Spotting a sparrow !

It is one thing to spot a sparrow and yet another thing to get its photograph! The sparrow is known for its quick movements and fluttering habit. This is the best of the blurred pictures I have been able to get so far. 

Most sparrows would escape our attention or would fly away at the sight of people and other birds, except the sparrows who are habituated around homes, restaurants or parks.

I am fond of the sparrows for several seasons. They are small and elegant to watch. The sparrows are fast disappearing from the usual places they used to be found due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. The sparrows need protection and special attention for their survival. Although the sparrows are most vulnerable to all the environmental changes, there is hardly any attention given to make their survival easier, except in some places where the environmentalists have been encouraging volunteers to have bird houses in trees in their garden. There have been some responders.

The sparrows are the marginalised and forgotten birds. They need attention just as the marginalised human beings need special attention!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)     

Silver and Grey

All the vehicles used at the Christian Medical College, Vellore used to be painted in silver and grey , the college colours represented in the college flag and the college song, until a few years back. Since the government insisted that all the educational institutions ought to paint their vehicles, used for transporting students, ought to be painted in yellow colour, CMC had also to comply. What is left of the silver and grey is the name and logo of the college. 

A history and tradition of fifty years gets instantly changed with a regulation! The regulation in itself may be of some useful value on the road to offer further safety for school buses transporting children . however, it is a reminder to us of the changes that can occur due to other factors beyond our control. 

It is likely that good traditions get lost in the changes that come upon us. 

One alumnus of the Christian Medical college told me that 'the sight of silver and grey bus colours was inspirational. Now the buses only transport us’.

This is the value of good traditions- they are inspirational!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Drive mindful of others!

It is now thirty five years since I have been driving a two wheeler or a car. One habit which is changing only slowly is honking. It creates noise pollution in city roads and intimidates other drivers on the road. I feel that it is one aspect that has not been emphasised enough while learner’s license is issued or driving lessons are offered. In most countries I have been to, honking is an exception during an emergency. But we consider it as our right while driving a vehicle. 

The attitudinal change involves accepting the right of way for others as much as we want to claim. In so doing we are under obligation to offer more courtesies to other drivers. I feel overtaking can be done without any of the aggressiveness and discourtesies we inflict on others knowingly or unknowingly.

It is when visitors from overseas travel with us in our vehicles we become even more conscious of the undesirable practice we tend to obsessively practice. 

I remember a friend who was to travel with us for a long distance journey telling us, ‘I enjoy every part of the road travel, except the honking’. We can change if every new driver is enabled to practice defensive driving and road courtesies are emphasised and the traffic officials insist on driving by being mindful of others on the road!

A regular morning visitor in the garden!

Although Daffney gets disturbed when this bird moves around in the meadow in the mornings, Anna and I enjoy this bird for its quiet and elegant ways. It comes as if to visit us and quietly flies away with too much of barking form Daffney. We often sit in the veranda looking out into the garden, sipping our morning tea watching this bird.

The bird has grown in size since I posted its picture a few months back.

One way to help children grow in enhancing their visual attention is to make them bird watchers. For adults it would help in staying focussed without distractions at least for few minutes. 

I am sure that you can identify this bird! Can you !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

A culture of prosperity pursuit !

Lily in bloom early in summer!

Any Longer !

This is the logo of the Medical school, where Anna and I work currently. The text in the logo, ‘Be not afraid, only believe’ is based on the words of Jesus addressed to the synagogue official Jairus, whose daughter had just died. Overhearing what was spoken, when the message of her death was conveyed to the official, Jesus turned to him and said, Do not be afraid any longer, only believe’(Mark5:36). 

I was reminded of the phrase, any longer, which does not appear in the logo. However, the logo receives even greater meaning, when the phrase, any longer, connects the two existing phrases of the logo.

The daughter of the synagogue official and died between the time when Jairus first came to Jesus, requesting Jesus, 'my little daughter is at the point of death, please come and lay your hands on her that she amy get well and live’(Mark.5:23) and Jesus getting interrupted on  his way by the woman with a haemorrhage for twelve years, who touched his garment to receive healing. There was time spent  engaging her after she was healed by Jesus who told her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace, and be healed of your affliction’. 

