Candlemas

Candlemas is a Christian holiday celebrated annually on February 2. It celebrates three occasions according to Christian belief: the presentation of the child Jesus; Jesus’ first entry into the temple; and it celebrates the Virgin Mary’s purification (mainly in Catholic churches).

The Candlemas Bells, also known as Snowdrops, symbolize hope according to Christian belief.

©iStockphoto.com/ gaspr13

What do people do?

Many Christians consider Jesus as the “light of the world” so it is fitting that candles are blessed on this day and that a candle-lit procession precedes the mass. It is traditional to eat crepes on Candlemas in some parts of Europe, such as France. Each family member prepares and cooks a crepe while holding a coin in hand. This is believed to assure wealth and happiness until the next Candlemas celebration.
Candlemas is also known as Candelaria in Spanish speaking countries. Whoever finds baby figures hidden inside the Rosca de Reyes (Kings Cake) on Epiphany on January 6 is obliged to bring food to a gathering held on February 2. Many Orthodox Christians celebrate this event by bringing beeswax candles to their local church and requesting for these candles to be blessed to be used in the church or at home. Some Christians observe the practice of leaving Christmas decorations up until Candlemas.

Public life

Many Christians observe Candlemas but it is not a public holiday in countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Background

Candlemas primarily focuses on Jesus’ early life. Many Christians believe that Jesus’ mother Mary presented him to God at the Temple in Jerusalem after observing the traditional 40-day period of purification (of mothers) following his birth. According to a New Testament gospel, a Jewish man named Simeon held the baby in his arms and said that he would be a light for the Gentiles (Luke 2:32). It is for this reason that this event is called Candlemas.
Many people believe that some of Candlemas’ activities stem from pagan observances such as Imbolc, a Gaelic festival, or the Roman feast of Lupercalia. However, others have argued that there is too little evidence to shed light on Candlemas’ substitution for these festivals. Either way, Candlemas occurs at a period between the December solstice and the March equinox, so many people traditionally marked that time of the year as winter’s “halfway point” while waiting for the spring.
According to some sources, Christians began Candlemas in Jerusalem as early as the fourth century and the lighting of candles began in the fifth century. Other sources say that Candlemas was observed by blessing candles since the 11th century. An early writing dating back to around 380 CE mentioned that a feast of the Presentation occurred in a church in Jerusalem. It was observed on February 14. The feast was observed on February 2 in regions where Christ's birth was celebrated on December 25.
Candlemas is known as the “Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple” in many eastern churches. Other traditional names in the western churches include the “Feast for the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary” as well as the “Meeting of the Lord”. It is also Groundhog Day in the United States and Canada on February 2. According to folklore, the badger comes out to test the weather in the United Kingdom.

Symbols

Snowdrops (galanthas nivalis) are known as Candlemas Bells because they often bloom early in the year, even before Candlemas. Some varieties bloom all winter (in the northern hemisphere).  The superstitious used to believe that these flowers should not be brought into the house prior to Candlemas.  However, it is also believed in more recent times that these flowers purify a home.
According to folklore, an angel helped these Candlemas bells to bloom and pointed them as a sign of hope to Eve, who wept in repentance and in despair over the cold and death that entered the world. Many Christians see the flower as a symbol of Jesus Christ being this hope for the world. Candles that are lit during Candlemas also symbolize Jesus as the “light of the world”.

Note: Please note that the seasons and seasonal changes mentioned in relation to Candlemas refer to the northern hemisphere in this article.

Courtesy timeanddate.com

Kaifi Azmi's 'Aurat' (with translation)

Aurat
Woman

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

qalb-e-mahoul meiN larzaaN sharar-e-jang haiN aaj
hausley waqt ke aur ziist ke yakrang haiN aaj
aabgiinoN meiN tapaaN walwale-e- sang haiN aaj
husn aur ishq ham aawaaz-o-humaahang haiN aaj
jis meiN jaltaa huuN usi aag meiN jalnaa hai tujhe

Today
sparks of war waver in the air
time and life have the same spirit
delicate decanters hiss with the heat of rocks
beauty and love harmonise melodiously
You too have to be ignited by the fire that burns me

