പ്രണയം വിരിയട്ടെ

നീയെന്നിൽ  സ്നേഹമായ്  പെയ്തിറങ്ങുമ്പോഴും
എന്ടെ ആത്മാവിന്നു ദാഹിച്ചു വരളുന്നു .

ഹൃദയ സരസ്സിലിന്നു നിശബ്ധത മാത്രം
കവിതയുടെ നീരൊഴുക്ക് നിലച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു .

നീയെൻ തൂലികയിൽ മഷിയായി പിറക്കുക
വരണ്ടുണങ്ങിയ മണ്ണിൽ പ്രണയം വിരിയട്ടെ


ഔസേപ്പച്ചൻ 

മാതൃ ശിശു ബന്ധത്തേക്കാൾ പവിത്രമായ
മറ്റെന്തുണ്ട് ഈ ലോകത്തിൽ ?

അവിടെ വ്യവസ്ഥകളും അതിർവരമ്പുകളും
അപ്രത്യക്ഷമാകുന്നു .

ഹൃദയങ്ങൾ തമ്മിൽ സംസാരിക്കുന്നു .
അനുപമ സ്നേഹത്തിൻ ഈരടികൾ .

ഔസേപ്പച്ചൻ 

I lost myself in that wonderful sight

The faithful singing the praises of the Lord

A mother and a child in the crowd
Something special… my eyes got stuck.

I gave my heart and mind to those lovely moments
A baby in white turning the pages of a book.
Totally fearless in the presence of her mother
Even in the presence of God, child too is present for her

A wonderful smile appeared on her cheeks
And moved gently to her mother
Not worried about what is happening around
Offered a gentle kiss to her mother.

A moment of love and affirmation.
A perfect symbol of perfect love, love Divine.
Both are in a state of unconditional love
Love that is beyond all the limitations

Joseph Shibin

വിലാപം

ജീവിതത്തിലെ ഏകാന്തനിമിഷങ്ങളിൽ

ഒരു വിലാപം  എൻറെയുള്ളിൽ മുഴങ്ങുന്നു 

സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യത്തിന്റെ ലോകത്തിലേക്ക് 

പറക്കുവാൻ വെമ്പൽകൊള്ളുന്ന എൻറെ 

കണ്ണീർതുള്ളികളുടെ വിലാപം 

ജോസെഫ്സ് 

ജീവിതത്തിൻ താളം

നിൻറെ  പാദസരത്തിന്റെ  കിലുക്കം
എൻറെ ഹൃദയത്തിന്റെ താളമായ്  മാറുന്നു
ജീവിതത്തിൻ താളവും


ജോസെഫ്സ് 

Touch of love

Touch of love

My little flower, dancing in the breeze

My sweetheart reflecting the Divine radiance

Life brought me closer to your loving presence

Let me be here with you for a while

I become helpless and cannot go forward

My eyes fixed on you, my being becomes one with you

Your smile releases me from the hard reality of life

You are born to dispel darkness from my soul

I love you as you are a beautiful being

You are rooted to the earth like a mother to the child

I fall into deep meditation in your presence

Songs of adoration and praises fill my heart

My heart longs for being with you till the end

Strong temptations to make you my own

Keeping you close to my heart I want to live

Still, be there my dear to touch many other hearts.

Joseph Shibin SJ

Daivathine Swantham Cletus - Malayalam Film Review

Daivathinte swantham Cletus

     What good can come out of Malayalam film industry?  What more can be expected from a person called megastar Mammooty? I started with these presuppositions.   But now I feel that Malayalam film industry still has a great future and Mammooty can contribute a lot still. Even in this era of the new generation currents, megastar is able to swim against the current and to make his mark.

     The skill of the actor is well manifested in the movie titled  ‘Daivathinte Swantham Cletus.’ It is not an attempt to make fun of the Christian tradition but to raise a few questions about understanding Jesus Christ in a new century. This is a different reading of the gospel. Many are aspiring to be Jesus but the selected one is a sinner, a sinner to the core. He rejects the offer in the beginning but ultimately he has to respond the the call. Of course, the call to be a another Jesus in this ever changing world is a challenge for us. We need to forget ourselves and to adopt a new system of values. Though the man is a sinner grace is still resisting to fade away from his face.

