The Shepherds elevated on Christmas day..

First person account of a Shepherd:

The night was long. I was along with my co-workers guarding the unfortunate herd of sheep. Unfortunate as all their roads lead them to death. Either they will be dead meat or sacrifices in the holy temple. We were equally unfortunate as we were treated as the lower class and an outlier in the society. We were not respected for who we are, but treated based on our fate. We were ill-treated by the higher-ups in the society. The high priests and the leaders thought we were a nuisance to the society. We were not even allowed to attend the Holy Temple as we were expected to work throughout the day and also because of our image in the society.

So, here we are - a group of unwanted people guarding a group of a 'soon to be dead' animals in the night which seemed to have no hope of a new dawn! The only question each one of us had at that time was - "Why me?"

But that night had a purpose. That night was different. We became someone that night!

An angel appeared right in front of us. We are not used to an invasion at an time, let alone night. Needless to say, we were terrified! Based on our portrayal in the society, we feared for the worst. But the angel said to us:

Luke 2:10-14

10 - But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
11 - Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 - This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 - Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 - “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

A host of heavenly angels suddenly appeared in front of us and started praising the Almighty God. They seemed happy as if something big has happened or is going to happen. We were shocked. It  took us some time to grasp what has happened. This is what the scripture says about us:

Luke 2:15-20

15 - When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 - So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
17 - When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
18 - and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
19 - But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20 - The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Image courtesy: http://natal25desember.com/

Guess what? We were the ONLY ones invited to visit our LORD. Not even the wise men, they came following a star. Not even the High Priests and the Leaders. No one in our hypocritical society. Only the shepherds. Such high esteem from the Almighty! And that too to a 'nobody' like me. I am forced to ask the same question I asked sometime back - "Why me?"

Wish you all a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy & Prosperous New Year! God Bless.

Stress On Aapka Kapda (SOAK).. No more!

I was born in a royal manner. Or should I say, I was made in a royal way! Not only me, but my fellow beings too. We were infact part of one single entity but divided as separate entities. We had a one-point mission: to serve and cover mankind. Some of us were given a name. Now technically, I am not supposed to disclose my name here. But I was told that I would make my owner complete! Some were given other names too as the names will determine our worth (price) and our destination (showroom).

If you are still guessing, I am a fabric - ready to be molded the way my owner wants me to.

Needless to say, I was the hottest property in the showroom. I was taken (sold to be precise) the day I was brought in the showroom. Even the salesman praised me a lot. I was the first fabric shown to a guy and he bought me immediately. Men and their shopping habits! I was royally molded based on his measurements and delivered the same day. The guy proudly showed me off to his family and carefully placed me in his cupboard.

Months later.

I am still in the cupboard. Not alone, as you might think. I have some new friends for company. The difference is, they get their opportunity to feel the air outside and me, well, I remain on the inside waiting for my opportunity. The newer ones call me uncle and also seek my advice on how to behave during different seasons. They think, I have been there and done that. You guys will understand my situation. I am a typical case of a college topper waiting for my opportunity to land a job when my colleagues who barely passed are 'enjoying their days in the sun'. I was the best, now I am not even among the rest.

You see that black protective cover at the end? I am in it..

But my moment came.

One day, my owner opened the cupboard and finally noticed me. He removed me from the cupboard and glanced through me. I could see guilt in his eyes. His eyes explored me completely. Poor guy, I forgive him. I think it was a genuine mistake of selecting shirts for sale and utilizing them when his prized possession was just waiting in the wings. But there was a problem. You see, I was not "utilized" for months. Months of waiting in the wings for my opportunity and supporting all the "bought-from-sale" colleagues of mine has made me lose my interest in serving mankind. Kind of lost my touch! One dose of refreshment would do, I thought. Maybe one cleaning process. I remember my colleagues telling me how stressful the process of cleaning actually is! Soaking being the worst part. No wonder you humans say diamond becomes the most precious commodity after going through the process of utmost pain. 

However, my owner was a genius. He saw my condition and immediately switched on his washing machine to clean me. To my utter surprise, my cleaning was actually a cakewalk. Some molecules ran through me without any pain. And I was fresh - fresh as a daisy.

Stress On Aapka Kapda (SOAK) - no more!

Guess what the product was? Why don't you humans SURF the net to find out the name of that EXCELlent product which autoMATICally cleansed me and made me realize that I am the best in this business?

PS: This post is written for an IndiBlogger contest: The Surf Excel Matic #SoakNoMore Contest. This story occurred to me when I decided to clean my cupboard (Read: ironically to remove the old ones, make space for new ones).

