to this, there were 600 vernacular schools in the Archdiocese with a total strength of 6275 students, both boys and girls of all denominations. One can easily imagine the great social change brought about by these educational institutions in the region and the enormous contribution made towards the progress of all classes of people here.
Archbishop Leonard Mellano convoked and conducted the third Diocesan Synod of the Archdiocese of Verapoly on December 15 and 16, 1896. The decisions and constitutions of the Synod are contained in 27 titles or chapters. The 24th title or chapter deals with the schools. The Synod sets out the following principles and directions:
1.It is of utmost importance and usefulness that various kinds of schools such a Parish schools, or other types of schools including higher schools are to be established not only for the religious good but also for promoting civil good.
2. In such schools both boys and girls should be taught not only to read and write but also to lead truly human lives and to do their respective jobs.
3. Truly capable teachers should be selected; boys and girls should be taught separately.
4. The Vicar should do all in their power to establish at least one such schools in each parish an they should follow the same curriculum which is followed in the Government schools. In the main parishes the Vicar should raise such schools at least to the so called primary level.
5. The Vicars or their Assistants should visit such schools at least once in a week and where there are several schools they should visit at least every month. The students should be taught apart from the usual subjects the small catechism in primary schools and in the higher schools also the Bible History.
6.Whereever there are difficulties in supporting the schools, the faithful should be instructed to come up with assistance, and if this did not sufficient the Vicars are allowed, may ordered to use the funds of the parish or of the confraternity for this purpose. At least one parish school should be maintained solely from the resources of the Parish.
7. We should be informed of the state of such schools and their progress at least once a year.
8. In bigger cities Catholic students should be given more liberal education.
9. Catholic students should not be sent to Non Catholic schools unless under grave necessity and with our permission.
From what has been set forth above, it is clear that Archbishop Leonard Mellano did not leave any stone unturned for promoting the educational progress of this people in the Archdiocese.
Archbishop Bernard Argonzonis, who ruled the Archdiocese from 1897 to 1919, had a different educational policy from that of his predecessor. Though he encouraged elementary education he did little to provide English education. On the contrary the only English High School in the Archdiocese namely St. Philomena’s English High Schools, Koonammavu, was compelled to close itself down because of paucity of students and lack of support from the Archbishop (By that time the Syrians were separated from the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Verapoly. All the school, except St. Philomena’s, naturally had gone over to the newly created Syros-Malabar Vicariates). At the same time, he strictly forbade his flock from frequenting Non Catholic schools on pain of excommunication. However, he raised the St. Albert’s Middle School to a High School, in order to absorb the thrown out staff of the St. Philomena’s School, Koonammavu on its closing down. This, of course, seriously affected the prospect of the Latin Catholics getting higher education which consequently blocked their entry to the area of better employment and more political influence.
There I not much to be said about the higher education efforts of Archbishop Angel Mary (1919-1934) except that he encouraged a number of the clergy and the laity to go for higher education both here in Kerala and elsewhere. Archbishop Angel Mary sent a couple of Seminaries for higher studies at Rome. This bore rich fruits for the Archdiocese as seen in the case of his successor Archbishop Joseph Attipetty. It was again Archbishop Angel Mary who exonerated several lay people from excommunication which they had incurred during his predecessors time, for having attended Non Catholic schools without permission.
When Archbishop Joseph Attipetty succeeded Dr. Angel Mary in 1934 the following was the picture of the Educational Institutions in the Archdiocese:
No. of schools Attendance
Primary Schools 86 785
Upper Primary Schools 17 1797
High School 5 3106
University College 1 95
When Archbishop Joseph Attipetty died in 1970, the picture was as follows:
Primary Schools 80 27099
Upper Primary Schools 43 20388
High School 24 13233
Colleges 4 3640
Technical Schools 55 526
Training College 4 106
Special School 1 _
The above statistics are self explanatory. During the 37 years of shepherding his flock, Archbishop Attipetty gave top priority to provide all the possible facilities for the higher education of his people. By his own efforts he started two first grade colleges up to the post graduate level, apart from opening new high schools in different parts of the Archdiocese in order to cater to the needs of his people, as is seen clearly from the statistics given above. One of the harsh realities which dawned on Archbishop Joseph Attipetty, when he took office in 1934, was the fact that owing to various reasons, the members of his congregation in general stood far behind in modern education in comparison with their fellow Christians in other communities such as the Orthodox, the Syros-Malabar and the Protestant groups. He, therefore, brought all his energy on the project of establishing a university College in Ernakulum. There were insurmountable obstacles in the way, not only by way of financial difficulties, but also lack of eligible staff and management. Making capital out of this situation, adversaries brought all kinds of hurdles in the way of achieving the goal. He worked almost single handed on the project. He went abroad to USA and other foreign countries literally with a begging bowl. Thus in 1946, the St. Albert’s College was inaugurated in Ernakulum as an affiliate of the Madras University. This College has magnificent record in the educational history of Kerala. With several of its ex-alumni as Government Ministers, Bishops, Judges of High Court and even Supreme Court. All the hardships attendant on the establishment of the St. Albert’s College did not deter Archbishop Attipetty from achieving his yet another pet project- that of establishing the St. Paul’s College in Kalamasery. In 1964, when the Holy Father Pope Paul VI, came to Bombay to attend the Eucharistic Congress held there, Archbishop Attipetty carried the foundation Stone of St. Paul’s Kalamasery all the way to Bombay to get it and the St. Paul’s College, Kalamasery was inaugurated in 1965, the second First Grade College in the Archdiocese of Verapoly. This indeed is a magnificent achievement, two First Grade Colleges in one man’s life time. Both the colleges have at present courses up to the post graduate level and even a few professional courses.
Archbishop Attipety was never tired of encouraged the two indigenous Carmelite Congregations of Sisters to establish and run educational institutions of the highest standards. Both the congregations have under their management the most illustrious centre’s of learning. The congregations of the Teresian Carmelites (C.T.C) have a first grade college in Alva, (St.Xavier’s College) apart from several High schools for girls. The Carmelite sisters of St. Teresa, as already mentioned in the course of this article, established their St. Teresa’s College in Ernakulum already in 1925. This premier institution has blossomed into the St. Teresa’s Education complex of today.
Archbishop Attipetty also opened several Technical Training Centers and schools in order to provide job-oriented courses to his people. They are a veritable boon even to this day. The Little Flower Engineering Institute is the most illustrious among them.
It is not the intention of this article to describe the extra ordinary gifts and talents. Archbishop Attipetty had exhibited in providing higher education to his people, much less all other achievements of this in the various other fields he harvested during his long tenure of office.
The Carmelite Missionaries had laid but the small beginnings of the most needed infrastructure for the all round education of the people of the Archdiocese. On this infrastructure Archbishop Attipetty built up the beautiful edifice of modern education to the admiration and even the envy of others. It has been the endeavor of his successors to further build upon the well-laid foundation.
ArticleBy:Fr.GEORGE VELIPARAMBIL