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

zindagii jehad meiN hai sabr ke qaabuu meiN nahiiN
nabz-e-hastii kaa lahuu kaamptii aaNsuu meiN nahii
uRne khulne meiN hai nakhat kham-e-gesu meiN nahiiN
jannat aik aur hai jo mard ke pahluu meiN nahiiN
uskii aazaad ravish par bhii machalnaa hai tujhe

Life is in struggle, not in the restraint of patience
The blood of pulsating life is not in trembling tears
Fragrance lies in free-flight, not in the tresses, of hair
There is another Paradise which is not by the side of men
On its free pathways too you have yet to pirouette

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me
goshey goshey meiN sulagtii hai chitaa tere liye
farz kaa bhes badaltii hai qazaa tere liye
qahar hai terii har narm adaa tere liye
zahar hii zahar hai duniyaa kii havaa tere liye
rut badal Daal agar phuulnaa phalnaa hai tujhe

For you burning pyres wait at every corner
death disguised as duty
your every delicate gesture, a curse
nothing but poison in the breeze
Change the season if you wish to flourish

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

qadr ab tak terii tarriikh ne jaanii hii nahiiN
tujh meiN shole bhii haiN bas ashkfishaanii hii nahiiN
tu haqiiqat bhii hai dilchasp kahaanii hii nahiiN
terii hastii bhii hai ik chiiz javaanii hii nahiiN
apnii tarrikh kaa unvaan badalnaa hai tujhe

History has not known your worth thus far
You have burning embers too, not merely tears
You're reality too, not a mere amusing anecdote
Your personality is something too, not just your youth
You've to change the title of your history

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

toRkar rasm ke but baRe qadamat se nikal
zof-e-ishrat se nikal, vaham-e-nazaakat se nikal
nafs ke khiiNche hue halq-e-azmal se nikal
yeh bhii ek qaid hii hai, qaid-e-muhabbat se nikal
raah kaa khaar hii kyaa gul bhii kuchalnaa hai tujhe

Emerge out of
ancient bondage, break the idols of tradition,
the weakness of pleasure, this mirage of fragility
these self-drawn boundaries of imagined greatness
the bondage of love, for this too is a bondage
Not merely the thorns on the path but you have to trample on flowers too

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

toR yeh azm-shikan dagdag-e-paNd bhii toR
terii khaatir hai jo zanjiir vah saugandh bhii toR
tauq yeh bhii zammruud kaa gulband bhii toR
toR paimana-e-mardaan-e-khirdmaNd bhii toR
banke tuufaan chhalaknaa hai ubalnaa hai tujhe

Shatter
these resolve breaking suspicions of sermons
these vows that have become shackles
this too, this necklace of emeralds
these standards set by the wise men
You have to turn into a tempest, bubble and boil over

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

tuu falaatuno-arastuu haii tuu zohraa parviiN
tere qabze meiN hai garduuN, terii Thokar meiN zamiiN
haaN, uThaa, jald uThaa paae-muqqadar se jabiiN
maiN bhii rukne kaa nahii waqt bhii rukne kaa nahiiN
laRkhaRaayegii kahaaN tak ki sambhalnaa hai tujhe

You are Aristotle's philosophy, Venus, Pleiades
You control the sky, the earth at your feet
Yes, raise, fast, raise your forehead from the feet of fate
I too am not going to pause, nor will the time
How long would you falter, you have to be firm

uTh merii jaan mere saath hii chalnaa hai tujhe
Get up, my love, you have to walk with me

A Book is Judged by its Cover

A Book is Judged by its Cover

My visit with my 61 year old handicapped (with a history of spasticity) sister on a wheelchair to the High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel, Mumbai on Sunday 18 August 2013, just three days after our beloved country celebrated it’s 67^th Independence Day, perhaps, proves this.

Dressed in casual trouser/shirt & chappals, I approached the entrance to the Palladium where I was surprised, nay shocked, to find my entry blocked by the Security personnel, who tried to turn me away by saying that the door to the Big Bazaar side was closed. I told him that I had been here on 15^th August, 2013 and it was open then, how come it was closed now? He put me onto his senior who held us up at the gate for more than twenty minutes, whilst he was communicating with a senior manager.

