Playful times!

Some children who come for consultation have a playful behaviour to draw attention and interact!

When this child initiated Peek-a.boo, it took a while for us to notice it and he was annoyed! He did not even feel comfortable to be examined after that.

There are times when children are ready for interaction and when that does not happen, some children feel disturbed by this!

This is the emotional make up of toddlers. Their ego state is one of self-importance, which is a positive emotional state. It is this which gives them a place in a social setting to have a sense of belonging.  

A pre-schooler had brought a scribbling he had done and he drew my attention to it during a visit. He seems to have done it hurriedly before setting out to the hospital to share it with me. 

Adults exist in their world of thinking and it is for drawing attention to their world of play when they are toddlers!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A confession and a discovery!

I ought to have been worshipping with others in the church today morning! But I felt lazy to get ready in the morning. Anna was away at Vellore and I found that as an excuse to stay at home!

Seeing me in the veranda both dogs kept prodding me to have their morning run in the grass.  

As usual I looked at the flowers at the hedge of the lawn and moved on. I almost missed noticing a butterfly on a flower because it could not be distinguished from the rest of the greenery!

That gorgeous sight stopped me to have a closer look at the flowers! The ten pictures I posted in the blog are some of the pictures I took with a 100 mm lens in about half an hour!

All the little 'things' we have in the nature escape our attention because we overlook them or do to exist in our optic!

As I sat editing the pictures, I felt an unusual sense of awe for the beauty and grace the butterflies bring! 

It is in nature we see exquisite beauty and feel uplifted to be grateful to God of creation!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Sights on a Sunday morning- 10

M.C.Mathew(photo)

Sights on a Sunday morning-9

Sights on a Sunday morning-8

Sights on a Sunday morning-7 !

Sights on a Sunday morning-6

Sights on a Sunday morning-5!

Sights on a Sunday morning-4

Sights on a Sunday morning-3

Sights on a Sunday morning-1

A new generation of doctors!

I missed taking the group photo of about 100 doctors who graduated at the MOSC medical college, last week.  However these two photographs, I happened to take include some whom Anna and I have got to know. 

It was this batch of students who welcomed us in 2012 when Anna and I joined MOSC Medical college. Some of them helped us in getting the department of developmental paediatrics and child neurology started by decorating it and creating a child friendly ambience. At the first anniversary of the department, the students from this batch put up a skit to create an awareness about families who have several challenges to adjust to when their children have neuro-developmental needs! They helped us with conducting special events for children such as Christmas get-together, etc. Their friendship meant a lot to us as we were in an unfamiliar terrain!

Now they leave the college to pursue their future. Invariably most of them would try to get a place for post-graduate training!

Well done friends and congratulations for becoming who you are now! Go on in this journey of learning, growing and serving! You are equal to others in the history of medicine to maintain it as a noble profession!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

We meet again!

During this week end different batches of the alumni of the Christian Medical College, Vellore met together for fellowship and reunion.

This particular group whose photographs appear here graduated fifty years ago. When they were together this time, they became the batch of 1961 recollecting and celebrating.

When I met one of them who arrived travelling thousands of kilometres for four days, he said, we meet again, to be inspired by the motto of the institution, 'not to be served, but to serve' !

There are some some lasting ties that anchor our lives! For most of them, it is the ethos and mission of this institution that bring them back to feel further challenged and refreshed.

Life a journey, often sustained by truths that resonate in our hearts!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Access Friendliness!

I was encouraged to see a sign board to alert the guests about the steps ahead. Although the steps carried a black colour to warm the guests, this sign board was added recently! This is a special  advantage to the senior citizens. 

Making access to buildings is friendly gesture. It is a mark of respect to some who need extra help. 

Th more we become inclusive and is mindful of others and their needs, we are travelling the path of increasing the awareness of the spectrum of needs of others. 

Let us create space, facility and environment thinking of end users and their special circumstances!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Advanced relational skills!

This book, that I have been reading and re-reading for about two months now brings some insights about behavioural dynamics in different settings. One aspect that helped me most is its scope for relating to contentious relationships. 

