A Visual feast!

Let me introduce two rangoli art work of the medical students during the cultural festival of this week! I was late to watch then do this! However the art work looked outstanding. The student organisers whom I met late in the evening mentioned to me that some students have won competitions at the state level in the past for rangoli competitions. 

Every time I look at a creative art form, I am reminded of the story of creation mentioned in the first chapter of the book of Genesis in the Old Testament portion of the Bible. There was beauty and fullness in the creation, which seemed good even to God!God loved human beings He created that He created everythingelse  for them to richly enjoy.

Humans are endowed with a creative spirit! In fact we design and create because of which our environment is human friendly!

This creative spirit is both given and cultivated! It is necessary to call forth that which is resident within us so that we bless others with our expression of creative spirit. I have 4 book marks with I  look at often- they are done by our two children and their spouses. Everytime I see and read the greetings, I feel inspired by their act of love!

Every creative art is an expression of love towards God and humans!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Hybrid Hibiscus!

Thi picture of a hybrid Hibiscus plant is one of the rare collections I have. I noticed this plant in a retreat centre. Although the quality of the picture is not so commendable, I return to this photograph to remind myself of the change we can bring about in a plant by adding gene materials in the laboratory. This plant was brought form the Botanical garden at Ooty where it was perhaps first planted! It displays different colours, shapes and sizes in its leaves. It has a changed appearance from that of a regular Hibiscus plant- colourful and diverse!

Yesterday, a family came to talk about the divorce which they are considering. The three year old child has Psoriatic dermatitis from the age of six months and is not having a respite as yet inspite of good medical attention. The husband is tired and embarrassed and is now asking for a divorce, although it is a marriage between close relatives. It turned out to be a no-nnegotiable position as of now.

We are conditioned by circumstances, preset values and personal beliefs. It is this that limit our openness. We need a change from fixation of ideas formed by our past experiences if we want to find a purpose and meaning.There is prospect of change in each of us, however rigid we might than that tee are, because human temperament is destined to be accommodative and flexible. We are created to love and to be loveable! The change in our attitude begins with resetting of our optic and revising our attitude!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Try photographing a Honey bee!

For those who want to sharpen some skills in steadying the camera in the hand with good control of exposure and shutter speed using a compact camera, it is good to try photographing a honey bee. It is a challenge! You might wonder why should we do this at all as we can take better photographs with a SLR camera using a macro lens and the camera mounted on tripod! 

We have options for most of the things we want to do! Some of us take the easy ones and others try their hands on the difficult ones! Both would find their way and fulfil their aspirations.

However, let me suggest that it is not the outcome of our efforts alone that matters, but the process that leads to the outcome. Our successes and failures have similar purpose in our lives, if we are willing to revisit and learn from them. We learn equally from both-therefore look at a failure soberly because there is a message of wisdom beneath it! It is when we discover it we can overcome the disappointment with a surprise discovery! 

M.C.Mathew   

Not a burden!

As I watched this lady walk with a head load of clothes from the laundry room to the conference venue, I was intrigued by the balance she maintains with both hands free! She did not support her head load with either of her hands for a distance of about 400 meters she walked, covering it in about 10 minutes. I wish I had an opportunity to hear about her experience  of balancing this weight!

One thing was evident that her body language made me believe that it was not a burden for her to do so! There was ease and rhythm in her walking that she would have had enough training to do so. 

Yesterday three medical  students walked into my room at lunch break to catch up! They are in the midst of their cultural festival of the year! They were concerned about the poor participation of students in the events. The reason-they are burdened with their studies and examinations! 

We chatted for a while about not making the learning experience a burden. Soon after that a fifteen year school going student came with his mother to talk about the same theme- he finds class room learning a burden. I felt that he was discouraged by the disproportionate outcome to his effort!

Students need support, encouragement, counselling and mentoring! Teachers are not just for tutoring; they are also formators! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Kitchen garden, May 2015

Anna's persistent efforts to grow vegetables in the Kitchen garden have begun to yield results. The lime and the cauliflower testify to that. It is pity Anna is not here to see it herself, as she is now in Ludhiana with Ethan, Amy and Arpit.

