A fruit that is health giving!

We have had two  purple Mangosteen trees in the garden for fifteen years and Arpit and Anandit  looked forward to the fruit  every summer! My father had a special interest in tending the trees.

We continue to have a good collection of the fruit each summer. This summer it was even special as  Anna in her search found the reference to the fruit in a BBC special Health exclusive.

It is a fruit now marketed as a processed food in a tablet form.  

Dr. Lindsey, who went on a regular in take of the tablet before each meal shared her personal experience in the BBC write up. In a month she lost weight, reduced her appetite, felt healthier and refreshed in her mood. This tree of Gracinia Cambodia which produces the Mangosteen fruit is a buzz word among nutritionists for its rich anti-oxidant and hypoglycaemic properties.

We enjoyed the fruit and its sweet-sour taste all along! But it seems to have a larger health giving value!

The immediate thought was to have a few more of the trees as the fruit would soon have lot of added value as a food supplement !  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)   

Nature has its exceptions!

A solitary fruit of guava in an unusual season!

Its s a few months after monsoon, we normally find guava fruits in the plant in our garden. I had escaped noticing this solitary fruit till it are to this size almost ready to pluck!

Exceptions often draw our attention!

At my work place we have had four medical students for over a month now who are waiting for their results before they begin their internship!

What surprised me about them is their enthusiasm and thoughtfulness!

They took upon themselves to help us set up a child development resource room and decorate it aesthetically! For the last few days they have been working on preparing handouts to give to parents who come to visit the facility, to educate them on important childhood routines!

Their enthusiasm and pfrtiipcation was exceptional!

I feel that exceptions bring a refreshing touch and add to our emotional wellness! 

M.C.Mathew(text and picture)

Scarcity and competition!

It has been raining almost continuously for the last few days.

During the short spell of a drizzle I watch the honey bees over around the flowers in the garden!

It is rare that honey bees compete to feed from the same flower! But that is what I watched the other day as honey is scarce during the season of monsoon. The rain washes away the honey from the flowers! Yet there was no scramble but collaboration that all the bees had got enough!

Our circumstances affect all of us! A friend told me yesterday, how in his neighbourhood there are senior citizens who wait to get a hot meal packet at lunch time. The volunteers who come to distribute them sometimes do not have enough packets as some from the neighbourhood would also arrived that day to collect food. 

But, on those days when some do not get a packet, they get a share of the food from those who got a packet! He told me that this sight of those who are hungry wanting to get food has touched  him so much that he decided to contribute regularly to the volunteers to bring enough food. 

The language of the market economy is competition as policy makers believe that the quality of the products improve when there is competition. But the truth is that those who cannot survive the competition would get eliminated in the process and suffer because of lack of opportunities ! 

Competition is not the way, but collaboration!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Mission in Monsoon !

As I watched this golden oriel search for its feed in between the spell of rain, I remembered the words of Jesus of Nazareth, '..look at the birds, they neigther sow or reap, yet their heavenly father feeds them..'. 

I have wondered how the birds find their food during such a season of rain and cloud!

Anna offers some cereals for the minas in our garden, who therefore visit our courtyard everyday. As the millets get wet in our bird feeding bowl, birds do not relish that. The crows would feed from Daffney's bowl, when she is on her walk outside the kennel. The squirrels come to couple of tress where there are fruits such as papaya and mangosteen. 

As I watch all these adaptations for survival I am more than surprised by the ingenious ways of these avians to overcome the odds in  nature!

Yesterday, a family who visited me told about the financial challenges they are faced with. The father is a rubber tapper who has had no tapping job for over a year now as the owners of the plantations do not find it economical to tap the rubber due to low price for natural rubber. He then turned to selling fish. For three months now fishing by trawlers is prohibited as it is the breeding season for fish! So there is no regular income for the last forty days. 

I discovered their reluctance to seek admission for their son in a special school,when I proposed it because the fees in the school would be a burden for them to bear! 

God provides and cares, but humans under the disguise of promoting development and market economy favour the haves and not the have-nots!  The rubber prices are low as the government inspite of adequate production of natural rubber in India still import rubber to keep the prices competitive!

Justice is denied to the have-nots inspite of public outcry! So the planters sell their rubber trees as fire wood or for furniture for their survival!

I wish humans and policy makers become more mindful of the have-nots! God provides, but let us become enablers!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A caterpillar's story!

The three pictures of the same plant in our garden tell us all about the evolution of a caterpillar and its effect on a plant!

We do not usually spray insecticides on the pants to protect them although some of them get devastated at the end of the season of the caterpillars!

We do have butterflies in the garden, although I suspect that the incessant rain has not been favourable to them!

The bare look of the flowering plants is an ugly sight! But the nature's rhythm is to offer itself for the survival of each other!

Each for the other!

This is the logo of life!

This is antidote to hostility, enmity and selfishness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Deers in captivity!

It was during a recent visit to a wild life sanctuary, I felt the impact of confinement of these deers to the enclosed space! There were too many of them in a small area!

Of course for many who visit the sanctuary, it might be a fascinating sight!

But the dialogue within me continues! Are we to confine them like this! The forest warden reminded me that it is the only way we can protect them from the predators!

One of the things Anna and I are learning is about the behaviour of animals who live in close touch with humans! Dulce is our indoor dog and Daffney is the outdoor one! Daffney is out of her kennel for a while each day and moves around in the house freely during that time. During the rest of the day we have only visual contact with her during which we might offer her few verbal strokes. Where as Dulcey would come to both of us several times during the day for a physical stroke!

