Truth in the inner parts

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts

-King David

(Ps. 51:6a)

It was interesting to browse the mobile phone handsets on display here in the market.  I refrained from buying the all attractive 3G 16G iphone after deciding that the quoted price was still a bit much here compared to the price in the states.  However, what you could get here in terms of fake goods is often unbelievable!

The salespersons introduced the fake handsets with some clear hint of amusement and one came across brands like ‘Sansung’; ‘Nakia, etc., etc.  mofăng (模仿) is Mandarin for 'copy or imitation' and píngŭo is for 'apple'.  Try and see the difference between the original and copy version of Apple iphone here:

Most of these fake handsets look very much like the original; however a few tests would reveal that they aren’t for real and wouldn’t last for long.  Just open and see the inside and what you see will tell you that it’s better to buy the real McCoy or none at all.  The battery had a warning telling me not to recharge it while it’s still inside the phone and recommended using a wall charger.  There are more issues that told me not to get one but for the sake of finding out what it was all about I browsed and tried a few of them.  The presentation was often interesting and impressive at times.  Well, at the copy capital of the world most of the things can be copied.

Most of the time in life we act what we don’t feel.  There’s a bit of an actor in all of us and the Bard had said “all the world’s a stage” and we all know it’s true.  It’s easy to fool people but we know what is really inside us.  So, with this constant practice of acting and convincing people of what we want them to feel and think about us we get better each day I guess.  However, when we bring this part of our nature into our worship and relationship with an omnipotent and omniscient God it doesn’t work at all.  To the Samaritan woman He said his Father was looking for worshippers who will worship in spirit and in truth not only in Jerusalem.  That was to say that the true worshippers could worship him from anywhere (not only in a building) as long as it is from the heart, that’s what he is looking for.

It’s been over a hundred years and I believe we still have a long way to go in our walk with him.  It’s not only about corporate practice of faith but it is about relationship and communication at the spiritual level - ‘worship from the heart’.  We have to realise the essentially important ‘closing of the door and kneeling to him in private’ so that we may get our reward not from the praises of people but from him who is in secret.

Are you truthful in the inner parts, that’s the all important question.  He saw you last night as you celebrated Christmas Eve.  And he knows and sees you wherever you are.  He wants true worship from the inner parts that might begin with telling him what you have done and he is ready and willing to forgive those who have broken and contrite spirit.  That's what he came here for more than two thousand years ago.  Merry Christmas!

Sawi ve reng reng ang

Roreltua awmte hi Pathian ruat an ni

- Rom 13:1b.

Hunte leh hunbite a ti danglam a: Lalte a sawn bo va, lalte a tungding a

- Daniala 2:21

Sawi ve reng reng a ngai. Inthlan hmain kan tawngtai tlat. Kan dil a, hei hi kan hmu a, kan sawi hi a thiang a ni. "Mahni phu tawk ang zel roreltu kan nei thin" an tih avangin Pathian hnenah kan phu tawk ang min pe tawh lo hram turin ka lo dil ve mial mial a. Kan phu tawk leh kan neih chuan kan ram hian eng kan an phah dawn lo; phu tawk aia sang ngen ngawl taka dil kha a tulin ka hria a ni.

India inthlanpui hnuhnung berah mi tam zawkin BJP an chak leh an ring a, Congress an sawrkar leh ang tih an ring lo. Economy a tha a, ramin kawng hrang hrangin hma a sawn a ni. A lehlamah BJP sawrkar laiin nasa takin ringtute'n nekchepna leh tihduhdahna an tawk a, Gujarat-ah buaina namen lo thleng a, Orissa-ah te pawh. Hindu hovin min nghaisa nasa dawn a nih hi tia mi tam tak an rum laiin Pathianin an sawrkarna chu a paihthla a, "A va mak em!" kan ti a nih kha.

