The marvelous ‘Namma’ Metro Ride!

Ever since the Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit system, known popularly as ‘Namma’ Metro, Phase I was thrown open to the public, on June 18th, 2017, my friend and colleague Mrs. Shamim Banu and myself were planning gleefully to take an end to end, bumper to bumper ride on the Metro. 

After many postponements, similar to the inaugural date of the Metro, we finally hopped in on 14th October 2017, to see how Namma Metro is doing. Our plan was to get on one southernmost station in a line, the Green line, because that is closer to us and travel to the very end of that line. Then return to the central Kempe Gowda station and traverse the other line, the Pink one, from end to end.

We took a cab from home and got dropped at Jayanagar Metro station. There was a flight of steps leading to the station, where we were to buy the tickets. We did muse that Namma Metro might not be very ‘Elder-friendly,’ if at every station they must climb so many stairs. What about people in wheel chair? They shouldn’t even think of travelling by Metro, I suppose! 

The Jayanagar station was prim and proper, clean and neat, and quite ultramodern. From there we bought tickets, Rs.50 each to Nagasandra, the last station in the Green line. Within two minutes as announced, the train arrived as noiselessly as would a pussy cat and exactly at 10 AM we boarded the train. 

We got seats and giggling like school girls, we sat and arched our backs to see the scenaries outside. The train whizzed past South End circle, Lalbagh, and National college. It entered underground stations as it passed through KR. Market and Chickpet, when the crowd started picking up. We crossed the central Kempe Gowda, Majestic station. One lot got down but another of equal size got in. 

                                                                                                  Crowded escalators at Majestic 

The train emerged to glimpse the outside world after crossing Sampige Road station, Mantri squire station. By the time we crossed Mahakavi Kuvempu station and Rajajinagar, the crowd became less.  Then we were passing through lesser known stations like Mahalakshmi, Sandal Soap station and then of course the well-known Yeshwnathpur station. Goraguntepalya and Peenya stations quickly passed by and Peenya Industry, Jalahalli, Dasarahalli staions speeded by and finally we reached Nagasandra station, the endpoint of Green Line. 

It had taken us 41 minutes up till this point. The ride was smooth and no hassles. There was enough standing place inside the car and these were clean and of course new. We didn’t see any graffiti on the walls or anywhere else.  

Promptly we went to the ticket counter and bought tickets from Nagasandra to Majestic central station and there on to Byappanahalli, costing us Rs.58 each. It started at 11 am and we reached Majestic centre, where we got down and got up the escalators to climb two levels and then reach the point where the trains going to Byappanahalli, the Pink line, would come. 

    

As we waited for the train to come, we noticed arrow marks indicating where people have to stand in queue to get in and which blocks of area are to be left free for the people getting down. I was really surprised to see people standing in queue very tamely, one behind the other. People have learnt their manners at last! And what no one could enforce, Namma Metro had achieved, we exclaimed to each other. 

The train came, and there you go! The queue melted in a second and people just rushed to the doors. So much for our people learning any manners! One improvement, they left some passage for the disembarking people for a few seconds and then rushed in to close that also.  

We got into the train by 11.40 AM. Interesting stations were to come in this route. First was Sri. M. Visveswaraya station – Central college, then Vidhana Soudha, the heart of the city, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar station, and Cubbon park station, which were underground. So, missed viewing the glorious citadel of the city, the famed Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the power in the State.  

                                                                                    

                                                                                               Shamim at an escalator 

Eyes were rewarded as the train emerged into the open on Mahatma Gandhi Road station. I was eagerly trying to catch the sights of familiar places. But the train was so overcrowded, I didn’t even get a seat to sit. It was the second Saturday, a holiday for government offices, and what were people doing travelling in the Metro? Can’t they sit at home and relax? Shamim pointed out that private offices and companies might still be working. Hmm, bad luck for us!

