All posts by viewvin

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About viewvin

Always looking ahead with hope! having learnt from the past, and living while learning in a faithfilled present.

The Lonely Sparrow

#Nature, ,

 

He is no ordinary sparrow. 

Anyone would think he has been  abandoned . 

I see him always alone when he visits the feeder outside my door leading onto the garden . He was a baby and now seems to grow fast.

He feeds regularly at different times of the day. 

I wonder where  the rest of the flock of sparrows have flown.

How is that none of them have visited my feeder ?

Why is he alone and seems abandoned.

I only know this :

God will remember even the sparrow .

This verse from the bible states  that ‘ not one is forgotten in God’s sight.( Luke 12:6b)

My sparrow is growing well. I continue to watch him intently as the season changes to autumn or more like an early winter. 

Will he remain here as my visitor or will he disappear? 

Food, , ,

What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?

The most money I’ve ever spent on a meal was at a Restaurant serving food in the Cordon Bleu style.

We all know that the cuisine in such restaurants is very fine and of a very high quality .

The restaurant that my wife and I dined, was located in South Bombay (Mumbai now). It does not exist anymore unfortunately.

The names of the dishes were very exotic. And we waited for the service after placing our order. I was quite shocked when I saw the dish. The garnish was superb but the portion was too small. As a result we did not feel satisfied.

At the same time we paid a lot.

I’m not surprised, that this would have been the cause for the restaurant to close down if diners did not feel satisfied .

But I spent a lot of money on this meal and did not feel satisfied. Was it worth it ? No .

#Football, , , ,

Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.

Tottenham chairman expresses his view that its supporters will soon give him credit .

Why ? Because of the massive improvement and capacity of the new stadium.

I’m really not interested in the Tottenham football club as the main reason is that I am a big fan of the Liverpool club.

Besides who is really interested in any improvements of a stadium when the club has been languishing at 17th place finish in the last season of the English Premier League.

I have been a distant admirer of the sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, who finally won silverware in the Europa League .

In comparison Liverpool have made a big impact by winning the Premier League with its new manager Slot.

Tottenham has a appointed a new manager in Thomas Frank who had fairly good results with his previous team Brentford. It remains to be seen what the results will be. Their tendency is to appoint a series of managers , and no patience to develop the team with one person.

May their team do well in the new season.

But not at the expense of Liverpool ….. ha, ha

When the shoe is on the other foot

Life, ,

This morning I met an old friend of mine, he is more like a brother.

Conversation just flowed. There was no hesitation in sharing our deepest thoughts. It’s been a long time since I have had a decent conversation . I think we could have gone on and on, but soon, it was time for him  to return home. 

    Why is it that when I meet people of a younger  age group, such deep conversations are not possible?

This may be because  our levels of  thinking – or experience – are different. 

 Don’t you think it is a matter of concern? The more one gets isolated when not meeting one’s peers, other problems arise.  Slowly, your peers pass away. One becomes forgetful or is not able to keep up with the latest news and trends.

Is there a solution to this?

Yes. You can pick up the phone and chat with a friend. Or  better still,  meet in person. As your peers pass away, make it a point to chat with your family members.

 Now I know why an aging person wants to talk to you. He needs companionship and spend time talking . He just needs a listening ear.

When I was younger and an older person wanted to talk to me, I would feel restless, even irritated.  I would avoid such conversations. 

Don’t you think that one day we will all reach that age. I’m beginning to experience this to some extent.

Now the shoe is on the other foot !

Jet’s Wag and Laugh

#Pets, ,

Who is Jet ? You guessed rightly …. Our little pet dog .

He is a very friendly pet . I hesitate to call him a dog . In good times and bad times , Jet will always be there to be my side and his tail will surely indicate he understands me . A strenuous wag will be the joy that he shares with me , whereas a simple slow wag and an enquiring look , will be checking on me , as to why I’m so despondent.

  I love to take Jet for a walk , rather a run . 

He is a very inquisitive pet. He may check out insects , or chase a cat if he sees one or maybe befriend a person who looks innocent, which includes children without frightening them . 

The biggest wag is  when I tempt  him with food that he loves like a morsel of meat or a bone . 

 He is so friendly that he enjoys company and is playful when a ball is thrown, for him to chase, catch and bring back . 

Do dogs laugh ? I’m not sure but Jet appears to laugh with a vigorous wag  of his tail . 

This gives me boundless joy at all times . 

My friends look happy and so does Jet when we are on the playground. 

I hope you  meet Jet someday to see all his antics . 

Uncategorized, , , , ,

What snack would you eat right now?

Right now I would like a Dahi Wada . Currently the temperature is 20*C, which is winter in Dubai where I’m now in, but hot as I’ve just come from Glasgow where the temperature is -3*C.

Dahi Wada is an Indian snack.

This is a fried lentil dumpling fritter floating in sweet yogurt . It is very cooling and also makes a good option for a snack or at the end of an Indian meal.

Why don’t you try it ?

Choices

Life, ,

We know about multiple choices which leave us wondering, which to choose. 

Here I’m writing about only two choices. Either to be  positive or negative in my thinking. 

I have a choice to either rejoice for each day as a gift from God or be forgetful and think of only the negative things .

These days I’ve experienced a gradual decline in health and being negative in my thinking . Is that ok ? Surely not! 

Each day when  I wake up I need to  thank God for another day of life. Everyone is born with an expiry date which is unknown .

How then do I live ? 

