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By Shyamantha Asokan
Reuters, May 20, 2014

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Narendra Modi fought back tears in an emotional first address to his party in India’s colonnaded parliament house on Tuesday, after the Hindu nationalist swept to power in an election that has changed the face of politics in the country.

Modi will be India’s next prime minister after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a historic victory in a ballot that ended on Friday. He is likely to take his oath of office to lead the world’s biggest democracy on Monday.

The win handed the BJP its first parliamentary majority and reduced the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty’s ruling Congress party to 44 seats, the lowest ever tally for a party that won India’s independence and has ruled for most of the 67 years since.

Modi, 63, choked up and stopped his speech to drink water during his inaugural appearance in the round, colonial-era building.

He addressed BJP lawmakers filling more than half the seats of the lower house with uplifting words that commentators immediately contrasted with the often wooden addresses of his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

“It is proof of the strength of our constitution that a man from a poor family is standing here today,” said Modi, who sold tea on a railway platform as a child before entering politics. For the past 12 years he has governed the state of Gujarat.

India’s next prime minister and Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi, bends down with folded hands on the steps of the Indian parliament building as a sign of respect as he arrives for the BJP parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, May 20, 2014. The BJP has started putting together a new government by formally choosing Modi to be the country’s next prime minister following a resounding victory in national elections. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

“This government (will be) one which thinks of the poor, which listens to the poor, a government which lives for the people,” said Modi, who kissed the steps of the pink sandstone parliament building before his speech.

His comments appeared designed to counter criticism that his record of business-focused government and fast economic growth in Gujarat did not do enough to lift people from poverty.

Congress has traditionally cast itself as India’s champion of the poor and downtrodden.

“LONG LIVE MODI!”

Modi faces a huge task in meeting the sky-high expectations of India’s 1.2 billion people, who hope he can drag the country from economic torpor, tackle corruption and cut red tape in order to create enough jobs for its burgeoning youth.

With thunderous applause and shouts of “Long live Modi!” the 282 BJP members, who comfortably make up a majority in the 543-seat house, officially chose him as their parliamentary leader, one of several formalities before he is sworn in.

Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi arrives to attend the BJP parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters

Modi was later due to visit President Pranab Mukherjee, who has little political power but, as head of state, has the task of formally appointing the prime minister.

The parliamentarians, who traveled from as far afield as the icy Himalayan plateaus and the palm-fronded southern tip of the subcontinent, included dozens who, like Modi, are first-time MPs.

Dressed in clothes ranging from multi-colored Rajasthani turbans to bright saris and white cotton pyjama suits, the members listened as Modi paid homage to party elders he pushed aside in his rise to power.

He also avoided criticism of the outgoing Congress party, saying all of India’s governments had worked for the good of the country.

Party president Rajnath Singh was less conciliatory, saying that Modi’s victory meant the BJP had replaced Congress as the natural party of government in India.

“With pride we can say that we are members of a party that is now bigger than the Congress in stature. Before the 2014 elections, politics used to be BJP versus Congress, now it’s BJP versus the others,” said Singh.

Modi also cast his view forward and promised to repeat his tireless campaigning in five years’ time to take the BJP to an unprecedented two full, consecutive terms in office.

(Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty, Sruthi Gottipati and Mayank Bhardwaj; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

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Faith means living with uncertainty – feeling your way through life,
letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark. ~Unknown

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Just by breathing deeply on your anger, you will calm it. You are being mindful of your anger, not suppressing it…touching it with the energy of mindfulness. You are not denying it at all. When I speak about this to psychotherapists, I have some difficulty. When I say that anger makes us suffer, they take it to mean that anger is something negative to be removed. But I always say that anger is an organic thing, like love. Anger can become love. Our compost can become a rose. If we know how to take care of our compost…Anger is the same. It can be negative when we do not know how to handle it, but if we know how to handle our anger, it can be very positive. We do not need to throw anything away. ― Thich Nhat Hạnh

Angry people want you to see how powerful they are…
Loving people want you to see how powerful You are.
~Chief Red Eagle

1. The moment you realize that the person you cared for has nothing intellectually or spiritually to offer you, but a headache.