It was a long journey. The backyard of our cottage was earlier used to store cement and lime during the construction of the house fifty years back and the soil therefore remained toxic to plant life All Anna's efforts in the first two years had limited outcome except plants of curry leaves and ginger, taking roots. The tomato and ladies finger plants had a withered look. We got the area covered with fresh soil and manured it and now there is hope of revival of plant life in the garden!

It is a lesson for me to be patient, wait and hope! I came to live in this cottage with much reluctance. The only reason was to support my mother when she was no more able to cope on her own. But Anna chose to come and made herself at home form the very start. I struggled to cope with all the responsibilities of the upkeep of an old house and the property around. Two and half years later, with many indications of provision from above, I am learning to trust when there are many challenges! 

The quiet of this place is a gift which in itself is reason to rejoice!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A whimper is a call for attention!

With all the chores over, Anna would spend some time almost everyday reading newspapers before her bed time. 

I am amazed at her cheerfulness and conversational fervour even at that time. Her strength comes from her bonding relationships with people. 

Because Anna is away at Ludhiana some medical students came to me to get some help for the research projects they do which Anna supervises normally. During a conversation one  student told me, 'If Anna ma'm was here we would have to ask her just once and she would go all out to help'. It was also a message for me that they have similar expectations from me. 

While Anna is baby sitting now for Amy and Arpit, her desire is that with the first whimper from Ethan, we should sense his need and respond rather than make him cry! The whimper becomes a cry only if the need is not meet. I was surprised to find during my recent visit that she has become familiar with the different whimpers of Ethan. So Anna often discerns his need instantly! Her mother's instinct is alive fully even now!

It is a feeling person who normally can draw near to infants and sense their unspoken need!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A bare dry tree!

This tree had its majestic presence in the garden at one time, but it is devoid of its earlier visual appeal.  Yet in the hollow of the trunk, it offers a home for some birds. I missed photographing the mina coming in and going out as I did not carry the camera with me on that cloudy evening!

Many tree lovers prefer to leave at least a portion of a tree after trimming it well to  relive its story! I feel it is a good practice if due care is taken that its roots do not give way! 

A tree can physically live on even after it is no more biologically alive! It becomes a timber  for multiple purposes. So a tree lives on!

This is the mystery of life as well. Life lives on beyond our mortality! It is not memory alone that lives on, but life in all its fullness in God's presence. This hope infuses an eternal dimension to our lives! We are on a journey Godward!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Family times!

I returned after spending five days with Amy, Arpit and Ethan! Anna has been with them for a month now.

I was most encouraged by  the way the three create family times to build their home! Every family is a symbol of hope, love and grace. It is in the ambience of the family, children find their home to belong and to grow to unfold their 'being'.  

This week is  celebrated as a family week where the global community affirm the value and worth of family life! God who ordained family life for humankind calls us to treasure and nurture it! 

While returning from Ludhiana yesterday, I overheard a conversation in the waiting launch between a three years old girl (my guess) and her parents. The girl said to her parents, 'Can you be with me at school also'!  What a confession of intimacy in relationship!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)   

Keeping a watch!

I noticed this parakeet and its mate  sitting at the same place on all the occasions I passed by this tree during my walks during the last four days. I suspect there would be little ones inside the hollow of the trunk of the tree. When the male bird arrived, I noticed food between its  beaks.  

When I went close to the tree trunk, the parakeet flew away to a taller branch of the tree keeping a close watch on its home. 

I know very little about the breeding habits of parakeets. But it occurred to me that the parakeets were  intensely watchful over the little ones. 

Caring for the little ones is an instinct that is common to all species of birds, animals and humans. 

Jesus of Nazareth spoke about how the birds of the air are provided for, even when they do not sow or reap. God cares for all of His creation. It is from God, this caring culture originates. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Bird friendly environment!

These two parakeets were quenching their thirst from the bowl of water left on the compound wall by a bird love family! I noticed more birds coming to drink from this bowl during the day.

During summer months, birds flock to places where they can find food, water and hollows in the stem of trees to make nest. Many people who know the habitat of birds make it easy for them by providing bird bath and feed in their lawn or courtyard.

What surprised me was how different species of birds share this bowl of water! Normally they fiercely exercise their territorial control and chase away other intruding birds away.

The happenings in the nature remind us about the equalising role it plays. The nature is a home for all animals and birds. 

This reminds us to be responsible to be mindful of those who are disadvantaged and live reduced lives! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Flame of the Forest!

