The first week in January 2013 is over and we move on to the second week.
As I walk past the bougainvillaea plant collection at the porch of the Medical college, where Anna and I work now, every morning after parking the car, I am struck by its radiant colours. Of all the colours, it is the white ones that often draw my attention. It stands apart. There are only two of them among the twenty or more of different attractive colours. But they get noticed in the garden.
Although white is an inconspicuous colour, and may escape unnoticed it still has a place of significance.
I had a group of students who dropped in to talk about the violent death of a college student who was sexually and physically assaulted in Delhi. I sensed their anguish and fear about the declining moral consciousness among people. They wondered how it can be addressed. We discussed about some of the ways of honouring women and helping men to esteem and respect them.
One student returned two days later to say that since that conversation, each of them was able to show more courtesies and respect towards the girl class mates. He shared, how there was already a difference in the clinical batch. The relationship that had turned sour was recovering.
It is necessary to believe that one act of goodness or kindness will beget another. It has a ripple effect. Just as an inconspicuous white bougainvillaea changes the landscape of a garden, a good deed which looks insignificant would bear fruit.
The state transport buses in Kerala have designated seats for senior citizens, people with special needs, ladies and people needing assistance. Normally, all these are occupied by regular passengers. Only once out of several travels undertaken in three months, I noticed a young man offer his seat to a woman carrying a child in his hand. He told me that he would show such courtesies no matter whether others followed this way or not. That is the seed for change.
The state transport buses in Kerala have designated seats for senior citizens, people with special needs, ladies and people needing assistance. Normally, all these are occupied by regular passengers. Only once out of several travels undertaken in three months, I noticed a young man offer his seat to a woman carrying a child in his hand. He told me that he would show such courtesies no matter whether others followed this way or not. That is the seed for change.
Let us enter into the second week of 2013, with a choice to be fully present to make a difference.
M.C.Mathew(text an photo)
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