Daniel Shapiro, who is a negotiation expert speaks to the head and heart alike in this book. Arising out of twenty years of practical experience with leaders at all levels including prime misters of countries, he proposes a step-by step approach to strengthen relationships and create stronger agreements. 

Let me quote from the introduction: 'Shapiro goes beneath the surface to reveal the hidden emotional forces that strain our relations and sabotage co-operation. Th moment we feel attacked, these forces pull us into an adversarial cycle of conflict, turning a straightforward disagreement in to an emotional uproar..'

Shapiro was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, He co-authored a best seller, 'Beyond Reason'. 

The book  is both a manual and memoir and is therefore readily readable. It is a life time work of contribution to the understanding of psychology of human behaviour. 

Although our beliefs and practices are our strengths, we can revise them to make them more humane and relational to bring lasting inner wellness.  

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)

  

Symbols of graduation!

I had one more opportunity to participate in the graduation ceremony of MOSC Medical College, Kolenchery, recently. 

As I watched the guests and the graduates attire themselves in the ceremonial dress, my memory went back to all the graduation ceremonies I watched in India and in different countries. The ceremonial dress looks similar.

I have reflected on this ceremonial dress. It is an external attire we put on for the occasion, which has many ritualistic meanings. 

One meaning that I reflected on while talking to some graduates is about its association with transition in life. At graduation every person is formally and visibly acknowledged for his or her accomplishment at the end of a course of study. The ceremonial dress is a symbol of the personal achievement and embodies the honour and affirmation of his or her worth an institution bestows upon a  graduate!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)   

Symbols of graduation!

I had one more opportunity to participate in the graduation ceremony of MOSC Medical College, Kolenchery, recently. 

As I watched the guests and the graduates attire themselves in the ceremonial dress, my memory went back to all the graduation ceremonies I watched in India and in different countries. The ceremonial dress looks most similar across.

I have reflected on this ceremonial dress. It is an external attire we put on for the  occasion, which has many ritualistic meanings. 

One meaning that I reflected on while talking to some graduates is about its association with transition in life. At graduation every person is formally and visibly acknowledged for his or her accomplishment at the end of a course of study. The ceremonial dress is a symbol of the personal achievement and embodies the honour and affirmation of his or her worth an institution bestows upon a  graduate!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)   

History in the drawing room!

This clock is a replica of the large clocks found at the Victoria railway station in London. 

Recently I found this in the drawing room of five homes I visited. All of them acquired it from on line stores. 

I wondered what is so special about its attractiveness to find a prominent place in the drawing rooms. 

It is a symbol of accuracy. The original clocks seem to keep time to the second with no adjustment of time needed for months!

It i sa symbol of history. This style of the clock dates back to about hundred years or so and it is still the preferred style of appearance, for clocks in many station in the European railway stations.

It is a also a symbol of the high level of craftsmanship involved in making them. In the initial years they were all handcrafted! It was also associated with the aristocratic culture!

Now, it attracts us because of its unusual appearance and hopefully because of the symbolism it represents!

I feel good for this trend, because of the connection we are ,making with our history!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Post-monsoon sight!

Seasons and times change in nature and in our lives!

As I watched the garden return to its usual rich green, after the monsoon, I was encouraged to set apart couple days for refraction of the inner changes taking place!

The theme of my meditation was on forgiveness...every time we prune the plants and cut the grass, they return to their fullness! They do not stay reacting to its injury! They forgive the gardener for his repeated pruning!

I have something more to meditate on this theme! How do I respond to someone who, not knowing the pain it can inflict on me behaves abrasively and keep forgiveness as the language of my heart! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

FIRST flowers after Monsoon!

As these flowers appear in the garden when the monsoon is showing signs of decline, there is a refreshing look all around! Now it is the time to search for the butterflies and more birds! There is an anticipation for some photo-shoooting outing! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A few minutes before the graduation- 9th Batch of interns!

As I watched these interns just before their graduation ceremony last week,  I felt uplifted by the hope and enthusiasm they conveyed in their look and conversation! They leave the portals of their alma mater to bear witness to the motto of MOSC Medical College, Kolenchery, 'Fear not, but believe'.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)