Chapter 11
We took the Shatabdi Express from Kanpur to Delhi , we reached twelve noon in the blistering heat of the month of may. Took an taxi to the airport .
We had eaten a good breakfast on the train , carried some biscuits and dry stuff . Reached the airport very early , checkin was at 10 in the night . We managed with the biscuits for lunch and coffee from the stall. My guardian angel was with me. The security personal instructed us to take our luggage cart with us when we went to rest room. The restuarent was on the second floor approached by an inclined pathway. I was managing the cart which was a Herculean task.
My school senior lives in Delhi , I called him and she gave the phone number of Mr Amit Kaushik who works in Air India office on the airport . I called him and he sent sandwiches , patties and coke for us in lounge.
Dr Magd Bakr was there in Dubai on break from Saudi Arabia she is medium tall with brown hair wears a hijab called burkha in India .A lady eye surgeon who came to study under Dr Mehmood Rehmani an eminent eye specialist of kanpur, I’m a gym enthusiast and was a member of the health club of the hotel Landmark for almost ten years , she had been staying there while she was doing her course. I bonded instantly with her had been working in the gulf therefore loved mughal art .I gave her my painting of Ruth and Noami . She sent me a photograph of her drawing room where the painting is displayed.
I sometimes fly to USA by Air Emirates s , decided to break journey for some sight seeing. Dubai airport has a magnificient welcome area . In most terminals there are huge posters of the bollywood superstar Salman Khan and his NGO ‘Being Human’ .Amid the sands of the desert , Dubai an exotic city offering the visitor a fascinating kaleidoscope of contrasts a blend of distinct modern and timeless desert. I had expected to see only Bedouin arabs and camels.Dubai skyline is decorated with skyscrapers ,prominent are the towers Burj Al Arab and Burj Al Khalifa. The downtown , Unique Palm jumerah is a manmade island extends into the Persian gulf. We were put up in hotel Al-karama in Bur Dubai ,that evening was booked for dinner on Dhow cruise in the Dubai marina . A chauffer driven car came to collect us that evening, lined by dhows the creek offered a picturesque glimpse of the trading heritage,there were water taxi ‘abra’ for crossing the creek.I was wearing my favourite blue chiffon frock . Mom wore a silk sari . Back in India , I had gone to Habib’s hair saloon now my black tresses were highlighted with blonde streaks . I was wearing silver jewellery.My eyes are black, I guess I looked like a spanish or Mexican lass
This was my first time in Dubai naturally I was excited sitting on the deck looking out in the gulf ,the golden lights of the marine drive. Most guests were with their children or visiting spouses. The evening was exquisite , the breeze flowing in from the Arabian sea , the music ,the food and there was dance floor complete with a DJ inside the dhow. Many couples decided to shake a leg to the music after dinner.
We were lucky to have Many Europeans as our dinner partners ,they were courteous and intelligent. Evening ended on a perfect note.The next evening I was going on desert safari , daytime I was going for guided Dubai tour. We parted after dinner both going different ways I went back to Al-Karama . Majd was catching a flight to Jeddah city the next evening so we decided to meet in Jeddah in future put up a painting exhibition .
The tourist guide took us in an airconditioned bus around the modern Dubai, Jumeria Mosque and Beach , Al –Fahidi fort houses a museum. One of Dubai greatest attractionfor visitors its superb shopping,being an open port with low port duties, it boasts of the world’s largest retail gold markets or gold souk contrast are the narrow lanes of the spice souk ,redolent with cloves,cardmom,dry fruits,incense imported from all over the middle east.
That afternoon we went to the Dubai mall ,a unique shopping place with food and beverage courts,department stores with all major fashion brands dedicated to haute couture.
The mall promenade opens onto the Burj Al Khalifa spectacular musical fountain set on the Burj Al Khalifa lake. There is aquarium with a walk through tunnel Olympic size ice rink .
We wandered around the mall , watched the dolphins perform and skated on the ice rink .
Lunch was fun ,we ate mutton pulao which is actually meat and rice cooked in a delicious way. I’m is a real glutton , love Zarda ,a desert made from rice with dry fruits.
I had eaten these dishes in India , as our family friend Mrs Tahsin Hashmi is an excellent cook.
Evening again the chauffer came to collect us for the desert safari . Desert safari has its own charm with the camel rides and sand scooters .The entire evening I was very lonely , missing Majd who was both funny and intelligent companion who must be boarding her flight when I was watching the Belly dancers .
I came back tired , just went to sleep ,in few hours we had to catch a flight . The phone rang it was the airport escort service giving their first wakeup call. I brushed my teeth ,combed my hair and checked out of my hotel room wearing the pink satin dress of the previous evening. I was really tired , and went off to sleep as soon as the plane took off.
I want to mention that the actor Sharukh Khan has huge bunglow in Palm island.
