Then and now - Fab 4

With the age of the digital camera - we have a plethora of images.  And a thousand ways to lose them too.   How many shots have perished due to hard disk crashes, or the mundane fact that we have forgotten them on some lonely disc somewhere?

Yesterday I came across a shot taken in May 2005.  It was of the fabulous 4 - Asha and Enoch with their super duper friends Nikita and Jasper.  The shot was - of all places - in the "JSK Positive Friends Confidential folder."  But there is was - the four wonderful friends who had already then become so close.  And it instantly reminded me of a shot from this weekend at Asha's B-day party.  

So here are the two shots together - with 4.5 years separating them:

The scary bit is how little Enoch seems to have changed - same haircut - same grimaces - down to wearing a yellow t-shirt (the same one now well bleached with age?).

When I went to retrieve the picture from the office computer today - I came across this portrait of Enoch and Nikita:

 - and was again reminded of a shot of the two of them that we took this Saturday near the oven while the pizza was being made.  Now we can see some differences:

 

What a huge privilege to have friends like Nikita and Jasper - who are literally growing up with you.   We are so grateful to John and Nalini Gabriel for sharing our lives over all these years - and for their lovely daughters who mean so much to our kids.

As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another is what we read in our Bible time tonight.  How sharp our fabulous 4 are after 13 years of friendship (with Enoch and Jasper's birth being well into our friendship as families).

Here is to many more years of friendship ahead!

B-day girl

Our darling turned 14 last week.

Has it really been 2 cycles of 7 years already since we saw her for the first time on a cold winter day in Jharkhand?

A full 14 years since Asha was carried by us for the first time as a independent small parcel of joy.

A full year of teenage-dom passed already - and well into her 8th standard in school, we stand in awe and delight when we consider the wonderful girl we are blessed with!

Naturally it's important to celebrate.

And so a day after her 16th Jan birthday anniversary, we celebrated with some of her friends.

Will you join us too?

As usual in the Eicher household, there were lots of last minute things to do.  Nothing is ever exactly where it should be - and fully on time.  But we had many hands at work!

It is especially nice to have Oma and Opa around.

Oma made the pizza sauce and got all the toppings ready.

We out-sourced Opa one of the tasks that he had done when I was a boy:  doing the icing for Asha's birthday cake!

 Which he did with his usual care and thoroughness.   This year we decided on a roller-coaster cake.

The challenge was keeping the upright portion from toppling over.  I made a cardboard brace as in the cake first started leaning to the right.

But by the time Opa was putting on the basic layer of icing, he had the opposite problem - the cake was now leaning to the other side.  Ever the engineer, he anchored it with an ingenious safety pin contraption.

And kept on icing.

 We chose the roller coaster because of Asha's love for adventure and thrills (something that we seem to be leaking these days - is this an effect of age?).

I remember a few years ago stopping by a small amusement fair in down town Thane as a family. Asha insisted on going up on a kind of whirling wheel where small buggies were swirled around a large spoke at high speed and 3 stories in the air.

I was the sacrificial lamb to go with her.  The contraption started out and I was horrified to see how close the jerry-built contraption was taking us to a large wall.   Asha, of course, was just chortling with joy at the whole thrill of the ride.  Needless to say, we did not repeat it - and many prayers for safety were positively answered having been fervently offered up by one parent being whirled around with Asha - and another parent watching from below!

As for this year - our thrills were virtual - and at a very small scale.  The final touches to the cake were added by me and voila!

The car at the top of the roller coaster has four folks riding in it.

Enoch and Asha take the front row.

And Oma an Opa the rear.

Now if this were only in real life, on some really vertigo inducing roller coaster - and not just a cake - we would have a very happy girl.

As it was - even at a small scale - we do have a happy girl.

This year has been one of adjustment.

A new school.  New curriculum.  New areas of being stretched - like having to take the school bus for 45 mins to an hour 15 mins each way, each day.

And finding that coming into a group of folks who have known each other for years as an 8th standard student is not easy (surprise: there are cliques!).

Some of these issues are still being worked out - but we are just thrilled to see what God is doing - and the immense further pontential that Asha has.  So we chose Eph. 2.10 for her verse this year.