    Incompatibility between Jesus Christ and Cletus is becoming clear as we go ahead. The actor faces severe inner struggle to be a Jesus. It becomes difficult for him to meditate on Jesus and to be faithful to him. He has all the temptations to go back and to dwell in the darkness of the soul. But the ways of Divine are great. Cletus is the chosen one.  Cletus represents a believer in this century proclaiming the faith and meantime facing a difficult situation in being faithful to his set of beliefs. Many of the parables are interpreted in a different and new dimension. To be a Christ means to be one with the suffering, the oppressed and to remain where there is a greater need. 

     The darkness of the world cannot hide the light of being. This is the key insight given by the film, I think. As the film progresses, Cletus is identifying himself with his role as Christ which gives him a new turn in life.  The suffering at the cross makes Cletus a new man and he accepts his sinfulness. He receives the wounds as a punishment for all the evil he had done. Here a Judas appears with bowl of red wine for the master. Cletus is not really a sinner to the core. We can trace some element of goodness in him. Cletus was called from the depth of sinfulness and made new. The Son has come to redeem the lost.When others observe world with lust Cletus observes the drowning innocents and the tortured by the society.

       Lakshmi is a great influencing character of the film. She is not like the passive women in the contemporary society and films. She is a powerful character with moral integrity, determination and courage. The society tried to view her as another Mary Magdalene, a prostitute. A Still she changed the perspective of the society by becoming a good mother to her son and in responding courageously when she was torn apart by the destiny.

Cletus is God’s own with a compassionate heart..

Joseph Shibin

Darkness of soul

Lonely

In the midst of a crowd

Doors locked … safe

No one to disturb

Staying in between sacred places

Songs of adoration and praises

Dry leaves all around

Resisting to fly in the rhythm of breeze

Do not waste your time knocking

The door will not be opened

If the door is open

Light may enter and disturb my life

This loneliness is infinite

No drop of hope

The darkness of the world

Has reached even the light of being

Master of Beauty

I bow my head before you every moment,

The underlying principle of this cosmos.

I sing this song of adoration with amazement,

When I find you everywhere around me.

Oh! The master of beauty and celestial artist,

Great is your creative imagination.

I enjoy the beauty as an atomist,

Still mysterious is your creation.

Beauty is not mere combination of matter,

You created us with your loving touch.

The whole creation reflects your grandeur,

Matter craves for your gentle touch.

Oh! Master of beauty, ever active,

Present even in a blade of grass.

Teach me the lessons to be creative,

Even in the painful moments of darkness.

Open my eyes to see you everywhere,

And to discover you even in ugliness.

Impart thy loving touch to artists everywhere,

That they reveal beauty with gentleness.

Joseph Shibin SJ

Another Christ

Another Christ

Every moment is an invitation for me to be

Another Christ… in my life.

It appears to be very simple,

Yet I tried to be and still I am myself.

It is to open myself to others,

Accept them without any  judgment.

It is judging others,

I am judging myself.

He went about doing good,

To all people, rich and poor, healthy and the sick.

The cosmos was his dwelling place

And all around him was his brothers and sisters.

He asks me in my prayerful moments

 To go and do the same.

Still I cannot do what you want from me.

I am worried about myself.

I am asked to be a neighbor

To all the people and to the nature.

How can I be a neighbor?

When I spend all my time in the virtual world.

Now I pray that I may be challenged by you,

In each and every moment of my life.

That I may less become myself

And more become You, my Lord.

Josephs SJ

St. Ignatius in an ever changing world

The world where we live and preach the gospel is an ever changing world. Tastes and perspectives of the people are constantly changing.

The 21^st century is a period of revolution in the field of science, technology and communication. The developments in technology make our lives comfortable, our communications faster and learning and sharing better. People stay connected as a single family with social networking sites. With all of the technology advancing, we are declining as a civilization. we can no longer think for ourselves, but instead are a slave to our screens. Social media is making the population addicted to knowing about one another, while distracting themselves from the major issues that plague us.

Ignatian spirituality becomes relevant and practical in this given context of our lives. Ignatian insights are helpful for the humanity to establish a right relationship with the self, others, nature and God.