We reached Baiyappanahalli after crossing Halasuru, Trinity, and Indiranagar stations. It was 12.01 PM. By now I was feeling a bit hungry, craving for a mid-morning snack. I had not packed anything thinking that we can buy something or the other at the stations. 

                                               

                                        Arrow markings, showing space on the platform

                                                     for disembarking people

Unfortunately, there were no stalls at all inside the stations. No coffee or tea even. Wonder why? If some are mad enough to want to travel in the Metro from end to end, as we did, should they not have some food to eat on the way, so that their energy level does not drop, while shifting from one line to the other? I think Namma Metro must think afresh on the matter and make some arrangements for sale of packed snacks and bottled drinks including iced coffee or tea. 

                                                                                                Shamim waiting in line

Also, there were no toilets at all at any station. These need not be at the station where trains come and go, but at least near the ticket booths or at the entry and exit points of the stations, such facilities need to be provided for. 

At Baiyappanahalli we tried one experiment. We now had to go to Mysore Road station, the end of the Pink line and then return to Majestic central station to switch to the Green line and reach our place Jayanagar. Can we travel without buying a ticket from Baiyappanahalli to Mysore Road? We tried and crossed over to the station, where train to Mysore Road was coming. We climbed down the stairs and joined the crowd. Voila! No checking!

  City near Mysore Road, 

            as seen from the Metro

We got on to the train and arrived at the Mysore Road station, the endpoint of the Pink line. Shamim was quite stricken by conscience by now and insisted we buy the tickets for our journey up to Majestic centre and then to Jayanagar. So, we got our tickets another Rs.45 each and reached Jayanagar by 1.25 PM.

We decided to give a miss to four stations after Jayanagar in the Green line, these being Rashtreeya Vidalaya Road, Banashankari, Jaya Prakash Nagar and the last station Yelachenahalli, as we were quite tired by this time. We hopped on to an autorickshaw and proceeded to Al Bek restaurant for a sumptuous lunch. As we sat and broke the butter naan, scooping out Nlli Nihari, we reminisced.  

                                                                                        

                                                                                     Tree tops full of flowers 

                                                                                                        seen from the Metro

Well, for one thing it was mission achieved. Second, we had a first-hand knowledge of Namma Metro and could recommend it to our friends and acquaintances. Third, I would hope that the present MD. Metro will read this and take pride their achievements and also take note of the suggestions we have made, we being their former senior colleagues!

Like the absence of escalators at the entrance to the stations; necessity of toilets and vending machines or snack bars inside the stations. At the same time, we are hoping the ticket-less travel we made at one line will either be ignored or overlooked!  

 Congratulations and long live Namma Metro! 

The Splendor of Athens

The last day of my visit to Greece, was a day trip in tourist bus, in the city of Athens, the capitol of Greece! I was dying with anticipation! Imagine, touring the city which laid the foundations of the Western Civilization. It was the cradle of Western civilization. 

Athens was the heart of Ancient Greece, it’s empires and civilization. In the classical age, it was a powerful city-state. It was the center of art and philosophy. It was the birthplace of democracy. Its architecture is still influencing public buildings in the world today. It was ‘Numero Uno’ in many matters!

                                                                                                     

                  Temple of Zeus       

                                                                                       

We passed through the Temple of Zeus, where as usual only a few columns were standing for the visitors to view. It was almost at the center of the city. We also glimpsed the Hadrian Arch on the site, constructed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. This got me interested to look up the history of the city Athens. 

 

                                                                                                    Hadrian Arch

Athens has 7000 years of history. The city might have got its name from the goddess Athena offspring of Zeus, whose face is beautifully drawn in many places, including the hotel where we stayed. 

  Goddess Athena, painted on the hotel's walls

In 1400 BC, Mycenaean civilization flourished here, which in turn drew inspiration from the Minoan civilization that flourished in these places in 2000 BC, especially in Crete. The remnants of this Minoan civilization, I had the privilege to visit in Acrotiri excavations, in the island of Santorini. 