However it was this experience that gave even more hope to Jairus, who witnessed the healing of the woman. It is for this reason, Jesus said, ‘do not be afraid any longer’ after witnessing God’s healing presence. Jairus came to Jesus initially fearing that his daughter was nigh unto death. 

We live carrying within ourselves at least remotely the fear of the worst. It is this fear Jesus would want us to address and be freed because of His presence with us. This is the heritage of those who put their trust in Jesus. The fear is dispelled and hope is born in human hearts. 

The logo, ‘Be not afraid any longer, only believe’  is both an invitation and a promise. I wish the students and faculty at the institution would ponder over the personal response that this logo generates within us!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Holly Hocks on a winter morning !

Daffney waiting for her walk !

Since Anna and I began our five kilometre evening walk, Daffney, who has just crossed one year now, showed some interest to accompany us during the walk. So we let her come and she was fully engrossed in pursuing scent, sights and sounds.

Now, when we get ready for the walk, this is the posture she resorts to convey that she too wants to join the walk. We take her with us except when it is dark. We had once a stray dog come after us in the dark. 

If we leave her behind, she would growl to convey her disappointment, which we can hear much after we leave the home. 

One of the observations we have made is how much she communicates through her different tones of barking, wagging the tail, facial gestures and body postures.When we returned after three months at Vellore following my surgery, Daffney was subdued. In about two weeks she began to return to be involved and communicative. Not that she is discrete always ( she gets hold of our socks and plays with them and tears them in to shreds when unnoticed) but she is communicative and responsive. 

Even she knows that she has done something mischievous when we raise our voice while calling her. She would stand still to listen to our scolding although that is no guarantee of change of mind. 

We are getting used to her charm and challenges, while she is making an effort to show good behaviour.  

A beagle is a Beagle, no matter how much ever we can domesticate her. That adds to the fun and surprises which she brings. She is fond of going after goats, cows, fowls, etc. Yesterday, she got chased by a goat for a change! She was sober for a while after that. 

Daffney is a dependable companion.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)    

God’s donkey!

Among the few that inspired Anna and me since we embarked in 1983 on a journey to spend our professional years with children with special needs, Sister Mary Theodore of MITHRA stands out. Sister Theodore was the first professional person we met when we relocated ourselves in 1983 to begin the ASHIRVAD initiative to establish the Child Development and research Centre. She warmly welcomed us and invited me to be at a consultant to help in the diagnostic evaluation of children at MITHRA, which I did for the next five years.

Sister Theodore passed away about a year back and this book, God’Donkey is a tribute to her. She had a picture of Jesus on a donkey in her office and she truly conveyed that humility and generosity in all that she did and planned. The rehabilitation centre then had over 100 children in its training programme and half of them staying  in the campus. Now it is one of the largest rehabilitation centres for children in south india. 

There were several ways Sister Theodore encouraged us. She visited us to share meals with us, provided encouragement to continue the activities of ASHIRVAD even during difficult times, offered us a place to stay at MITHRA when it took a while for us to find a house, and gave spiritual nourishment when we were weary with demands of work. She was humorous, caring, affirming and self-giving. It was she offered to buy our car when we were moving out of Vellore by offering to pay more than we expected. 

There are exceptional women and men who follow God’s calling passionately. Anna and I are thankful for our privilege to have known Sister Theodore for over thirty years. Although since we left Chennai, we had less contacts with her, we often refreshed ourselves with many pleasant memories of her. 

From Australia to Chennai was a big change for her and in her forty years of life in Chennai, she touched many lives with Christ’s love.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)    

'Look at the Birds of the air..'

The birds while flying seem to have evolved a highly effective formation to promote their well being to receive the good air and avoid the bad air. They flap their wings just enough and at the right time to help in the aerodynamic balance they maintain while flying scores of kilometres at one stretch. What surprised the researchers is the highly developed 'complex phasing strategies to cope with the dynamic wakes produced by flapping wings’. 