MNF sawrkar-in term hnih chhung sawrkarna an chelh a, mipui duhthlanna a lo chhuak a, an kal a ngai ve leh ta. An tlin zawh tak lohna chhan kawng hrang hrangin a sawi theih ang. Zoramthanga chuan 'sawrkar dinglai nin vang' (incumbency factor) ni berah a ngai a. Ngaihdan dangah corruption nasat lutuk vang tih te, Law and order mumal loh vang, sawrkarin a tih tur a thawk zo lo, etc, etc a awm nawk mai. Heng zawng zawng hian kawng hrang hrangin awmzia an nei vek awm e. Vote thlaktu tam zia leh an kal thatzia enin engemaw kawng zawng tak chuan 'Obama factor' te pawh kan ti ve thei awm e. Mi tam tak, a bikin thalai, khawvel tukverha dak phak chin tawh phawt chu tunhma zawng aiin vote thlak ngei turin a fuih phur ve ngei ngei ang. A hmuna awm lo tan chuan rindan sawi a ni deuh vek mai a, sawi thui vak lovang.

Tun tum inthlana rilrua thil lo langsar tak tak te chu hetihian han sawi thuak thuak dawn ila (ngaihtuahna fim tak pawh ka hmang hman em em bik lo):

Mipui kan fing leh zual tawh: Tunhma zawng aiin mipuiin ram hmangaih nachang kan hre leh zual ta a, kan fing ta zawk niin a lang. Mi tam tak party politics-ah la buai fo mahse, a ngaihna hre chin te hi chuan 'party' ai mahin candidate te enin vote an thlak ta niin a lang. Congress hrim vote lam ai mahin a candidate an chhawp chhuahte an hralh an tla zawk niin a lang.

YMA-in absolute power a hloh deuh em?: Tunhmaa YMA, pawl thianghlim nia kan ngaih thin kha mi engemawzatin politics lama invawrhna 'platform' atan an hmang ta mek niin a lang a. A tir lama politics-a zuang lut te khan an tlin phah a, tunah chuan an tlin phah ta vak lo niin a lang. Thil kan ti chho zel a, kan zir chho zel bawk niin a lang, a tha lam a niin ka ngai.

Mahni thawhchhuah loh pui lo claim a him lem lo: Ram hruaitu lu berin 'Pathian rawngbawltu' nuai khat kan tir dawn tiin a puang dum dum a, Mizoram sawrkarin engtikah mah Pathian rawngbawltu a tir ngai lo. Pathian Kohhrante'n Pathian thu hmuin an tir thin a ni zawk. Sawrkar chu Pathian hmanrua mai a ni.

Vote Bank Politics a reh deuh em?: Chhung leh khat, vua leh vang in vote luih luih kha hmun tam takah chuan a la awm em em ang. Mahse, tlem tlemin a zia chho zel turah ka ngai. Mahse, Chhim khawthlang lamah chi bing in vote-na a la nasa hle tih result atangin a hriat theih. West Tuipui Constituency-a MLA thlan tlin hian a bial a hum hneh hle. He bial atang hian Mizoram MLA inthlan awm tawh reng rengah Mizo pakhat mah an la tling thei lo. Hemi avang hian hmasawnna pawh a 'satel kal' tial tial a, hnuhchhawn ramah a chang chho zel 'ni berin a lang'.

Media role a langsar: Mizorama chanchinbu darhzau ber berte leh Cable TV te'n sawrkar thlak chungchangah role an nei lian hle. Inthlan hma kumah Zoramah kan awm ve a, mipui ngaihdan siam, thlak leh hruai kawngah kan chanchinbu leh electronic media lam an pawimawhin an langsar leh zual hle. A tha zawnga changkanna a ni e.

Inthlan result lamah erawh kan chanchinbu website hote an che muang viau. www.lawrkhawm.com leh www.misual.com te an tangkaiin an fakawm hle. Election Commission website pawh a rintlakin a chhawr nahawm hle mai. Chanchin thar a thlen rual rualin kan lo hre ve zung zung mai.