1.  A right relationship with the self – as the life becomes faster to meet so many deadlines it becomes so mechanical that the people are not able to be in touch with the self. As a result they are anxious about many things. The nature of Ignatian spirituality is such that it is helpful to each particular person in his or her own circumstances.

2.  A right relationship with others – The love and companionship of St. Ignatius was beyond national, ethnic and linguistic boundaries. A strong bond of companionship existed among the first companions. The concept of union of hearts and minds is relevant in the context of this century.

3.  A right relationship with nature – For st. Ignatius the nature was not an illusion. The mediations on nature led ignaius to a number of mystical experiences. Ignatius was able to experience the dynamic present of the divine in nature. According to the Jesuit poet Hopkins, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God”. These Ignatian insights will take the humanity to an attitude of respect towards nature.

4.  A right relationship with God – Ignatius says in the principle and foundation about the purpose of life, it is  to praise reverence and serve God our lord. The other things on the face of the earth are created for the human beings, to help them in the pursuit of the end for which they are created.”

The insight of indifference to the other things on earth will be helpful for us to direct our lives in the context of the ever changing world of technology and consumerism. We need to use the technology and the resources to the extent that they help us to reach God experience.

Therefore we need to be up-to-date and be aware of the language and jargons of the century of technology to reach out to the people. Jesuits are called mystics in market place. According to Jerome Nadal, “For us Jesuits, Contemplation is compassion.”

Now let us pray on this occasion that we may have the vision of St. Ignatius with a new mission that is relevant and practical in this 21st century.

Joseph Shibin SJ

DNC

Hi bye

Hi bye

He stood up and greeted me, Hi!

Moments of silence.

When I was about to leave.

He uttered, Bye.

Joseph Shibin

DNC

Past is past

Past is past

We have heard many times people telling, “We need to hold on to our rich tradition.”

We may hear these words from all walks of life. This is a claim that the past is something sacred and we miss the sacredness if we go for a change. But tradition is dynamic and is not static. It is ever evolving. There is no possibility of development if we continue to hold on to this view. There is no need to glorify the past. Past is past and it has given way to something new. In the world of technological development people make a fuss over the changes happened in our lives, particularly in the human relationships. There is no need to feel sad. The present moment also has something to give us. We are not limited to mere animals jumping from one tree to another. We had such a past.

Joseph Shibin

DNC

Generation of idiots

Generation of idiots

I happened to meet a girl during one of my journeys to Pune who was in the same compartment with her parents. The girl took out a smart phone and started to play with it. After sometime she stopped it and kept the mobile back in the bag. Then she sat idle for a short while. After a few minutes she again took the mobile out and started to send messages and then moved into some funny games in it. . She enjoyed it more than anything else. I was amazed at the speed with which she handled the most modern gadget. She kept on playing with it till the end of the journey. She was not willing to interact with other boys and girls in the same compartment. She also must have forgotten to look at the different scenery outside and to enjoy the beauty of nature. Her parents were not much worried about what she was doing. In fact, they would be happy about the technical competence of their child. This is not an isolated incident. This is what we see nowadays everywhere around us in the roads, parks, houses, places of worship and in classrooms people who are lost in their mobiles.

Here we need to make a serious reflection on the impact of mobile phones on our lives. It will be better to raise a few questions and also to find personal answers.

i.      Does mobile phone really making our lives comfortable?

ii.      Does mobile phone isolate us from our friends in our vicinity?

i.     Are we becoming alienated from ourselves as a result of the extended use of mobile phones?

There is a claim that mobile phones made our lives more comfortable and we are able to communicate in a better speed. We have the necessary and latest information in our mobile that is just a few touches away. For anything and everything we have mobile applications. In the present times mobile phone is our best friend in order to get out of boredom. We have music and games in our mobile at our disposal. And above all, mobile phone offers us infinite possibilities for communication.

We need to accept the fact that mobile phones are taking us away from our near and near ones around us. While interacting with people far away we forget to give a smile to the people around us and to offer them a helping hand. We find both men and women keeping music with earphones throughout their travel that they are not bothered about the fellow travelers. There is a deadly silence existing during our journeys. I attended a youth meeting in Pune and there I found that youth were not able to focus on the class on a relevant topic. They were busy with their own mobiles and they pretend that they were listening to the lecture. Many young college students also have the habit of sending messages and updating their facebook profile while they are in a class. We have forgotten to understand the impact of the gadgets on our lives. We have been separated from our near and dear ones. We can call a person depending on our time. There is no need to meet a person face to face in a mobile conversation and you can have it while you eat, drink, drive or even work. We become so selfish that we make call to others thinking that they are free and engaging in a long conversations. Before the popularity of mobile phones we used to see people interacting a lot during long journeys. Those days travel used to bring a lot of pleasant moments with other travelers.