People were entering through the Palladium gates and my sister was getting fretful and I was losing patience. I asked the security person to state on what basis he was refusing entry to me and my handicapped sister. But he had no answer to this. I found this quite infuriating. It made a few people stop and turn their heads. But it took two ladies (one named Ismat) and a gentleman to intervene in this situation. They told the Security person that they knew a very senior person managing this mall complex. The gentlemen also added they were from The Times of India and this issue could really hit in the media in a big way. This was communicated to the senior manager by the security person, who now came rushing to the gates. We were allowed inside. My sister likes ice-cream.  So I bought her a softee cone at McDonald’s. Ismat and the other lady who had helped us came and met us near McDonald’s.  To pacify us and assuage the hurt, another manager came. Lunch was offered. But I refused. We were provided an escort to Big Bazaar where I did my shopping and was escorted to the exit and a taxi outside.

After the Reliance Fresh Signature Store incident, this somewhat similar experience, has forced me to think beyond the reasons for their occurrence and recurrence. More than anger, which, of course, is there initially, these incidents sadden me.

The handicapped individual is almost a persona non grata, unproductive,  a dead investment generally in the eyes of most people. The alms-seeking beggar- stereotype of a person in a wheelchair must change. Unless this happens at the individual level and positive thoughts/concept translate into action, no amount of governmental measures or efforts by NGOs shall change the world of the handicapped in India, in any substantial manner.

My email to Mr.Mukesh D.Ambani is now an OPEN email to Mr.Mukesh D. Ambani

From:
Shakir Roshanali Virpurwala
3/10 The Hajiali Municipal Officers CHS Ltd, Govt. Colony Road, Nr.
Lala Lajpatrai College, Haji Ali Park, Mumbai – 400 034 (INDIA) Tel:
8898041648 Mobile: 8097960591 / 9221108353 email:
shakirvirpurwala@gmail.com, shakirvirpurwala@yahoo.com

Email To:
Mr. Mukesh D. Ambani
Chairman – Reliance Group of Industries
Email: Mambani@ril.com

Ref: My visit to Reliance Fresh Signature Store, Shop No.5 Tirupati
Apartments, Off Mahalaxmi Temple, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai
400026. On 10th August 2013 at 2.00 p.m.

Sub: Unbecoming, rude and humiliating behavior of the Security personnel.

Respected Sir,

I have always believed and as is generally perceived, that the
Reliance Group of Industries, especially the retail consumer catering
chains like Reliance Communications and Reliance Retail Limited have
always held protecting the profit margins as the mainstay/priority in
their primer of corporate/work philosophy/ethos. Often this is at the
cost of customer service and satisfaction. But my recent experience to
Reliance Fresh Signature Store, Shop No.5 Tirupati Apartments, Off
Mahalaxmi Temple, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai 400026 on 10th August
2013 at 2.00 p.m. went far beyond this.

A little introductory background is necessary before I proceed to my
core complaint. I am a post-graduate (M.A.) in English Literature. I
have a 61 year old bonafide handicapped (with a history of spasticity)
sister, who I stay with at the above address. Since October 2012 she
has been, bed-ridden initially and then confined largely to the
wheelchair due to left femur fracture for which she was operated
twice. I am the only caretaker in the house and she cannot be left
alone for extended period of time. I used to do my groceries, fruits &
vegetables shopping from the Byculla or Dadar market, but since our
ailing mother expired in 2012, I was forced for economy of logistics
to shop from nearby Reliance Fresh Stores at Tardeo, Mumbai Central
and Bhulabhai Desai Road. The Tardeo store closed some years ago and
the Mumbai Central store is quite far. The most accessible store for
us is at Bhulabhai Desai Road, off Mahalaxmi Temple, to which I can
easily wheel-chair my sister in a few minutes. I normally park her
wheelchair on the side of the road, under the shade of a tree from
where she can view the inside of the store. I am constrained to leave
her outside because Reliance Fresh Signature Store, Shop No.5 Tirupati
Apartments, Off Mahalaxmi Temple, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai
400026 is not a handicapped-user-friendly store.

