Tigreek (in hinglish)

It was... maybe something like a challenge, or a joke. A friend told me today "You can just tell 'tensed' as your next title for Tigreek... You are always like this !"

Thik hai... You are right. Yes, I'm tensed before an exam... And I can assure you that yesterday was not the worse... I was quite confident, thanks to you all ! I knew I had my friends all around me, with thoughts if not in real... And it was probably the greatest force to feel this.

And you are right again, yes, I'm frightened by my boss. And I hate fight with others about work. I just dream about a work where we can trust everyone, tell as if everybody was acting for the same goal, and not having some hidden reasons in each sentences they say...

Anyway... Believe this if you can, but I learned a lot from indian people, and I'm far less tensed in my everyday life than I could have been a few years ago

And this evening, even if my daughter is ill, even if my boss is getting me under pressure, even if my house is in a mess, I feel free... Exam is done, I can have a break... And think about next step : next course, challenge, objective... Tensed ? Depends on the moment... but also on dedication

In indian society, I probably wouldn't exist... I keep thinking this, each time I hear that people should marry somebody "from same caste, same region, same religion". Here in France, this rule was also right until a few decades. Even if not so clearly expressed, it was how the society was built.

Same caste ? Even if there is no caste in France, you can find some differences from the social environment, which can be very strong... My father was from countryside, from a farmers' family ; my mother grew up in a rich family from a quite big town...

Same region ? In India, it seems that "region" goes with "language"... This is a very rich culture, with more than twenty spoken languages. We don't have this in France. Of course, you can find some people from Brittany or Alsace, who can speak their own regional idiom. But there is only one official language, and all people speak french, at least.

Nevertheless, my parents came from different regions : my father from Burgundy, where there are again some farms cattling cows ; and my mother from a rich suburb of Paris...

Same religion ? In Hinduism as in Christianism, there are different ways to follow religion. Here in France, most of christians are catholics. But few of them are protestants (around 2%). And so were my parents : one catholic, one protestant...

Thus, as you can see, nothing would give them to get together. It was a bit difficult, and in the family we always have some pressure on some subjects... Culture is even different from one family to the other...

But we are there. Me, my sister and brothers are now some kind of a mix... No problem about "caste" or region, as we all moved for our studies and work. But for religion, as we received education from both our parents, we are living our complex faith, just between two communities... Sometimes it's very rich, because we share two different cultures, two ways of thinking ; sometimes it's more difficult, because we are considered nor in one community nor in the other...

It's a strange feeling. On a sunday morning, being back after a week away. Back to 'my' church... But with this special feeling... Maybe it's because of holidays ? Maybe because of people who are not the same as usual ? Because of the way to sing and have joy in the celebration ? I don't know... Like something "it's good to be back" !

And during the mass, I was thinking "I should explain this on blog... but how ?"... I would like to share you all the feelings, all the special moments which occur during the celebration...

Like the songs we have on each important time... And the chill I feel when I sing with others, and with my whole heart. Even if I don't know the language^[1], I know the meaning, and I feel it strong.

Like somes gestures made by children... Maybe they don't have 'faith' yet, as we can call it, but a special and very kind way to understand some symbols, feel that what's happening does worth. They are like naive models, and sometimes it can be good for us to observe them and foloow their way... Become simple, honnest, true...

Like the priest's talk about the Bible... It's often told with good sense of humor, even for very serious topics, and it gives us some ways to think about... For one minute, one hour, or sometimes one week !

Like silence after quite strong times... To keep focus on what we just heard, saw, felt... Go in self heart and enforce the faith... Or just pray, a few more minutes...

Like this very great moment, when we believe that Holy Spirit is coming to transform bread and wine in Body and Blood of Christ... The entire mystery of the mass is in these few minutes, and you can really experience the force then in the church...

I feel so lucky to have this, and believe in my God, and have the chance to live this each week !

A true Master is not the one with the most students, but the one who creates the most Masters.
A true teacher is not the one with the most knowledge, but one who causes the most others to have knowledge.
And a true God is not One with the most servants, but One who serves the most, thereby making Gods of all others.
Conversations with God, Neale D Walsch

What a chance, what a programme, what a challenge ! Become a God, following our God and learning from Him... What a hope also...

I found this photo and thought it was in the spirit of this blog... Trying to link different ways, views, cultures, faiths !

(And just for the fun... Who will guess something a bit unusual about the person on this photo ?)

Here is the first page of a new section in my blog. It starts as my friend is leaving France, after three months in Paris for work... And these last months were so rich... I started talking about her in this post and a bit later also... And as we were becoming friends, I translated these posts for her... And was wondering : what about writing in english ? With, of course, some words in hindi...

Thus born this page... Slowly, because I write far slower in english than in french... But why not ? If we can share experiences, feelings, prayers, stories... anything which can make us closer, and maybe make others want to discover us, I think it would be a benefit.