And so we had games - sadly not the cerebral salad that we had hoped to toss together this time (maybe for Asha's 15th B-day party... if we start preparing now?) - but some rib-ticklers like trying to figure out words by having the letters written on the back (and having another team doing the same).

The lovely thing about laughter is just how infectious it can be.

Memo to self:  more laughter in 2015.

It is certainly good medicine!

Enoch and Harsh were paralysed with it in one of our games - allowing the other team to over take them twice because they just could not shake the giggles in their final lap of the relay.

Great minds at work - feverishly memorising the 49 different objects on display.

We have a bunch of bright kids around.  When the individual lists were pooled together, both teams almost managed to get all of 49 items by memory.

Perhaps the rigours of rote-learning and short term cramming are paying off - rewiring the brain into new shapes?

Memo to self: possible research project on learning styles

Time certainly flies when fun is in the skies - my list of games was not over as the darkness started to fall - and parents started circling ("no, please come up - we very much would like to have you" "we are in the vehicle and have a housing society meeting to attend...").

But some serious business was pending.  We gathered the troops and shared about what Asha meant to us and why we chose to remind ourselves that she - and each one of us - is 'God's masterpiece.'

Time to light the candles!  Gosh, 14 of them!  The numbers mean that some start making nice puddles of wax before everyone is lit....   But what a testimony of God's grace - a small light for each of the 14 years that we have had Asha with us.

 Asha took her big breath:

And huffed and puffed and blew them all out!

Cheers!

Nalini aunty prayed for Asha and blessed our darling girl.

And now for the next part of the party.

In a first for the Eichers, we had pizza to bake.  Thanks to our new oven that Oma and Opa blessed us with.

So each of the kids (and a few of the adults) got to 'decorate' their own pizza with toppings of their choice.

It seems a long way since my boyhood in Nana Chowk, but some things remain the same.

Hot pizza, made 'from scratch,' gladdens the soul - and belly - of many a boy and girl (and that includes bald 45-year-old-boys too).

The one thing missing is a raucous night-time chor-police game - but perhaps we live in a different age today. 

The ruffians that we were, we made our way through multiple compounds and over walls and past chowkidars in the pursuit of 'freeing' those in 'jail.'   I don't think that many 8th and 9th standard kids would do that today (but am very happy to be proved wrong!).

And so in went the beauties - and out came tasty treats!

12 pizzas.  All of 11 wolfed down on the night.

And 1 which remarkably made it through 48 hours before being demolished for breakfast by two hungry young people we know very well (esp. one whose name starts with E and ends with H).

Our using the new oven for baking still needs a bit of fine-tuning partly due to mysterious symbols which mean that we don't know what is 'bake' and what is 'toast' and an instruction book which is sparse on real instruction.

But as a pizza maker - big success!

As the conversation and laughter flowed around the rooms of our apartment - we had pizza after pizza popping up - and being claimed by their 'creators.'

Divya - one of Asha's friends from our building - decided to do her pizza toppings as a face.

Take that Pizza Hut!

Needless to say, it was promptly dispatched.

And so was the time - rapidly dispatched in the swirl of folks coming and going - of multiple conversations spanning rooms and worlds.

How wonderful to have a daughter - and to see the different folks that she brings together.  Friends who are here because of her.  And what a joy it has been to have John and Nalini Gabriel at each of the 14 birthday parties that Asha has had - stretching all the way back to the first party in 2002 when we had just found out that they lived nearby us in Borivali's IC Colony.

So sweet princess Asha...  here is to an amazing 15th year for you!

May this year really be a break-through one for you - where all the joy and delight of who you are spills out and overflows into the lives of others.

Where will you be next year?  Who knows... but our prayer is that you will have shared more of the joy of who you are, with more people and in more ways than we could imagine right now!

This past year was a big one - your baptism, your going to Odisha with Nikita, your shifting schools.

This coming year will I believe be even better.

Onwards and upwards!

Small wonder

We have a little boy staying at the Jeevan Sahara Kendra.

Shall we call him Vishwas?   Vishwas is 12.  He looks like he is between 8 and 9 years old.

But his dozen years have already exposed him to more experiences of pain than many an 80-year-old.

Vishwas came to our attention when Seema (name changed too) - a first generation member of a church in Alibaug heard from her daughter in Juhu that there were two boys on the pavement outside Cooper Hospital crying.

Seema went and found out that their mother was in the hospital dying.

