Reflecting with the 'authorities'..!

6th Dec 2012

To

Archbishop of Trivandrum

Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram.

Greetings! Hope, you are ‘managing’ the archdiocesan affairs and ‘overcoming’ the challenges posed before you with your kind of ‘spirituality’! My wish and prayer is that our archbishop enjoys the ‘freedom of the children of God’ like Jesus himself and ensures that the people entrusted to his care also enjoy the same inalienable right.

Peter, addressing the exiles of Dispersion, assures them: ‘you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people…’ (I Pet 1:9). This is in tune with what his master was teaching all along: ‘…be perfect/holy as your heavenly Father is perfect/holy’ (Mt 5:48), ‘No longer do I call you servants…but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.’ (Jn 15:15). Jesus taught his disciples to call God, father (Mt 6:9); gave them the same title he claimed for himself: the ‘light of the world’ (5:14). The very first book of the Bible in its very first chapter asserts: ‘…God created man in his own image… male and female he created them (Gen 1:27).

This is to drive in some basic and fundamental Bible truths which you seemingly ignore for reasons best known to you alone! Whereas you and those of your kind hold so fast on certain things which Jesus desisted time and again: ‘…the Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mt 20:25ff). Rudolf Bultmann went to the extent of saying that this is the most genuine of Jesus’ sayings. It is said that John has substituted the ‘institution’ of Eucharist with that of the washing of disciples’ feet! Why? We have forgotten Jesus lamenting: ‘…the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head (Mt 8:20) and the hungry Jesus cursing the fig tree (Mk 11:12ff). We seemingly are comfortable with our cassocks, sash, mitre, scepter, palatial residences, royal table and multi-crore churches when the poor go hungry, have no proper roof over their heads and so on. Do we realize that they are the ‘Anawim’ of Yahweh on whose behalf he intervenes decisively? It is good to remember the sarcastic comment Gandhi had on Churchill calling him ‘half naked fakir’: ‘you have dressed up enough as if for both of us!’ It was this same Gandhi seeing a poor woman washing one end of her sari while wearing the other end for want of a spare one threw of his dress and went around half naked thereafter. Is it not the meaning of ‘incarnation’?

There was an amazing question-answer in a Tamil magazine: ‘Did any god ever have eaten the food offerings?’ The answer: ‘Will any mother ever eat anything without feeding her hungry children? Likewise, when there is no hungry child on the face of the earth, gods will certainly eat the food offered!’ Jesus knew hunger and so could he justify his disciples plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath (Mt 12:1ff). So was he ‘not willing to send the crowd away hungry, lest they faint on the way’ (15:32). Is not Lk 24:30-31 a commentary on Mt 25:31ff? When bread is broken/shared Jesus will be recognized even among the least of his brothers! ‘Life wage’ was a right won even through papal encyclicals! Do we give it to those working with us? We don’t have any hesitation to ask them to work for charity when we live a comfortable life with all possible security! Can we ever really understand the struggles, uncertainties of a family man/woman?

I wonder how do we understand the meaning of incarnation! “…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men...’ (Phi 2:7). Are we not the most unbelieving ones to whom Jesus tells: “…do not be anxious… seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well” (Mt 6:25ff). How can you people be comfortable with titles, honours like ‘reverend’, ‘monsignor’, ‘excellency’, ‘eminence’, ‘grace’ etc against the backdrop of Mt 23:1ff)?

[to be continued...]