Opposition an va chau dawn ve!: Shadow Ministers tih vel nei thei khawpin opposition an inhlawmkhawm tha thei ngut ang em? Duh aiin an tlem mah mahin ka hria.

Roreltute hi Pathian ruat an ni: A tawp ber leh a pawimawh berah chuan Pathianin a duh duh hi a tung ding a, a duh duh a paihthla mai thin. Inthlana chak chhan leh chak loh chhan zawng zawng bul ber hi chu Pathian liau liau a ni. 1998 thleng Congress-in ro an rel tawh. Corruption leh zu leh sa leh kawng hrang hranga sualna pawh kan ramin a dai nasa a, mi tam tak an rum thin. Pathianin tunah hian tungdingin 'chance' a lo pe leh ta. A duh zawng leh a zai ngai, amah tih chunga ro an rel loh chuan reiloteah kan ‘mangtha' leh mai ang.

Kan zavai hian khua leh tui tha nih tum ila, mahni theuh hi kan hna theuhah han corrupt lo phawt mai ila ram siam thatna chu kan tan a lo ni reng dawn a ni. Sawrkar thar lo piang tur hi tawngtaina nen chelh ila, anni'n an theih tawpin ram leh hnam thatna turin rinawm takin thawk sela anmahni leh an chhungte ei khawp chu nitinin Pathianin a pe zawk dawn a ni. Kan Pathian Nung tia sawi kur dup lovin a nun ang ngeiin amah tih a pawimawh zel ang.

Hei hi ka 'two cents' worth' chu lo ni rih phawt teh se.

Cold Wave

The Siberian cold wave is sweeping across the country and the temperature has dropped below freezing for a few days now. (That's me resorting to weather for want of more interesting things to talk about). Anyway, when it's below freezing you really feel it in your skin. Hope we'd have a white Christmas this year. What I really want to do now is pass you the following quote, and see if it encourages you (in its simplicity and clarity) to go forward with whatever task you have been entrusted with:

There are difficulties on every hand,
and more are looming ahead. Therefore, (mark that) we must go
forward.

- William Carey

ca. 1796

The Race Question

You may have wondered what was keeping yours truly out of radar, or you may not have given a fiddler's fart at all.  

It has become so hard to find the time to update a blog or whatever log you are keeping.  Time is of essence and I find myself running out of supplies most of the time.

You are my reader and I am your writer.  You are my audience and I am your speaker.  And right now you are listening to me, and I am speaking to you alone.  What I say matters to you and the fact that you are listening and taking in whatever I say matters to me.

I have to admit that the infectious American optimism is getting even to me, and I am beginning to believe that change is coming, and that change would be for the good of all.  The Obama factor is BIG and believe me it’s going to change a lot of things.  I believe I will want to remember where I was and what I was doing when it happened.  As of now, I am living in a country where the colour of your skin does not seem to matter in theory but it does and sometime it can hit you very hard when you have to face it, especially in my line of work, teaching language science and a language which is not my native tongue. 

As a people group, I believe most of us are racists, may be more so than people in our neigbouring states.  I wouldn't want to be a non-local person in our land because of all the things an outsider has to endure.  The Burmese, the Vais, the Brus, the Chakmas - it's not easy for them at all.  You can't imagine one of them becoming the Chief Minister of the state.  The names we call, the treatment we mete out, the way we abuse and the general negative attitude we have of them - I would never want to endure in the life of me.  It would be an understatement to say 'It's not nice!' when you are made to feel the second best, not because of your ability, but merely for the colour of your skin or the passport you are holding. 

I have written extensively on the demigod status that some white-skinned folks enjoy in some societies including ours.  And I am still trying to find ways to convince people that a person is not better or worse than you simply because of his race or colour.  As the walls of separation came crushing down in the land of opportunities, I begin to believe that one day we would be free of all these shackles and live as equals in this southwest region of the galaxy.  The place may look like a little speck of dust from outer space, but we shall find that there's a room for us all, black and blue, white and green and all colours, on this planet after all.  So, I salute you, Mr. President Elect, and I join you in saying "Yes, We Can!" with much more enthusiasm and believe than when you first begun. 