These summer flowers make the otherwise bare Gulmohar tree stand out amidst other trees. These trees span out and when in blossom make a scenic canopy over other trees.

The honey suckers who thrive on these flowers are not noticeable except by locating them through the movements they cause in the flower bunches. 

I like watching the honey suckers because although they are smaller in size, they are elegant and colourful to look at. 

I watched a parrot chasing the honey sucker, but had to give up because of its swift moves. Even a small bird is provided with skills to overcome an adversity.

Each of us is endowed with an overcoming spirit and resilient will. We see that displayed in the Nepalese after the earthquake. The markets are open and street vendors are back to work. 

The God of universe relates to us to empower and enable!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

More than a facility!

The CMC Ludhiana faculty club  is an inviting place because it has facilities such as a swimming pool, indoor sports room,  cafeteria, etc. 

What is special about this place is its mission statement- Recreation and and Fellowship!

This logo reveals the spirit of the institution towards its own faculty. 

Every institution has an obligation to offer its faculty space and opportunity for the faculty to have recreation in an atmosphere of  fellowship.

The medical professionals live a demanding life and are stress prone.

What haas become a common practice in good institutions is to offer them deliberately planned occasions for debriefing, renewal and recompose! It is for this reason that a chaplain trained in personal development and adult formation is to be assigned to this responsibility of accompanying faculty and their families to give them a sense of belonging and purpose. They serve the institution and the institution ought to serve them. 

Let me complement the efforts of CMC Ludhiana for creating a place where the faculty can congregate for recreation and fellowship!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Returning with a feed!

This squirrel is on its way back home with grass for feeding its little one. I watched this squirrel climb up a tall tree with this grass in its paw till it faded away from my sight .

For all of us life offers us different opportunities to be mindful of others! It is when we are able to respond to the needs of others, we become more humane! 

During a conversation yesterday with a consultant I discovered that he has set aside one hour for mentoring an undergraduate student and another hour for a group of students to have informal conversation with him on issues related to the practice of medicine. I know from what I hear about him that he normally has long hours of work. But he finds time to be available because he values  others. 

Whatever might be an offering we can make for others, let us do it because it would touch and nurture others!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)   

Sights and sounds!

During an exercise walk, one can obsessively focus on the metabolic advantages of a walk or walk preoccupied. This happens when we have allowed less time for walk!

The residential area at the CMC Ludhiana campus is a home for many birds. During just one walk, I noticed many familiar birds and some not so common! Birds appeared less intimidated by human presence and gave me time to view them closely.

A walk is also for pausing for sights and sounds!

This is also true of journey of life! When we are driven by a passion or goal driven, one can dismiss some events and experiences as interruptions or distractions! although we need to stay focussed, it is necessary to be alert to all the unexpected events or happenings because the course of the journey is also significant and not the destination alone!  

Allow interruptions and distractions even when we are stretched for time because such occasions can be pregnant with meaning and purpose! I was standing under the Gulmohar tree in this picture and listening to a friend who stopped me during the walk. When I was ready to resume the walk, I heard the chirping in the tree. When I looked up there was a parrot pausing for me!   

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Flowers decorate the garden!

These strings of flowers decorate the garden, while we use the same flowers to decorate other spaces such as our homes!

The flowers live for a short time and during that time, they serve their purpose fully! The flowers awaken within us a creative instinct of prose and poetry, through the magnificence they produce in the beholder's eyes.

These flowers in full bloom in the summer heat illustrates another dimension of life itself. The flowers bloom even in summer and not just in spring alone! 

The adversities of circumstances bring certain fullness and maturity to human character! 

A senior retired professor told me recently how his early onset of cardiac illness took away all the prospects for him to operate anymore, but that prompted him to be a mentor for many trainees in cardiac surgery who went on to become eminent surgeons and pioneers. 

Each of us can add some colour to the lives of others! Flowers are for others. Our calling is to live  mindful of others!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo0  

'More Beautiful than in Heaven'!

The above is the title for a movie that is recently released in the state of Kerala, which is referred to  as 'god's own country' for tourist promotion!

I know little about the movie world. But this title prompted me to enquire about the origin of the title.  I was told that the emphasis is to make the title of any film as mysterious as possible to promote the film! 