കേരള യുവജനോത്സവം 2012: തമിഴ് കവിതാ മത്സരം

ஆசிரிய பெருமக்களே, நடுவர் கவிஞர்களே, ரசிக பெருமக்களே, நண்பர்களே, 

'கவிதைக்கு பொய்யழகு' எனும் கூற்றை பொய்யென்று முழங்குகின்றார் கவி பேரரசு வைரமுத்து, 'இந்த பூக்கள் விற்பனைக்கல்ல' என்ற  தமது அரிய அழகிய தொகுப்பிலுள்ள "முதிர்கன்னி' வாயிலாக! முப்பத்தியேழு கோடைகள் முடிந்தும் முதிர்கன்னியாகி நிற்கும் அவலத்துக்கு காரணமான 'சாத்திரத்தை துலக்க' சவால் விடுகிறார். ரசித்து கேட்போம், புரட்சிகரமாக சிந்தித்து 'புணர்ச்சிக்கு விலைவைத்த பொருளாதார'த்தை தூக்கி எறிவோம், வாடும் பயிருக்கு வாழ்க்கை கொடுப்போம்...

ആസിരിയ പെരുമക്കളെ, നടുവര്‍ കവിജ്ഞര്‍കളെ , രസിക പെരുമക്കളെ, നന്പര്‍കളെ,

'കവിതൈക്കു  പൊയ് അഴകു' എനും കൂറ്റൈ പൊയ് എന്റു മുഴങ്കുകിറാര്‍  കവി പേരരസു വൈരമുത്തു, 'ഇന്ത പൂക്കള്‍ വിര്പനൈക്കല്ല' എന്റ തമത് അരിയ, അഴകിയ തൊകുപ്പിലുള്ള "മുതിര്‍കന്നി" വായിലാക! മുപ്പത്തിയേഴു കോടൈകള്‍ മുടിന്തും മുതിര്കന്നിയാകി നിര്‍കും അവലത്തുക്കു കാരണമാന 'സാത്തിരത്തൈ തുലക്ക' സവാല്‍ വിടുകിറാര്‍. രസിത്തു കേട്പോം, പുരട്ചികരമാക സിന്തിത്തു 'പുനര്‍ച്ചിക്കു വിലൈ വൈത്ത പൊരുളാതാരത്തൈ' തൂക്കി എറിവോം, വാടും പയിരുക്കു വാഴ്കൈ കൊടുപ്പോം.

ലത്തീന്‍ കത്തോലിക്ക ഐക്യവേദി

ലത്തീന്‍ കത്തോലിക്ക ഐക്യവേദി സുവര്‍ണ ജൂബിലി ആഘോഷവും കത്തോലിക്ക കമ്മാളര്‍ സമുദായ ദിനവും ആച്ചരിച്ച്ചു. ഒപ്പം ഇതിന്റെ അദ്ധ്യക്ഷന്‍ ജെയിംസ്‌ ഫെര്നാന്ടെസീന്റെ അറുപത്തിയഞ്ചാമത് ജന്മദിനവും മുപ്പത്തിയഞ്ചാമാത്തെ അഭിഭാഷകവൃത്തിയുടെ നിറവും ആഘോഷവിഷയമായിരുന്നു. എന്നെ അദ്ധ്യക്ഷനാക്കി സമ്മേളനം നടത്തി. മന്ത്രി ശിവകുമാര്‍ - ആരോഗ്യ - ദേവസ്വം വകുപ്പ്, കേരളം - വരാന്‍ വൈകിയത് കാരണം ജ്ഞാന്‍ മടങ്ങി.  ഔദ്യോഗിക സഭയുടെ പിന്‍ബലം ഇല്ലാതെതന്നെ ഇത്രയും കാലം പിടിച്ചു നിന്നതിനു അഭിനന്ദനം അര്‍ഹിക്കുന്നു. 

Judicial Prejudice...

Today, someone was convicted on a case which had the other accused acquitted separately as this man was not available then. There seem to be no added reason than the non-availability at the trial along with others. Another possibility rumoured was that the presiding officer was not in good terms with the accused's counsel! If that were true, where will this trend end up and what will be the plight of the poor clients? Will it not be like the 'the fence grazing the cultivation?' 

How could one ensure the judiciousness of the judges? Appeal is a way out, but then the convict has to undergo imprisonment till the case is disposed by the appellate court in its own time. 

Rani Nivas
Erayumanthurai 629176
26.11.2012

Dear................