MARRIAGE AT FIFTEEN!! CHILD MARRIAGE

MARRIAGE AT FIFTEEN!! CHILD MARRIAGE

In India the decision of the Supreme Court is final and binding. So when the suggestion of lowering the marriageable age of girls from eighteen to fifteen was seriously considered there was a big hullabaloo around. From politicians and social activists to the layman. Everyone wanted to express words of support or criticism to this topic. All the people are united on the fact that an individual is considered an adult only after attaining eighteen years of age. So bringing down the age of marriage by three years will be like forcing immature girls to behave like adults at very tender age. It is disheartening and shocking to know that such a topic was taken into consideration in this twenty first century, when women are so much aware of there potentialities and will not want to be curbed.
Are we leading the womenfolk of our nation back to the dark ages of child marriage? A fifteen year old girl would only be a 10th standard student probably studying and aiming for the stars. Wouldn’t marriage cut the stem of the bud that can’t wait to bloom? A fifteen year old person irrespective of the sex of the individual is hardly aware of responsibilities and is definitely not in position to shoulder critical issues regarding life. It is the when they are budding and should be allowed to spread their wings, to explore the things around them, to realize the consequences of their actions, to decide about their future and most importantly have the chance and ability to dream- TO DREAM BIG.
Nowadays, in the world of globalization we see women emerging as leaders and inspiring role models in various fields. No longer is the world dominated by the commands of men. Women have shown their potential and have proved to the world that they are as precious as diamonds and that their worth cannot be ignored. In India itself women like Sonia Gandhi, Sania Mirza, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Teesta Setalvad, Preity Zinta and the like have even proved their mettle and have made men envious. If a powerful youth icon like Sania Mirza who is just eighteen years have been married off at fifteen years of age, would she ever have reached the position of fame and power that she is in today? Would she ever have had total control over her decisions? The answer to these questions is definitely in the negative. In India married women are considered subordinate to their husbands, they do not usually have an equal say in decision making. When mature women of twenty four- twenty five years are in such a situation, then what will be the plight of a fifteen year old married girl? How will she ever be encouraged to speak up for herself?
We are a nation that openly condemns our traditional customs of sati and child marriage. So is this latest suggestion any sort of such a crime? It definitely stands on the same pedestal of injustice by denying the social and human rights of the girl child. The system dowry will increase tenfold if this is brought into force. The girls can leave behind their dreams of independence and freedom in the gutter because it might take ages for their hopes and aspirations to see day light. Evils like rape and polygamy will prosper. If the court decides the minimum age of marriage for girls it has to put a tab on the maximum age for men to marry. Or it will be a miserable sight to see poor uneducated girls getting betrothed to men twice their age. Has any one wondered what harm this might to do to the emotional side of such girls? Education and literacy will have to take a backseat because poor parents will not bother to educate their girls and will be eager to utilize the money to marry them off.
We point our finger against prostitution and trafficking of minor girls. By lowering the marriageable age we will be openly throwing our girls into the mouth of the dragon to be engulfed in its flames. Is it possible for a teenager to make decisions regarding the family? How will the problems of female infanticide and infant mortality ever cease to exist…? It is not humanly possible for such young girls to raise her opinions regarding family planning. Moreover this cannot happen since she will hardly be educated to understand the relevance of such terms. These young wives and mothers will have to be dependent on their husband for their livelihood as they will not be qualified enough to take up careers. Hence the scope of enjoying independent careers and income is out of the question.
Voices of those like Teesta Setalvad, Barkha Dutt, and Nafeesa Ali will be drowned in the see of raging evils such as this. More than looking into this issue from a feminist, political or practical view point we have to focus on the humanitarian issue. Is it right for us to throw away the lives and future of these young girls who are just in process of realizing their potential and importance.
If a court ruling lowering marriageable age of women to fifteen is made, it will certainly be a regressive one instead of being progressive. We have to open our eyes and realize the serious consequences this can have on our young women. We have to give them a a chance to built their own future. They too have voices, they too have dreams. Marriage is a holy ceremony to be entered into by the full willingness of the bride and the groom with an awareness of the situations they may have to face after marriage. Let it remain holy and not become a burden to be done away with. Our women should get the opportunity to enjoy their freedom, only then will they respect marriage.

Article By, Rhea George, St.Teresa's College

Spiders- A Layman’s View

Spiders- A Layman’s View

Some time ago, I heard a lecture by one of my Zoology Professors about spiders. He was explaining the part their tactile sense played in helping spider’s to catch their prey. He said that even though their power of vision is weak, spiders are able to descend swiftly & accurately to the prey ensnared in their webs. This amazing fact was not clearly explained until W Mitchell Masters & Hubert Market proved that this was done with the help of the spiders highly developed tactile sense. A prey on falling on the web sends out vibrations. These vibrations do not fan out equally on all sides but in clearly defined directions. Due to this a spider is able to locate the exact location where its prey is ensnared. It is now apparent that the webs strands are excellent conductors of rapid oscillations. The spider’s tactile sense is in turn highly sensitive to these vibrations. After hearing this lecture, I carried out a simple experiment. I dropped a small leaf on to a web. The spider sitting in the middle of the web rapidly & accurately descended on it. But on sensing that it was not food, it went back to its original position. I then dropped another leaf on a different part of the same web. But this time the spider did not even care to move. Even though I tried dropping leaves several times, the spider did not seem to move at all. My zoology professor did not find a satisfactory explanation for the spider’s behavior. It may be true that spiders reach their prey by sensing the oscillations of their webs. But how do they differentiate the prey from other materials?

