The Serenity Prayer

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.   By Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

Prayer song

An old prayer song during our school days

Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love,
Where there is injury , your pardon Lord,
And where there's doubt true faith in you.

O, master grand that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood, as to understand,
To be loved , as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of Your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, Lord your shining light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

Make me a channel of your peace,
It isn't pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all men that we receive,
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

Our Seniors

Seniors are the integral part of any professional college. Their part is equally important as the faculties in moulding you to a better professional. We too had seniors who ragged us, tripped us, educated, promoted and helped us in many ways they could for our benefit. It’s the 1999 pass out batch that first left RIT after we joined and the batch we admire the most

Our stint with this batch was only for a few months but they gave us many everlasting memories. The first thing that come to our mind is the fearful thoughts of “Pappan”, “Palakaran Pothu”, Issac, Balasubramiam etc waiting at the bus stop to rag us. There was a beautiful girl in electronics who was the most charming girl of that period. She was the lover of one among this mighty built seniors and we used to look / peep her from our KV rooms, through the recess of the window, while she waits for bus at Nedunkuzhy. There was Saju who was a dancer with long hair and a heartthrob of many Jr girls. The kathaprasangam (Nair pidicha Pulivalu) they presented during the final years day is unforgettable. Seeing these guys in full sleeves, tucked in and wearing a tie during our first mech association / an exhibition day (?) gave us a different insight. Needless to say, all other times, they were seen in some shabby pyjamas or lungis and some grimed T shirts, typical RITians of that time.

There were studious guys like Suresh Nair, who was the topper and one senior whom we called “Annan”. He completed MSc / MPhil (?) in Chemistry before he stepped in to RIT. This batch was the best batch RIT ever had till now and with the changing socio-demographic conditions we don’t think the future RITians can overdo them. One thing to add, most of them in this batch were known by nicknames and not by their original names.

There were many things we tried to copy from them. All of us had popular nicknames and we too presented a kathapransagam during our final year. We tried to be like them but we could never be like them. Hats off to you dear seniors..!!!!

Bye 2011

2011 flew very fast. It was a year that gave me lot of surprises and was mixed with many events that ignited several emotions and let me the taste new feelings which I never experienced in my life before.

Happiest moment was when I had my second daughter in my arms. She was beautiful and was the biggest gift I received from God in 2011. My long ambition of an overseas trip was materialized when I flew to Netherlands. I was a bit scared for travelling approx 9000 kms alone and the very purpose of the visit made me fever. It was a mixed feeling of surprise, anguish and yet happiness towards the last part of the trip. Sudden cancellation of trains to ‘Nijmegen’ and the detour made on account of the same in a country which was literally foreign to me and about five thousand miles apart from my home country was enterprising. I enjoyed my first international flight with movies, wine and beer. Sight of the traditional and typical Dutch windmills and tulips which was never even in my dreams was really exciting. I enjoyed the country side and the busy streets of Amsterdam all with same zest and zeal.

The disappointing and dreadful time I had in office for a few months took my sleep away. Answers made, explanations given and standing humiliated under the taunting questions was the most awkward moments I had in 2011. There was a change in role and got posted in a different seat. That was a welcome change and I became totally involved in my new role. The new role was encouraging and gave many opportunities where I could actively contribute. I felt happy again.

On my personal life there was nothing much to note. Everything was moving in the usual pattern. Towards the end, 2011 brought in happy moments. Though it gave me many unpleasant time, I feel happy for 2011 as it helped me a lot for introspection and gave me courage to move forward.

Bye 2011. Now, looking forward for 2012. Don’t know what it have for me.