On 10th August 2013, I reached Reliance Fresh Signature Store, Shop
No.5 Tirupati Apartments, Off Mahalaxmi Temple, Bhulabhai Desai
Road, Mumbai 400026 at about 2.00 p.m.with my sister on the wheelchair
Since there were cars parked along the whole side of the road, I took
her onto the footpath and parked her wheelchair unobtrusively on the
footpath, carefully avoiding obstructing the Entrance & Exit of the
store. No sooner had I done this, the security person came charging
and bellowed that ‘Yahan nahi khadaa rakhne ka, aap udhar-uidhar
(pointing) aage lagao’ There was something in his tone, which I could
not detect at the time.I asked him why and he said ‘Nahi, yahan hamare
sab customers aate-jaate hai. Tum udhar aage lagao.’ I told him that I
have parked the vehicle in such a way that neither the customers
entering nor those leaving will be inconvenienced. But, he still
repeated what he had said earlier. This time I sensed what his tone
was implying. He had somehow jumped to the conclusion that we were a
begging-couple seeking alms! I looked at him squarely in the eyes and
asked ‘Aap spasht roop se kahiye. Aap kya kehna chahtein hain?’ Now he
wavered a little and started realizing his mistake. One of the
employees of the store also came and whispered something to him. He
changed his stance and tone suddenly. He said that my sister cries and
asks for me and this disturbs the customers. But by then the damage
and humiliation was done. I said I am a customer, too. By way of right
my handicapped sister should also be granted access to the store. But
the store architects and designers never seem to have given a thought
to this and maybe this should be brought to (your) Mr. Mukesh Ambani’s
notice.’

The smaller issue which this incident raises is: A customer coming to
a Reliance Fresh Signature Store in a car is a valued client and one
who comes in a wheelchair is a beggar? Was the security person, at the
store, justified in the conclusion that he jumped to? And why should
the Reliance Fresh chain of stores not be handicapped-user /
wheelchair friendly?

One of the larger issue lies in the way of the world. When it comes to
taking, exploiting, benefitting (call it what you may) the world
squeezes every ounce of juice out of you and then, like dried pulp,
leaves you to waste? They say life is the best teacher. My variegated
experience-filled life has taught me many things. As an individual, as
a friend, as a teacher I have shared these ‘Teachings of Life’ most
generously, for I have always believed that insights / knowledge
shared does not diminish/reduce/lessen but it only
increases/multiplies manifold and when translated into positive
feelings, thoughts and action makes humanity at large, evolve. Today,
my world is limited to the care and improving the quality of life, of
my handicapped sister, which brings me to the prime issue of attitude,
towards the handicapped, of Society at large which is epitomized by
the thoughts and actions of the security person in the incident I have
related. A handicapped individual is a stereotype, a beggar, to be
kept away. The welfare of the handicapped is the concern of the
government and NGO’s. But that will not change anything significantly
until the attitude, the feelings, the thoughts for the handicapped
change at the base level with individuals and translate positively
into helpful action.

--
Warm Regards
*Shakir Roshanali Virpurwala* *M.A. **( English Literature )
*E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E S K I L L S E N H A N C E M E N T
*English Teacher / Online Spoken & Written English Tutor / Personal Trainer
/ Copywriter*


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The Top Five Songs Sung by S.D.Burman

SHAKIR SELECT My favourites of Burmanda!

Bismillah ir rahman nir rahim

More than two decades ago my father told me on more  than one occasion  'Just saying Bismillah ir rahmanir  raheem should suffice.' It took me almost 22 years and traveling more than 6500 kms away from home, to realise what exactly he meant.

At the cloak room of Lisco's Misurata Training Centre, one sunny afternoon in December, 2011, I came across the Libyan canteen manager doing 'wuzu' or 'wudu'. I asked him what 'kalaam' / words he said while doing 'wudu'. He replied 'Bismillah ir rahman nir rahim. It was then that I realised what my father was trying to tell me more than 22 years ago !

INSTALLING HUSBAND !!!

A woman writes to the IT Technical support Guy

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and I noticed a distinct slowdown in the overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NEWS 5.0, MONEY 3..0 and CRICKET 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and House cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.
What can I do?

Signed,
____
Reply frm Co -

DEAR Madam,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme. Html and try to downloadTears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5..

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Silence 2.5 or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance.

We recommend: Cooking 3.0 and Good Looks 7.7 and Sex 9.0!

Good Luck