Article By: Stephen Francis, St.Albert's College

Painting Of Rabindranath Tagore

Painting Of Rabindranath Tagore

“When at the age of five, he was compelled to learn and repeat the lessons from his text book; Tagore had the notion that literature had its mysterious manifestations on the printed pages, that it represented some supernatural tyranny of an immaculate perfection. Such a despairing feeling of awe was dissipated from his mind when by chance he discovered in own person that verse making was not beyond the range of an untrained mind and tottering hand-writing. Since then his sole medium of expression has been words, followed at sixteen by music, which also came to him as a surprise.”

On this backdrop of thought-cycle we may have a scope to estimate that relationship of human being with the universe does not arise out of material necessities or knowledge alone. Relationship evolves out of sense of creative’s. Creative form means artistic achievements of all sorts of practices and performances. Therefore, arts are not only simply steric presentations, they also cover numerous creature efforts that men make out of their mental urge of which literature is an end to form expression in verbal orders. Goethe of the west and Tagore of the East through their ceaseless activities have made us convinced of and stressed enormous importance on cultural unity and universality of creativities for fruition of a complete man. There is none on this earth so much complete. More and above, creative energies having tendencies to differ with one another, individualities evolve with variant attitudes in order to isolate mental planes of expressions. This prologue helps to cultivate our understanding of phenomena of literature and visual arts.

In his matured form, more than once, he defined the outcome of these faces of culture as all embracing literature. If we are not nostalgic towards such an approach, we are able to establish a real framework for our so much desired literary platform with so much freedom.

Tagore once said; “but one thing which is common to all arts is the principle of rhythm which transforms inert materials into living creations. My instinct for it and my training in it has led me to know that lines and colours in art are no carriers of information. They seek their rhythmic incarnation in pictures. Their ultimate purpose is not to illustrate or to copy some outer fact or inner vision, but to evolve a harmonious wholeness which finds its passage through our eyesight into imagination. It neither questions our burdens it with the meaningless, for it is, above all, meaning.”

From his saying we can proceed to a stage of analysis. We are aware that calligraphy plays a dominant role in Asian Art. In the artist, Society has a leaving reminder that despite the relentless logic of everyday life, man’s capacity of dreaming still survives. Artists of the past created images significant of the necessity of their time and place, Universal and timeless. Very few of us are gifted enough to become great artists or writers, but we can benefit by experiencing the nature of creation and by appreciating various types of works of art. The necessacities for these abilities is as great to us as it was at any time, perhaps even greater in a world where physical barriers to communication are being removed so rapidly by science. Through his art exercises Tagore tired to reflect this tendency, which may appear very much new to the modern exponents of the contemporary period.

In all their components- composition, drawing and coloring, Rabindranath’s paintings express his daringness. Starting with erasures on manuscripts. Those abstract rhythms of lines genuinely of his own, he went on to designing quite realistic forms and lat of all to mature those instead of relying merely on line movement amidst the monochromes, he adorned with rich, attractive sobers.

While setting line work in a perfect balance- his whole imaginative and suggestive processes proceed in a beautiful wandering from the written world to the world of pictorial nebula of cosmos. The rolling, quivering, heaving and fleeing shapes- get flooding out from the abundant ocean of the unknown- are playfully dreadful. Of those queerness Tagore Himself said-

“The Universe has its own language of gestures. Every object proclaims by the dumb signal of lines and colours, the fact that it is not mere logical abstraction but it is unique in itself, it carries the miracle of its existence.”

Tagore’s art, being embodied with so many complexities of expressions, may be termed broadly as creative interaction. In which rhythm of texts has a sort of their intermingling with rhythm of forms- which ultimately unites the visual and verbal courses towards ascertaining a mystic conception of the spiritual world. This creative interaction was the most dominating factor of his wonderful life. Any consideration of Tagore’s literary achievements, therefore, should be started with the study of his assimilated of his life.

The abstract forms belonging to his subjective and objective world are more or less his own personifications that embody meter psychoses and sparkling spectrum that translate the eternity into his ideas are definitely born of accompanying inquisitiveness, and isolations which did not perish at any time like unrecognizable and inaudible spirits of the other world. All this criteria danced at the centre of his life’s activity with light feat of resolution. These ushered in him a response and call towards the intricacies of his life-all silently. Thereafter, he was prevented from adding metaphor to his creations. That Rabindranath had no ulterior end in view is clear from his own statement.

“It is absolutely impossible to give a name to my pictures. I never make a picture of any preconvinced subject. Accidently some forms, whose genealogy I am totally unaware of take shade off of the tip of my moving pen and stand out as an individual. My work is done with creation of ‘rupa’ (form). It is for others to usher in the deluge of ‘nama’ (name) - this adds to my previous contention.

When Rabindranath was creating a Renaissance of Modern Indian Art in Bengal deriving his inspiration from the refined Indian Classical schools and when Jiminy Roy was turning to folk art for inspiration, a revolution was taking place in Tagore which nobody took serious notice of. He certainly left a communication gap. The reason why he has not shown any of his paintings in India (excepting a preparatory show in Calcutta in 1928) before he exhibited them elsewhere, was told to his intimate one’s, “I have not shown my paintings to this country. Here most people do not know to see a picture. First of all they look to see whether the faces are good looking or not and how to know whether it has become a work of art or not how to know that which cannot be explained or taught. One must develop that power; get instinctive insight to be able to see a picture. It cannot be done just by any one. That is why I never wished to exhibit my paintings here!”

During the 20s Tagore’s eagerness for rehabilitating his spontaneous art got some artists of the western countries. A versatile man of the east met a galaxy of versatile personalities of the west. Eg. Lionel Feininger, Johannes Itten, Kandisky etc. He was also an advocate of Automatism. In this point Tagore had affinity with him. Automatism and spontaneity are two closer terms almost with same interpretation. It was learnt that an assessment discussion was held at Bauhaus at the request of count Kesselring, who observed, ‘Rabindranath, the poet and artist impressed me like a guest from a higher and more spiritual world. Never perhaps have I seen so much spiritualized substance of soul condensed into one man: After this meeting at the request of Tagore, about 83 aquarelles, drawings and graphics of all the above artists, excepting those of Nicholas Roerich and Mahaly Nagy were brought to Calcutta in 1922 for an exhibition. A good number of people have witnessed this exhibition but a few people knew that exchange value of ideas cropped of their in. In fact, all these gave him opening as an artist cum Connoisseur on the theoretical side.