With immense joy and gratitude to God, we invite you along with your family for the marriage of our daughter BHUVITHA RANI with VINOD [son of late Mr. Brutus and Ms. Selvarani, Amma Veedu, Shanthipuram - 695303] on Wednesday, 26th December 2012 at 11 a.m at St. Lucy's Church, Erayumanthurai and thereafter for the banquet with them at the Church Hall.

Kindly do join the nuptial Mass to pray for the couple, bless and enhance their joy by sharing the banquet with them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Affectionately,

Lawrence T - Selvarani A

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Rani Nivas
Erayumanthurai 629176
26.11.2012

Dear........................

God's loving providence has chosen VINOD [s/o late Mr. Brutus and Ms. Selvarani, Amma Veedu, Shanthipuram - 695303] to complement my 'missing' self. Together we are going to reflect God's image as man and wife from Wednesday, 26th December 2012 at 11 a.m onward at the altar of God at St. Lucy's Church, Erayumanthurai with your prayerful presence and blessings. 

You will certainly be there, am sure, with your family to bless us and share our joy and the banquet  at the Church Hall thereafter. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

fondly yours


Bhuvitha Rani

ராணி நிவாஸ்
இரயுமன்துறை 629176
26.11.2012

அன்புடையீர்,

இறையருளால் எமது மகள் திருவளர் செல்வி புவிதா ராணி 26.12.2012, புதன்கிழமை காலை 11 மணிக்கு, இரயுமன்துறை புனித லூசியம்மாள்  தேவாலயத்தில் திருவளர் செல்வன் வினோத் [அமரர் ப்ரூட்டஸ் திருமதி செல்வராணி அவர்கள் மகன், அம்மை வீடு, சாந்திபுரம் 695303] உடன் மணமாகிறாள். 

இந்த அழகு சந்தர்ப்பத்தை மேலும் அழகு செய்ய, புதுமண தம்பதியினருக்காக செபிக்க, வாழ்த்த, அவர்களோடு விருந்துண்டு மகிழ உங்களை குடும்பத்தோடு ஆவலாய் அழைக்கிறோம். 

கிறிஸ்துமஸ் - புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்!

அன்புடன்,

லாரன்ஸ் - செல்வராணி
அலைபேசி: 09486503281

ഇത് ഒരു മലയാളി തന്നെ പറയണം...!

"തമിഴരെ ഇപ്പോഴും മലയാളികള്‍ക് പുച്ഛമാണ് : കള്ളി ട്രൌസറും ഇട്ടുള്ള ആ തമിഴനെ. എന്നാല്‍ അവരുടെ ആട്മാഭിമാനത്തിന്റ്രെ ആയിരത്തില്‍ ഒരു അംശമില്ല നമുക്ക്. അവര്‍ക്ക് ഉണ്ടാക്കാവുന്നതിന്ട്ര്രെ ആയിരത്തില്‍ ഒരംശം പോലും അതുകൊണ്ട് നമുക്ക് ഉണ്ടാക്കാനും കഴിയില്ല."  [പുതുശ്ശേരി രാമചന്ദ്രന്‍ 3.11.2012 ലെ മാതൃഭൂമി 'കേട്ടതും കേള്‍ക്കേണ്ടതും' പംക്തിയില്‍] 

Is lawyer’s profession a lying profession?

Though in the second half of life, I am only a Benjamin in the noble profession of law which some of the great souls of our times like Gandhiji, Abraham Lincoln and Lenin practiced. When I enrolled myself as an advocate this September and started practicing in this outstanding bar with two centuries of checkered history, quite many of my friends and well wishers, including some of the very lawyers themselves wondered how come I (a Catholic priest) take up this ‘profession of lying’! Someone was even hinting at that I was taking up a profession which Gandhiji abandoned in his experiment with truth!

