Dragon fly, Butter fly and Honey bee

The dragon fly, butterfly, and honey bees are most sensitive to the changes in the environment. They need some stability of temperature, humidity, air saturation, foliage and flowers. If they suddenly vanish from our neighborhood, it is an earliest indication of the changes that are taking place in the environment.

The watchman in the campus told me that,  a week before the cyclone struck in December, 2011, the birds had disappeared from our campus. Every living being has its antenna up into the environment to pick up alarm signals. 

Rev. Dr. Keithan, a german by birth had made India his home, since he has closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom movement. He lived in different parts of Tamil Nadu, but most of his latter years were at Kodiakanal and Oddanchatram. I got to know him in the early eighties when he had made his home in the house of Dr. and Mrs. A.K.Tharien. He was a repository of knowledge on environment.    

 Dr. keithan made a comment about these three. He said: 'the honey bees will always survive in nature because they have a self defense. They sting when they are attacked.They represent those in society who have means to live and prosper. Where as both the dragon fly and the butter fly are helpless in a hostile environment. They just perish. They symbolize those who are week in our society, the economically disadvantaged, tribals, Dalits, street dwellers, dispossessed, etc. Whose side will you take'?

It was this question, along with some other clear indications in 1982, when Anna and I worked at Christian Fellowship Hospital, Oddanchatram, that helped us to move on to be involved with children with special needs. That was how ASHIRVAD, Child Development and Research Centre  was initiated in 1983, at Chennai.

M.C.Mathew (text and photos)