His real achievement came since his visit to European countries. His first knowledgeable appearance as an artist took place at the Gallery pigalle under sponsorship of an Argentine lady, mdme. Victoria Okampo and a French aristocrat, Countesses De Nomilles on 2nd May. About 125 paintings were exhibited there. Tagore wrote to one of his contemporaries-“I shall leave all last creations of my life in this country”.
During his visit to Germany, arrangements were made to exhibit his paintings at the Muller art Gallery in Berlin on July 11 and the exhibition was formally inaugurated on July 13. It transpired from the poet’s letter that Dr. Selig a German lady took special care of this exhibition. There were a large number of visitors at this exhibition. In that connection Tagore wrote to Smt. Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis-‘you must have come to know long before the receipt of this letter that my paintings have gained no mean appreciation in Germany. The Berlin National Gallery has taken five of my paintings.” The next exhibition in Germany was held at the Kaspari Art Gallery in Munich on 23rd July. Extract of criticism of both the exhibitions were on the Berliner Tageblatt of July were under the heading ‘Philosophical painting’-It seems Tagore has not turned to painting discarding his pen--- Common people are more apt to understand the language of his pictures than that of his philosophy.

His exhibitions were finally shown in Boston on 25th October, in Newyork on the 3rd November with the sponsorship of Hari Singh Govil. Ananda Kumaraswamy wrote the introduction note. We have this idea that he was well received by the American Artists Circles. However, the total impression of his western tour appears to be very much gay, adequately fruitful, tolerant and exciting as much to get his recognition as the first international artist of modern India.Before his life came to the end, this versatile genius made nearly 3000 paintings and drawings.

Article By: Mohamed Ziab K. M,St.Alberts College

The Evolution Of The World Cup Football

Football is one of the most ancient games to be played on the face of the Earth. It traces its origin back to the Han Dynasty of some two thousand one hundred years ago, when the Chinese warriors set the football in motion with a game called Tzu Chu (kick-ball) devised basically for physical fitness training. Variations spread to Japan where they played Kemeni. In Indo China it took the form of a funeral ritual with a fierce sacrificial bull’s head being booted over a dead chieftain’s body. The game then spread to Italy where the Romans practiced ‘Harpastum’ and then to Britain where ‘soccer ‘was played.

The factors that led to soccer’s world wide appeal- were that it was fundamentally simple in conception and could be played in all climates. The game has been followed by mountaineers 16000 feet up Everest, played on ice by Capt. Scotts’ men in the Antarctic. British soldiers practiced football during the First World War. But officially the first international football matchwas played by England and SCOTLANDIN 1870. But still there was no competition that could bring all the football playing nations together and the need for one grew larger and larger.

As early as 1920, FIFA- the Federation International de Football Association had approved the idea of an open World Cup. Frenchman Jules Remit whose name went on the trophy and Henry Delauner pushed the idea through a vote. 1930 was chosen as the year for the inception of the World Cp… but where ???, Five applications were received from Italy, Holland, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay would pay all travelling and hotel accommodation expenses and would begin work on a new 1,00,000 seater stadium. An offer FIFA just couldn’t refuse.

The four other applicants promptly refused to complete. Claiming that it was too far and expensive to go. Only 13 participants took part n the first ever World Cup which was later bound to become the biggest event in any single sport in the history of man.

Europe was less than enthusiastic about the whole affair. Only France, Yugoslavia and Belgium wound up making the trip. The United States consisting mainly of English and Scottish players were the surprise entry. And so, to the big kick off on the 13th of July, 1930. Montevideo was flooded due to the unseasonal rains. Uruguay and Argentina, two of the finest teams in the world were tipped to capture the glory. Uruguay was the Olympic Champions in 1924 and 1928 and Argentina was the runners up in 1928.
Uruguay was treating the occasion with seriousness in the year of its hundredth anniversary of independence. France and Mexico played the inaugural match and although France lost their goal keeper Alex the pot that was kicked in the jaw, France coasted home quite comfortably with a 4-1 victory. And so the World Cup had come underway and the dream had become reality. Two days later France was at the centre of the most controversial match of the tournament. Trailing by a goal, Marcel Langiller of France broke through the Argentine defense and shot at the goal. The Brazilian referee Almeida Rigor blew the final whistle… with six minutes to go. The French argued and the referee later agreed to continue. The French players tried for an equalizer but to no avail. Argentina later moved on to the finals beating the United States to meet Uruguay as expected who had disposed off Rumania, Peru and Yugoslavia. Argentina had chartered ten packet boats to take the spectators from Buenos Aires across the River Plate. Both teams were put under 24 hour guard and the referee was not confirmed due to fears for his life. Uruguay won 4-2 in the finals and Montevideo was transformed into a city of unparalleled delight. Streets were alive with rejoicement and the national flag was hoisted up in many places. The next day was declared a national holiday. Back in Buenos Aires there were riots. Mobs stoned the Uruguay an Embassy and later relations were broken off between the two countries. But Uruguay was still the World Champions. The Jules Remit Trophy was safely in the hand of the tournament’s host.

Article By: Gigi K. Mathew,St.Alberts College

GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE

“……….and as he was going into a village, ten men that were lepers came towards him; they stood far off, crying aloud, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. He met them with the words, Go and show yourselves to the priests; and there upon, as they went, they were made clean. One of them, finding that he was cured, came back, praising God aloud, and threw himself at Jesus feet with his face to the ground, to thank him… Jesus answered, were not all ten made clean? And the other nine, where are they? Not one has come back to give God the praise, except the stranger. And he said to him, Arise and go on the way, thy faith has brought the recovery”.St. Luke Ch xvII 12-19

This episode shows that even Jesus Christ, held in high esteem the virtue of gratitude. In this episode we see Jesus being elated and gratified at the thanks giving performance of the leper who returned to Jesus to show gratitude. At the same time we see Jesus annoyed of the nine ungrateful lepers. It is human to expect gratitude from those who receive help or favour from us. So also, it is quite humane to show gratitude.