It appears that those respected friends seemingly are quite certain about what truth is what it is not! But I would humbly beg to differ with them citing an incident in the life of Jesus where he was said to have kept silent when asked as to “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38) In the text book of Logic [by one Asirvadam] for PDC in the early seventies there was a quote in Tamil: ‘Kannaal kaanpathum poi, kaathaal ketpathum poi, theera visaarippathe mei’, which means what one sees and hears need not be true, so enquire enough to reach truth. The same is the gist of the Maya theory of Indian philosophy, I think. What one sees or hears could very well be mere appearance like the snake one sees in a piece of rope in the dim light.

Truth is no one’s monopoly! In this world of appearances almost everything is relative. Ordinary humans in such situation would be left to chaos and confusion and burdensome life! Hence the wisdom of the ages has left us with a great legacy of customs, traditions and laws. That is how the civilized world came to inherit the rule of law for peaceful co-existence.

What makes us different from other species is this rule of law vis-à-vis the rule of the jungle, that is, ‘might is right’. In our encompassing democratic system of governments almost everything comes under this rule of law and there is no way of escaping it, especially in a situation of dispute which is not that uncommon.

Honorable Mr. Justice Harun-Ul-Rashid addressing the new advocates on their Enrolment said: “After more than half a century of independence the judiciary in this country is under a constant threat and being endangered from within and without…” (KLT 2010 (3), p.51) This is what Justice Bhagavati in his address on the Law Day, 1986 stressed when he noted: ‘… the judicial system in creaking under the weight of arrears.’ It is not an insurmountable problem, considering the way it was handled by the Supreme Court since 1985.

Of the many reasons contributing to this problem, the following are a few:

• Judges – population ratio in India is 8 per million, whereas it is 50 in the West.

• Lawyers taking adjournments.

• Government, the reckless litigant.

• Fake pendency of cases.

• The growing litigation among people due to growing literacy, the revolution in the electronic and print media etc.

While the governments and the judiciary can do substantially to bring it down, the lawyers also could do their share towards this. This is mostly with regard to the very image of the legal profession itself! ‘People have no good impression about lawyers. Though a vast majority of them are really wise, honest, frank and reasonable, a small minority… have ruined the image… Lawyers have a very poor image. No one is prepared to accept a lawyer as his tenant. Banks do not trust lawyers even for a small loan. In the marriage market too, lawyer is the last item. This wrong impression about lawyers that they are inherently unreasonable persons has to be changed.’

This cannot be done overnight and not by general body resolutions. It has to be done at the individual level by individual transformation.’ [‘Law Day’, M. N. Krishnamani, President SCBA, in Supreme Court Cases: 2004, Vol. I, p. 1ff]

It is this concern I too share and dare to address through this reflection on our noble profession with my iota of experience in the bar. Let us all strive together to take our profession to its befitting heights and collaborate with the bench in our efforts to dispense justice to those who are denied of it for one reason or other.

The gown we wear is black, rather dark. Unlike the light which may have many shades, it is a great equalizer. It leaves one blind to see the differences and thus be left prejudiced or biased. That may be the reason why the goddess of justice is depicted blind folded! What matters is justice and justice alone – “Fiat justitia raut coelum” which means ‘justice shall be done, even if the heavens fall down.’

Law implies order and should ensure it. That is why we say ‘law and order’ and that goes hand in hand. A lawyer thus can be anything other than being disorderly. It has such other corollaries like being punctual, honest, trustworthy, responsible, disciplined, committed etc.

Our client is the reason d’être of our profession. But for him lawyers don’t have any relevance! We take his cause to the arbitrator for settlement or resolution. That necessitates the bench. And a lawyer is like the middle term in logic connecting the client to the bench in proper perspective, that is, legal perspective and disappears.

‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’ For the timely dispensation of justice, the prompt and effective service of lawyers is a sine qua non. Hence lawyers need to be earnest with their job and clients and the end result of ensuring justice to the aggrieved and agitated.

A lawyer’s profession being one ensuring justice, no unfair, underhand method or means be deployed at all, whatever be the consequences.