By 6th Century BC, classical Greek civilization started and democracy was introduced here in 508 BC. Play writers like Sophocles, Historians Herodotus, and Thucydides, Physician Hippocrates and most importantly philosopher like Socrates lived and contributed to their civilization, which would lay the foundations of the Western civilization. This period was called the Golden age of Athens.

As we passed through the Academy of Athens, with the sculptures of Socrates and Aristotle adorning the front, I recalled the famous “Academy” of Plato, which he established in 387 BC, where he taught and where Aristotle studied for twenty years. It survived till 529 AD, when it was closed under orders from Roman Emperor Justinian II. 

Similarly, Aristotle established his own academy called “The Lyceum” in 335 BC, which was destroyed along with its famous library in 267 AD, with the sack of the city by Goths. 

The rich heritage of these philosophers and their writings motivated people to cherish free thinking and democratic mode of governance, with discussions and arriving at decisions, which are still with us in the modern world. 

                                                                                     

                                                                                                                 Parliament

We passed the Royal palace, which now functions as Parliament, the National Library, with Doric style heavy columns with round capitals at the top with no base. You can see this type of architecture replicated in the columns of our own Rashrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi.

We also passed by the National Library, Athens University and the old Parliament which is now a museum. National Archaeological Museum also passed by. For want of time we couldn’t stop and gawk at these beautiful monuments. The loss was ours alone!

At the modern stadium, designed just like the classical ones, we disembarked and looked around. It was massive and built completely of white marble, the material that the ancients used in building temples and buildings in the Parthenon and other places. It was built in the same place where ancient stadium stood centuries before and it could accommodate 65,000 onlookers. The very first revived Olympic games were held in Athens in 1896 in this stadium, and later the Summer Olympic games were held in 2004. 

                   The Stadium

Finally, we reached the Acropolis hills, which house the ancient Greek classical buildings famously known for Parthenon temple. This temple was dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the Greeks considered as their patron goddess. The construction was completed by 432 BC, and was meant to celebrate Hellenic victory over the Persian attack and as a thanksgiving to their goddess. It also served as a city treasury. It was of classical Doric style. 

On the way to Parthenon, Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The temple was damaged and reconstructed thereafter. During Byzantium time it was used as a church and during Ottoman’s time as a mosque. But in the 15th century AD, the Ottomans used it as an ammunition dump. In the battle it got ignited and major destruction to the temple and other nearby buildings resulted. Many marble sculptures were taken away and some sold to the

British in 1816, who exhibit till today in their British Museum. 

             The columns of Parthenon

A row of Caryatids, marble statues of young women, that supported the south porch of the Erechtheion building in Acropolis, was a beautiful vision to hold, the originals kept inside the Acropolis Museum on Acropolis hills. The fine folds of the garments worn by these young girls, who supported the building, could be seen through the marvelous work of the sculptors. 

  

                                                                                      A row of Caryatids serving as columns

Two Caryatids in the Museum

To recapitulate history of Acropolis citadel, there were three wars that happened to be fought here. The first one was in 490 BC, when Persian army under the rule of Darius I attacked the rebellious Greek states, and the Persians were defeated. Parthenon was built to commemorate that victory. 

                                                                               

       The Acropolis Hills with Parthenon          

Persians under Xerxes attacked once again and after fierce battle the Greeks won the battle again at Salamis in 480 BC. Resenting the ascendancy of Athens, other states fought them in the Peloponnesian war from 431- 404 and Athens was defeated and its power and prestige declined. It is interesting to know that both the Emperors Darius and Xerxes are mentioned in the Bible in the books of Daniel and Esther. 

                         Massive columns of Parthenon

Greece was swallowed up in the expanding kingdom of Philip II of Macedonia and then later the Empire of Alexander the Great. It then passed on to the hands of Romans, who had great fascination for Greece for it was Greek civilization that was ruling those days. 