She died.

So Seema took the boys home.  One was Vishwas.  We will call his younger brother Bikram.  Bikram is 6.  Both were living on the street.  When their father died, a relative pushed them out of their house in Dhobi Ghat.   Now their mother was dead.

Seema tried to care for both Vishwas and Bikram.  But her other family members rebelled.  A 59 year old widow, she found her sons angry with her for bringing the boys home - especially since Vishwas was sick and thin.  His arms had sores on them.  His eyes were infected.  And then they found out he is HIV positive.

That was it.  A series of arguments ended with Seema reluctantly taking Vishwas back to the pavement - and asking a local woman to look after him.  At the same time she told the elder of her church - a fiery doctor well known to us - about her predicament and the situation Vishwas is in.

And so Vishwas was brought to a little boy.  We did not know how we were going to care for him.  He started out with us with a week of high spiking fever.  104 degrees at one point.  A lot of prayer.  A lot of love.

And soon Vishwas' smile emerged:

Vishwas has perforated ear drums so finds it hard to hear.  He has so many things going against him - but he was lapped up the love he gets at the JSK centre from all our staff and visitors.  And we have  already seen how much potential this standard 2 drop-out, this boy without a home, but this boy whom God loves so much has!

Health-wise Vishwas has recovered much.  He has gained over 2 kgs.  One of our staff brings him lunch every day from her home.  We have started him on anti-retroviral therapy.  His skin condition is a lot better than before.  His eyes have cleared up.

Vishwas loves to hear stories.  He has a children's Bible and enjoys finding out what Jesus has done.  He was recently given a stuffed toy tiger whom he called 'Karan.'  We have a volunteer who has started teaching him some basic lessons to while we try and figure out the next steps.

Vishwas needs a home.  Not an orphanage -though we thank God for our colleagues who work in the various places that care for destitute kids.  Vishwas needs to be adopted - or at least fostered.  He needs to have parents who will pour their love into some of the gaping holes in his life.  He needs models that he can see and learn how people relate to each other. How they share.  How people talk and forgive and plan and laugh and work out problems and celebrate on a limited budget.  Vishwas needs parents who will pray into his life.  Cry for him and with him.  Work hard to help rebuild his already deeply scarred life.

In short - Vishwas needs a family.

Will you pray with us that he finds one.  And finds one soon?

But in the mean-time he continues to spread joy.  As I was writing this, he came into my office with a big 'mosquito killing racket' - an electric device that looks like a tennis racket which you swing at the mozzies to knock them down with a shock.   Strangely no mosquitoes in my normally infested office!

Yesterday Sheba told me a beautiful thing.  Vishwas has been joined by 3 other folks at our JSK centre.  A woman who was in prostitution till last week - whom colleagues of ours are helping to transition to a new life - and who was quite sick and so needed stabilisation.   A mother and her daughter - both with bad TB as a result of their HIV ravaged bodies.

The daughter - we will call her Kirti - is 11 years old.

Vishwas saw that she was not eating as she does not have an appetite.  Vishwas went to her and told her that he is also sick, and that he also found it hard to eat, but that she should eat because she will get strong again.

The little girl was so touched that she ate the whole plate.

Small wonders from our small wonder.

A night to remember - celebrating 100 years of God's faithfulness!

Mum and Dad were drinking coffee with their dear friends Dave and Cathy Hicks.  It was just before 6 PM and they were on the last evening of a two day personal retreat – a time when both couples shared with each other, laughed and cried together, and did a lot of praying.   That evening they had planned to go out for a special meal to celebrate their ‘youngest’ – Dave Hicks’ upcoming 70th birthday.  Having stepped out of the campus and seated in the coffee shop – who should Mum see walking outside the window but her old friend Martha Udom!
Mum rushed out and brought Martha in to join them.  “Martha, what are you doing here?” she asked.  Martha was pleased to see them but evasive.  “I am here to attend a meeting” she said.  “Who is speaking at it?” asked Mum and Dad. “Well, there will be different speakers” said Martha – and after a few more questions, she extracted herself and went on to her meeting.

The foursome walked back onto the campus.  Mum and Dad had earlier met an ex-bar-keeper-now-preacher from Goa who was also staying in the same retreat centre.  This man told them that he had come to Mumbai with his wife to hold special meetings for some hundreds of people.   “Why don’t we check out the meeting?” Dave Hicks suggested to Mum and Dad. “Why not?” they said and walked over to a nearby hall.  