One man spoke of his dream on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and said, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."  Just look at what had become of his dreams.  You have to dream big, and the dream will come to you eventually.

Some Photos from Mizoram, India

I was dreaming that once we got back to India, I would shoot away everywhere, and would come out with some wonderful pics on the land and the people of India, especially of Mizoram. Now, I realized that this takes time and energy and inspiration, and most of all sweat. After being here for almost a year I managed a few thousand pics, most of them of family members, and wish I could come up with better ones than what I have now here.

A mail from Mr. Menahem Fogel, of Jerusalem Post, asking for permission to use my photos inspired me to post these. So thanks to him.

See the Photos Here

Hong Kong Ahoy!

Arrival

Lindsay warned us that the red taxis are the urban ones and they are less likely to know where Sai O was and that it would be better for us to take the green ones since they were local to the New Territories and most of them by now know where the college was. Upon arrival my sweetheart and I consulted one another and decided that it was the red ones, not the green ones that he advised us to take. So, in we go, like sheep to the slaughter and rode the red one and the flag fall was 12.50 Hong Kong Dollars and we were told that it costs about 50 HK $ to get to our destination. Soon after the ride the meter read 50 Dollars but the driver showed no sign of slowing down and he sped on and we began to get a bit uneasy. But thinking that the amount may not be exactly $ 50, let’s wait a bit and then we can talk to Jane, so we thought. After reaching the bank of Sai kung village the meter read 140 dollars and we were then almost sure of either this that the driver had no idea of where he was going or he was trying to rip us off.

We talked to him in Putonghua (Mandarin) which he understood a bit but talked to us mostly in Cantonese which was Greek to us. Upon departure he did speak to someone on the radio and he got a response and was told the whereabouts but now we were lost and angry too. We rang up Jane and she talked to the driver and gave him a new direction and the driver took us back which was basically driving back the same way. 

When we reached Sai O junction we decided to get down and perhaps talk to Jane and may be get another taxi or wait for them to pick us up. We appeared very angry and upset and talked to the driver and insisted on paying him 50 dollars since that was what people usually pay from the University station anyway. Surprisingly enough, he was okay with the amount and he went off leaving us quite relieved in a way. We had thought that we were really in for it but to get off rather so easily was unbelievable and we just shot off a quick thank you note upwards. Just then a Caucasian looking guy was by and seemed like he was looking for someone, when he saw us getting off the cab with our backpacks he enquired if we were us, and we were so happy to see him. That was our first meeting of Lindsay, a colleague whom we have never met before. We also met his wife Jane on the way to the campus and she was so kind to cook us dinner as it was already getting a bit late to go elsewhere.

Entry
Hong Kong is one of the few foreign shores where you don’t need a visa even as an Indian passport holder. We do a bit better than Pakistan whose nationals need a visa to enter the city, but we are in the same categories as the Bangladeshis who can enter and stay for 14 days without a visa. As we crossed the border at Shenzhen we were held up at the immigration for about half an hour and were asked various questions which annoyed us a bit. It was more or less understandable since we heard of many stories about Indians and other illegal immigrants living in Hong Kong. The immigration and the taxi experiences put us off initially but the kindness and hospitality we received from Jane and Lindsay really made our day and we rest happily in our room at night.

Cost
Hong Kong is not that expensive if you think in terms of American Dollars, but for people like us who think in terms of Renminbi, things could be quite expensive. For example, a litre of milk costs 5 Renminbi in the mainland but here it costs 15 Dollars, that’s three times over. This is not expensive at all for the locals because they earn much more than the mainlanders. It will be more expensive if things are in terms of INR. What Lonely Planet said about the city becoming pricier is quite right.

