Keep Walking!

Image by cynthia_groth from Pixabay #Faith #Australia ‘Is there a story behind your name?’, I asked. ‘Indeed, there is!’, replied my colleague. When my colleague’s mother was pregnant with her, the doctors advised the mother not to proceed with the baby as the baby had ‘some’ complications and may not survive a full-term and it is risky to go ahead with the baby. Her mom replied, ‘No, I have faith in my baby and she will survive!’ (By the way, in Australia, it is okay to know the sex of the baby before birth) and went ahead with the baby and delivered a healthy, full-term baby. The Australian mom named her baby, “Faith”. #Miracle #India The baby was in a breech (abnormal) position for birth and the chances of a normal delivery seemed remote. As the baby is also a premature one, the doctors informed the mother, that if it is going to be a C-section, it is tricky and they will isolate and observe the baby for few days in a separate room. They further added, “Let us wait for a cou...

When I moved from Melbourne to this new town called Gympie in Queensland, I knew no one. I had known only few of my office colleagues whom I met during the interview. Having just returned from a crowded family holiday in India, no wonder I felt alone. I was undergoing a dilemma whether I had made the 'right move' to come to the 'right place'. I found a small unit house, locked myself and spent my time either watching movies or browsing the Internet until my neighbour knocked my door one day. My neighbour was standing at the door with a basket of goodies that had tea, sugar, noodles and rice. I thought he was delivering it to a wrong address. He smiled and said, "This is my way of welcoming you to the neighbourhood, mate. Enjoy yourself". Whenever I returned from office, he would catch hold of me for a few small talks on what he did on that day and ask me few questions on what I did at work. After those chats, after a few days, things started improving. I st...

In The Autobiography of a Yogi , Swami Yogananda says, "Of all the relationship, the highest order is Friendship. Because, all other relations develop or come out of some expectations / commitment etc. Like Father / Daughter, Husband / Wife, Relative etc .. they demand some commitment in return.. But only Friendship asks for nothing and provides you everything!" Have you ever had that feeling, 'Ah, I swear that I said something similar to someone!' when you read something? I did write in an email a nearly similar quote as you read above and found that now in my gmail archive. I save chats, emails and everything (long live Gmail!) and I could easily search what I said, wrote in the last few years. me : do u know all other relationships expect something from the other person... except friendship ..which is unconditional , doesnt demand anything Great people think alike, huh?

I like listening to kids (4 and below) and elderly people (70 and above) - grand 'kids'. I believe they have very beautiful stories to share with me. The guys and gals in between, no offense but you all are plain boring (myself included). Let me try to explain why. We have lost the real of joy of living; enjoying the present moment without worrying about what's coming next. When a person smiles and waves at you in the streets, you look them suspicious as if they come looking for your money. We search for money, relationships, love, power, recognition and everything else at present. We postpone present happy moments for 'future happiness' that may not arrive. Endless search for some things that we think we don't have. We never satisfied with what we have. While at office, we would be thinking of home and while at play, we would be worrying about next day's troubles in office. We are all searching for something with so much greediness that we have forgotten ho...

Neither I dislike pets nor do I hate them. We have never had pets at home in India. My grandma didn’t like it and my mom didn’t like it, so we didn’t have a pet at home. It is an old saying that ‘Soldiers like Dogs and Artists like Cats’. I am not sure if I fit into either of those categories but, I like kittens and puppies more than their adult versions. Pets have always seen me as a friendly person, I am fortunate that way not to receive any bites from any of the pets I have encountered with. When I moved to the current house, my housemate asked if it is OK for him to have pets. I replied affirmative as long as I don’t encounter a big, fiery dog. But, the pet turned to out to be a black cat. Neither he was a cat nor was he black. I would rather call him a kitten and brownish black. I asked if the kitten has a pet name but, my housemate said he had forgotten to think of a name. He called it simply ‘Kittie’. My housemate’s way of taking care of pets is just ignoring them 90% of the ti...

my friends , originally uploaded by Sammani G . Whenever I happened to be with a parent watching a genius baby shown on television show, without any doubt they would exclaim, "How fortunate the kid's parents are to have such a genius kid!" and go on to tell stories about their "ordinary kids". Well, all babies are created equal (No pun intended) and as they are geniuses to start with. The things go down hill from then on. It is the parents job to nurture them and keep them as geniuses. Most of the parents thrust their own wishes and thoughts on kids and kids grow up living their parents' dreams. Wikipedia defines " Genius " as "a person of great intelligence, who shows an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work." The problem is that parents do not allow the babies to retain their originality. And the the world that the parents grew up is not here anymore. Children have plenty of...

