Hallelujah
...I'm listening to a song from 'The OC soundtrack' (they have 5cd's apparently)...'Hallelujah'...
I've always been fascinated with religion. How people believe so completely, unquestioningly...absolutely....in something that's formless, something they only speak and share...or go to a place of worship and experience...
There's a famous mosque in Bombay...in the middle of the sea - "Haji Ali". Whenever we drove past Haji Ali in a yellow fiat taxi, i'd look at it with a distant look in my eyes...especially in the monsoon..it's quite a sight. The waves crashing all along the long path that is the only thing that connects the mosque with the mainland...when it's raining heavily and the sea is rough, you can't see the pathway...only the vision of a white mosque in the middle of a brown sea...dark clouds...sheet rain....it almost shines like a beacon...
I get a similar feeling when i go to the 'Holy Ghost Church' in Frazer town. The last time i was there, a dear friend of mine was married there....he had a silly grin on his face right through :) ...but it was so heart warming to see so many people share in someone else's joy....so many people all together just wishing and feeling so much love for two people...and those two commiting to a life that might be uncertain, might be tough...but will be happy...because they've commited themselves to that happiness. I hope to feel that someday.
I feel so much at peace when i go to that church....you drive around a beautiful park...through a promenade...and then there's this open space....vast space...and the church in the middle. So peaceful....i feel an inner peace just thinking of it.
The other end of the spectrum were 'The Crusades'. So many killed...mercilessly....in the name of god. Watched 'The Kingdom of Heaven' sometime back....about the English and the Muslims...and their fight over a land that's almost forsaken by god himself........
Closer home we had 'Ayodhya' and people being killed.....mercilessly.....in the name of god. I remember seeing the image of a man carrying his son's head and running across the street...saw it in a magazine...but i was horrified...something i'll never forget. And the '93 blasts....
All in the name of religion....in the name of god.
I remember i was having coffee with my girlfriend at the time when i was standing at the door in the Barista on Brigade Road - when the second tower collapsed. Chances are you'll remember exactly what you were doing on that day....
All in the name of religion.....dominance.....one person's word - against a god.
Horrified faces
Vivid memories
of strange places
I've never been.
tearing flesh
burning children
all in the name of a god
of whom we ask to be forgiven.
A crack in the sky
as god applauds us
with his show of light and might
and yet we question his word
what is it worth?
at 86 does he deserve to see
a son beheaded in the name of memories?
one person's anguish...another's joy.
we celebrate
our love for one another
living in 'communal harmony'
as tears roll down his cheeks...till he cries
and we call it rain.
I've always been fascinated with religion. How people believe so completely, unquestioningly...absolutely....in something that's formless, something they only speak and share...or go to a place of worship and experience...
There's a famous mosque in Bombay...in the middle of the sea - "Haji Ali". Whenever we drove past Haji Ali in a yellow fiat taxi, i'd look at it with a distant look in my eyes...especially in the monsoon..it's quite a sight. The waves crashing all along the long path that is the only thing that connects the mosque with the mainland...when it's raining heavily and the sea is rough, you can't see the pathway...only the vision of a white mosque in the middle of a brown sea...dark clouds...sheet rain....it almost shines like a beacon...
I get a similar feeling when i go to the 'Holy Ghost Church' in Frazer town. The last time i was there, a dear friend of mine was married there....he had a silly grin on his face right through :) ...but it was so heart warming to see so many people share in someone else's joy....so many people all together just wishing and feeling so much love for two people...and those two commiting to a life that might be uncertain, might be tough...but will be happy...because they've commited themselves to that happiness. I hope to feel that someday.
I feel so much at peace when i go to that church....you drive around a beautiful park...through a promenade...and then there's this open space....vast space...and the church in the middle. So peaceful....i feel an inner peace just thinking of it.
The other end of the spectrum were 'The Crusades'. So many killed...mercilessly....in the name of god. Watched 'The Kingdom of Heaven' sometime back....about the English and the Muslims...and their fight over a land that's almost forsaken by god himself........
Closer home we had 'Ayodhya' and people being killed.....mercilessly.....in the name of god. I remember seeing the image of a man carrying his son's head and running across the street...saw it in a magazine...but i was horrified...something i'll never forget. And the '93 blasts....
All in the name of religion....in the name of god.
I remember i was having coffee with my girlfriend at the time when i was standing at the door in the Barista on Brigade Road - when the second tower collapsed. Chances are you'll remember exactly what you were doing on that day....
All in the name of religion.....dominance.....one person's word - against a god.
Horrified faces
Vivid memories
of strange places
I've never been.
tearing flesh
burning children
all in the name of a god
of whom we ask to be forgiven.
A crack in the sky
as god applauds us
with his show of light and might
and yet we question his word
what is it worth?
at 86 does he deserve to see
a son beheaded in the name of memories?
one person's anguish...another's joy.
we celebrate
our love for one another
living in 'communal harmony'
as tears roll down his cheeks...till he cries
and we call it rain.
