19 March, 2024

Seeing in the twilight!


The first view of the valley, beyond our cottage at the twilight time of the morning, often gives some surprising sights. 

I happened to notice a Kingfisher on a cable intently looking around as if, it was taking in all that is around even in the twilight. 







During the fifteen minutes it was perched on the cable, it took a 360 degree view of its surroundings. There are a few Kingfishers, who are resident in this area, where a stream and canal flow. 

What engaged my attention was its alert presence and visual scanning of its surroundings, even in the twilight. 

What is a twilight view! It is partial and incomplete when the light is dim. It is the light that makes the surroundings bright and easy to perceive. 

In a person's life time, he or she would have gone through twilight seasons, when one could not see and sense clearly due to darkness hiding the sight. The darkness can be inside of us or outside of us. 

Jesus of Nazareth while referring to the light within us, said: 'If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness'! (Matthew 6:23). 

As it is the lenten season and the Holy Week is only a week away, my thoughts have been lingering on the events preceding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was at the house of Martha,  Mary and Lazarus, six days before the passover (John 12: 1-8). 'Mary took a pound of very costly perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair'. Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, present on the occasion, seeing this, said: 'Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor'? The gospel writer adds a description to give us a window into the personal habit of Judas: 'Now, Judas said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it' (v6)!

The darkness of thieving habit within, because of which a sacred act of anointing of Jesus was seen through that reduced view!

What hinders our outlook is darkness within. I took time last week to visit the occasions in my life in the recent years when I felt the darkness within me hiding the light. Those seasons of darkness seemed to disturb rational thinking and forgiving attitude. It took a while to allow the light of hope and purpose to dawn on me. Now looking back, I realise how dark was the interior within,  filled with sorrow and despair! 

If the light within becomes a lamp, even in twilight one would be able to meander to find the path. The intentional look of the Kingfisher all around gave me an inspiration to find the way forward even in the twilight. The light within us is larger to show the way, than what the twilight can conceal. 

It is now eight months, since I stepped out of my full time clinical work in the hospital. I had only a twilight view of how I can engage my time fruitfully. Now, I find the light within me becoming brighter to have a better view of my calling for this season in my life !

Even if it is twilight all around, the light within us can guide us on!

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)


17 March, 2024

The dew of Kindness !


The morning sight of the dew covered flowers gave our garden a splendid look till the end of February. 

The appearance of the flowers now, as seen in the photographs below, is different. Although summer has set in, and there is no more dew,  the lilies look fresh and colourful. 


I noticed a Kingfisher returning to the cable with a grass hopper in its mouth. That is when I remembered that the stream below us is with scanty water with only occasional movement of fish, since summer has set in. The Kingfisher has to look for an alternative to its first choice of feed. 



The nutmeg trees in our garden need to be irrigated on alternate days, due to the soaring day temperature, which makes the soil dry. 

It was common to watch cows and goats grazing in the field during the day, which too is not in sight due to the heat of the day. Also the grass on the ground has withered. 

When a technician came to service the air conditioner in our home last week, his remark interested me. He was without much work during the winter months and had to borrow money to look after his family. Since February, he is working about 18 hours a day. He mentioned that he would earn enough during the next three months before monsoon sets in.  He would have enough savings for the rest of the year. 

Listening to that narration brought an awareness about the struggles that can harass people to find their livelihood. For that technician, there is no social security, health care protection or family pension. He is dependent on his daily labour for his income. 

It is a disturbing to think that,  there is no assurance of social security for people who are self-employed. They cease to earn, when they stop working, or when they are no more able to work.  

The Kingfisher finds at least grass hopper when it cannot find fish in the stream. 

For a person who is unable to work due to illness or old age, he or she is left abandoned to fend for oneself! Even adult children do not take enough note of such people. 

I wonder if the Churches, which spend large amount of money to celebrate festivals, would be austere and allocate a portion of its income to give to those in its neighbourhood, who live reduced and marginalised lives!

They deserve the dew of kindness because they served us with their labour and service! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)



16 March, 2024

A family of birds !