He has acted as wells produced the movie “ Happy New Year’ shot in the hotel Atlantis and Dubai Mall
Painting is my hobby what pleasure it gives to paint the the biblical heroines . From childhood I loved drawing and painting ,I was encouraged by parents who provided me with painting tools and paper, some of my oil paintings adorn the walls of our tiny cottage.
Now I paint on cloth with fabric colors ,since this canvas can be easily folded and stored.
Ruth the epitome of a perfect daughter in law ,she followed her Naomi to Bethlehem Israel , leaving her birthplace the land of Moab somewhere in modern Syria . Naomi wept all day and lamented for her dead husband and two sons .Ruth worked as laborer in the wheat fields to earn her livelihood,she did it without grumbling even though she had never done this work .Boaz was the rich relative of Naomi who helped the poor damsel. Ruth interacted with Boaz as her mother in law instructed her. Naomi married Ruth to him eventually .
I always think of Ruth’s pure character , obedience to her mother in law , strong decisive nature , confidence in herself , ready to face the unknown among strangers , something we should uphold is her faith in Jehovah
United Arab Emirates includes Bahrain whose capital is Muscat in the vicinity of this city is the tomb of Prophet Job whose steadfast faith in Jehovah is commendable . he was tested by satan ,lost his children ,his wife ,wealth and health .job continued to praise Jehovah never uttered a word against him. He’s an epitome of faith , who never faltered.
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HOUSTON 2012
Pastor Tom Punnoose had gone on a prayer ministry of forty days around USA in 2006 , his wife Elisabeth had accompanied him . He has written a book narrating his day to day experiences. The book has been awarded in Canada
He came to Christ Church College and interacted with the students, I invited him for tea in Landmark hotel , that evening he met mother and presented us with a copy of his book.
He invited us to his home in Houston ,Texas .It was God’s plan that we both went to USA in the summer of 2012 enroute Dubai
We had the opportunity to go to Joel Ostein peoples church ,which is actually a huge stadium we saw and heard him giving the sermon. Live.
Pastor Tom told us that he wanted to translate his book in hindi , my mother promised to translate his book.’’ America for Christ ‘’
We spent ten days with his family , they are from kerala so eat dosa ,idli and curd rice I made north indian food like potato, eggplant ,pumkin sabzi and rolled wheat chapatti, baked chocolate cakes .My mother made butter chicken. One day we made puree [small round chappati deep fried in oil] .I enjoyed baking in their large oven. In USA few people bake cakes as there are many baked delicacies available like muffins and brownies.
We came back from Houston after I attended the 8th international conference on science and technology I was invited to chair a session.
Ferry is an awesome experience. There are around 4-5 Ferries on the waters which carry people 24 hours. You can take your car along with you to the other side.. You can also find dolphins in the wild during your ferry trip. The waters are relatively clean. The ferry trips are free of charge. You can also fish on the other side if you have a fishing license. Overall a great experience watching dolphins, seagulls and other birds. We had an opportunity to watch a cruise from a very close distance. It was an awesome experience.The ferry ride ,itself not too long, not too short. There was a nice cool breeze, or you could just stay in your car and listen to the radio. However, the wait sucked! We waited two hours in line to get across. Originally we had turned off a side street and got in line further up, but the police came up and said we had cut in line (which we didn't understand), and made us move to the back, almost at the seawall! As we sat there we saw all the signs along the way and finally understood why he made us move. In retrospect, I just thank god he didn't give us a $500 ticket for not knowing the routiner.We had a great time on the ferry.The Port Bolivar Ferry is definitely one of the most efficient well organized ferry systems I have ever been on. Even in the off season they keep plenty of ferries running to handle demand, and the wait is agreeably short for a boarding spot. Boarding is quick and painless and the deck staff are both friendly and clear in their instructions. There is an air conditioned seating lounge with restrooms on the second deck if the weather
It was only a 15 minute ride across the bay to the Bolivar peninsula unfortunately, but it's was still enough for me to get several excellent pictures, and to enjoy the wind in my hair, and the smell of salt on the air. There were several different variety of sea birds from pelicans to the ubiquitous sea gull. I also spotted several dolphins as well. The freighter traffic coming in to the harbor is also something to behold. This is a busy busy harbor and there is always something interesting to watch.We were a bit scared bc a man had gotten out of his car and had bread and hundreds of seagulls were hungry flying over everyone and we didn't want to get pooped on lol but took our pics and had a great time for freeIf you love the ocean like I do, or if you have children this is a great little side trip to make while in Galveston or Houston.
In july it was very warm and humid , inspite of the weather conditions mother began translating the book , everyday she did about 20 pages. By end of august she had translated it . I had started giving the translation everyday to a local typist ,so he began typing and saving on his computer. My mother wanted to check and then hand it to the typist. I advised her to recheck the mistakes on the computer page by page , writing down the mistakes by doting down the page numbers.