The development in the mobile phone technology has gone to greater heights these days. Different companies around the world are developing applications for making our life better and convenient. Recently there was a report about a mobile application that will tell about the right time for having sex. There is another mobile phone technology for the security of women.

Mobile phone was earlier used just for making a call or sending a message. But nowadays mobile phone is mainly used for internet access. With the various attractive internet packages by different companies people are able to access internet at any time and also to be available in the virtual communities. Our children are able to be available in social networking sites all the time. Many students believe that their self esteem has increased with their activities in facebook.

We are also becoming alienated from ourselves. We design certain gadgets to make our lives comfortable and we cannot be satisfied with the technology we have at our hands since the technology is ever growing. We feel like possessing the latest technology all the time. We think that we will be out of place in a contemporary society if we do not have the latest technology. To live is to have the latest technology has become our thinking pattern.

We also failed to understand that mobile technology has brought down our concentration. We become more and more disturbed in the world of mobile and find it difficult to focus on a single activity. The people of the past generation were able to do difficult and complex calculation without the aid of a calculator. They had a sharp mind to do such complex calculations within no time. Nowadays we depend upon a calculator for everything even for a simple calculation. I think that the extended use of mobile phones destroys our memory. We used to remember a number of landline contact numbers. But with the coming of mobile phones we don’t need to remember phone numbers. I have found many people who do not even remember his or her own mobile numbers. What will happen if that person happens to misplace his mobile phone when he is in a different and difficult situation? Mobile phone is giving us new kinds of tensions and we need to find remedies for it.

A device like mobile phone has all the applications to make our lives comfortable. But it doesn’t have an application to tell you about the right use of a mobile phone. We need to draw a line regarding the use of mobile phones. Let us not forget the words of Albert Einstein on technology. “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”

Joseph Shibin SJ

De Nobile College.

Thy loving presence

Thy Loving Presence

You appeared before me as an angel.

Offered me some wonderful moments.

How lovely is your dwelling place?

How lovely is to be with you?

You are caring and compassionate.

Have a heart to accept the whole world.

You rejoice with those who rejoice,

Weep with those who weep.

You are a mother for the entire world.

Let us be hopeful and glad.

The world is not a dark place.

We have angles with some drop of light.

My ego melts in your presence.

Such is your loving radiance.

The whole world exists,

Just because of a few like you.

Joseph Shibin, DNC, Pune 14 July 2013

Never stop loving

O love!  the celestial artist.

Uniting us.

Flowing in this  cosmos, giving us existence.

You are the master of our lives,

You change our lives.

When you are there, there is everything.

In you the world has the existence.

Your vibration flows from heart to heart.

At your glance I forget myself.

I may be wrong …

But when you are there … I cannot be wrong.

You give meaning to our lives.

You build our lives…

Though the life seems to be difficult.

Blow over us like a wind…

That we may be free from all pains.

Joseph Shibin

DNC Pune

Poor man

Today I visited the house of a poor man.

He was waiting for me outside.


Looked shabby.


Called me to his room.


He stays alone in the house with a single room,

that is his everything.

He offered me his chair to sit.


I found it difficult to sit.

The whole house stinks.

No proper sanitation no air circulation.


what a horrible place...


He must be very poor.

He began to speak slowly.

about his life, his near and near ones.


He is happy about everything.

He took me to his neighboring houses.

How nicely they relate with him.
He understands them all.

He speaks everything about his neighbors. 
On the way he spoke about his loving parents

in heaven.


How rich he is!

in his poverty.

 

Joseph Shibin. 

Celluloid - Malayalam Movie review

Celluloid - Malayalam Movie review

People of the underside of the reality are often neglected by the society. Their lives and contribution may not be colorful enough to capture the attention of mass media. There are many people in our history who have contributed to our growth and development. We are what we are today is just because of the handful of great men who lived here before us.  J C Daniel is one among those forgotten ones.