Who should they meet just outside the hall, but P.P. Daniel – Mum and Dad’s old-time colleague from the late 1960s in Operation Mobilisation.  Mum was stunned.  “What are you doing here brother P.P?”  she blurted out.  “I am here to attend a special meeting” he said and after a few seconds went inside the hall with his wife.  Mum was amazed to see a person she had not met for over 30 years.   

The front of the hall had tea being served - and a single figure was drinking it.  Mum looked closer and saw Carol Alter drinking tea.  “Carol!” she bleated.  What are you doing here?  “Have some tea” said Carol “it’s very good.”  Mum gratefully took a cup and launched into excited chatter to see her long-time friend here.   Dad had in the mean time walked into the hall.   A few moments later he came back.   “Darling, come immediately” he said and dragged her into the hall.

Dad had seen the real reason everyone was there.  Walking into the back of the hall with Dave Hicks, he saw people holding candles and singing ‘how great thou art.”  The person leading the songs in the front was his son Andi.  “Amazing that Andi and his church are doing a meeting on this campus” thought Dad.  Then he saw this banner in the front:
 

Having sung "How great thou art" through once already, and having repeated the chorus twice already and having seen Dave and Cathy Hicks come in with my father wearing his dark blue hat - but still standing at the back, we were straining our necks, waiting for the happy couple to come to the front.   But where was Mum?

She was still outside drinking tea with Carol Alter.  Dad dragged her into the hall and Sheba went back to bring them to the front.

The surprise was sprung!  And what a wonderful success it turned out to be.  The months of planning had worked - Mum and Dad had no idea that there was an evening celebration for them - a time when their friends from near and far could come and celebrate God's goodness in their lives.
 
And so it was that at just after 6 PM on the 7th of January 2015 we had one of the most special evenings we have ever experienced.
 

Last year in November Mum and Dad completed 50 years of service in India.  We had wanted to organise something then but it didn't work out.   But John Gabriel spurred us on.  "You must do something for  Mum and Dad" he insisted.  And then when we found out that Dave and Cathy Hicks - Mum and Dad's dear friends from 1967 - would be visiting in early January we knew that something could be done.
 
Step 1 was to get into Dad's email account.  It worked like a dream because he had just had someone transfer all his addresses to a 'mail chimp' programme.  I asked him for the password and voila - access to 1500+ addresses of Mum and Dad's dear friends from around India and around the world.  We set up an email account and wrote an email to everyone on the list - telling them about Mum and Dad having achieved a century of service together - and asking them to write in to the 'secret account' with their memories, thoughts and best wishes.
 
And from mid November the entries started coming in.  I knew that I would not have time to edit all these items with the swirl of the World AIDS Day and our JSK thanksgiving - so it was going to have to be only during the Christmas break that the editing would start.  And so many nights were spent downloading, reformatting, and making the book.   In the end we a special memory book with 250 pages worth of treasured thoughts and ideas from so many of Mum and Dad's friends.
 
And then there was the matter of getting a meeting where people could come and rejoice together with Mum and Dad - when this memory book was to be given to them. 
 
So we got Dave and Cathy to email Mum and Dad and invite them to a two-day retreat for both couples. We booked a Catholic Retreat centre in Andheri for this - after we were able to book a special hall on the same campus for the Thanksgiving time on the 7th of January.
 
Then there was the matter of contacting the local folks and a few special guests from outside Mumbai.   Emails and phone-calls went on over December and early January - and we finally had a list of about 90 odd folks who said they were joining us.
 

And so Mum and Dad walked into this gathering - seeing glimpses of people they knew and loved by candle-light - as the rousing strains of the Eicher band - Enoch on the keyboard, Asha on violin and Sheba and myself on vocals helped take everyone through our third chorus of 'how great thou art."  Everyone present held up their candles as a salute to Mum and Dad as Sheba escorted them to the front of the hall.

With Mum and Dad safely seated it was time to put on the lights - and have people introduce themselves.  What a joy to have so many of Mum and Dad's friends speak out words of blessing and tell about how many years they have known them.  And so many were from the very beginning.
 