Gratitude means the quality or condition of being grateful; a warm sense of appreciation of kindness received, involving a feeling of goodwill towards the benefactor and a desire to do something in return. Gratitude urges one to repay kindness. Gratitude remains empty if not accompanied by sympathy, understanding and patience in one’s dealings with others. In other words gratitude is the art of receiving gracefully, of showing appreciation for every kindness, great and small. Most of us do not fail to show our pleasure when we receive hospitality, gifts and obvious benefits, but even here we can perfect our, manner of showing gratitude by making it as personal and sincere as possible.
One fine afternoon I hired a taxi in Trivandrum. The cab-driver happened to be an old acquaintance. From the driver’s expression and the way he slammed in his gears, I could see that he was upset. I asked him what the trouble was. “I have got good reason to be sore”, he growled. “One of my fares left a handbag in my car this morning. Nearly three thousand rupees in it. I spent more than hour trying to trace the guy. Finally, I found him at his hotel. He took the handbag without a word, glared at me as though I meant to switch it”.

“He did not give you a reward”? I asked.

“Not praise and me out my time and petrol. But it was not the dough I wanted……” He fumbled, and then exploded, “If the guy had only said something….” Because his helpful, honest act had not been appreciated, that cab driver’s day was spoiled, and I knew he would think twice before rendering a similar service. The need of gratitude is something we all feel, and denial of it can do much to stifle the spirit of kindness and cooperation. Who does not loathe the ungrateful? Ingratitude may spoil and poison one’s life, may cause frustration, distress, disappointment and may serve to bring our civilization down in ruins.

May I try to reproduce here from memory, an anecdote I read somewhere in the forties, not long after the end of the Second World War. During the war a mother in America received a letter from her paratrooper son, in which he spoke of a woman in a village in Normandy who had taken him into her home when he was wounded and hungry and hid him from the Germans. Later on unhappily, the boy was killed in some offensive, yet the mother was moved by an irresistible intention. She saved up for 2 years, crossed the Atlantic and located the village referred to by her son. After exhaustive inquires, she found the woman who had sheltered her son the wife of an impoverished farmer-and pressed a package into her hand. It was the gold wrist watch her son had received on his graduation, the only object of real value the boy had ever possessed. The mother’s act of gratitude so touched people’s hearts that it has become something of a legend in and around the village.

Gratitude is sometimes more than a personal affair. A doctor friend of mine in Trivandrum Medical College, told me of a patient brought into hospital whose life was saved by a blood transfusion. When he was well again he asked. “Isn’t there any way I can discover the name of the donor and thank him?” He was told that names of donors are never divulged. A few weeks after his discharge he came back to give a pint of his own blood. Since then, he returned again and again for the same purpose. When the surgeon on duty commented on this splendid record of anonymous service, he answered simply; “ someone I never knew did it for me. I’m just saying thanks.” It is comforting thought that gratitude cannot be not merely a passing sentiment but a renewal which can, in some instances, persist for a life-time.

It is above all in the little things that the grace of gratitude should be most employed. The boy who delivers our newspaper, the milkman, the mailman, the barber, the bearer at the restaurant, the elevator operator, the bus conductor, the taxi, auto driver-all oblige us in one way or other. By showing our gratitude we make routine relationships human and render monotonous tasks more agreeable.
Nothing brightens life, our own and other’s-so much as the spirit of thanks giving. A doctor neighbor of mine narrated the following incident. One of his patients, a few weeks after his discharge from the hospital, came back to thank his nurse. “I did not come back sooner” he explained, “because I imagined you must be bored to death with people thanking you.”

“On the contrary, she replied, “I am delighted you came. Few realize how much we need encouragement and how much we are helped by those who give it.” Simple courtesy makes life easier. Manners serve to keep the foundations of society intact. The gift of gratitude enriches and benefits the life of the person who bestows it quite as much as it does the person who receives it. Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For, on the smiles, the thanks we give, our neighbours build up their philosophy of life.

By: Prof. P.J Mathew,St.Alberts College

Humanity in Action

Humanity in Action

Does it usually require a calamity to elicit the utmost out of man? Certain ingredians force us to belive that only emergrncies can make man prove their powers.

Al least the spontaneous overflow of benovolence exibited by the lowliest fisherman in Perumon on 8 july 1988 proves the theory. These common fisherman who had laboured hard , had eaten and drunk, had procrated and engaged in resuation just like any common man, proved to be angel of mercy on that day. on that fateful day, the Island Express plunged into the river Astamudi, carrying thousands of passengers in it.The cries of thousnds of passengers, man, women and children, rent the air.

The local fisherman stood in a gape for a moment. Immediately they realised the cause of the din and cries. It took no time for them to realize that it was an emergency that brooked no delay. They plunged into action straightaway. Hectic and untiring activity followed. They were not fully conscious of all that they were doing. But the goal was quite clear in their minds- to save as many lives as possible. Mindeless of damage, they exersised all their powers. And in the end when all that was humanly possible, has been done, they sat down exhausted. Later when they recollected what they had done, they wondered at their own aceivement, with unutterable joy.

The exellent service rendered by the fisherman of Perumon, has been well recognised. The Railways and Government of Keralahave come foreward with presents in recognition of this sterling service. Millions of people who cannot offer presents, have enshrined the memories of this yeoman service in their heerts.

Article By: A.C. John,St.Alberts College

Psychedelic Extra Sensory Perception

Psychedelic Extra Sensory Perception

 In 1502, at the festivities accompanying the coronation of Montezuma II, the Aztec ruler of Mexico, the celebrants consumed specially pickled mushrooms. After ingesting a portion of these, some of the natives began to have visions, masses committed suicide, still others became psychic and had premonitions of the future events including

1) The arrival of the Spanish conqueror:
2) The subjugation of the Aztec ruler and
3) The death of the civilization.

It has been known that certain types of mushrooms, cacti and other plants (ancient Rig Vedic texts have incorporated the ritual of Soma Yaga. History abounds in such reference) can induce a certain altered state of consciousness on a human. The Shamanic culture, the ancient Yaqui Indians, all have from time immemorial sought the philosopher’s stone; the elixir of life in these magic portions. They could induce not only visions, but also marked changes in perception and the thought processes-

The celebrated Tales of Don Juan (the mystic YAQUI INDIAN) abounds in anecdotal reference to the ‘ green man’ the spirit in the hallucinogenic cacti named by him as ‘Mescalito’ Mushrooms such as ‘Psilocybe Mexicana’ can act as meta-programming substances on our behavioral pattern. (Welcome to chapel Perilons).
To a septic such tales will certainly be totally false and mere mystical blah- blahs. But consider’ Paracelsus’, the founder of modern medicine, who believed in such vegetative spirits and claimed to have had frequent commune with them. Weird and incredible as it may seem.

