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Prashansa Punjabi Photography Showcase 1

Goliath of a Cloud

Today I travelled to Talegaon - Dabhade, a sub-urban area of Pune itself. Those from Pune or living in Pune might very well know the weather that we experienced at around 7 pm in the evening. Now, for those who don't know, the weather that we experienced was an orange-ish rainy one. The sky was all orange and the winds blew as if just the next minute the skys would turn on their taps!

The way to Talegaon is all highway only. It later connects to the Expressway to Mumbai. We city people have a rather "modern" habit of rolling up our car's windows and switching on our ACs and listening to music and that's what we call 'a drive'! I do that too! But this time, it was subtly different!

On our way, the clouds came in and the winds became stronger. The orange colour started to fade and a tint of black and gray started to mix in the sky as the evening fell. Through my window, which was still rolled up, I looked into the sky. And, oh my! I saw a huge cloud (or clouds), as black as night itself, covering the entire horizon! As and when that giant moved forward, it covered every silver lining of oh-so-innocent clouds, it covered the shimmering light of every tiny little star that wanted to come out and show itself and every tiny shrub of the hefty mountains that wanted to survive what could be a storm! There was just this one Goliath, and David was nowhere to be found! However, it hadn't begun to pour as yet!

Later, we had to make a quick stop to buy my baby cousins some chocolates. For the same reason, I had to get out of my car. So I got out, went to the shop, bought two 5 Stars and turned around to come back to the car. The moment I stepped on the ground, a huge breeze came and swept all the dirt lying on the ground into a mini whirlwind. This forced me to look up at the sky. And when I did look up, I saw a massive, black tuft of a cloud staring right into me. Though it was a beautiful sight to watch, I forced myself into the car as the chances of a really heavy rain were more than just possible. So, I climbed right back in. And believe me, that very moment, it poured!

As we drove further, we came to the Sahara Stadium area and there was a match going on. A thought, then, just passed my mind: "Man can change the face of the Earth. But he can't really change the sky! Though many people might have cursed the rain that fell, but the ground below rejoiced with overflowing joy as her wishes were fulfilled when the sky became heavy and monstrous and when the winds whispered into her ears 'The rain is here!'"

And knowing this, I thought myself to be so small and minute a living being in this really big universe!

A Silent Night - Christmas Photos

A little bit of Christmas cheer coming from me to you guys!

Hope you like it! Just some random pictures I clicked going around during Christmas Time! Though a little late, but I have tried my best to get to you the most amazing ones here!

Regret the picture quality, was shot by my phone!

Santa

Stars Bright

This is my Christmas tree at 1 am in the night on 24th December, 2011.

Bells Ring

In the Candlelight

Christmas Decoration

Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening

This poem was written by Robert Frost and for some really random reason it is one of my favourite poems! I just feel really uplifted and cold and snowy whenever I listen to this poem or read it! I am posting it here because when I woke up this evening, I felt chilly and the first thing that came to my mind when I parted my curtains was the picture of woods drowned in snow! 

A photo by Tom Fluharty

So here goes:

"Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."

"And miles to go before I sleep!" 

Hope you guys liked it!

Wise - Cracks

Today I would like to post something here that would be, in my opinion, one of the most heart rendering stories ever heard!

A Nepali man whom we know now as Brother Bhim attended our church today. He happens to have contacts with the pastor of our church and since the pastor invited him there, he came happily, what with the fact that he is a “Christian”!

I have a habit of reaching the church about 45 minutes later, because until then we have the usual stuff going on around there like starting prayer, ikraar and all that, which I think is purely a “ritual” that the Methodist Church has followed since generations and now, even if you happen to wake up the Bishop at 2 am in the morning and ask him to take a Church, he will be unmistakable at that!

So when I reached the church, Nikita was taking the worship and the atmosphere there was so beautiful (which normally happens due to the purity of the Worship Leader) that the moment I stepped in, I was swaying! After the worship session, the priest, Pastor Benjamin, handed over the mic to Brother Bhim, for him to share his introduction, how he got to know Christ and the things other than this on these very lines. The moment Pastor Benjamin said, “Brother Bhim, please come”, I pulled myself downwards in my chair, all geared up for a nap!

Brother Bhim started with the following:

 “Praise be to God! It is my pleasure to be coming to a Hindi church! It’s not like this is my first encounter with a church, but yeah, this is one of the most pleasing encounters I have ever had with a congregation! You people here, have a heart for God, which made me feel so much at peace!

My name is Bhim, I am from Nepal, I have a wife and a little kid who is 10 months old. In my family, we were 3 children, me, my elder brother and my younger sister. It’s not like I have known about Jesus Christ for the first time. I have known about Jesus Christ, what with the event that I was born in a Christian household.

I don’t know whether you people here know about the conflicts and wars that take place in Nepal or not! I’d like to tell you a bit in brief! In Nepal we have a communist group called the Maoists. These people are feared all over Nepal and even in some parts of India. These people have an enmity with the Nepali Government. They oppose whatever policies the Government makes and when they oppose, they don’t go forth without the murder of at least a 10!