If I realize he walks with me and talks with me , provided I am silent and listen . 

There is so much to thank him for . 

A roof over my head, food on the table , finances to live and manage my expenses , and a family….

My loving wife , children all grown up settled and grandchildren too . 

I am at peace despite ongoing trouble in the world . 

Therefore I need to thank God for these blessings and rejoice . The Lord knows everything. He grants our hearts desires but also refrains from granting some if he knows it’s not good for me 

What about my sufferings . I have neuralgia , dystonia , and digestive problems. 

At the same time he has healed my cancer , gout and lung problem.

I can share these with Jesus on the cross and pray for others with similar ailments or pray for the departed souls and even for world peace and leaders of nations ,

I have a choice to make ; either to rejoice at this moment even if things go wrong knowing God can even make saplings sprout  in the desert .

The reverse would be to drown in sorrow . 

Do I believe , trust , and obey our loving God ? 

Am I repentant for sinning and going the wrong way ? 

Then I ask for forgiveness and move on with hope for the new day

Does Age Really Matter 

Life, ,

Some good people die unfulfilled; others find length of days to be more of a punishment than a privilege.

Do you really think that when a good person dies young his life was unfulfilled.  What about those who live a long life ? 

Is that a punishment? 

Old people are  faced with many types of illnesses . There are  persons who  fail to recognise , or physically disabled . . 

But yet there are elders who are blessed with wisdom and rise to be leaders. Some are blessed with an astuteness for  politics. Others can be famous writers, musicians, actors and painters wherein age is not a barrier. 

Some examples are :

Jimmy Carter 

Jawaharlal  Nehru 

Mahatma Gandhi 

Nelson Mandela

Gandalf from Lord of the Rings

Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter

Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars 

Will a young person be considered unfulfilled if he dies young? 

There are many young people who have died young and have been successful.

Percy Shelley (poet)at 29 years

John Keats(poet) at 25 years 

Ramanujam (mathematician)at 32 years

The essence of this is that the call can come at an any age . Are we ready to face our Heavenly Father. 

Jesus Christ died at the age of 33 yrs. As Christian we believe that he fulfilled his mission of saving man from sin, by his death and  resurrection and an outpouring of his Holy Spirit. At the right hand of God our  Father he is our final judge according to the life we live, whether  good or bad .

 It does not matter that when  a man dies young,  we think  he is unfulfilled, or if he dies when old it’s  a punishment. Rather he  can make his contribution to those around him at any age and importantly the life that he has lived 

The Biscuit Man

Life, ,
Khara buiscuit & Tea Toast

Many years ago we had the biscuit man calling out his wares near our home while on his rounds. Oooooo biscuuit wala. 

  He would ring our door bell and this announced his presence. 

Most  often he came at about 4 pm . 

He then opened his Aluminium trunk ….’Peti’ in Hindi, which had several compartments. In each was a different variety of biscuits:

There were 

Khari biscuits ….. flaky pastry

Ginger biscuits 

Almond and cashew biscuits

Pistachio 

Jeera 

Nankatai 

Tea toast 

I loved the almond, Khari biscuits & Tea Toast.

In the evening, I would dip these biscuits while sipping my tea .

Oh this was so delicious .

I think of my biscuit man often. 

With the passage of time the biscuit man has disappeared.

Today  biscuits are available in shops and well packaged. 

Even if I want the earlier variety of biscuits , they are not easily available. 

Other vendors  still come like the fish ( Machiwalla)  and bread man ( Paowala) .

We do miss our biscuit man . 

  

Jim Cameron: An artist who surprised me

#Art, Profiles, , ,

At Dalmally on my second trip, I met a few others who were also having a quiet stay at the Lodge. Among them , Jim’s sense of humour was very interesting. In relating a joke, he would appear to be serious.
He was immersed in painting sceneries with an array of water colours .
My curiosity led me to peek into his work .
“Jim your paintings are wonderful. ” said I, thinking it was his hobby . This was more than that.

His talent in art progressed from high school to his work life.
Even though he was in an engineering company he joined night classes in art, 6 days a week.
At this stage, he could draw faces from memory.
He met Jean who worked in the company office and eventually married her.
Their interest in drama and singing, led them to join a drama and dancing club. Soon they participated in public performances.


He later joined the railways .
With the arrival of their son Mark they moved from Glasgow to Arbroath . He honed his skill, specially in drawing profiles and was greatly encouraged by a renowned artist.


Since there was less time for art and drama he moved to Elgin. Here he began painting sceneries.
The time of Covid was a blessing in disguise. He began an art class called
Cant,draw,want to draw .
Currently he has 29 students.


An interesting part of his life is his spiritual life .
“Jim you are a hard wire” said his pastor meaning his closeness to God through knowledge of the bible.
He was a regular church goer. He drew pictures of the children’s Bible when young.
He always thought God was too busy.
But his life changed when he heard the Word from Isaiah 49:13
‘ I have carved you in the palm of my hand’
at a charismatic prayer group on invitation from his catholic wife. He thus became Catholic from being a Protestant.


What brought us to Craig Lodge ?
It is the peace and quiet; a time of prayer and just to have a break from the busy city life.
For Jim , the opportunity to paint sceneries was an added bonus .
At the end I saw him paint the Kilchurn castle, which he had visited during this time.
The biggest surprise was when I was told that
‘Jim is an amazing cartoonist’
Here are some of his past works. You will understand why I liked his sense of humour