It was from psilocybe Mexicana, that the drug ‘psilocybin’ was synthesized by Dr. Albert Hoffman, a Swiss investigator. The most publicized of all the mind expanding drugs is L.S.D. (Lysergic acid diethyl lamide) a purely chemical non- organic substance discovered by Dr. Hoffman.

Mind expanding drugs jolts the tripper into a mysterious journey of the mind hither to unexplained. The tripper can enter into a mystical magical realm of nature. A collage of characters, painted in so many varied colours are cast in this cosmic fun house. Colours seem brighter ; Nature explodes into a sparkling clear life.

In the case of mushrooms and other vegetative ingestion, it has been found that each trip has an emotional content strongly projected as though the spirit in the mushroom decides the trip for the mind. It has also been found that when a group of people are ‘tripping’, they can converse among themselves without actually speaking.

When we say that “seeing is believing” aren’t we seeing what we believe all the time and only occasionally seeing what we can’t believe. “L.S.D. can take you out of normal space-time age- the mechanical mode of everyday casualty”. This is the verdict of the 60’s genie Tim Leary. Dr. Leary’s pioneering research in this interesting domain has been with held and suppressed by the establishment which has always behaved paranoical in its reaction.

Dr. Leary explained that the psychedelic drug experience is a synergetic product of three non-additive factors.

1) The dosage of the drug used.
2) The set (subject)-

             a) The subject’s expectations
             b) Emotional- status
             c) Personality profile.

3)The setting- i.e. the actual location in space –time dimension.

This has been established by Dr. Leary in an experiment conducted in 1967 (With the help of a qualified psychologist who assists in the trip); where- in he used L.S.D. with a clinical setting to cure a latent homo-sexual of his disorder by positive suggestion.

Aldous Huxley the celebrated English novelist & futurist have recorded his experience in the ‘Doors of Perception’. His explanation is mostly scientific rather than spiritual. Human brain is mainly concerned with survival. So out of the thousands of units of data fed in by the six senses, only the ones that are useful for survival are analyzed by it-others are filtered out. L.S.D. and other mind expanding drugs, when ingested, reduce the sugar content in the blood stream, thereby depriving the brain of its main energizer. This reduces the efficiency of the ‘filtering system’ and the brains get flooded with the information fed in by the senses- it begins to hallucinate. This hypothesis explains why the brain hallucinates- but it does not explain some of the other, more bizarre aspects of a trip.

Serious research has to be done before we can come to a definite conclusion. Till then, we can go on believing in the ‘green- man’ ‘ mescalito’ and the other spirits. That is, if at all anyone wants to believe.

Article By: Stephen Francis,St.Alberts College

Theatre Of The Absured- Its Relevence To Modern Man

Theatre Of The Absured- Its Relevence To Modern Man

In the 1950’s there arose a group of dramatists who did not regard themselves as a school but who all seemed to share certain attitude towards the predicament of man in the universe a suddenly deprived of illusions. This is an irremediable exile, because he is deprived of memories of a lost home land as much as he lacks the hope of a promised land to come. The feeling of “Absurdity” overwhelms the human thinking mind when man is separated from his life, the actor from his setting. Therefore a relatively new term like “Theatre of the Absurd” must be understood as a kind of intellectual shorthand for a complex pattern of similarities in approach, method, and convention of shared philosophical and artistic premises, whether conscious or subconscious and of influences from a common store of tradition”- Martin Esslin.

The Theatre of the Absurd is said to be a reflection of the principal attitude of the modern post war Western Europe. As a result of the two world wars the earlier optimism and dynamism of Western Europe gave way to doubts and disputations. There can be little doubt that such a sense of disillusionment, such a collapse of all previously held firm beliefs is a characteristic feature of all the modern times. The social and spiritual reasons for this sudden loss of values are manifold and complex: the meaning of the traditional Christian faith, lack of trust in inevitable social progress in the wake of world war 1; the disillusionment with the hopes of radical social revolution as predicted by Marx after Stalin that turned Russia into a totalitarian tyranny, the relapse into Barbarism and torture in the Nazi Camps in the course of Hitler’s brief rule over Europe and the aftermath of the war.

Such a loss of values must have inevitably led to a questioning of the established mode of communication of meaning language. Hence the obvious rise of the Theatre of the Absurd. Contrary to established drama, absurd drama lacks a cleverly constructed story, replaces subtle characterization with vague characters and absurd present the audience with almost mechanical puppets and we find incoherent babblings in the lieu of witty repartee and pointed dialogue. And yet strangely enough these plays have worked They have exercised a fascination of their own in the theatre. In the beginning it was said that this was merely a “success descandale” It had become fashionable to express outrage about them at parties. But the success of a whole row of similarity unconventional works became more and more manifest. If the critical touchstones of traditional drama did not apply to these plays; these plays were creating and applying a different convention of drama.

It is true that basically the Theatre of the Absurd attacks the comfortable certainities of religious or political orthodoxy. It aims to shock the audience out of its complacency and to make it aware of the harsh truth of human life. But the challenge behind this message is not one of object dejection. It is a challenge to accept the realities of life with all its intricacies and absurdities and bear it with dignity because there are no easy answers to the mysteries of existence because ultimately man is alone in a void world. The theatre of the Absurd does not induce tears of despair but the laughter of liberation.

BY: GOPAL K.S

From Kitty Hawk With Love

From Kitty Hawk With Love

Like a huge pre-historic bird one sees only in biology text books, the pterodactyl touches down on a strip of grass barely sixty feet in length. A man is strapped into a bucket seat in the midst of aluminium tubing, Dacron Sailcloth and metal staywires. Looking at this seemingly fragile contraption it is difficult to imagine that it can really be flown. Yet today this contraption has captured the imagination of people all over the world.

Known to different people by different names as micro-light, aero-light, ultra-light, pterodactyl this brain child of human ingenuity signifies the realization of a dream, a dream as old as humanity, the dream of flying like the birds.

In 1903 on an isolated beach in America two brothers, at long last open the realm of the skies to the rest of humanity Orville and Wilbur Wrights Pioneering flight from Kitty Hawk in 1903 changed, the world once and for all.