I wonder whether humans would create more friendly environment to live in proximity with pets and animals! 

Our efforts to get birds nest in the trees around the house have failed, but we keep trying! The squirrels are regular visitors in our garden! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Before Internship starts!

These four friends from the student community have kept in touch with Anna and myself for over three years now. After they finished their final year examination, I invited them for a pre-internship experience to prepare for a life-centred learning pursuit during the year of internship.

During the month of June, they have been involved in doing many creative things in the department to make it more child friendly and homely, apart from being with children and families during the clinical    work. 

One of the things I offered to do during this period is to reflect on life, living and learning so that the one year of internship becomes a meaningful transition period from student life to working life. Our conversations covered an array of themes of life and the focus was on learning from life experiences and taking time to learn from them. 

An intern's life is often hurried and its rhythm and routines are determined by hosts of others who supervise their work. And yet, there is a personal responsibility to allow the year of internship to become instructional and inspirational. 

At the end of one month, all of them wanted to extend their time for a few more weeks till their results are announced!

It was a learning experience for me because it gave me an opportunity to enter into the world of younger people who are about to begin their medical career! 

Learning from Life is to affirm life and the mystery of it!   

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A Friend's gesture!

I was consumed in a  sense of delight and indulgence when Sanjeeth Peter brought a box of Alphonsa mangoes all the way from Ahemmedabad a few weeks ago.

I look forward to the mango season to smell and taste the different varieties of mangoes. Although I make it a habit to go for at least one mango festival each season, where varieties of mangoes are displayed, I did not manage to do it during this season. But Anna and I made a deliberate road journey to Vellore early this month to visit the road side mango stalls set up near Dharmapuri on the Salem-Bangalore high way. I gathered fifteen types of mangoes, each with a distinct smell, feel, size and shape! It was a tasteful experience for almost three weeks since then!

What is so special about mangoes! There are about three hundred varieties of mangoes in the market in India every season. To our surprise Thomas Ram, another friend from Vellore brought us a box of Desri mangoes from New Delhi! It is distinct from all other mangoes!

It is such ordinary experiences which make us even more alert about the treasures we have in nature!

We are to take care of our environment and protect it because the treasures we have in nature cannot be taken for granted! We are to be good stewards of God's created earth and its environment so that it    remains as a store house of all treasures for generations to come!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A book that shows the way!

The author, Daniel having become wheel chair bound at a young age of 21 years trained himself to be a family therapist. His wife developed cancer and divorced him. There were stressful experiences with his two daughters. 

This book is a story of not just coping, but a vivid narration of living fully amidst the travails and pain of life!

I recently re-read the book because I needed to prepare to say farewell to one more year in my life and wanted to capture the gains and losses of the one year that has gone by!

What inspired me to re-read is the caption of the book, 'lessons on living, loving and listening'!

Listening is a way of entering into the mystery of loving and living!

Our soul has a story of its own to tell. It is in listening to that story, we are given a new quality of regard and esteem with which we can receive others around us. That is the beginning of a loving relationship that can set us free from our suspicion and apprehension of others around us.

That is the beginning of entering into the horizon of God consciousness because we are awakened to the reality of love that has been lavished on us often beyond what we deserve!

As I listen to the stories of families about their losses on account of their child's needs, I look for an opportunity to lead them to look at the larger canvas of their gains through the loving acts of kindness of many around them!

The inner ambience beneath the turbulence in our soul is peace, because the 'prince of peace' is resident in our in most being!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Almost missed!

During the walk in the garden yesterday, I was looking for butterflies. I stood beside the flowering plants and watched a few butterflies flutter around but not settling down on any flower!

It was almost after five minutes I noticed this yellow butterfly resting on a yellow flower for its nectar. 

Our sight needs illumination lest we miss sights that speak to us!

As I watched this butterfly on this flower for about ten minutes, I realised that quietness is an inner attitude arising from being nourished!

The human soul is desperate for nourishment with love, acceptance, and affirmation and yet most of us do not find them inspite of our longing or searching! And when those serene moments are given to us in some surprising ways, we get carried away by the rush of our activities. 

Every time I watch our dog Dulcey come and sleep at our feet, I am reminded of this reality that each of us can find our place of belonging where we are nourished! Jesus of Nazareth said, 'Come to me all those who are burdened, ...I will give you rest'!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

  

A year later!

It is now one year since we planted this flowering plant! At the end of the year it is blossoming in the place it was planted!

I have watched this plant grow with a recent spurt of growth during the present monsoon season and bring out its flowers. The flowers have different hues ranging from yellow to red.

I complete four years of blogging by the end of this month and four medical students have chosen about 160 narratives for a compilation. 

There have been pauses and interruptions. For most of May and June, I have had several travels and on other occasions, when I was ready to write, either electricity or access to the net had failed!

So yesterday, as I took walk in the garden, I felt that I was absent from this plant for a while. 

One can live through the routines of the day, but remain absent from realities, sights insights! To be present to oneself and to what is around is a special gift and calling! Jesus of Nazareth spoke about 'seeing but not perceiving' and 'hearing but not discerning'.     

One way to live being present to oneself, God and others is to allow the soul to be freed from the clouds of thoughts, preoccupations and aspirations. This is what interior silence can do to all of us!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)