I saw the wonderful gesture of Meg at her BlogPond about showing Christmas link love (Nice idea!). Thanks Meg, we are honoured. Well, I was thinking of a similar thing and I have already made the arrangements (bought stuff) to reward my readers. There are no conditions or strings attached to this offer. How sweet..! So, what's the offer? I am going to mail you a real, signed Christmas & New Year postcard to your home. There are 24 cards in total, 12 for Australian readers and 12 for readers outside Australia (All taken) . What do you need to do? Just send me your postal address to my email-id tmurugan @ gmail dot com. That's pretty much it. For the convenience of other readers (to avoid disappointments), you may leave a comment below saying 'One card taken, 11 to go' with your Name (nickname is OK, too) and your Country. When the comment count reaches 12 + 12, people will know all the cards are booked. When is the last date? I want to post it by 12th December, 20...

I am thankful to God for guiding me in a good path to appreciate everything I come across. I am thankful to my mother who taught me to see this world with new eyes. I am thankful to my father who let me to make my decisions that shaped my life. I am thankful to my sister who showed what love mean and how we can enrich life with love. I am thankful to my best friend who brought faith when I was in dark and inspired me to look beyond failures. I am thankful to all my friends who showered care and affection in my path. Above all, I am thankful to you, my blog-friends, who showed limitless love and appreciation which inspires me everyday. with love and compassion, we can build a better world. Happy Thanksgiving! Courtesy: Me, I wrote this poem! -Thiru ;o) What You are Thankful For?

(photo courtesy: Kunal Daswani ) Today (8th November), Diwali is being celebrated by Hindu community in India. But, it is grown out of its 'religious festival' tag and now Indians living in every part of the world. (photo courtesy: h_v_santhosh ) Diwali or Deepavali is an Indian festival that signifies hope and victory of good over evil. It is as significant as Christmas for the rest of the world. In the Indian mythology, 'Ramayana' it commemorates the victory of 'Lord Rama' (good) over the evil 'King Ravana'. (photo courtesy: Shooz ) People celebrate the victory of good by wearing new clothes, lighting lamps (deepas), bursting firecrackers, eating sweets and sharing good thoughts and words with other. (photo courtesy: isal_leuven ) If an Indian works with or studies with you, say ' Happy Diwali' . Certainly, you would get lot of funny stories.

I had to catch a plane for Hamilton from Melbourne, Essendon airport. I travelled by a taxi and reached the Essendon airport thinking that I will have my lunch and browse (wireless) internet for a while before catching my plane in 3 hours. But, Essendon airport looked like a ghost aerodrome. There was no one at sight and the only café at the airport was closed for Sunday (duh). I was hungry. I looked around and asked a passer-by if there is a café nearby. He said, 'Nope, you have to travel to the nearest suburb to find one'. Since I had enough time, I thought I would go by a Taxi and get something to eat. I called for a cab and it came in few minutes. 'Hey! You called for a cab?' asked the Chinese cab driver. I said, 'yes'. "Where do you want to go?" "To the nearest café. May be McDonalds or something." "Oh, I see you are hungry. After having lunch, where do you want to go?" "I want to come to this place (same airport) again. ...

According to Myers-Briggs , I am INFP - that is The Myers-Briggs system measures people in four areas...subdivided by two functions How a person relates to others (either by Extraversion or Introversion) How a person takes in information (either by Sensing or iNtuition) How a person makes decisions (either by Thinking or Feeling) How a person orders their life (either by Judging or Perceiving) Visit Myers-Briggs Introduction page to know which type you belong to. So, by this classification - I worked out (roughly) - INFP and what does that signify? And then visit the Sixteen Types of Myers-Brigg page to know more about yourself. I am a Dreamer - an Idealist . Well, I do not agree to that completely.

Australia is seen as one of the very few peaceful countries. It is isolated from world's chaos, boasts multi-cultural living and provides a rich standard-of-living. The gradual increase in the flow of immigrants supports that fact. Today, I met an Ethiopian taxi driver while traveling to home. I usually start the conversation with a brief question on weather (Is it going to be hot for the next few days) or just asking about them (How was your day or How are you doing). Today, I saw this brown-skinned man (happy, because me too!) and asked him if he is from Srilanka. He said, 'No, I am from Ethiopia. Most of the people mistake me seeing my colour'. He said his name is Alam. A song was playing in the music player. I asked what kind of music it is. He told it is a music album released by an Indian-born Ethiopian musician. The music was very lively and would make you tap your dance feet. So, the conversation continued like this... How long have you been here in Australia? Just ...