debater

Two years back on this day there was a flooding of emotions, primarily of gratitude to God, to the Church, to the Congregation and everyone who in some way or other molded me to reach the altar. I promised myself one thing on that day - that I will remain honest with God and myself. Two years have passed, by God's grace, I have kept up the promise made to myself. A month before the first anniversary I wrote a piece, to myself primarily, and on the eve of the second anniversary what gift could I possibly give myself than to present an honest appraisal of my life as a priest! Life as a priest, more so as a Salesian religious priest, is worth the calling! This year, of all the years that I have spent in the congregation, is a very special year to me for multiple reasons. This year tested my patience like never before, offered me challenges that I wasn't prepared to face, placed me in a situation that I never imagined to be. It took an emotional toll on me to get acclimatized to a

Do we build walls to welcome people? Strange isn’t it? We make bridges, not walls to connect people. It would be a ridiculous idea to build a wall so as to build a better relationship. The fall of the Berlin wall was the beginning of a new era not only for the ideologically malnourished Eastern Germans but for the entire world. I remember reading about the fall of the Berlin wall from the history books. What person will ever erect a wall, not in the periphery of his property but right in the middle of his home to beautify it? Who will segregate his own household as 'seeables' and 'unseeables'? Have those live beyond the walls become zombies, a threat to national and international security? Questioning is seditious these days, I know! But how to pause over in silence when open and not so open prisons are being erected every day throughout the length and breadth of this country all in the name of development? If we are truly superpower, as some claim to be, why should

India is passing through the second darkest phase post-independence, the first being the emergency (1975-1977) declared by Indira Gandhi. This is nothing short of an undeclared emergency where fascists are brandishing their weapons so openly and the law enforcement authorities siding with the criminals more often than not. India is a rainbow of multiple cultures, languages, and religions united by a secular constitution that recognizes diversity. In spite of the pulls and pressures of the past, the people of India did not let the governments play with the sanctity of the basic structure of the constitution. Though most of the politicians, cutting across the party lines, are opportunists, they have not been as brazen as those holding the offices in the government right now in exhibiting their love for an ideology that led Godse to slay one of the all-time icons of India, Mahatma Gandhi. The ruling dispensation has effectively shut the voices of politicians and its critics employing t