It is good to remember that the whole New Testament was written in Greek, which was the lingua franca of those days. The New Testament writers used a form of local Greek known as ‘Koinonia Greek,’ which was commonly spoken by the populace. 

   Entrance to Parthenon and other buildings

                  crowded with tourists

Byzantine rule followed and in 9-10th century AD it came under the influence of the Crusaders and became prosperous. But in 1458 AD, it was conquered by Ottoman rule. In 1832 AD, the Greeks fought and won their independence.

Sculptures in the Museum. Fine folds of the       dresses seen 

Today Greece is a modern democracy, with a population of 6,65,000 people, ranked 39th richest country in the world. However, during 2006-2008, it came under the Great Recession and government debt crisis, when its GDP growth turned to minus. It picked up and got out of the debt trap with severe austerity measures, but still it is growing only at 0.02% in 2016, which is very low.

        Modern tram running in Athens

                                                                                        A statue of a Runner, in Athens metropolis

This was obvious in some ways, as we did see many poor people lying on cardboard planks in the city squire and in front of other buildings, with a cup in the front to receive alms from the passers-by. 

The economy is still to pick up and I sincerely wish and pray that the great ancient Greece will be restored to its ancient glory and prosperity and I wish the government and their people well. 

Delphi, The Ancient Oracle

Apollos' Sanctuary

After having a wonderful time in Santorini, the beautiful island belonging to Greece, the very next day we boarded by 8 AM, an equally beautiful bus, to go to Delphi, considered the ancient centre of the world.

Delphi is a site of ancient ruins of the temples of the mythological gods of the Greek nations, declared as a world heritage site by the UNESCO in 1987. It is a town that lies in the upper central region of Greece mainland, situated on the slopes of the Mountain Parnassus.

It might have been constructed and reconstructed between 510 to 323 BC. Earthquakes in 375 BC and 83 BC damaged these structures extensively. It was the seat of Pythia, the Oracle, consulted about important decisions, like going to a war, throughout the ancient world. 

In Second century AD, Roman Emperor Hadrian is said to have visited the Oracle twice. After Fourth century, the eminence of Delphi and its Oracle declined, gradually. In 390 AD Roman Emperor Theodosius stopped the practice by law and by sixth and seventh centuries the temple was abandoned.  

The ruins lie on the slope of the hill, one above the other and it was a difficult climb in the hot Greek sun. Still one managed to do it, just out of interest to know about the place. 

The first building is that of Apollo’s sanctuary, of which only a few columns are left standing. These pillars are tall and round with ledges, on the top of which are placed flat square capitols. This is called the Doric style, the first style of Classical architectural style of Greek and Roman architecture.

This style and the other two styles, we see repeated in the 19th and 20th century modern buildings in Europe and America. Thus, these laid the basic designs of Western architecture and as such are priceless and timeless. You will notice them as you visit the Washington Lincoln Memorial, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York and elsewhere. 

                                                            

                                                               The Treasury

Second ruin we see is the Treasury, which has its front pillars restored and is built slightly above the Apollo’s sanctuary. Rich merchants and princes gave their offerings, if the predictions by the Oracle came true and these were kept in the treasury. After winning a war kings rebuilt or added another wing to these structures. 

Above this comes the main sanctuary, called the temple of the Delphi or the Oracle. Here an old woman, chosen from the village, acted as a priestess, called the Pythia, and served as the Oracle. She sat inside on a tripod, and in a trance uttered what Apollo said to have put in her mind and mouth, which was then interpreted by the priests who served there. This building is also in utter ruins with only two or three pillars standing. 

            Temple of the Delphi

The Theatre

On the same slope, above this comes the Theatre. From here you get a full view of all the ruins down below and the valley. This was built in 4th century BC and was remodeled in 2nd century AD. It has an almost semi-circular seating with a seating capacity of up to 4500 spectators. This also declined when the sanctuary’s standing declined. 