2. The moment you realize God had greater plans for you that don’t involve crying at night or sad Pinterest quotes.

3. The moment you stop comparing yourself to others because it undermines your worth, education and your parent’s wisdom.

4. The moment you live your dreams, not because of what it will prove or get you, but because that is all you want to do. People’s opinions don’t matter.

5. The moment you realize that no one is your enemy, except yourself.

6. The moment you realize that you can have everything you want in life. However, it takes timing, the right heart, the right actions, the right passion and a willingness to risk it all. If it is not yours, it is because you really didn’t want it, need it or God prevented it.

7. The moment you realize the ghost of your ancestors stood between you and the person you loved. They really don’t want you mucking up the family line with someone that acts anything less than honorable.

8. The moment you realize that happiness was never about getting a person. They are only a helpmate towards achieving your life mission.

9. The moment you believe that love is not about losing or winning. It is just a few moments in time, followed by an eternity of situations to grow from.

10. The moment you realize that you were always the right person. Only ignorant people walk away from greatness.

― Shannon L. Alder

The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.

Let us not use bombs and guns to overcome the world. Let us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don’t really want to smile at; do it for peace. Let us radiate the peace of God and so light His light and extinguish in the world and in the hearts of all men all hatred and love for power.

Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other-that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbor, do you think we would still need tanks and generals?

Peace and war begin at home. If we truly want peace in the world, let us begin by loving one another in our own families. If we want to spread joy, we need for every family to have joy.

Today, nations put too much effort and money into defending their borders. They know very little about the poverty and the suffering that exist in the countries where those bordering on destitution live. If they would only defend these defenseless people with food, shelter, and clothing, I think the world would be a happier place.

The poor must know that we love them, that they are wanted. They themselves have nothing to give but love. We are concerned with how to get this message of love and compassion across. We are trying to bring peace to the world through our work. But the work is the gift of God.

A Note From Photographer Michael Collopy

I was blessed to have known Mother Teresa for fifteen years. I especially treasure the times I was asked to drive her around while she was in San Francisco, because it enabled me to ask her questions. In the course of knowing Mother, I always saw her receive each person the same way. She saw the face of God in everyone, always approaching each person with love, compassion, and the gift of her complete self. Time was never an issue. I once asked her, “How is it that you never seem to judge anyone who comes to you?” She said, “I never judge anyone because it doesn’t allow me the time to love them.”

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By Zach Epstein, BGR.com

We’re still several months away from seeing Apple unveil its next-generation iPhone 6 handset, but the leaks and rumors have already kicked into high gear. There are plenty of purported new iPhone 6 details that pop up each day, but we also see bloggers constantly finding new ways to use the many supposed iPhone 6 mockups currently circulating. Rumor has it that these mockups were created using actual schematics for Apple’s iPhone 6 that were leaked from Foxconn and used by third-party case makers to get an early jump on producing cases for Apple’s new iPhone.

Now, one blogger has found an entirely new way to use an iPhone 6 mockup, and it may give us our first glimpse of what it will be like to actually use a larger iPhone handset.

Working with 9to5Mac, YouTube user “macmixing” has created a simulation
that shows iOS 7.1 running on a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 mockup. Apple’s new
iPhones will launch with iOS 8, of course, but the new version of
Apple’s mobile software isn’t expected to feature any huge visual
changes. As such, the simulation seen in this video could be almost
exactly what using iOS on Apple’s upcoming larger iPhone 6 will be like.

The video also shows the iOS simulation running on an iPhone 6 next to an iPhone 5s, so we can see how using iOS on a larger display might differ from Apple’s current iPhone experience.

It should be noted that Apple may make some key changes to iOS for its larger devices that are not shown in this simulation. For example, some apps may be tweaked in order to make better use of the additional real estate.

A report from reliable Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities recently stated that the iPhone 6 will feature a brand new design with a 4.7-inch display, as well as a new Apple A8 processor and NFC. The analyst also said that the iPhone 6 will launch in either September or October, and a second new iPhone model with similar specs and a 5.5-inch full HD screen will launch sometime later in the year.

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