Folk lore and legends are replete with accounts of man’s clumsy yet brave attempts to fly. All of them were drawn back to earth as unexorably as Newtons apple. Greek mythology accounts the flight of Icarus who with wings of wax flew too close to the sun. The wings melted and Icarus was brought back to earth. Da Vinci made drawings of an aircraft. Yet all of man’s efforts met with failure until 1903.

Though many expected the model-T of the skies to materialize, world war-1 prevented it from happening. The aircraft was turned into a killing machine. Following closely on the heels of the first, the Second world war completed the metamorphosis. The aircraft had become too fast, complicated and expensive for the common man. Ironically wings for the common man had to await the dawn of the space age to revert to the simplicity of their beginnings.

Otto libenthal, the great German aero nautical pioneer had fashioned bat-like wings of willow and linen and had made nearly 2000 glides by jumping off the top of mountains before a stall and consequent fall in 1896 brought his life to an abrupt and unceremonious end.

In 1951 Francis M. Rogall of NASA Patented after test a new kind of airfoil shaped like an obtuse V. The fabric para-wing unstiffend by intermediary ribs bellowed on both sides of a central spar. His simple and elegant design sparked the rebirth of hand gliding fledgling bird men with their home made, brilliantly coloured butterflies soon covered the sky slopes of North America and Europe.

Biologists have a saying: Ontogeny re capitulates phylogeny; that is an embryo goes through all the stages followed in the evolution of a species. So with a evolution of glider into micro-light; designers of the ultra- light had, in a decade, recapitulated the aeronautical development of 75 years. Many daring people experimented with bizarre ideas like strapping a chainsaw engine fitted with propellers on to the backs. None of them met with any real success, until, the Orville wright of the new era, John Moody of Wisconsin rigged a ten horsepower engine and propeller into a glider with his legs as landing gear flew a mile and a half a few feet above a frozen lake. In September 1975 Moody flew 16 miles cross country for the first time and the word of his pioneering flights soon spread. The race to add power was on.

The Wright brothers first flew on the “kitty hawk flyer” which weighed 605 lbs Moody’s glider fitted out with landing gear, seat, controls and heavier engines weighed only 150 to 250 lbs. This is why this new breed of glider is known as ultra-light.

Only four year after the Wright brothers first flew, a Brazelian living in Paris designed and flew the ancestor to todays ultra-light. Albert Santos-Damont in 1907 built a miniature high-wing monoplane that weighed 243 lbs and had a two cylinder 20 horse-power engine that flew the machine at48 miles an hour. The designer of the world’s largest selling and most copied micro-light ‘Quick silver’ is John Lasko. Lasko studied and refined Albert’s Santos-Dumonts early micro-light. When Parisians first saw Dumonts craft, they dubbed it ‘Demoiselle’ or Dragon fly.

The present micro-light uses stick and throttle controls climbs 800 feet a minute and reaches a surface ceiling of 12500 feet. Yet it takes off and lands in 50 feet at 23 miles an hour. Lasko has this to say about his brainchild “We have tried to reduce human flight to its essence and I think we have succeeded.”

Flying is a hobby which is now not too expensive. Micro lights cost only about as much as two wheeler to build. In India however the craze that has taken the west by storm has not yet taken root. Micro lights with its innumerable application is ideal for a country like India where cash resources are not easy to find. The technology involved is not of a complicated nature. At best it is a craft that could be put together by school children. However micro lights in India are flown in some of the big cities only by people who have access to flying clubs. The micro light requires only a backyard as runway and it can easily be maintained at home. Apart from the select few who have access to flying clubs the Indian defense services and the N.C.C. use these crafts. The true capacity of this craft can be judged from the fact that fact an Indian army officer flew from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on a micro light.

It has been said of micro lights that they are so easy to fly that the real danger is now that a novice might jump into his machine and take off.

Eipper Aircraft one of the leading manufacturers has the following statistics to quote. 7000 micro lights sold and flown for a total of more than one million flying hours and a total of only ten fatalities, One for every 1,00,000 flying hours half of that of general aviations. In other words a well maintained machine is rapidly becoming the safe aircraft aloft.

In many crashes pilots can walk away from the wreckage without serious injuries. The reasons are simple A micro light with trainer and passenger weighs, lets say, around 550 pounds and lands at 27 miles an hour. A Cessna with the same two people in it weighs around 1600 lbs, 3 times as much and land’s at 55 miles an hour.

Bill Adaska, builder of the Rotec-Rally says “We are not advancing aviation but setting it back 75 years. Now anyone can fly, stay up two hours on a full tank, go a hundred miles, spray crops, inspect pipe lines, but mostly have fun. The micro light is the common mans window to the sky.”

In deed, so versatile is this aircraft that experts say that it is virtually undetectable by radar, and should it be built from carbon or Borone fibre it simply would not be there. Two Palestinians on micro lights were forced landed b Israeli war-planes trying to fly into Israel. The mission was unsuccessful but it is an ominous portent.

Manufacturers have been approached by government of several nations. Saudi Arabia has bought a few with desert camouflage. Manufacturers have been requested not to sell these aircraft to a select list of bad guys. These aircraft can easily be adapted for pilotless flight to be sent into hazardous areas with TV Cameras and radiation sensors. They can be fitted with grenade launchers or sub machine guns and if the pilot is removed they can stay aloft-for 24 hours, Intelligence agencies dread the thought of smugglers flying across borders with drugs, piloted or by remote control. On the positive side it can be used for inspection of pipelines, electricity lines, spraying fields. It is used extensively by scientists to study the migration of sharks butterflies and the like.

The truth is that the potentialities of the micro light are virtually limitless. Its flight has started and it will fly high for quite some time to come, for the over riding function of this tiny fragile, elegant and versatile David in a sky filled with goliaths is to make possible the poetry of flight.

Article By:Eric Kurian,

Computer

Computer

Is it meant only for the ‘hi-tech’ brains or for the layman too ? Read the article and decide….
The creative genius in man has striven to make life easier and as a result we had adding machines, cash registers and then calculators. Nowadays, we have the computer. The idea of the present day computer was conceived by men like Blaise Pascal and Gottfried Leibinitz way back in the 17th century.

Anything to do with computer has always been related to people with ‘hi-tech’ brains. This misunderstanding has created a wide gap between the ordinary man and computers. We have to bridge this gap to move ahead and go into the 21st century as a country capable of keeping up the traditions of excellence that our forefathers have shown ever since the beginning of civilisation.