The modern Amphitheatres which we see all over Roman empire an in the modern days take their model from this Theatre.

As a part of Pythian games, contests in vocal music and songs were held here. Pythian games were one of the four games, including Olympus, held in ancient Greece, the forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. That way the ancient Greece has an everlasting cultural impact on us even in the 21st century. There lies the importance of the Ancient Greek culture.  

Even above this is situated the ruins of the Gymnasium. At this point my legs begged me not to go further and I obliged my aching knees and turned back. The gymnasium is supposed to have the ruins of the hall, rooms and the pools and baths on the lower floor, further up the hill.  

After visiting the Delphi Archaeological Museum, which contained a lot of artifacts and some of the statues of the athletes, we returned and on the way down also visited the temple of Athena Pronoia. It is a circular structure constructed around 380 BC, with a few of the 20 Doric columns still standing. Inside 10 Corinth columns were supposed to have stood. 

Next development after the Doric columns in Greek architecture was Ionic style columns, which had on the top of the column the flat capitols curved on both the sides giving a decorative style to the building. The next evolution was Corinth columns which had a filigree and more decorations and figurines on the top of the columns, giving a better appeal to the eye of the beholder. 

                  Temple of Athena

Enjoying the beauty of the hills and mountains and the pretty little village houses constructed along the hillocks, we returned to Athens and our rooms by 8 pm. As we sat in a Greek restaurant and munched zucchini balls and meat balls with Greek bred, I mused about these ancient worships

Paul, the early Christian evangelist and missionary of 1st century AD, had visited Macedonia, Athens, Corinth in Achaia region,  the old and famous, thriving Greek cities. He preached about a God who is not worshiped in idols and whose promises never fail and who is a Savior par excellence. He died to save us from our sins. 

Pointing out to the ‘Alter to an unknown God’ built by the Greeks,  Paul declared at Areopagus, Jesus Christ as the unknown God they were worshiping. He was beaten up for his efforts, but Christianity took roots in these areas and small churches came about. And in due course, the pagan worships, like the temple of Delhi and temple of Apollo fell to disuse. Christ triumphed.

Well, glory to God and all thanks to Him, for letting me see these historical and religious sites of importance. I finished my meals and returned to the room with my friend, to sleep and recuperate to face the next day’s adventure, which will be the subject of the next blog. Do await the same! 

Santorini, Here I Come!

                                                               

A small but beautiful island lying in the southern Aegean sea, some 200 kms southeast of Greece mainland, is Santorini, a member of Cyclades group of islands. My friend and me after landing in Athens on the eventful day of 14th September 2017, went exploring the island. 

The cruise, Champion Jet 1, in which we traveled had many sections, including platinum class, club class and of course the economy class. There were restaurants inside the cruise, which served lovely food and snacks and drinks, that people of all classes enjoyed gorging themselves with these fare. The cruise left at 7 am on 15th September and after five hours of flawless journey reached Fira, capital of Santorini, and was docked at its principal port Athinios.

The Ship 'Champion Jet 1' in which we traveled, 

docked at Athinios port in Fera.

On the way it stopped at islands Mykonos and Naxos and gathered many more tourists into its belly. The cruise was so big it could accommodate 950 people and many cars and twowheelers.   

Interior seating of the cruise

Sunrise over the sea waters, captured from                                                   inside the cruise

A small vessel sailing by in the quiet Aegean                         waters

We booked ourselves into the hotel Astir Thira on arrival and immediately after lunch I got out to go and visit Akrotiri, situated at the south end of Santorini, where ruins of old Minoan civilization have been dug up by the archaeologists. Minoan civilization flourished some 3600 years ago, and was destroyed in a volcanic eruption that flattened the town around 1645-1600 BC. The tsunami waves raised during this quake were so huge that these reached the nearby island Crete and destroyed the Minoan civilization totally. Remains of this once great civilization have been unearthed, showing houses three storied high and walls painted with frescoes with their colors intact. 