As client is to the lawyer, so is a lawyer to the bench in the legal arena. And I am sure that the bench is more than simply aware of this. Therefore, let all concerned work together to ensure justice which our great Constitution promises to secure to all its citizens besides liberty, equality and fraternity.

malayaali hungu

"thamizhare ippozhum malayaalikalkku pucchamaanu; kallitrausarumittulla aa thamizhane. ennaal avarude aatmaabhimaanatthinte aayiratthilorashamilla namukku. avarkkundaakkaavunnathinte aayiratthiloramsham polum athukondu namukkundaakkaanum kazhiyilla." [Puthussery Ramachandran in 'Kettathum kelkkendathum' of Mathrubhoomi , Saturday 3rd November 2012, p. 4]

Enrollment...

On Sunday, 9th September 2012, enrolled myself as an advocate at the Bar Council of Kerala in the Enrollment Ceremony conducted at the High Court Auditorium, Ernakulam

First blessing indeed!

Dear Camy and Dany,

Congratulations!

You are blessed

to become parents now!

This is the first ever

blessing in the Bible:

“Be fruitful and multiply…”

In His great providence,

God has given men and women

a share in his creative power!

And now you two are made

instruments in this divine activity.

On this great day

let me quote for you

a great verse from

Kannadasan’s ‘Yesu Kaaviyam’:

“Aandoru pillai aayiram peralaam;

Yesuvai pola innoru pillai

Isanai kette ini pera vendum.”

Yes, let the child conceived

be the one God willed

for you and the world!

May God give you both

necessary grace to give birth

to a child like Jesus

who ‘increased in wisdom

and in stature, and

in favour with God and man.’

May you be praised

like the mother/father of Jesus:

‘Blessed is the womb that bore you…’

Be mindful of your great call

to become parents and live accordingly

to welcome God’s most precious gift

to you and to the world.

Hereafter let your thoughts

and even feelings be

as pure as possible.

                                                                                                                      Let no negative thoughts

even cross your mind.

Be positive and happy

so that the child may take

the world little more closer

to a better future.

Read good books,

listen good music

and see good films

and pictures as well

as eat good food,

sleep well and

certainly have enough

exercises, preferably work at home.

We are all praying for you both

and the sweet child to visit us all

in due time.

May God bless you both

and child conceived.

Expectantly,

maaman.

Happy Birthday

And have all the blessings

Of the day, if you believe in it!

Mothers are indeed our

First and best blessing!

          One can’t rightly think of

          One’s birthday without

          Ever thinking of one’s mother!

You must also be

Having a mother

Whom you may not

Like to think of, or

Rather her thoughts

Prick you, may be…

          She can’t but

          Think of her children,

          Even when they don’t.

          That is a mother!

          A truth beyond grasp!

A mother won’t

Rather can’t curse

Her children even when

They hurt her beyond limit!

That again is a mother!

          Even when mothers forgive

          Every possible onslaught,

          Gods may not,

          Because mothers are

          Gods personified, if not beyond…

Procrastinate not to

Reconcile with her

Before ever losing

That chance to shed

Your tears on her bosom,

And be washed of

All possible stains and

Be worthy of her blessings!

To remain ever blessed!

Happy Birthday!

We miss you, Aiyya, a lot these days...

Generations apart!

After laying down the Ministry of Education...

It was on 24th May 2009, i was asked to serve the Ministry of Education of the Archdiocese of Trivandrum and R. C. Schools of the same diocese. After almost three year, laid down both the responsibilities as the authority was not responsibly responding to the needs of the Ministry in the diocese. They seem to expect one to beg for every need by not letting one to know what the allocation for that particular ministry is! Thus on 4th February 2012, laid down office.

Simultaneously requested in person for retirement and also gave the same in writing. But the bishop requested to carry on in active ministry. So, i asked him to relieve me from Thycaud parish. Again he asked me to continue till the transfers! As i insisted to leave Vellayambalam, he arranged residence for me at the Priests' Home, Kumarapuram. [to be continued...]