Tomichan Matheikal's blog

They can destroy me, my boy, but not defeat me. The surge of pride in my veins is what keeps me alive. They mocked me when I returned from the sea day after day without fish. Unlucky fisherman. Santiago the doomed. Santiago the accursed. Santiago the beaten. No, Manolin, no, I could embrace bad luck I could swallow damnation. But defeat? No, Manolin, no. I am Santiago, masterful fisherman. I am Santiago, more man than I am. Old man who wakes up early in order to have one longer day. Beaten I cannot be; destroyed yes if need be. Mine is the turtle’s heart, boy, It beats for hours after it has been cut up. The marlin I hooked had such a heart too. We were brothers, the marlin and I, each one with a heart whose beats matched each other’s. The marlin was my friend and foe at once, my strength and my weakness, my pride and my humility, my master and my victim. I love you, Marlin, That’s why I have to kill you. Else

The only quote that graced my study table for years was from Fritz Perls: “I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, And you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped.” I picked up those lines in my early twenties when I was no more social or sociable than I am today.  I typed it out neatly on a piece of paper which remained on my study table for years.  One guy who befriended me for years and tried his best to make me both social and sociable was quite upset when I refused to dump that inscription.  Not that I didn’t oblige him by making sincere efforts to become more human by joining certain social circles.  But I was a failure.  Rather I made a fool of myself in any group I chose to join.  The realisation that I couldn’t be part of a social group without making a fool of myself prompted me to embrace

A Song [I don't know the tune] A thousand times did my mind scream Throw me out Throw me out, man Throw me out I don’t belong to you Where do I belong? Who do I belong to? Not to you, never to you. Never to your lies. Dinna I try to belong? Dinna I try my best? And what you did? You screwed me Screwed me all over. Where do I belong? Who do I belong to? Not to you, never to you. Never to your lies. Bloodsucking vampire is what you are Preaching sucking politics religion Sucked ma trust Ma trust Ma trust Where do I belong? Who do I belong to? Not to you, never to you. Never to your lies.

  Example 1 Addressing a rally in Kerala yesterday, BJP’s high priest Amit Shah accused Kerala of being a killing field.  “More than 120 BJP workers have been martyred,” he declared.  The fact: “Police records with details of every political murder between 2000 and 2017 accessed exclusively by NDTV impugn both the political fronts in Kerala. In the last 17 years, 85 CPM workers, 65 RSS or BJP workers, 11 workers of Congress and IUML each have been killed - mostly by their political rivals including CPM and RSS or BJP.”  [Source: NDTV ] Example 2 Today the assistant high priest Yogi Adityanath addressed the same yatra flagged off yesterday by the Supreme High Priest and said that Kerala should learn how to run hospitals from UP. The fact: Kerala has the best medical care system in the country.  It has efficiently run hospitals in every town and health centres in most villages.  Almost all the villages except in some tribal areas have primary health centres with a var

In one of the scenes in Irving Stone’s novel, Lust for Life , Vincent van Gogh walks past the synagogue which excommunicated Baruch Spinoza.  A few blocks away was Rembrandt’s old home.  “He died in poverty and disgrace,” said Van Gogh’s fellow walker, Mendez, about Rembrandt.    Rembrandt died in poverty and disgrace.  Today his paintings are worth millions of dollars.  His masterpiece is valued by art dealers “in excess of $150 million.”  “He didn’t die unhappy, though,” said Van Gogh in response to Mendez. “No,” replied Mendez, “he had expressed himself fully and he knew the worth of what he had done.  He was the only one in his time who did.” Van Gogh – self portrait Source: Wikipedia Some people are like that.  They don’t care what the world thinks of them and of the worth of their work.  Painting is what held Rembrandt together as a man.  It mattered little to him what others thought about his work.  He had to be himself.  There was no other way.  He c

മാനവ ചരിത്രത്തിന്റെ അവിഭാജ്യമായ ഒരു ഘടകമാണ് മതങ്ങൾ.  ചരിത്രത്തെ രൂപീകരിക്കുന്നതിലും, അതിന്റെ ദിശ മാറ്റുന്നതിലും മതങ്ങൾ വഹിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള പങ്കു വളരെ വലുതാണ്. ഇന്നിനെ മനസിലാക്കാൻ ഇന്നലെകളുടെ ചരിത്രം നാം അറിഞ്ഞേ പറ്റൂ. ഭാവിയിലേക്കുള്ള യാത്രയിൽ ഈ അറിവ് ഏറെ സഹായിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യും. ബോബി തോമസിന്റെ 'ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികൾ - ക്രിസ്തുമതത്തിനൊരു കൈപ്പുസ്‌തകം' എന്ന ഗ്രൻഥം ലോകമെമ്പാടും പടർന്നു വികസിച്ചു കിടക്കുന്ന ക്രിസ്തുമതത്തിന്റെ ഒരു ലഘു ചരിത്രമാണ്. സാധാരണ വിശ്വാസികൾ അവരുടെ മതത്തെ അടുത്തറിയാൻ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നു എങ്കിൽ ഈ പുസ്‌തകം വളരെ സഹായകമാകും. പുസ്‌തകം 4 ഭാഗങ്ങളായി തിരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. 'മരുഭൂമിയിൽ വഴി കാട്ടിയവൻ' എന്ന ഒന്നാം ഭാഗം പഴയ നിയമ ചരിത്രത്തിലൂടെ നമ്മെ കൊണ്ടുപോകുന്നു. മൂന്നു സെമിറ്റിക് മതങ്ങളുടെ പിതാവായ എബ്രഹാം "ചരിത്രപുരുഷനായിരുന്നു എന്ന് വിശ്വസിക്കാൻ കാര്യമായ ന്യായങ്ങളൊന്നുമില്ല" എന്ന് ഗ്രന്‌ഥകർത്താവ് പറയുമ്പോൾ കരളുറപ്പില്ലാത്ത വിശ്വാസിയുടെ സിരകളിൽ ഭക്തിയുടെ നുര പതയാൻ തുടങ്ങിയേക്കാം. പക്ഷെ വായിക്കുന്നതു ചരിത്രം ആണ്, മത ഗ്രൻഥം അല്ല എന്നോർക്കണം. അടിമത്തവും മൃഗബലിയും നില

When asked whether he was a Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi’s answer was, “I am a Hindu, a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew.”  Gandhi’s vision transcended the narrow boundaries defined by religions though he was deeply religious.  One of the primary functions of religion is to make one a better human being.  A genuinely religious person cannot see other human beings as enemies whatever religion they may belong to, whatever language they may speak, and whatever ideology they may believe in.  Religion is pointless if it does not make the believer compassionate towards his fellow beings. The greatness of Gandhi lies in the inclusiveness of his vision.  He could not hate anyone, not even the British whom he fought until his country won independence from them.  “It is my constant prayer,” Gandhi said, “that I may never have a feeling of anger against my traducers…”  His religion enabled him to overcome such vices as anger and hatred. Religion has a very pragmatic duty to fulfil in Gandhi’s vi