The film titled Celluloid is really a tribute to the movie artist,  J C Daniel who was an artist to the core. The movie tells us that Daniel loved motion pictures till the end of his life. This film is based mainly on the ups and down happened in the life of Daniel. Prithviraj gave life to the character, J C Daniel.  Kamal, the director of the film said in a TV interview that Prithviraj was the only choice before him as he thought about J C Daniel. Of course, Prithviraj has done justice to the character, J C Daniel. This movie tells about the pathetic ending if the artist Daniel at the end of life long difficult situation .The circumstance was not favorable for him to establish himself as a movie artist in Malayalam. The stinking caste system existed in Kerala was the stumbling block before him. He fell down hitting against the sharp thorns if the existed social, political and cultural structure. The great artist had to apply for a pension to make a living towards the end of his life. But that request was a denied due to the lack of evidence and the identity of Daniel is under suspicion. Thus the great artist became an unwanted stuff in his on motherland.

His wife Janet was a constant source of support and encouragement for him. As his dream project, Vigathakumaran collapses due to caste system; he had to sell everything and to go to an interior village for a new life. But life was still cruel to him. He was cheated by some Tamil film artist in the second attempt of Daniel in movie industry. This incident brings the maximum destruction to his life. Thus he becomes indifferent to life and cinema. He did not intervene when his six years old boy played with the only film print and burning it into ashes.

Sreenivasan played a significant role to make the story of Daniel known in Kerala. He challenged the social and political perspective in order to establish Vigathakumaran as the first Malayalam movie. The development of the movie is very interesting. All the supporting characters also contributed for the smooth and steady development of the story.

We cannot forget the character (Rosamma) Rosy who had to leave her land as a result of the attack from the higher caste. Her life became so tragic that she was forbidden to enter the theater and to watch her own film.  Rosy was a Pulaya convert Christian girl. Even though she is Christian now the caste identity is still fresh in her consciousness and also in the consciousness of the society.

As a whole this movie challenges the systemic evils in our society that never allows the oppressed people to become free from the clutches of oppression and exploitation.

Joseph Shibin SJ

DNC

ഞാൻ നിൻ സ്നേഹത്തിന്നുപകരണം .

 സ്നേഹപ്രവാഹം

നാഥാ  നിന് സ്നേഹപ്രവാഹം 
 എങ്ങുമെന്നെരവും  അലതല്ലിടുന്നു .
പ്രഭ ചൊരിയുന്നിതു  നിത്യവും  
ഹൃദയങ്ങൾ കഴുകുകയാനെങ്കിലും 

ഒരു നേരമൊന്നു മുങ്ങിതുടിച്ചാൽ 
ശുദ്ധം ആകുമെൻ അന്തരംഗം 
നിർഗളിക്കുന്നീ  സ്നേഹവീചികൾ 
തഴുകുന്നിത് നമ്മെ എന്നുമെന്നും .

പുഞ്ചിരിക്കുന്ന മഴതുള്ളികളിലും 
മന്ദമായ് വീശുന്ന മാരുതനിലും 
സന്ഗീതസാന്ദ്രമം ദല മർമ്മരത്തിലും 
വിടരുന്നിത്  നിൻ  ദിവ്യ സ്നേഹം .

മാധുര്യമേറും സ്നേഹഗീതങ്ങൾ 
ആലപിക്കുന്നു നീ എന്നുമെന്നും 
നിന് ഗാനമെന്നു ഞാൻ കരുതിയതൊക്കെയും 
ചിതറിവീഴുന്ന പാഴ്സ്വരങ്ങൾ .

അനന്തമാകുന്ന നിൻ സ്നേഹം 
എന്നിൽ തട്ടി പ്രതിഫലിക്കട്ടെ 
വാനിൽ തിളങ്ങുന്ന തിങ്കൾ  പോലെ 
ഞാൻ നിൻ സ്നേഹത്തിന്നുപകരണം .

                                                               ജോസഫ്‌ ഷിബിൻ 
( ആഴമായ  ദൈവ സ്നേഹാനുഭവത്തിൽ നിന്ന് പുറപ്പെടുന്ന ജലധാര )