A grey Tit, Marshall's Iora, and a jungle babbler, the first two in the foliage of the Neem tree and the babbler in the bird bath beneath the tree, was a pleasant sight to watch a few days back in our garden. 

The morning times since the summer has set in, is cloudy, while the birds are in the morning flight between their stations. The bird movements are also less than what it used to be. I do not get to take as much photos as I could take normally.

The sense of consciousness of the family which birds express is what such a gathering of birds reminds me of. 

The sense of togetherness, these birds convey, brings a refreshing experience each morning. 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

14 March, 2024

From Being to Becoming







I happened to spot three olive bee-eater birds below our garden recently. While two of them flew away, one of them remained. It spent about twenty minutes grooming its body moving from part to the other. No wonder the Bee-eater birds are know to have immaculately groomed body.

A bird from what it is, becomes what it can be. It is in the nature of most birds to become what it can be. The migratory birds travel hundreds of kilometres twice in a year. The birds even in extreme climatic conditions survive and find food. They breed and continue their lineage. They protect themselves from predators. Thy have an instinct to become what they are endowed to be. They usually do not stay where they are today. They improve upon the bird habits and practices. 

It has come to me as a message. I retired from full time professional work in June 2023. Now it is ten months since I have limited professional involvements. With more time available, I have pondered on meaningful engagement to become more people friendly. An opportunity has opened up to listen to younger professionals on phone. It introduced me to a new experience with people, whom I did not meet earlier,  but  wanted to talk to someone to feel supported and encouraged. It is now I realise, how listening can make me feel connected with the stories of people in another situation and culture

It is when we discipline ourselves to listen with our heart we become more humane. The stories of others would have resonance within us, when we listen and discern the situation of the one speaking. 

Now, I am on a journey to become a listener. As most of the conversations are about an hour, the discipline helps to let the speaker use most of the time, while I lead them to say more with guiding questions. I have had experiences of personal de-briefing while physically present to each other. It is a new experience to support people for their personal debriefing on phone.

Yes, it is another dimension of becoming! It points me to other ways of becoming which is still open to me! I participate in an on line clinical discussion of children with developmental challenges, where professionals from five institutions participate. To give an opinion from the history, clinical findings and laboratory data, without the physical examination of a child that I have been used to, is also a new learning process to become a listener, observer and thinker. 

Becoming from being what we are used to, is a starting point to go beyond, what we have so far envisioned for ourselves. 

It was when I watched the secret of the immaculately groomed body of the bee-eater, I felt within me an urge to explore beyond, good practices to become a support to others!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

10 March, 2024

Towards an integrated view and practice!






 

The usual practice in photography is to crop pictures to highlight what is in the Photographer's optic. I followed that cropping process to the serial phots of this Kingfisher in our garden, who was perched about 150 meters away. That was the nearest distance I could reach for taking the pictures of the kingfisher.

Three changes occurred as I kept cropping the photos  to get a micro view. First the larger view around the bird got obliterated. Second the visibility of the bird improved. Third the last two photographs appeared noisy. The feathers were not looking crisp and sharp. 

The advantages and disadvantages of the art of cropping photographs!

This gave me an insight about the way we process every information we receive. Our mind through its optic of pre-existing ideas, thoughts, or bias filters the information and decodes it to fit into our existing opinion or a new opinion we are conditioned by our overview on that issue. This has its advantages and disadvantage. It is good to use our knowledge to process an information and interpret it ethically and discerningly. The disadvantage, is that most information we process in this fashion looses its objectivity and factuality it deserves when we interpret it subjectively.

How to then,  have a macro and micro view of information we receive so that we look for an all rounded view of facts and information ! 

The political climate in India is now charged with the election pitch of campaigning for electing a national government for the next five years. What I encounter in the political narrative is accusation and counter accusation. We disregard human worth and highlight human vulnerability and acts of commission and omission. 

One thing that the Kingfisher maintained in the macro and micro views of the photos is its colourfulness and elegance. That did not change.

I wish we learn to view and receive others as they are rather than distort them and their behaviour through the optic we introduce through our personal preferred narration. 

One can use any brand of car to travel form one place to another to reach the destination. Each car has its strengths and weaknesses. But each carries the passengers. 