Since I read this report, I watched the V- formation of flying birds and was amazed at the constancy of the distance they keep between themselves while flying. Obviously there is co-ordination and co-operation between them. The high altitude flying consumes energy and is oxygen dependent and they overcome this challenge by this well developed strategy of flying in formation to maximise the use of good air.

It took a while and intense study to demystify the secret of this V-formation. The birds did not give way to their secret easily to humans in spite of hundreds of researchers involved in this research.

Every time we come across such wonders in nature, it is good to pause to reflect on the creation story. The ‘myth’ the creation story has become for scientists is not simple to explain away. There is a Creator and a creation intent and order at work. 

I wish we would become even more reflective, grateful and humble as humans, because, some mysteries we encounter in nature are beyond reasoning!  And when we unravel the mystery scientifically, it makes us even more  aware of the beyondness of realities yet to be known.

So let us continue walking by faith and not just by sight! Faith is the source of our wellness and direction in our journey towards God!  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A new initiative

Ever since we came to MOSC Medical college, Anna has been engaged in  stimulating the students for 

conducting small research projects on their own. Finally 22 students have submitted research projects to the Indian Council for Medical Research for receiving a grant.

The process of preparing the students was most refreshing for Anna. It was a rewarding and learning experience. Both of us realised how resourceful the students could become if they are helped and supported.

Anna had  several individual meetings with each student which led to an incremental interest and capacity building.

After the students made the on-line submission of the projects, Anna was for a surprise. She was  given a thank you card with each student expressing gratefulness in a touching way. 

Two days back, Anna had the students come over for an evening of games and conversation. I noticed how these students have grown to be communicative and conversational through this exercise. 

What you do to others would touch and transform the. Humans fear loneliness and rejection. They thrive in an environment of encouragement and appreciation. 

We value such contacts with students because they bring fullness to our lives. Students would blossom if they receive the care and counsel they look for.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)   

A farming experiment!

Thampy, our domestic helper for thirty years brought this bunch of bananas to our door step two days back. This was one of the first bunches from the garden. Thampy himself had planted the banana plants and tendered them over the last nine months. We were delighted to see the ripe banana and felt thrilled at the prospect of further success in farming. 

However farming is a demanding exercise. The banana plants need attention fairly regularly as they are vulnerable to pests, storm, and stem disease. 

Both Anna and I are novices and follow the advice of our domestic helpers in planning for planting and crop rotation.  

One of the things we are learning first hand is that, plants grow and bear fruit because they are cared for. When Anna plucked a few months back the beans from the kitchen garden, she felt glad in having had the privilege of planting and harvesting. Not all of us get this privilege of working with our hands and turning the soil to plant and take the produce. 

But all of us have the opportunity to sow some acts of kindness on others, wherever we are. When the watchmen offered to carry my bag when he saw mew struggling, I realised that he was giving away something good to bear fruit later. When, some of the students returned to thank us for the get-together we organised for them, they were sowing some seeds of kindness and gratefulness. It is not because  we are likely to reap what we sow, we ought to be doing any good, but to be messengers of goodness in word and deed, like Jesus of Nazareth, who 'went about doing Good’.

.M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Water Apple-a fruit with a difference!

A bushy tree that yields at least four season of crops of fruit went unnoticed during our stay at our cottage for the whole year since we arrived here. Yesterday, Anna decided to pluck some of them and process them to make jelly.

The fruit, Water Apple or Bell fruit ,  is often found in bunches of five or six, pink in colour when ripe and has a rectangular opening in the centre, which attracts ants to feed on them. It has a watery taste, which is why it is called water apple. Children normally like its colour, shape and size, but not its taste. So the fruits would remain on the trees unharvested. They drop to the ground finally and even birds do not feed on them. 

It is one fruit bearing tree that does not receive any attention in the garden. It happened to be there and would go often unnoticed till the colourful fruits appear on three or four occasions in a year. The banana tree, wine, papaya tree, coconut trees, etc receive much attention. They are manured and watered regularly.  

Each of us fulfils  a role and function, wherever we are positioned. Some of us get noticed and some others do not. However that is not what shall determine the usefulness  of our presence or contribution. Others view us from their optic of how much we are useful to them. Even the water apple is useful to the ants. 