                                                                                 

                                                                                  Hotel Astir Thira, Fira, where we stayed 

A Greek Orthodox church 

The island is full of Greek Orthodox churches and just one Catholic church. Typically these churches have a dome with a cross, the dome characteristically painted turquoise blue, which literally gleam in the sun. Some 352 such churches are found all over Santorini. The name itself seems to have derived from St. Irene, the patron saint of the island. 

View from the Hotel of the volcanic rocks and a ship 

                                                                                

  Taxi motorbike common on the streets of Fira

                                                                                        

Tourism is the main stay of the island, along with some agriculture and wine-making. The population of Santorini is only 15,550 as per 2011 census, but it looked as if the tourists outnumbered the locals! Many work in the island for seven months, when tourism is on and then go back to their homes in Athens or elsewhere during the off-season. 

On return from the Red beach of Acrotiri, we embarked a bus to the village Oia, pronounced amusingly as Eeyaa, which lies on the northern tip of the island. This is the oldest settlement on the island, full of beautiful houses, white washed and borders painted with turquoise blue and churches gleaming with turquoise blue domes. The narrow village streets are maneuvered with donkeys, which are used as transportation and also for carrying goods. 

 The red volcanic rocks and the Red beach of
 Acrotiri














Terrace restaurant at Oia

We went up the terrace of a house, which doubled up as a restaurant, had for our supper, the fabulous Greek food of five dips, sipping our drinks, soft drinks strictly, as the sun went down slowly bathing the whole sky, including the buildings and the church, a beautiful red. 

                                                                                          Church in Oia, bathed in the setting sun.

Pleasantly tired and satisfied in having seen this beautiful island Santorini, we returned to our room, thanking God for this great opportunity to see such serene places and slept off to start another adventure the next day.

If you liked this account, do wait for the next installment!

Nandi Hills, Comes Calling Once Again!

This year, within the last 3 or 4 months, I have visited Nandi Hills three times! What is with Nandi hills and me! I really do not know! But this time it was at the foot hills of Nandi Hills and it was for a church retreat.

Adonai church at Cox town had organised a week long “Healing and Deliverance ministry.” It was at Glorious Promised Land, a few acres spread at the foot hills. Lovely place, with lovely fruit bearing trees and plants; place brimming with fig trees and fig fruits hanging from the stems and branches! There were other fruits too, of course, forbidden to pluck and eat!

There was a mini zoo too, with a beautiful black cocker spaniel, reminding me of my own Sally and Cindy, mother and daughter pair, jet black and so loving, but passed off with five years apart. There were goats, ducks, geese and turkey birds! Well, I missed seeing the bunny rabbits, which were also somewhere in the premises.

To be fair, the proprietors of the property, rent out this beautiful place mainly to Christian organisations, who want to hold conferences, workshops, retreats and camps. Also for weddings, family gatherings, picnics, concerts and meditation camps, but strictly Christian.

Isn’t that beautiful! Who even bothers about Christians these days in this country, except to admonish that one is a ‘rice Christian,’ or a ‘chocolate Christian,’ and to force ‘gar vapasi’ on them! Of course, not everyone says that. Still the ruling elite and the village level workers of the governing party say that! That is bad enough.  

Moreover, the proprietor and his sweet wife, both stood personally at the food counters and served the food with lot of concern. They, I think, have taken this as their personal ministry to the Lord. How wonderful! Oh, before I forget, we got chicken every day! And on the last day chicken and beef biriyani too!

Well, coming back to the ministry by Adonai church, the Senior Pastor Victor was there full time, so also his wife Mrs. Annie Victor, both together admirably conducting the classes, starting from Saturday the 12^th to the next Saturday, the 19^th August 2017. There were others from their church to help them with praise and worship, the devotionals and music.

They taught about the foundations of the healing ministry, the creation and the Fall, God’s solution to the situation and the model of healing as shown by Jesus on his earthly ministry. Promises of God became reality on earth as man agreed with God in faith.

