G - DIARY PAGE - 19 AUGUST 2002

DIARY PAGE - 19 AUGUST 2002

August 19, 2002, Monday.

Today's morning began earlier than usual. The cool sweet breeze of the
early morning refreshed my mind. The eyes were not willing to open up
because sleep was still housed in them. The chirp of the birds could be
heard. With closed eyes, sitting up on my bed, said my prayers and
stepped down.

As I moved forward sleepily, my left foot touched something soft and
small. I drew back due to fright and looked down to find a dead rat
lying there. Picking and throwing the dead thing out, was not something
that I would do. So, quietly I moved away to gear up with my usual
routine.

Parathas and potato curry for breakfast and a cup of hot tea.

Prepared the lunch and went out to finish my work at the bank.

Came back and had lunch all by myself.

At 6 p.m. the students came for their class. We did the "Trial Scene"
from Shakespeare's "The Merchant Of Venice". In this scene Shylock is
shown as a merciless character. He wants to cut out a pound of flesh
from Antonio's body, close to his heart. The Judge gave the option to
Shylock to choose between a pound of Antonio's flesh or a huge sum of
money. But Shylock was very much aggrieved with Antonio because Shylock
was a Jew and Antonio had laughed and made fun of him in public and had
even called him a cur. Hatred had mounted to such a level that Shylock
wanted the pound of flesh instead of the amount for he wanted Antonio
to die. For this great hatred in Shylock, Antonio was responsible to a
great extent. The class was over by 8 p.m. and the children left.

I sat down and thought for sometime about hatred. I feel it can be
created to some extent. So Antonio was in no way a good hero for he
also indulged in hatred.

Watched some T.V. programmes for a change of the mind.

Had a very light dinner.

Finished the novel that I was reading. It's already so late. The others
have fallen into deep sleep.

Not only me but also my eyes have grown tired. The eyes are simply
closing down.

Just sat for a while and gave a thought on my whole day's activities
and concluded that I am very lucky that God has given me such a
wonderful day.

After prayers, crept quietly to bed to get sound a sleep.

11.45 p.m.