It is the political ideology or the means we advocate to reach our destination that really matters. 

The way we are and behave is determined by our inner beliefs and orientation. One political party in India has brought a strong sense of coherence by bringing religious sentiments to the political narrative. Another political party attempts to retain a secular and social outlook to its ideology. 

Both political parties need to get the picture of the reality. The reality is that there is increasing unemployment, disparity between the rich and poor, and alienation of the base of pyramid of  the population from moving upward socially and economically. One rich family can spend millions of rupees for a pre marriage function, where as there are millions of farmers and artisans trapped in debt and distress. When we live in such a polarised social climate, what we need is to return to ask a fundamental question: who is our focus!

The kingfisher and all around it brings the fullness to our view. I got an enlarged view of the Kingfisher but a reduced view of all that was around it, during the cropping process. The pre-cropped and cropped view together bring wholeness. 

The tree and the forest are equally important! One cannot miss the tree for the wood or vice versa.

Towards an integrated view, orientation and living- to me that comes as a calling for a family, society, nation and organisations!


M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

09 March, 2024

A morning routine!



I have a collection of photos of this Kingfisher, engaged in its feeding trip. It was perched above a stream, watching carefully the movement of the fish in the stream. 

It dived into the water and returned to the wall of our garden, at the boundary, adjacent to the stream with a fish in its beaks and swallowed it when it was no more moving between the beaks. 

It stayed for a while in that position after the feed.




Then it took a position on the wall, looking down into the stream to wait for another catch. 





I had to move away after fifteen minutes, when the Kingfisher was still waiting for its next feed. 

I have seen similar behaviours on some occasions, which made me think that it was the same Kingfisher, choosing the same place and pattern. 

I feel fascinated by this morning routine of a kingfisher. It starts the day with its breakfast!

Around 8 am in the morning I have sometimes noticed a Kingfisher on a tall tree engaging in bird calls. To hear that call is refreshing, because by then, most birds have left our garden after the morning short visit. The Kingfisher is in our garden even during the noon time on some days. The stream below our property and the canal that flows though our property give the Kingfishers a reason to be around for the day. 

For me its colourfulness, neatly groomed body, attentive look, long beaks and brisk movements while diving into the water are fascinating sights. 

A bird receives no assistance for its survival and daily needs from any source. Yet, they receive what they need for each day! Their restful and planned behaviour offer an antidote to anxiety prone living and stressful pursuit for upward mobility!


M.C.Mathew (text and photo) 


A difficulty is an opportunity



Till about three weeks ago, the plants bore an ornamental look in the morning, with water drops covering them. The night temperature was low. 

Now the plants, buds and flowers look dry in the morning with the night temperature shooting up. The days are hot and humid. 



What is sad is that bird movements in our garden have decreased. Many birds seem to have moved away with only a few making thier regular visits. 

The Magpie robins , three of them were around our cottage making bird calls tunefully. One of them who visits in the morning is silent. It does not receive reciprocal calls from others. Is that the reason that the one visiting is mostly silent!

A kingfisher comes near our cottage and makes bird calls in the morning. That is a pleasant sight and a welcome interruption to the silence of the morning. 



How transition from one season brings many changes! The spring season is short or not perceivable in our tropical climate. For birds, the onset of summer is a difficult time to adjust. They move near to water bodies for food and shelter. 

The cacophony of the morning in our garden, which was a routine is now missing. I feel something is missing as I walk out at dawn to look out for birds. Their calls and movements made garden alive. 

It is a strange feeling to have only few bird visits. 

It made me think about the challenges birds face all the time during the year. They survive the risks to life, habits and shelter and adapt!

They are resilient!

The human resilience is commendable. A boy of 17 hears who felt bereft by a difficult situation at home bought a cow with help from  few families in the neighbourhood and now rears five cows and looks after his family financially. In an interview, this boy having done well in his studies, in spite having had to take care of his household, said, : 'Every difficulty is also an opportunity...'! The wisdom of a seventeen years old boy, who was challenged to take responsibility for his family !

What a vision to live by!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)