Displaced but provided for !

Anna and I completed one year since we moved to live in Kerala, the southern most state in India, often called for touristic purpose, 'God's own country'.

It was in late september 2012, we joined the MOSC Medical college, Kolenchery for our professional involvement. 

During our daily drive of 15 kilometres to work, it was common for us to see white stork, the migratory birds of European origin, from late October, on wetland and marshy ground. We spotted them till April this year.

They remained in a flock in each of those sites. They descended to the wet land together and flew away together. The colour of the bill and the legs in this flock were dissimilar, one group having red bill and legs and the other black. They belonged to two different regions of origin, having come together during the migratory travel.  

We have been on a learning curve of the work culture, social practices, religious traditions, family dynamics, neighbourhood relationships, ethics of medical practice, etc.

It was good to have watched these migratory birds. They spend almost five months away form their place of origin. They migrate to a warm climate and for food and shelter. They are in one sense 'homeless' if we were to go by the notion that 'permanent' residence or a house is a sign of prudent financial planning. 

There is an experience of 'displacement' when we are 'homeless'. It is the humans alone among the living species, that too only in the last 100 years, who have equated 'permanency' with stability.

Can 'pilgrim' people, who remain open to live as they are 'guided' be also 'stable'! Our belongings and possessions can make us 'immobile' and 'fixed' to our locations. It is a call or mission, which changes with times, which ought to become the reason whey we are where we are!

We are yet to overcome the adjustment of 'displacement' at the end of one year. We continue to feel encouraged by the story of these storks, who move with ease and confidence. They adjust well to displacement and seasonal migration.  

God is Father to all of us, 'who would not let a hair fall without His knowledge'! It is the outworking of this, Anna and I are still learning!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)