Food is really expensive here but more familiar dishes could be found and there are quite a few Indian restaurants as well. Signs and menus are bilingual and a number of people speak English and this is such a great relief because as soon as you cross the border at Shenzhen, which is just half an hour away you could become a complete illiterate and also not too many people speak English. Transport in Hong Kong is excellent and most of the important places are accessible by either the Mass Transit Railway or the KCR. Octopus card is a necessity for people who are going to stay for more than two or three days. The card is accepted in a number of shops, ferry, buses and trains. You can get back the remaining amount of money and the rent (50 HKD) before you leave the city.

Places
There are many interesting places to visit in the New Territories, Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, Lamma Island and the outlying smaller islands but the best place to start in our opinion is the Victoria Peak. There’s a tram that goes up the peak every few minutes and the round trip will cost you 33 dollars which is a pittance when you consider the magnificent view it affords you from the Peak Tower. This trip is a must especially on a clear sunny day which we didn’t get when we were there. Pity!

We accidentally found out that most of the museums offer free entry on Wednesday including the Space Museum and the Art Museum. In the space museum, however, if you want to see the Omnimax show you have to pay around 20 dollars for the front stalls. The show was quite interesting. Walking along the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade that include the Avenue of Stars was a wonderful experience with the latest addition being a sculpture of Bruce Lee which was the right answer to the otherwise empty avenue. There you can trace Jackie Chan’s handprint which turned out to be quite large and also Jet Li’s and other famous Chinese stars and directors. The Ferry ride across the Hong Kong harbour was an experience to remember not only for its unbelievably low price (of 2 HK $ for the top desk) but for the wonderful view and experience it affords you for eight minutes.

There are so many interesting sights to see in Hong Kong that we realized we must need much more than a week to see all the interesting aspects of the city.

Information
The HKTB provides many booklets laden with priceless tourist information free of cost and make sure you pick them up at the airport or the border crossing at Shenzhen. They also provide a very informative tourist map and make sure you get the MTR, KCR and Ma On Shan Railway routes. The tourist information booklet will have the location of most of the important destinations right down to which exit you have to take in the subway and also which bus can get you to there.

Shopping
Lindsay introduced us to this saying about Hong Kong: If it’s not in Hong Kong, it may not be invented yet. This is a very unique city in the world where mostly anything could be found. You can shop till you drop here, literally. The business minded people mostly go to the whole sale market where you can find a lot of African (mostly Nigerians I guess) importers but not too many retail shops though. The Ladies’s Night Market has enough to drive any lady out of her mind for want of more money to buy more, and the Temple Street Market is as good a place as any in terms of choice and price but bring along your mastered art of bargaining.

Somebody was realy glad to find an Indian shop run by a Nepali family who sells things Indian mostly including jalebi and rosagulla and some Indian DVDs as well. However, we weren’t upto buying the red lentils (Dal) which was available for HK $ 160 a kilogram! That is 896 Indian Rupees, my word, that’s just way too much! Don’t be surprised if you see some Indian children playing crickets in the parks because a lot of Indians have settled down here since some of them came in here as British soldiers more than a hundred years ago and many other Indians are illegal immigrants as well. You might meet some of them trying to sell you ‘copy watch, copy watch’ as you walk along the touristic areas like Tsim Sha Tsui.

For those of you who are really into shopping you should drop into the Chinese embassy to get a visa to the mainland and go to Shenzhen where you can find most of the things you want at half the Hong Kong price. However, be prepared to face the crowd which can get really crazy and so much denser than it is in Hong Kong.

Pollution
A lot of Hong Kongers are complaining about the quality of air in Hong Kong which has become very polluted in recent years mainly due to the factory smoke from the neighbouring Guangdong province in the mainland China. But when you dig deeper into it you realize that most of the factories in Guangdong are owned by the Hong Kong businessmen. There you go, as people sow, so they do reap, don’t they? Ha-ha.

What is sad though is the pollution of some of the beaches here. Some of them are so polluted that people don’t swim anymore. Well, I don’t know too much to write more about that but that’s what people say anyway.

Hong Kong provides a wonderful get away and it’s friendly and accessible for everyone, that’s its uniqueness and its beauty.