Canción de San Francisco Xavier- Cristóbal Fones SJ

When the world shuts the sun in darkness
When all dreams are swallowed deep beneath the sea
When no one is so caring to dare cross the ocean
That corners the poor and the broken

Rise my light, my Jesus
Set me soaring, flying
Let me trust your promises
Let me do your will

Chorus:
Jesus, fire in my heart
My heart aflame in love for the world
Feels no limits, sees no boundaries
Only God, my hope!

Even if I gained the whole world
It’s nothing to me if it takes me not to you
May no tides pull me under, no dark swirls engulf me
In lifting my gaze to your star

There, in the eyes of the hungry
I see you looking back to me
And your love fills up my soul
Now my soul sets sail

Chorus

Jesus you give joy to your people
Jesus you freed them giving pardon and your peace
In such love that impels me, embracing a people
That long for your kingdom to come

All is yours you’ve given me
Not as mine but all as grace
In your arms take all of it
You’re my land, my sea!

Chorus

The week that was...

Loads of studying this week!!!

Enjoyed the celebration of Francis Xavier's feast. Singing his song, inspired me to challenge myself to new frontiers and greater heights!

But the day that stands out is today. It began with a long chat with a very close friend - loads of sharing and solace. And it ended with an amazing sing-song with a talented group of youngsters at my family doctor's place. It was his grandson's 21st birthday and I had just dropped in to say hi!

Exams begin on wednesday...praying that all goes well!

The week that was...

The last week was pretty amazing. It threw up a lot of surprises...met my sister after ages, managed to finish some part of my portion for my upcoming exams and rested well on the weekend! The highlight of the week was the terrace party on Saturday. Bonding with brethren over cashewnuts and chicken patties (from kyani's!!!) was one of the high points of the week. Also finishing updates of the province website (www.bomjesu.org) brought a lot of satisfaction. NFS is back to haunt and distract me!!! Good pastime though.

Back to College

Sem VII is here and i'm back to the grind of college life, which means assignments, pracs, journal work etc etc....

This is my final year at XIE and just the thought of completing my engineering in a few months makes me wonder at the sorry state of our education system. At the end of 4 years of this monotonous course, I know a little, and I mean it, more than what I knew when I entered this college. What is the point of spending time 4 years of my life in such a useless system!!!

Anyways here we are....hoping this year flies by quickly and praying for a 1st class with no KTs!!!!

Khandala

Just back from an exciting trip to Khandala with my college friends. The scenery and weather left me standing in wonder and awe at the Creator. We had an enjoyable time....loads of fun and games.

What never ceases to amaze me is the beauty of nature. The greenery and serenity silenced me and brought about a sense of calm around me. One with God in the hands of nature!

Scrapping of Board Exams????

I was delighted to hear the new plans for the education system in our country. Finally some change for the better. Our current system isn't making our childhood happy and free. We live under the constant pressure of getting high marks and coming first. The ones who have good memory excel and the ones who maybe slow suffer. The system tests student's memory and not whether they have really grasped the concepts. If you ask the students one application question, I'm sure that 95 % of them will funble and fail.

Hoping for change in the way we learn the basic necessities of life...hoping we give our children the joys of being a child!

Holidays!!!!

Finally done with exams, which were going on for over a month!!! Time to relax and take things easy. My body is just tired and wants to rest every time...dunno wat to do! Working on perfecting my website designing skills these hols..lets see how things turn out. Went for a SAD movie yesterday - Bridewars..we were the only guys group for a chick-flick!!!! However spent sometime wid friends...

Rajni Luthra'a view on "Racism" in Australia

Most Indian homes in Australia have had this phone call from concerned family in India by now. "Are you alright? What are they doing to you guys over there?"

It's almost as if Australian gangs are roaming the trains seeking out Indians to bash up, or roaming the streets seeking out Indian homes to throw petrol bombs into. "Stay safe," the relatives are saying over the phone from across hundreds of miles. "Don't go out alone at night; don't take 'pangas' with others on the trains …"

The Indian TV channels have put out so much material on the Australian situation that they are actually making Australia out to be an unsafe place to live in, at least for Indians. The constant churning out on the TV screens on "updates on the Australian situation" is responsible for this paranoia.

In my own home in Sydney, we have had repeated phone calls from media outlets in India, waking us up at odd hours of the night, asking for more info about "the situation".

Have you experienced any racist behaviour at the hands of the Aussies, they ask. Have you experienced any form of racism? No, I haven't, I'm going to scream at the next TV channel that rings me.

"Would you like to go live in Australia now that you've heard of the racism there?" Even a major newspaper website asked a question that sounded something like this on their daily poll.

Parents of Indian students are being interviewed about calling their kids back; students who have finished their degrees and gone back to India are being interviewed, and education consultants are selling Canada - and everyone is jumping on the "racism" bandwagon.

I think it is time for the voice of reason to speak out. True, we are all concerned about the recent attacks against some Indian students here, and we are all shocked and horrified at the incidents reported, but it's not as if the Australian public have declared jihad on Indians here!

Can someone please stop this frenzy? Mediawallahs, cool it, please!

Yes there is a "situation" here with the students. Yes, there has been slow reaction by the authorities in the past. And yes, the work that you did in highlighting it has injected that much-needed sense of urgency, so kudos to you for that.

But now, let them get on with their task, and stop adding fuel to the fire. Most of us here are as safe as citizens of any other race, and have not experienced racism any more than we probably had in India.

Remember Graham Staines? That was the work of a misguided group of fundamentalists - just like some of the attacks on the Indian students here. Were all Hindus - all Indians - branded 'racist' because of that one-off Orissa incident involving the Australian missionary who was killed along with his sons?

The need of the hour is to concentrate on the student issue - help those directly affected, and put mechanisms in place for future students - not to play the race card. There never was a strong enough one in the first place.

Rajni A. Luthra is the editor of Indian Link, Sydney. She can be contacted atilink1@optusnet.com.au )

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