You would have heard that word a million times in different circumstances. The one circumstance I have heard it most often is in a Christian setting like a church or a prayer meeting. And everyone I met has a different opinion on it. For those of you who don’t know the word in the Christian setting, it just basically means that you have accepted Jesus as your God. It does go a little deeper than that but that’s for another day. You wouldn’t hear about it too much in a catholic surrounding (maybe among charismatic Catholics), but among the Pentecostal, you are sure to find this word mentioned more often than not.

The reason for me talking so much about the word saved is that everytime I meet new people at a church or a Christian gathering, the first question they ask me is “Are you saved?” (which can easily be answered as yes for me) followed by “When were you saved?”. Its the second question that really stumps me. Moreover there seems to be a big misconception among the Christians in the US that there are no Christians in India or that all of us are newly evangelised ones. And I as the high priest of clearing confusions, do my part by telling them that St. Thomas was martyrd in my city of Madras and that people have been Christians in my part of the world for two thousand years(way more than in the Anglican world). You might be wondering why this topic has found its way to my blog. Well I went to a new church today and the people were mighty nice, but every single one of them asked me these two questions, and I felt it my duty to set the record straight.

In other news from my end, I successfully went to the gym again today so that makes two consecutive days of gym and my attempt has started of pretty good. I’ll keep you updated if I do go on the following days.

The foundation for the long term help of the Tsunami victims would be setup this week. The top priority would be to setup an orphanage. There is also a move to setup a 503 c … (I don’t know the correct abbreviation) in the US with the help of some well wishers at FSU.

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday weekend.

“Salvation is only by Grace”

Its hard to understand the way the same companies and other organizations run in different parts of the world. I got to experience the logistical inconsistencies first hand at the Y. I am lifetime member of the Y courtesy of my dad who got me a membership(at a huge premium I must add) 8 years ago, expecting me to go all over the world. I finally decided to use this membership (for the first time) at the neighboring Y, only to find out that the Y in the US does have the concept of a lifetime membership. And for those of you who don’t know what it means, a lifetime membership is offered when you pay 15 to 20 times the yearly membership at single time. After explaining to the volunteers for about half an hour about how the Y works in India, I got a temporary guest pass; A temporary solution till they could find out from their HQ on how to handle my request for full access to their facility.

You would guess that such large organizations with a presence in almost all countries would have a standard policy or atleast train their staff in the different policies

that they have. All that they could tell me was that they never thought that somebody from so far away would ever come here to this particular Y in Missouri! Now that I have finished my rant and rave. Lets talk about the good part of it all, I have finally successfully kick started my exercise regime, I know its too early to blow the horn. Maybe if I go tomorrow, it would be a real start. And before I sign off what’s this with the nakedness in the showers … I am not trying to be homophobic but seeing naked men isn’t exactly my cup of tea.

“I have learned more from my mistakes

than from my successes”