Guest Post: Lizard Lizard on the wall..

... who's the scariest of them all!!

It wasn't that tough for me to select my next guest blogger (after starting my own version of Guest Author Series). Infact, it was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made. The offer came to me directly. And since most of the bloggers I follow are in the mood for guest posts, I decided to do the same. You all might have heard of my guest author. The guy is very popular. Some fear him, some don't like him, very very few of us actually ignore him. When he approached me to allow him to write a guest post, I couldn't help but wonder - what on Earth will he write. I asked him the same question. His reply - 'If I tell you my topic, you won't allow me to write. Let it be a surprise'.

So, here it is guys. Presenting to you - {drum-beats, anticipation, hold thy breath and now release} - The Lizard of house.

Image: bluebison.net

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First and foremost, unlike what most of you think, I am not creepy.

Now that I have got this off my chest, which by the way is actually facing the keyboard as I type, let me just tell you that I am not here to have my 15 seconds to fame (the author tells me, in the blogging world, all you need is a "single" post to fame). I am here to explain it to you humans that you guys are hypocrites! Ohh yes you are!! The thing is, you just don't realize it.

1. Admit it, most of you guys are scared of us - Either completely scared of me, or scared of my creepiness, scared of the fact that I can hide below the bed on which you intend to doze off!! Some of you also hate the way I run. But honestly, that's not my intention guys. I just want my people (fellow lizards) to survive in a human-dominated world that the almighty has given us. That's about it. But you don't understand, do you? When you see one of us - you run for your life as if I am going to eat you! Then some of you (supposedly brave) will come with a broom-stick (or something equivalent) and invade our privacy and security! And why do you do that? Did we kill someone from your family / friends? Did we inherit your ancestral home? You attack us simply to show your dominance! Or maybe to impress the fairer sex who is probably sitting on the bed scared as hell! Your fear is your own. Unfortunately, we suffer.

2. You don't allow us to live peacefully - We have a life. You humans, you need a life! We have our own families to feed. By the way, we are independent. We will not invade your privacy, that's a commitment. Even if we are in your rooms, we hardly know what is going on. We don't understand your tone, your way ofcommunicating through gestures. We are not educated to know all that (though some of my friends are also present in your schools / colleges). Our only concern is to live each day as it comes, find food and survive! Peacefully. But because of your turbulent lives, we suffer.

3. We actually love jumping on you guys, we really do - I admit. We love it. Just to see how (ignorantly) scared you can be. It's as if our gigantic cousins (crocodiles) have jumped on you. Its funny guys. But understand it from our perspective too. That's our only way of self defense. What would you have done, if you guys were in my place? Same thing, right? Trust me, we try to avoid any collision till the point you leave us with no other option! And when we jump, we know we'll be dead soon. But that's our final moments of entertainment! Don't get us wrong. We respect humans. Its only when you guys start abusing your power, we act.

Don't love us. As if we care. We have only one request. Live and let live.
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Guest Post: Grievances of One - Hundred Rupee note.

Recently I saw a post from a dog written on this page. I went through it and realized that it can be a proper channel to address my grievances. I have a lot of them guys, but will only discuss a few of them. So, here I am - a Hundred rupee note.

I don't quite remember how I was born, as is the case with most of you humans. But yes, unlike you guys, we don't grow physically. We infact have our value reduced with every single day. Ever heard of the 'time value of money'? Who made this concept? One of you guys !! And needless to say, you guys use us... everytime !! Not that we feel bad about though - we are habituated.

I remember being kicked out of a machine - an ATM machine. I saw there were many of us being kicked out. Some of them had 1000 written on them, some had 500 written on them, and few of us - precisely 5 - had 100 written on them. 

First complaint - You humans have injected racism among our community. Notes, similar in stature, are very different in the value they carry. Infact we can even count the worth. Five notes of my caste equals one note of an upper caste, and 10 guys of my caste equals one guy of the supreme caste (till now). Notes having 1000 printed on them are of the supreme caste, and naturally, are egoistic. When we are in a wallet together, the owner keeps the 1000 rupee note either separately, or properly in the wallet unlike us. My caste notes are kept together. We have to adjust the place along with 10 rupee notes - by the way, they along with 5 rupee notes are of the lowest caste. The 1000 rupee note laughs at us every time, and cosily rests in its place whereas we have to bear the embarrassment. And who can blame them? No one. Who's mistake? Your mistake.

