Breaking Through

So there’s this big rock. A massive lump of granite, taller than a building, and it seems to have been sitting there for centuries. Originally it would have probably stood on its own in a patchwork of rice and wheat fields. Now its hemmed in by the growth of the city around it, and in fact forms part of the compound of “Beakthrough”, Bangalore, where our daughter Sharon and husband Rohit now live, and where we spent ten days of our Christmas holidays in India.

What fascinated me about this rock was its energy. On the early mornings, as the sun was making it over the horizon, I would walk through the garden, climb the steps up onto the back of this mountain, and gaze out over the busy roads and there commune with God. It was an easy place to talk to God. Now, I’m not one given to attaching spiritual significance to places, but I sensed a particular vibe there that made it easy to pray. A little oasis of spiritual peace in the midst of all the temples and mosques.

But the energy of the rock lay in its one unique feature. Two or three massive fissures ran down through the rock literally splitting it right down the middle. And within these fissures, the roots of an ancient tree forcing their way down through to the earth. And on the pinnacle of this rock, the wizened branches of this old tree reaching up to the heavens. You have to see it to really imagine the sheer power of life that managed to split a rock in two. The phenomenon inspired the name of the outdoor activity and team building company that Robin and Linda Paul have been running there since 2000 - “Breakthrough”. Helping individuals and teams to break through in terms of performance and communication.

So in the shadow of this powerful symbol of the strength that life has over death, that growth has over inactivity, I give glory to God, the author and perfector of this faith that helps me see beyond the mundane and to perceive the wonder in the ordinary

http://www.breakthrough-india.com/

There and Back Again

Wow. 2010 has started and its January 25th already. I guess I’ll begin the year with two more mini movie reviews. Courtesy of Air India, they were what I watched on the flight over to Bangalore on December 10th and back again on January 2nd.

Anna doesn’t quite understand my fascination with Bollywood. I guess I must have looked a bit odd on the flight. The passengers seated around me were all Indian and tuned into the English channels on the in flight enter

tainment. I was the only one watching the Hindi movie! This obsession, if you like to call it that, began around 1999 when we were working in Pakistan. The first movie that really fired my imagination was Kuch Kuch Hota Hei with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. I guess it has something to do with the catchy tunes, the elaborate dance sequences, the melodramatic acting and the corny dialogue, the set piece plots which are often total fantasy and yet rooted in the culture of the subcontinent and its interactions with other cultures. But Bollywood has come a long way from that stereotype, and has grown up in many ways.

I haven’t had the chance to watch much on offer in recent days, and so I was considerably impressed with the quality of both “Delhi 6”, on the way out, and “Love Aaj Kal” on the return journey. The latter was a cute and contemporary love story, and the cultural nuances were painted by juxtaposing the contemporary relationship with one of twenty years ago which is played out in a series of flashbacks. Delhi 6 was also good, not only because of another excellent soundtrack by A R Rahman, but in the way it expresses the life of the community in a corner of Delhi as an often confusing mix of ancient and modern, tradition and superstition, mixed religious sensibilities of the older generation and the yearnings and passions of the younger.

Kind of sums up our trip to India - that totally sensory overload of smells, sounds and colour that hit us between the eyes on landing in Bangalore, and followed us to the beaches of Goa. It was the combination of ancient and modern, the go-ahead 21st century city, bursting at the seams with energy and struggling to keep up with itself, and the calm and serene way of life of the Goan coast and countryside being ruthlessly taken over in the name of tourism. More about these themes later, I am sure.