The next session was to introduce the concept of man being created whole, with soul, body and the spirit, an undivided and unbroken completeness, to engage in a fruitful relationship with God the Creator. Man lost it all due to disobedience and in the consequent Fall, lost the connection between him and God, which was though his spirit. This must be restored. That is all what healing is about, bringing in restoration in the relationship with God.   

Soul consists of the will, emotions and the mind. Here is where all the decisions are made and executed by man. He thinks, decides and feels. Right now, all these are in disarray. How to bring these in alignment with God and His will, is what will bring back restoration and healing.

There were lot of practical examples through during the lectures and there was plenty of humour, especially in Pastor Victor’s classes. One enjoyed it all. Many a times the whole class roared with laughter at his antics! 

Rejection and the cure for it, acceptance, especially by God, who loves us so much that He went to the cross for saving us, were taught beautifully. The unconditional love shown by the heavenly Father is what would really heal our rejection from our earthly families.

Importance of forgiveness, letting go of those who had hurt us, were emphasized in the class. When we are not able to forgive, it not only festers inside us, leading to bitterness and diseases, but also leads us being critical and judgmental about others and the world in general. It is in our own good that we forgive and release such resentments.

Dealing with emotional pain was another of the topics given importance to. Belief systems, the need to have right beliefs in our minds, relationships and soul-ties, were all beautifully expounded. Root causes of fear and overcoming fear were taught with examples from the Scripture and everyday life.

Blessings and curses, dealing with supernatural realms, restoring the human spirit, how we give access to demons to play havoc in our lives, were all taught with many examples and biblical quotations.

All these teachings opened a new vista and one understood many issues related to the spiritual realm; how to get close to the Lord and how to safeguard ourselves from negative forces in the world and how to get relief from such oppression, if one is suffering from it – all these were real minefields, full of information and practical examples and testimonies after each of such topics.

It was wonderful to have attended this school for eight days. There were 170 participants. Many had come with small children, husbands and wives, parents, mother and daughters, and so on. Some had come from Dubai, Doha, even Ghana, Africa! There were 15 children, some of them just babies, still parents had braved the difficulties to come and attend the classes.

The topping of the cake was the two days kept for individual ministry. Everyone had a one-to-one ministry time with two of the very experienced ministry team that had come specially for the purpose on the last two days. There were 20 such ministry teams and all were attended to, some of them twice or thrice even.  

While a person was being ministered to by these teams, the other participants spent their time in praying for those who were being ministered unto, and wrote down the messages or Bible verses that came to their minds in cards, which were given later to the persons concerned. Well, these are to be treasured for ever. What words of encouragement and solace!

On the whole, it was a beautiful experience. I personally had a lot of time to introspect and bring out many of my faults, which needed rectification and unconfessed sins, which were brought to memory during the sessions. Almost everyone walked out with huge burdens lifted off the shoulders. Many healings and deliverances happened. Praise be to God alone!

Yes, it was worth attending this retreat. In case you are interested, do contact Adonai Church, 080 2548 3335. I am sure you will get more benefit from it than you think you will!

God bless you abundantly! 

Homer and His World!

It is not easy to write on Homer! He is, after all, a great poet of ancient Greece, who wrote two great epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey. He might have lived around 700 BC. Recently I started to read the Odyssey, just for want of doing anything else, a book I had bought in 1975 and might have read it that time!

Basically, I reread Odyssey. The theme is the famed Trojan war and its aftermath. Paris, one of the sons of Priam, the king of Troy, had abducted the beautiful Helen, wife of Meneclaus, the ruler of Sparta.

Under the leadership of Agamemnon, the Greek overlord and the brother of Meneclaus, Greek princes, set sail with thousand ships, siege Troy for 10 years and finally contrived the Trojan horse, with which they tricked the leaders of Troy, entered the city and sacked it. Helen was retrieved and the story of Iliad ends there.