Rob Sinclair - resplendent in his flowing white beard and his Enfield shirt - came forward to pray.  Rob and Carol are on a 5 month stint in India - driving a Royal Enfield motorcycle across India.  They had parked their beast in Ahmedabad and flown in for this night. 
 

Then uncle Alfy Franks took the floor to share from God's Word.  Uncle and Dad had worked together for so many years in Operation Mobilisation.  Using the passage about the Israelites facing the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them,  Uncle Alfy encouraged us all not to be afraid - but to stand firm and trust in God for all the situations we may be facing.  Looking back on the challenges and joys that he and Dad had experienced - Uncle told us that God has been faithful - and will continue to be.
 

It was my pleasure then to give a pictoral overview of Mum and Dad's lives through images from their childhood and their 5 decades of joint ministry in our country.  What an opportunity to look back in wonder on how God has been good to them - and how they in turn poured themselves into others.
 
We then had 3 special folks come up and share about what Mum and Dad meant to them.   First up were our main conspirators - Dave and Cathy Hicks.  

They presented Mum and Dad with special jolly looking mugs - to commemorate the '1 crore cups of tea' that Mum had made in her hospitable kitchen - and the 'half a crore cups of tea' that Dad had drunk in the course of those years!   They also presented Mum and Dad with towels to signify the servanthood that Mum and Dad exhibited over all these years.    Bro Rajendran came up and thanked God for Mum and Dad's service to Jesus.
 
The Eicher choir then led the gathering in a version of "He is able" before Naomi and Emmanuel Nathan shared their memories and Chris Williams from Pune came up to pray for them - and present them with a big study Bible!

We sang another old song - one which the late Chris Begg wrote - "for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord."  

Next we were blessed to have Claire Hivner - who along with her husband Rick had flown up from Bangalore to be with us - share the special way that Mum and Dad had ministered to her and others.   

Pastor Stanley Mehta remembered how Dad would always keep the 'tract rack' at Bombay Baptist Church full with different languages - and offered further thanks to God.  To remember that era, we all sang "Majesty" together.

We then had Rob and Carol Sinclair come up to present the memory book - and then it was finally time for Mum and Dad to share their thoughts.   

Mum told us all - to our utter delight - that the whole evening was a complete and total surprise for her.  She was just overwhelmed with the joy of seeing so many of their old friends and colleagues from across the years all gathered in one place.   Joy was beaming from her face - and we all reflected it back to her.

Dad took more time - and spoke movingly about God's amazing faithfulness to them as a couple - and to every person in the room with whom they are all so intimately linked.   He reflected back on his own birth and being chosen by the Lord to share the joy of Jesus with others - and on some of the experiences that he and uncle Alfy and others had experienced in their OM days.  Both the dark hours as well as times of great joy and encouragement when they saw God answer prayers of faith.
 
We had Ajay Shandilya come up to pray - a miracle in itself after his recent multiple hospitalisations and surgeries - and then all held hands to rousingly sing 'bind us together Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken."   

It was fitting to have John Gabriel come up to give the final thanksgiving for the food - since he and his family have all along been our major encouragers to have such a night for Mum and Dad.

The meeting broke up in the best way possible - clusters of people talking and laughing with each other - enjoying a delicious meal outside and catching up on years gone by.   Mum and Dad barely ate of course, as their dear friends smothered them with love. 
 

Looking back 3 days after that magical evening, we still get goosebumps -  to have so many of the people who are so precious to Mum and Dad together in one place... to see the deep love and affection and the way that God has shaped so many of these dear ones through Mum and Dad... to have a small role in facilitating a small set of thanksgiving for the immense mountain of love that Mum and Dad have invested in others... to see our Lord Jesus honoured all through the evening - with it beingso clear that Mum and Dad are simple people who have allowed themselves to be instruments of healing and joy for so many, as tools in the hands of their loving Master.   To be able to give Mum and Dad a book with so many amazing stories and wishes of their loved ones from around the world... and that all of this was a genuine, lovely and cherished surprise for Mum and Dad... we are very grateful. 

 
 It was almost twelve when we sacked out at our dear friends John and Nalini's home in Powai.  Our kids and their kids would be going to school the next day to Bombay Scottish which is next door to them.  It took a while to sleep because of the wide grin I had on my face.   The smile continues...
 