Let all of us believe that we are unique and God is fashioning us to a role which no one can substitute!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)    

The crowing Cock

I no more need an alarm to get up early in the morning as this Cock in the picture habitually crows around the same time every day. It was only a few days back, I was able to have distant view of this cock, while Anna and I were on our evening walk.

Traditionally the people of Switzerland depended on the bells that chimed hourly for being informed of the chronological time, when people did not have individual wrist watches about 200 years back. 

Similarly in this part of India, it was the cock that woke up the farmers  office goers, school going children, working women, etc. early in the morning, when people did not have individual wrist watches  or alarm clocks, until recently. The Cocks in the neighbourhood produced a cacophony of sounds as they would crow in unison or reciprocally around the same time in the morning.  The rural neighbourhood would have many of them as most individual households reared Cocks and Hens for eggs and meat. Now it is a rare sight even in rural areas as the life style of people has changed from agrarian to white or blue collar jobs. 

A cock is both beautiful and majestic. It protects the Hens and accompanies them during the day, while they go searching for food in the neighbourhood. The Cock is alert and quick to sense any danger. It would crow if it senses a danger from predators in a special way that the hens escape from the sight. 

I continue to be amazed by many roles which animals and birds play to make our lives easy to live. The nature is rich with God’s abundance of provision for our well living.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)     

Cheerful visitors!

A group of medical students dropped in a week a before Christmas, asking ‘how we can we help in decorating the department for the children’s Christmas get-together!’. So they spent an afternoon getting the hall ready to welcome children two days later.

During that visit, I heard them say about their wish to help in different departments as they have spare time time in between their class timings and personal study. They were most vocal about the value of getting involved in different activities, to get a sense of the different ways a hospital reaches out to  people in need.

To me, their cheerful intent was in itself a Christmas gift. Several experiences during the last one year, during our involvement with the students made me aware that the students look to us for being guided into creative explorations to offer service.

It is this youthful spirit, the champions of anti-corruption campaign have used to create a movement of protest against of politics of convenience and gain. 

I wish we would be more responsive to the needs of the youth for identity, belonging and adventure. When we can engage them at that wave length, they would be our intimate associates to respond the channellisation of  their youthful energy and passion creatively.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

    

During a walk !

During the morning walk, I sighted these two scenes during the same week, the butterfly and the warblers both of them engaged in something that drew my attention.

The butterfly was feeding on the honey and providing pollination. The warblers were engaged in romantic communication and pairing. 

The nature is the theatre where life is formed and nourished. It happens all the time and only occasionally we pause to receive the fullness that it can bring to us!

I continued my walk on both days carrying the sights in my heart. I started my walk in an agitated mood over what happened in the shop the previous day, when the shop keeper refused to me give me a change of five rupees saying that he had no coin or currency equivalent to that. I felt intimidated and exploited over his behaviour.

As I watched these and some other sights during the walk, I realised that we are surrounded by larger scene of beauty, richness, provisions and profoundness. I had dropped my camera case during the walk, which someone found and brought back walking all the way to where I lived.

We are easily prone to be irritable, angry and reactive. We need to guard ourselves from such a tendency knowing that we get good deals and acts of kindness most of the times. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)  

Teenagers of today!

I have some opportunities to be involved with teenagers in my place of work. I have had  some pleasantly surprising experiences recently during my contact with them.

Two boys talked about their habit of foregoing two meals a week and transferring the saved cost of the food to a children’s home, which they visit once a month and spend an evening with the children at the home. They come back refreshed from their visit knowing how the children live contented lives in spite of having to grow up without parents who died due to AIDS or natural calamities. The children continue to challenge them to live more prudently rather than getting carried away by the fancies and fantasies of adolescence.

Three girls spent all the days of their extended week end designing and decorating a children’s resource centre and made the place visually friendly for children. They keep dropping in to be involved with the children during the weekly play group.

Three other students got involved to help a family  who needed assistance to send their son to vocational training and continue to support his education.

I came across an initiative by the students to make the campus green and be free of plastic waste, which is making some impact.

Anna was able to get 23 medical students to register with the indian Council of Medical Research to do a small research project during their third year of medical study.