Now the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca and a hero of the war continues, who for the next ten years was driven hither and thither by a series of mishaps, on his return journey to his home, Ithaca. That is Odyssey!

The story is interesting, apart from the historical narration of epic proportions, for the insight into the habits and beliefs of the people of Achaea in that hoary past. The terms Greece or Hellas (Hellenes) were not in usage then, but to Homer they were Achaeans.

First thing to note is how in Homer’s time, people, especially the Achaeans, (latter Greeks) believed that gods in heavens were responsible for the good things or bad things that happened to them. They were either favored by a god or goddess and led to good pastures or having earned the wrath of a god or goddess, repeatedly were subjected to tragedies and difficult times.

Gods were responsible to whatever happened to the humans, was the important belief of the then Greeks. The leader of the Olympian gods was Zeus. He had three wives, including his own sister. Aphrodite, Artemis and Athene were his daughters. Apollo, Ares (Mars), Hermes (Mercury) and Vulcan were his sons. Zeus also had two brothers, Hades, ruling the underworld of the dead and Poseidon, ruling the waves.

Imagine gods having sons and daughters, that too from different wives! Well, to please them and not to incur their wrath, the Greeks offered many sacrifices, of bulls, goats, and lambs. Wine libations were poured out at their altars. Thigh of the sacrificial victim, wrapped in folds of fat was offered to the gods, blood of the victim was collected and offered to the heavens. Thereafter the people and the princes ate the remaining.

They believed on omens, birds, eagles, doves and others as sent by the gods, to indicate good or bad happenings to the humans.

And then men wept, copiously, for their dead, in remembrance of their lost homes, wives and friends and over their misfortunes. Wonder where the stiff upper lip of the English and the modern-day adage that ‘boys do not cry,’ came from!

  

When men of royal birth or a distinguished visitor came to a place, they were given bath by the maidservants. After bathing them, they were rubbed with olive oil, and given tunic to wear and fine cloak round their shoulders. They stepped out of the bath looking like the immortal gods! Wow! This expression occurs many times in the narrative.

When guests were seated for banquet, they were seated in high chairs, and a maid came with water in golden vessel and poured it out over a silver basin so that they can rinse their hands before eating the food.

The maid servants also drew a wooden table to their side, for the house keeper to bring some bread and set it by them with a choice of delicacies. Meanwhile a carver dished out for them on platters slices of various meats, like oxen, pigs and lambs and put golden cups beside them. Then the guests fell to eating!

Most striking thing is that Helen, whose face launched a thousand ships, and the reason for the destruction of Troy, and the loss of the lives of many warriors, was living happily with her husband Menaclaus, her small indiscretion of having run away with a Trojan prince not withstanding! Hmm, weird are the ways of men and women!

The games which took place in every city with events like running, javelin throw, disc throw, boxing, wrestling, jumping are the pointers to modern Olympics, and as such are fascinating.

It is interesting to read about the land of Lotus-eaters, where one forgets everything; the one-eyed monster Cyclops, who ate up some of Odysseus’ men; Calypso, who had kept Odysseus captive for a full 9 years, trying to entice him into marrying her; Circe, who transformed his men into pigs and penned them in pigsties;

Odysseus climbing down into Hades, where the dead souls were left to languish, to obtain oracles; the terrible monster Scylla, who fished his men with her six long necks and devoured them; Charybdis who sucks sea water and spews them out three times a day, Odysseus encountered them all during his voyage back home to Ithaca.

Finally, he reached home only to find several young men courting his wife Penelope, but who faithfully waits for his return and his young son Telemachus, who not able to handle these suitors, was waiting for his father’s return. Skilfully, Odysseus, with much help from his patron-goddess Athene, fights and destroys the suitors and gets reunited with his wife. Bravo!

A very interesting story of gripping events and imaginations describing the return journey of Odysseus. Worth reading at least once in one’s life time!