We will of course never be able to fully thank God - and thank Mum and Dad for all that they have done - and all that they are to us and to so many others.  But the surprise night of Jan 7th 2015 marked a lovely glimpse of thanksgiving and joy for the century of love and service that Mum and Dad have given to so many in our beloved country.   A joy-drenched evening of delight.  A small taste, an appetizer of what lies ahead, when our Lord Himself will say "well done, good and faithful servants."

- picture credits - most photos taken by Edmund Peter Francis - with the last 3 taken by K. Rajenderan.  Thanks guys for letting us use these shots!

Thankful

Each year we give thanks.

For another year.

For another set of miracles (some seen and many unnoticed).

For being alive.

When we do this with people who are HIV positive it has a special spin to it.  A number of the folks who were here last year are no more.

Some have moved away.  Others have died.

But so many are still around.

And then some show up again.  Like young Samir (name changed) who had run away from an orphanage, and whose widowed mother had moved away with the man she was living with.  But just last week we got a call from Samir.  And here he was today.  All of 15.  'Grown up' almost feral.

But the bulk of folks who came tonight of the Jeevan Sahara Kendra annual Positive Friends Thanksgiving time - were folks who are moving deeper.  Deeper into stability.  Deeper into relationships.   Deeper into health.  Deeper into making sense of the challenges they face.

Not everyone has everything figured out.  But what a privilege to be along with the our friends for the journey.  And how humbling to see so many come tonight.

We prepared for weeks.  With over 100 volunteers of various kinds.  There was just so much to do.

Our staff and volunteers met for prayer and preparation for weeks before.   They invited families.  Planned the refreshments.  Ordered and purchased.  Gave generously. Made last minute orders when our cake-suppliers backed out at the last minute.  Made a large display out of over a hundred slips which our Positive Friends filled out - expressing their gratitude for what they have experienced in 2014.   Purchased gifts for each family.  Packed and wrapped.  Decorated the campus.  Registered and welcomed our guests.  Sang and did skits.  Served refreshmenst and gave gifts.  Spent time with families.  What a blessing to have folks from so many different churches all serving together.  A seamless stream of people helping out in so many ways.  Living answers to prayers.

And suddenly - today is the day.  After a thunderstorm woke me up at 2 AM - and caused a mild flutter of worry, we were off and running at 3 PM in the golden afternoon sun of a Mumbai 'winter'  (short sleeves of course).

Our dear friend Danny got us off to a great start and ably guided the programme through - a 3.5 hour programme that smoothly and beautifully unfolded as lives were shared - songs were sung with joy - and we enjoyed looking back with gratitude and ahead with anticipation.






What do you do when you are happy?

Why you sing of course!

And when you have Dr. Emmanuel Isukuru tickling the keys - well, then you sing all the more.  We were blessed to sing together - as one big family.  And to have folks from the Living Water Community Church and the UBM Thane Sunday School sing for us.  A poignant skit from the Thane Marthoma Church youth rounded off the first part of the programme - and that was after we heard the heart-warming story of Titing - a young Burmese theological student who is volunteering with us for a week.  She told of how she had stepped on a land-mine and lost her leg - but how later she found the joy of Jesus - and what a difference it is to her.  Despite the pain of her prosthesis, Titing keeps wanted to go out with our home-based care staff to meet our Positive Friends in their homes - and what a blessing to hear her share her story.

Further blessings in store...

Dr. Stephen Alfred teamed up with bro Devraj, his translator (always fun to hear a message twice when you know both languages) to let us rejoice in the wonderful news of God who has become one of us.  Has made himself knowable.  Has taken flesh.  Who cares.  Who cries with us.  Who comforts and changes us.  And who has triumphed over sickness and sin and death.

All through the evening we heard stories of people's lives being changed.  Shaped anew.  Blessed and touched by our dear Lord Jesus.

Some were able to stand up and say that they have been living with HIV for 15 years.  Others told about how they just found out they had the disease.  Some spoke eloquently. Others simply.  Some with tears.  All shared what God has done.  As the sky went dark around us, we came to the end of our time of thanksgiving.  Grateful.  Glad.

And so another amazing time had come to an end.  We had prepared 550 food packets.  All were gone at the end of the night. What a blessing to be alive.  And to be able to tell the tale.

Thankful.