Yes, teenaged have their mind of their own and can go either way: in  a creative way or self seeking way.

It is for this reason, they would need mentoring. To accompany them thoughtfully and staying with then in their ups and downs is worth it because such acts of kindness would make a change in their lives. I wonder whether we make enough ti me to do this!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Know no limits

One of the highlights of the activities of the department in 2013 where I work, in connection with its first anniversary was a T-shirt design competition for the students of the medical and nursing colleges. One of the designs which was picked up by the judges was this with the caption, ‘Know no limits’. This was designed by a student who has overcome  some difficulties and and is on a journey to actualise his dream. 

I liked the emphasis on ‘knowing’. The phrase reminds us of an ongoing process which does not stop at any time in our lives. We need to know about ourselves, others, environment, opportunities, challenges, … and the source of our life and being, who is God.

This journey of knowing is fascinating to those who view  knowledge as a mystery. There is much which can be known and there is a lot that would remain unknown to human mind.

This calls us to believe that the journey of knowing involves pushing the boundary of knowledge further and further.

I feel that those who have various types of needs in the intellectual, physical, language or social domains are constantly challenged by the circumstances to overcome the difficulties and hostility in the environment. They thrive on the collective determination to challenge the ‘limits’ others or the environment impose on them.

One child of ten years who visited us last week with limitations in independent walking told me that his desire is to walk freely and play cricket. I thought he had a realistic expectations.

We impose limits on ourselves. This captions suggests that we free ourselves from our self imposed limits.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Being child-like

I was at a function recently when the children’s play area in the Christian Medical College, Vellore was dedicated and inaugurated by Bishop Mar Aprem of the Chaldean Church. After he cut the ribbon and offered the dedication prayer, he moved around the play area and sat in the swing to the delight of all of us who were watching him. Bishop Aprem is well know for his friendly and  cheerful disposition so much so he looked younger than before, when I met him this time. 

Bishop Aprem published about seventy books among which his collections of jokes are oft quoted and widely read. He has a gift to be original in narrating jokes. His jokes are a good blend of morals and humour.

Knowing him to be ‘set free’ in his spirit with joy and gladness, it was hilarious to see him in the swing.

While travelling after a meeting, I happened to be seated next to him in the train compartment. He narrated some lovely and stimulating experiences of his biography starting from his childhood. He started writing down jokes, he heard at the meetings, as an exercise to stay awake during the long deliberations of the meetings. He is a keen observer of human behaviour and advocates spirituality of integrity and contemplation. He relates to others easily and lovingly. He listens patiently and attentively.

I was glad to have met a Bishop, whose way of living corresponds to what Jesus challenged us to be: 'become like little children’.  

M.C.Mathew.    

Flowers and Candles

This is a common sight on the altars of many Churches.

I have often wondered how the candles and flowers came to be added on to the altar which used to be the only symbol on the altar in the early centuries!

The Cross continues to be at the centre of the altar in most churches and is central to the faith traditions of all denominations although some denominations do not use the symbol of the cross visibly on the altar. The cross is a converging symbol of our faith and hope. It inspires, challenges and and evokes worshipful fervour in human hearts. The cross is a symbol inviting us for meditation, reflection and celebration. Its sacredness gets trivialised sometimes when it is used as a symbol of power, authority and control.

The flowers have another effect on us. The flowers on the altar symbolise the fragile human beings, whom God invites to His sacred presence. The Jesus of Nazareth, who said referring to His crucifixion, that ‘if I be lifted up from the earth then shall I draw people to myself’, is always on a journey to find us .The flowers on the altar remind us of where we belong to. We belong to God and is being drawn to His presence. Every time we look at the flowers on the altar, we ought to be thankful that the cross is the cause for our inclusion into God’s presence. The flowers share the fragrance and beauty to others.  The flowers therefore remind us that we  come to the sanctuary to experience God’s nearness to us and we return from the sanctuary with the blessing to be  a means of grace to others.

The candles have traditionally been a symbol of light that we are called to be. Jesus Himself said that, ‘you are the light of the world’.

 The altar is place of communion- God meets with us in silence.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)