To operate a computer, one does not require ‘hi-tech’ brains. The computer is made of ‘hi-tech’ stuff but the whole field has advanced so much that it has literally become childs play. One does not need even a little bit of electronics or a science background to use it. The computer is separated from the user by so many sets of circuits that one can talk to it in simple commands in English to instruct it to do certain tasks. The computer itself understands only the digits 1 and 0. One couldn’t hope to feed in commands in 1’s and 0’s. It would to run millions of 1’s and0’s. So we have a machine language which has commands in the form of ADD, SUB etc. But this is also complicated and so a high level language is used for Eg:-BASIC, FORTRAN, COBAL, PASCAL etc. These languages have been developed with a specific type of user in mind. The degree to which a language interacts with a user is called user friendliness BASIC is an all purpose language which can be used to do all kinds of work but FORTRAN is basically a language meant for scientific calculations. COBOL is a business oriented language and it would be easier to use COBOL for business calculations rather than BASIC.

Consider the following program which is in BASIC. 1u=5, 20B=10, 30C=A+B, 40 PRINT A, 50 PRINT B, 60 PRINT C. We feed this programe to the input/device which is as in most cases, a keyboard very similar to a typewriter keyboard. This programe is typed and it comes simultaneously on the video screen so that we can moniter what is going to be fed in. After all the 6 lines have been typed in, we print RUN on the screen and input this command also. When this is done, the computer processes the 6 lines that have already gone into its memory. The numbers 10,20 etc, are given at the beginning of each line. So as to give the give the computer a sequence to process the program I .e . it process line No. 10 first, then line No. 20 and so on. So at first it reads line 10 and when we say A=5, we are assigning a constant value of 5 to the variable A. On processing line 20, the value 10 is stored as the value of B. In line number 30 we ask the computer a simple task of addition of 2 variables A and B of which the values 5 and 10 are known to the computer. This value is stored as C. Now line Nos. 40, 50 and 60 are PRINT statements which mean that the computer is expected to print the values of A, B and then C on the video screen as it is stored in the memory. So on the screen we would see 5, 10 and 15. This is a very simple program to illustrate how simple it all actually is. When one has to do a repetitive and time consuming calculation a computer can be very handy. In eg:- quadratic equations are frequently encountered in all sorts of calculations. Some of these equations take a bit of time to solve. If we were to program a computer to do the work, as soon as the coefficients of n, n etc., are fed in, the answer is on the screen. This kind of program would be very useful to a science student. So every time a quadratic equations is encountered we can have the solutions in a couple of seconds rather than in a couple of minutes.

So programs are essential for a computer to function and programs can be made for any of those usual repetitive jobs that we face daily.

Now we go on to how a computer is used in the office of a small scale industry which would need, say, one accountant and one typist. If the propreiters have sufficient funds to buy a capable computer and an equally appropriate program, he could save a lot of man hours spent on account books and typing not to mention the space saved by storing all the records on floppy discs (thin discus- 51/4” in diameter) rather than on paper. He could do a lot more to work to improve production at a factory rather than at a desk waiting for a bill which has gone for typing or an account statement which the accountant is preparing. The major advantage is that he will have all the data he needs at his fingertips. So he could replace his typist and accountant with a couple of data entry operators who have a commerce background.

To create a program all one needs is pure logic and reasoning. It is just a matter of learning the commands which are feasible on a computer and learning to write programs as short as possible, there again it is not essential to have a science background. Only the person who repairs the computer needs to know the circuitory inside.

We are now coming to an age where computerization is almost inevitable in view of the time saved. It now being widely used in banking, ticketing for railways, airlines, police records and many other fields mainly to store data so that it is easily accessible. So all you prospective scientists and Managers, get off your backsides, learn all you can about computers and hitch this wagon to the stars.

Article By: Zacharaih George,St.Teresa's College

JESUS AND THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY: HER STORY (JOHN8:2-11)

JESUS AND THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY: HER STORY (JOHN8:2-11)

I was the good girl growing up, the shy one. I was the only daughter my father didn’t have to worry about. Now, look at me- caught in the act of adultery, pulled by the temple’s high officials, most likely to be stoned. I didn’t care though; there was nothing to live for anyway. The one I was trying to hurt didn’t even show up. Surprise. Surprise. The good for nothing, my husband…. He probably was revelling in his luck of getting rid of me.

When I married him, he gained status and wealth through my family. His family wasn’t as high as my family was, but our fathers were friends. In the year of our marriage, he was a true gentleman, a good son-in-law, a great scholar… he had us all fooled. I started to notice changes in him and his family as my father began to get sick. He wasn’t a great husband anymore nor was his parent’s great in- law. He started to get irritated with me over trivial things. In my father’s weak state, they manipulated him and got all our property. Soon, I was kicked out of our bedroom and into the kitchen. One of his favorite girl slaves took my place in the bedroom.

Later, I realized they were poisoning my father, but by that time it was too late. My father had died, and in my crazed mourning state, I decided to take revenge. But it didn’t exactly work out…
The Pharisees pulled me into the centre of a crowd and approached one of the taller men saying, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.”

I wonder what they do to men who commit adultery, abuse and kill… Their friend, my husband did all of that.“So what do you say?” I glanced at the man they were talking to. So he was the final decision maker. Strange. The man didn’t look like the others. He didn’t have elegant robes or golden rings on his fingers. He looked more or less like a common shepherd or artisan.

Instead of responding, the man bent down and started writing on the ground with finger.What an unconditional person. The hypocrite (I mean, the temple’s official), looked almost irritated when he continued to write in silence. They asked again and again until the man stood up.
“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
He said calmly before bending down and continuing to write.

After hearing this, one by one, they all started moving off. When only he and I were left, he straightened up and asked, “woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one,” I replied. With an afterthought I quickly added “Sir”. He did save my life. He smiled. “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
As he started to leave I couldn’t help but ask,” Who are you?”
“Jesus,” he said simply as if that would answer my question. “Jesus of Nazareth.” With that said, he left with his entourage.

I walked over to where he was writing. I started to read. Mathew, son of Issac-steals from the poor. Luke, son of Zachariah-abuses his wife and killed his father…. I stopped reading. How could he know that? He couldn’t possibly be just “Jesus of Nazareth.” I had to find out who he truly was.I started to head in the direction he had taken.

Article By:Lincy Elezebeth John,St.Teresa's College