In 1992, my elder brother joined the Maoists, on his own terms, and went in for their training. They trained him to a really great extent, and he became the leader of a battalion. He used to get us food, help my parents and all, so even we didn’t complain about his presence in the Maoists. After a few years passed by, the other leaders of the Maoists started developing a jealousy towards his progress, and they got together and murdered him! When we got to know, we were trapped, as complaining in the Police would have just made the matters worse! And soon after that, the Maoists raped and murdered my Aunt who was a teacher in a school, as she refused to give 5% of her meager salary to them!

I decided then that I would get with the Maoists, and destroy them internally thus avenging my elder brother’s death! I did so in 1999. I trained day and night, I trained so hard and I made it into the Maoists – and not just that, I even got into the Gorilla troopers, who are known for their high efficiency! I used to do everything that the General of the Maoists said; we used to train for weeks at a stretch in the jungles of Nepal, without eating anything, surviving with just a sip of water! We were trained to stay in mud for days at end! We also got scientific teachings there for the purposes of  surviving and shooting and all that! A part of that training was to completely believe in the fact that only the things that we can hear, see and feel are of real existence. Nothing beyond that really exists! All this I did was only for my brother’s revenge! I wanted it so bad!

Eventually I was made the head of my battalion, the Maoists Gorillas! At that time, there took place a war in Nepal between the Government and the Maoists and I participated in that war! And as per their characteristics, the Maoists went on murdering anybody who stood in their way to victory! At the end, the Maoists got their way!

In the course of time, the people there became jealous of my progress too. They plotted against me and let out a rumour that I was the person who was solely responsible for the murder of 24 people in the recent war that took place! When this news reached the Government, they put me #1 on the Most Wanted list and declared that anyone who reported my whereabouts would get a lump some of 30,000 bucks! By then, I had fled the Maoists, my revenge left incomplete!

I was on a run by then! And consequently, one fateful day, an Army officer traced me and captured me! At that moment, I felt practically nothing! I was a numbed person, all those years I had trained my self to do so! I had no idea what the Army people were going to do to me, with me!

The officer, a good and virtuous man, took me into the jungle, as per normal procedure for beheading a criminal. That day, the rituals for cutting off my head and presenting it to the Government on a platter were all set up! The officer called up his Colonel General to inform him about the situation and to take his approval for performing the beheading! And I swear to God, until then I was standing numb!

The Colonel General said, “I don’t think the time is appropriate as the Ministers are not in the country. Put him in some secured place!” And then the officer locked me up in an underground tank! Now you people know how tanks are – damp, filled with water and insects and all sorts of filth! I was released 7 months from the tank after I was captured! For 7 months, I stayed there, not seeing the light of the day, not smelling the fresh air – I lived my life in the same darkness; but now, in the Light, I see!

Moving on, when I was released, they told me that as per their investigations, they found out that the story about me murdering 24 innocent people was fluke! And then they let me walk, an alright looking man! After going home I met up with my family and applied for a passport and moved to Malaysia.

Malaysia is a beautiful place to be. I began to work at a computer hardware manufacturing company there. I earned enough for my family. When I was there, I became friends with other two Nepali brothers who were Christians as well. They used to talk to me about Christ and  usually asked me to attend the church with them. I was consistent at saying ‘No’! One evening, after work they asked me to accompany them to the function they were having in their church! I couldn’t say no, as they said, ‘You are a Nepali! You should definitely come see this! You wouldn’t miss it!’ So, I went. Even after going there, I did not somehow felt like stepping in, so I stayed out promising them that I’d wait till they came back! A few Chinese women from a Chinese church nearby came to lend a hand in the same program. On seeing me sitting outside in the cold, they insisted I come inside! That day an Indian preacher, originally from Darjeeling had come for the sermon. He spoke on Revelations 3:20-23 – “Open the doors of your heart and let Him in!”

And then this random guy, whom I didn’t even know, met out of the blue said, “The fellows who wish for a special prayer for them may please come forward”, and I got up and went ahead!

I closed my eyes as this guy said, “Feel His power running through you!”, and I actually felt something inside of me going wild! I felt as if I got a heart burn that was as brightly visible as the lighting in the stormy sky! I felt warm! I felt shivers throughout my body running into the deep earth! I felt Jesus Christ! I shouted, ‘Save me Father! Save me Father!’ And the people standing there claimed that I shouted continuously for 10 minutes!

At that point in my life, I knew Jesus Christ! I didn’t no more know about Him, I knew Him! He touched me, made me feel, disappeared the numbness, took away my burdens and held me in His arms saying, ‘You are my child!’

After a few years I came back to Nepal. I attended the Bible college due to my eagerness to know Him. I learned that the biggest goal in a true ‘Christian’s’ life should be to establish His kingdom in the hearts of the people and not anything else! I was saved and I saw Light – and now I see!”

After I heard this, all my sleepiness went away! 

I was wide awake!

Right To The Point

The following post is from the CBS presenter Ben Stein. He penned it down and read it out aloud as a response to The White House calling Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees!

"My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
In light of recent events terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?"

I think this applies to all the other countries as much as it applies to the USA! 

Take care!