It is yet another illustration of the several compulsions in a commercialised world to make the material realm as the bed of all human happiness. All human experiences are portrayed as virtuous resources for human fulfilment. It amplifies the 'good things' as ecstatic and entices humans to seek after them. 

This is one sided presentation of human story. Humans are formed by all that contribute to our development, in which case, to reposition the temporal happiness or self gratification as the ultimate  experience is to reduce humans as prisoners of happiness. 

The mission of life is not to go after personal pleasures but to become 'fully human'! Late Dr. C.K.Job, a pioneer in the discovery of the pathology of Leprosy, a former professor Pathology and Principal of Christian Medical College, Vellore once told me, in personal conversation, that 'as doctors we are called to seek the goodness and happiness of others who come to us with their needs and not to seek after our own prospects or pleasures. The outcome of this is gladness of heart through service'!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Return to exploratory play!

I had access to a mobile phone at 45 years but an infant as soon as he or she is able to bring the hands in the midline ,which is between five months and eight months, is given the access to a mobile phone !

Most parents let the infants watch animations, cartoons, picture series, or listen to songs in the mobile phone. I have watched children sit glued to the phone and stay fully occupied. Parents use this to still a child when they are occupied in other chores.

One concern which I hear form parents is, 'why is my baby not crawling even at 11months'! The story is that the baby might have been used to watching TV, handle mobile phone or stay bed bound that the infant has had no stimulus to move or go after an object of interest!

I wish parents would deliberately restrain from introducing the mobile phones to infants and return to giving children opportunity for exploratory play by using the toys we often used to offer to children before technology overtook us. Give a child to play with blocks, sound makers, small balls, miniature cars or trucks, soft toys, etc. Let a child have access to books with picture sequences meant for infants. Let the parents read to them from books by pointing to pictures. Let parents sing to them rather than only make them listen to recorded music. The action songs which parents can sing would be better than making him watch a DVD with action songs! 

At least let me suggest moderation in the use of technology during the pre-school years! Let a child be exposed to a lot of physical, visual, auditory and imaginary play cavities. They would provide neuro-motor developmental skills1

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The end of waiting!

One special experience for a gardener is to watch a fruit ripen and ready to be plucked! I watched this mango over the last two weeks turning its skin colour to a yellowish tinge announcing that tit is almost ready to b plucked. As this happens to different tropical fruits during the summer months, there is feeling of immense satisfaction for the fruits to have weathered the hostile summer months! The summer months are known for summer rains, storm, and even disproportionate humidity all of which affect the fruit from reaching its ripening stage.

There is a time of waiting and the end is certain although not in sight!

Yesterday a 12 yard old boy, told me that, 'I have been studying as much as I can and yet I just manage to get pass marks'. It was a sad comment about his school experience and examination. Yet he spoke with confidence, expectancy of better days ahead and ready to battle through even more difficulties in his learning experience. 

He is an athlete and sports enthusiast. During the conversation we explored the possibility of joining a sports academy where he can focus on his best abilities and study as well. There was a spark in his eyes and he seemed to recover from a hanger over of disappointment with which he came!

There is uncertainty during waiting and most of us wish that there was no waiting! No butterfly would be so colourful and flutter elegantly, had it not waited n the cocoon!

This is a lesson all of us need to carry with us- waiting fulfils a mission and there would be an end to it at the fullness of time!  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A CMC retreat group!

Retreat is an integral part of the life of CMC community. Almost every week end during the year, some group or other is on a retreat!

During this retreat some referred to the occasion as knowing each other! For a community of about 8000 or so, it is an effort to know each other! So the small group retreats build relationships. 

One message I carry with me from these retreats is the passion and commitment with which they live and serve as a community. With an outpatient work attending to the needs of about 8000 patients in one day, most of them live stretched lives and yet cheerful and available. This instinct to 'minister and not to be ministered unto' is what is undergirding the community. It is inspirational!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The evening hue!

This is an untouched photo except for its size. This was taken in a beach a few minutes before the sun set. Although I have several photos of such twilight periods taken in other places , this one stands out because I took it in the automatic mode. As I can trust the camera I use, I do not doubt the authenticity of the colour  All photographers know well that the twilight periods give some unusual hues to the photos!

What surprised me most is the brilliance of this hue! It has something to do with the clean air free of pollution and minimal humidity due to good sea breeze. 