A gift, a read, a treat

Each year for the past number of years we get Christmas gifts from the Applebys in Scotland.  Merryn and I were classmates many moons ago at Woodstock - and the whole Appleby clan - Merryn's husband Alistair and their lovely sons Sam and Luke stopped through Thane a few seasons ago.

The gifts are always a treat.  Arriving well before Christmas (you can tell Merryn grew up as a 'missionary kid' in a postally-structured era), the package will have Merryn's distinctive hand-writing on the cover.  Each year we get a cheery note on a colourful social-cause-supporting-card.

Previous gifts are still very much in circulation.  Excellent children's books (read by both generations of Eichers).  A CD of TS Elliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" (read by Sir John Gielgud!). The list goes on.

Sadly, we have not been sending stuff from Thane to Scotland.  And yet true friends don't give up. They keep giving!

And look what arrived this year.

It's a book.

Yes, a book.

But not any old book.

This is Merryn's first novel.

Oh frabjous day! Callooh callay!

I can peek through the hand made rice paper and know for sure that it is "A House Called Askival" - Merryn's debut novel which talks of Mussoorie, and missionaries, and empire, and lives lost and regained, and everything in between.

Merryn has been writing for years - publishing short stories and having radio readings and plays. Now she joins the big league with her agent getting her published with Freight Books.

Take a look at what people are saying about Askival by clicking: here

Expect my own take in a few weeks.

I can't wait.

And I still use the Landour Cookbook - almost every other week.

Talking in a local train

Two men got in a local train.  For Mumbai standards it was ‘empty’ – which means that people could actually sit down.  One sat opposite our friend Arbind.  The other sat next to Arbind.

And then they started talking.

“How that fellow died!” said the man in front of Arbind.

“Listen” chimed in the man beside him “he died of HIV!  His wife also had HIV.  They both had it.  Within one month of each other both were dead!”

“That fellow used to go to the bars and over there he had a girl.  He had a relationship with her and spread it to his family.”

“Looks like his kids will have it too.  They were with him the whole time – they also sleep in his bed”

After hearing this much of the conversation Arbind could not remain silent anymore. 

He chimed in: “Listen, HIV does not spread this way.   We do things that are not right – and then we find out that we are trapped. 

But kids don’t contact HIV that way.   A mother who is pregnant may pass it on to her unborn child.  That’s how some kids get HIV.  But even then, if the mother gets the treatment at the right time, her child will not be born with the disease.”

Both men were quiet and listening attentively as the local train continued to rumble ahead.

“People say that do whatever you want, just use a condom and you are safe.  That’s hardly the truth.  God has given each one of us a wife.  We must be faithful to her.  That’s what gives us security.”

Arbind then hugged the man next to him.

“Look – HIV does not spread this way” he said “It is not a disease that spreads by casual contact.  We can eat with a person with HIV, use their clothes, sleep in beds they have used, do all the daily acts of life without fear.  HIV will not infect us.”

“But if we step outside that patterns of healthy relationships that God has set for us” Arbind continued “then we are putting ourselves at risk.”

“God has given each one of us a wife – why not be faithful to her?”

“Look – all of us who are sitting in this train.  None of us is worthy to even sit here and be alive.  But God loves us and that is why He helps us.”

The men looked at Arbind.  One of them said: “Sir, where are you from?”

Arbind answered: “I am from Bihar.”

“Yes sir” said the man “that is what I thought, I am also from Bihar.”

“Look” said Arbind “if any of us has done something that puts us at risk for HIV – we need to get tested.  Go to an Integrated Testing and Counselling Centre for an HIV test to find out the truth.”

“If you find out that you or your loved one has the disease, then there is free medicine available which you can take and live a healthy life!”

“If you need any help for anything related with HIV, you can approach the Jeevan Sahara Kendra which is at the Old Lok Hospital building in Thane.  They will help you and your loved ones for sure!”

One of the men got up as his station had come and respectfully left.   A few stops later Arbind and the other man got up as they had reached the station they were travelling too.

Our words can bring death... or life.

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Arbind serves in one of the Indian armed forces and has taken leave to come and spend time helping out with Jeevan Sahara for these past two weeks.  He is a blessing to us all – and speaks truth with love in various settings.  Yesterday he was travelling by train for some personal work when the above conversation took place.