She was appalled by the typing errors and I laughed because I had a previous experience with my research papers. Anway rechecking the book was time consuming and hindu festival Dusherra arrived . the typist went off to his village . He cams back in October end , then corrected the manuscript . Mother sat down at the computer for second rechecking . this time less mistakes . then came the festival of diwali the typist went off to his village.He came back in November and the final typing was ,the manuscript was ready.
Pastor Tom kept emailing me during these months ,asking about the progress,he did not believe when I told him that the translation is complete and the manuscript has been typed. He had waited two years for this task to be accomplished.
25 November I converted the manuscript which was in wordfile to pdf format and emailed it to pastor Tom . My mother developed severe shoulder pain, I took her to the Orthopedic Doctor , he gave her a pain killer.on 1 December she developed Herpes on her right hand. Herpes is an ailment of the nerves of the legjoints ,fingertips ,neckand shoulder joint. The patient suffers with burning pain in that portion, my mother developed black blisters on the palm of her hand.
She was unable to sleep for many days ,she could not bend her arm or move her hand due to the burning pain. I had to feed her, bathe her, clothe her for almost three months
We did not celebrate Christmas that year. New year 2013 dawned with poor prospects. We visited two skin specialist for the blisters ,but luckily she did not take their prescribed medicines. Many people prayed for her ,pastor Tom would call from Houston and pray . He called her ‘super mom’. Our pastor Xavier came often to visit and encourage her March I searched the net and read about herpes. I came to understand that it is related to nerves uptil now we thought she has an allergy to the painkiller taken in December.
“ A christian Family ” What does the word ‘christian’ mean ? literally it means the followers of Christ , nut spiritually it means one puts Jesus before all, whose ideal is Jesus .One whose’s the shadow of Jesus Now the world ‘Family’ is a collective noun ,usually meaning a group of people of assorted ages living together . If we go in deeply it arises out of the word ‘familiar’ which means to know intimately or to be closely acquainted with . therefore, it is not just a just a group of people ,a group of total strangers. It is something more than that, these people know each other, not casually but are familiar with each others habits, nature and behaviour.Then a group of people of same ideas and thoughts make a family. A group of young friends make a family . No ! A family must have a mother and children and father figure.but it does’nt mean where there is a father ,a mother and some children ,a family comes into being .Yes ! These three types of people do make a family but only when there is some relationship between them and some kind of bond , bond of love and respect.You will say ‘don;t friends have the same feeling for each other and same bond among them A family is united by love it is encircled with care and concernThe family is a tree which canopies and protects the little birds nestling in its branches providing shade from the sun , relief from rain and also food to eat .Yes parents are benefactors and protectors while the children are propogators of the race like the little birds who kill parasitic insects and help in the dispersal of seeds .Now we have defined the words ‘christian and ‘family ‘ individually .let us now put them together and see what they become christian family meaning a family of believers who put the will of god before everything . But this little group of believers is different ,it has its unique features and characteristics.This little group is a battalion of soldiers who move towards the same target ,following rigidly the orders of their commander. These are no ordinary soldeirs who are marching in time to kill and conquer but a battalion of peace corps who rush to a battle field to wave the flag of truce ,who fight to stop war ,who save flood victims and crying humanity .A christian family is like a boat riding the high seas the family is the crew and captain is God ,he is the one in charge who stands at the steering wheel and sts the direction and the course He is loved and feared and respected The crew lookup to him and obey him even the boat is storm ridden and there is little hope for survival .they work in cooperation and never doubt his judgement This ship is not a galleon of pirates a looter but has room for shipwrecked people and stowaways.In a nutshell a portion of kingdom of heaven where God rules.
Here I would like to mention two well known bollywood Christians .
Vijay Benedict made his debut as a playback singer for famous actor Mithun Chakraborty in the movie ‘Disco dancer’ ,Kishore Kumar had refused to sing for Mithun as he had married Yogita Bali his third wife who had left him within few days of their marriage. Benedict became Mithun’s voice after a successful carreer , he became a gospel singer according to him . he realized that money and fame cannot give eternal peace, he gave up bollywood singing after his brother was murdered in Germany .
The second person is brother ' Johnny Lever,' an Indian film actor and one of the most noted comedians in Hindi cinema, has received thirteen Filmfare Awards nominations in Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role, and has won the award twice, for his works in Deewana Mastana (1997), and Dulhe Raja (1998). He began his career in 1984, and has acted in more than three hundred Bollywood films.Johnny Lever is practicing Christian. When asked about his transition, Lever replied: ''It was God's will. I had always been a religious person, but one incident changed my life. My son was diagnosed with cancer. I was helpless and turned to God for help. I stopped working in films and spent all my time praying for him. Ten days later, when he was taken for a test, the doctors were surprised because the cancer had vanished. It was the beginning of a new life for me.'' He is a brilliant actor and standup comedian. He came to our city of Kanpur on the silver anniversary of Assembly of Believers church, venue was Christ Church College Hockey field where a huge podium with 10,000 chairs were arranged.