Such unusual sights take us to level of suspense and wonder of the rich treasures we have in nature!

This nature has a charm and inspirational scenes! Such scenes and sights arouse within us silent moments of communion with God!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

  

Just one fruit !

There are some fruit bearing trees in our garden with just a few fruits. This one has only one at this season!

I keep a close watch on this lest squirrels plenty in our garden get it before me!

This plant is the one who gets a special attention because of its solitary fruit! This is the first time it is bearing fruit since we planted it about 18 months back. 

Most plants go through this phase of growing to bear fruits. The growth first and then the fruits!

One of the challenges parents have is to plan for the emotional, intellectual, social, linguistic, and musical growth of babies in the first year of their life. 

Most babies sleep after every feed till about three months and then gradually prolong the awake period in between the feeding by about four to five months. All babies are happy to be engaged and played with during the awake period. The more babies find something interesting to see, hear, or use hands and mouth to explore, the more they stay awake to entertain themselves. 

Such babies would be a delight to be with when they are around 12 months of age, because, they are in tune with the environment and interactive fully! Their social skills, communication skills, playing skills, exploratory skills would surprise us! They are th fruits of facilitating growth!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Daffney on her detective mission!

Every morning we take Daffney for her walk, the first activity is go after all the new odour and scent in the garden.

Yesterday, she refused to move away form this site for a longer time and I wondered why! She stayed smelling the wall and refused to go any further and I had no clue for this persistence.

I had to drag her away and after our walk, she returned to the site smelling the wall again. She then kept tracing the smell to a pile of wood a little distance away. It is then, I remembered that the timber merchant who was cutting the wood in our compound had stood leaning on to the wall in the courtyard while taking to me the previous evening. 

That made me proud about Daffney's detective sense, true to her breed as a Beagle! Her instinct is to go after smell!

Each of us has an instinct. Some refer to it as a calling or vacation! It refers to our inner orientation. Yesterday while on along drive through the meandering roads of suburban areas, I had to take a deviation from the main road due to a road block and I lost my way. It was already late evening and dark. I stopped to ask someone the direction. He was on his motor bike. He said, 'the main road is is one kilometer away and as there are a few turnings; you are likely to loose the way. Follow me and I will leave you at the main road'. That is what he did. Even before I could stop to thank him and give him a chocolate bar which I had in the car, he sped away.

I am glad that I met a 'good samaritan', whose instinct was to go a 'second mile'.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

  

All seasons!

This bunch of flowers in our garden has buds, blooming flowers, and fading flowers all bathed by sunlight and rain drops.

As I listened to our neighbour of her husband's recurrent illness needing hospitalisation, I was speechless because it is a story of distress. It was after that conversation, I watched this sight of the flowers in our garden!

There is a rhythm to life with some integral seasons and experiences. One is a season of difficulties. There is nothing apparently good about a difficult experience.  It is when we are through the journey of pain, we reach the very depth of our being and discover a resource of wellness which remained concealed till then.

A teenage boy who was rescued after five days of the earth quake in Nepal, was asked, how he resolved to keep himself alive, when he knew that he could not extricate his body on his own from under the debris. He said in an affirming voice, 'I wanted to live for my family'!

Some of these discoveries are a message to us that all seasons converge to make human being grow into th fullness of stature!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Resonance of hope!

I have been viewing the Indian English channels in the TV during the last few days since the earth quake in Nepal. The news is crowded with devastation, crime, violence, corruption, high handedness, political authoritarianism, etc. It appeared to me that the news can drown anyone into hopelessness. I wish the TV channels will also have features which would upbuild people with stories that touch and move us! Even the entertainment is largely movie centred, which highlights a culture of instant gratification!

What I saw this morning when I went for the morning walk brought much cheer to my spirit! The tender shoots in the mango tree! It looked moistened with drops of water in the drizzle of the night! It is  assailing which we planted a year back, which announces its presence by sending out shoots all the time!

We are called to be messengers of hope and communicators of life as a springboard into fullness and purpose! 

There were scores of larvae thriving on the leaves of this mango sapling and metamorphose into cocoons until recently, when the plant looked bare with only the fibrous strands of the leaves. But when the butterfly breeding season is over, the plant is back to its original vigour of life!

There is an eternal spring of hope! It is this that feeds us with inspiration for daily life!

M.C.Mathew(text an photo)