Second complaint - You humans prefer using us even when 5 and 10 rupee notes can be used. Everytime !! And then you lie to the other person saying "No change" !! Really? Please, for God's sake, remove these 5 and 10 rupee notes when you have change. They are 'change', we are not. When you buy a bus ticket, you flash me in front of the conductor as if we don't have any respect !! To make matters worse, even the conductor insults us by refusing us. What the @#$^ !! Show us some respect guys !!

Third complaint - We are used mainly for bribing. You skip a signal and when you are caught, you flash us again. Atleast, on this occasion, the receiver doesn't disrespect us. Infact, he asks for more notes of my caste. I quite like it though. But the point is, why are we involved in bribing? Use the notes of the supreme caste, can't you? Flash one, and you are through. In our circles, we are considered as the most corrupt lot. And who's mistake? Your mistake.

Image: www.123rf.com

However, there are people among you who still respects us to the core. Unfortunately, those are the people who yearns for us. But the fact remains, they are unable to have us. Your society terms them as poor, under-privileged, and they live below the poverty line. They are insulted by their society, just like we are. Situation is just the same for us. Don't misunderstand our silence. We are hurt, disturbed and don't know where to go. All we are asking you is to please use us sensibly like your grand parents and your parents did. They saved us so that you guys can have your way. 

And remember, you need us, we don't need you !!

Link: http://adda.at/Tangy53

Guest Post: Its a dog's life, after all !!

Bow wow everyone.. First of all, the owner of this site needs to thank me as I am his first guest blogger. I read his Termite Blog (we are from the same kingdom: Animal kingdom) and was quite impressed but his way of writing could have been better. That's why I thought, I will write this post instead of the author.

Anyways, I used to be one of the luckier dogs among our community, as I was adopted by a rich family. As is always the case with rich dogs, I had my own room, my own servant, my own washroom. In fact, my standard of living was better than the average person out there on the street. My master used to leave for work every morning in his car and then my madam leaves for shopping in her own car. Once this is done, I used to become the owner and frequently bow wowed all the servants. After scaring the hell out, they used to play my favorite movie: 101 Dalmatians. So many dogs in one movie and I am still better than them. I used to love this feeling. Those were the days!!

And then it happened.

 

One day, when my master and madam left for their respective work, I decided to venture out of MY HOME. I went outside my compound bow wowing every person I saw on the road. I was the king of the area, or so I believed. When I reached a junction on the road, I saw many dogs, malnourished I must say, staring at me. I didn't understand the signal and proudly started walking on the (their) road trying to make them feel jealous. They started barking at me. I still didn't get the signal. One of them started running towards me. Though I was stronger than him, I still had to retreat because I was alone. I started running away from him. I reached another road. There were some other dogs who did the same thing as the first ones. I had to run away from them too. This happened for 4-5 times.

Finally, I found a place with no dogs in sight. But I lost track of MY HOME. I was running for about 30 minutes non-stop. That's when reality dawned on me. I lost my place, my servants, my own washroom, my life, in a way. I started cursing myself for venturing out of my comfort place. I had everything a dog, or for that matter - a man, ever needs and more. I was once a rich dog, and now, the adjective 'rich' no longer applies to me.

I became a stray dog.

I wandered for a new home, hoping against hope that some rich family will see me, realize that I am not a stray dog and will adopt me. But to no avail. Some stray dogs were generous enough to include me in their 'group'. I bow wowed with them trying to understand their dialect. I then realized that I had an accent. My immediate concern after becoming a stray dog was food. I was told that I will have to wander for food all the while. Food, relationships (if you know what I mean), sleep and survival are the four facets of our life. I believe its not that different for you humans too. Anything wasted by you guys become our food. Relationships - well, lets just say we believe in PDA's. Sleep - anywhere in "OUR AREA". And survival - We sleep as if there is no tomorrow. Which means, we do everything we can to make us happy and sleep as if nothing else is remaining to do. There's one more reason - We are not sure if we'll actually wake up. You humans have a habit of killing / hurting anyone less powerful than you.

From my madam's lap to Mother Earth's lap, Life has come full circle for me. I no longer wait for my master / madam to come and pick me. I am satisfied and self sufficient. I have like-minded dogs with me. We have, what we call, "OUR AREA" which we demarcate differently with Pride and no shame. I like it this way.

I wrote this article just to inform the readers of the lessons I learnt throughout the journey:

1. Life is not always about comfort and Luxuries.
2. Its not about the word "MY", Its about "OUR".
3. Every day is a new day with new challenges and opportunities. Enjoy it.
4. God will make a way and he will provide.
5. Every dog will have his day.