A wake up call!

We have a tendency to accept social drinking of alcohol as harmless!

Now the jury is out! Any form of drinking alcohol  is potentially dangerous. 

Two families who came to visit us yesterday are going through the terrible turmoil because both families are damaged by the alcohol dependance of the men at home! Both fathers consumed alcohol only occasionally to begin with. In less than five years they became alcohol dependent! The tearful and distressing story of these two families is only a tip of the ice berg.

During the two weeks after the floods in Kerala, alcohol was sold by the state controlled beverage outlets to fetch 520 crores! 

It is time that there is more sisal advocacy against alcohol use and more organised dedication programme!

I wish the medical conferences which are organised by the professional bodies are alcohol free at dinner time! 

In the state of Kerala, students are increasingly at risk of substance abuse!

It is a time for action plan and joint efforts to contain this calamity in our society!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Displaced birds return!

After two weeks, I noticed water birds in the paddy fields. These fields were a home for these birds, but the recent flooding of the fields displaced them!

I watched them return yesterday to this marshy field, restfully feeling at home!

Anna and I wake up every morning listening to the birdsongs!

We have few love birds in our bird house. For about twenty years we have had birds as pets!

Their presence give us a sense of nearness to nature!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)  

Changing values in politics!

Seven Prime Ministers in 11 years! A new political narrative!

Is it not true that there is a lavish display of power in the tope political leadership in USA, Australia, India..!

The benchmark in politics is service to others!

Now we have a new benchmark of control and authority in the political dispensation!

I feel we are in  a distressing situation in India,  where a social, democratic republic is getting capsized by many narrow considerations to have greater control over others! It is no more politics of ideology, philosophy or values, but narration of imposition of opinion and pressure to conform!

I wish, those who value democracy as a model of political governance would argue and advocate for democratic values in society, where there is equality, fraternity and freedom!

A time to be vigilant!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

The four different wheels!

I have watched this sight on several occasions as we drive out of our gate. The four wheels leave four different pressure effects on the soil! In fact only the front right wheel alone leaves a visible mark on the ground on this occasion!

Four different wheels and four different effects!

I have been carrying this thought in my mind for a while!

Yesterday, Sally, the house keeper in the department mentioned to me that some fish died in the new aquarium! 

That was a bad news. We got a larger  aquarium in order to give more space for the fish! But for some unknown reason it did not suit them! We failed to attend to a all the requirements of the fish while we changed the aquarium! Our intention was good, but he way we went about did not suit the fish!  

That is when the sight of the four different marks of the ground of the car wheels came back to me with some clarity! What we do can have different effects- some desirable and some undesirable! 

We leave impressions of our presence through the way we listen, relate, communicate and behave!

A responsible and vicarious way of living is to be mindful of the impact of our actions or no actions on  others! We can live to upbuild lives or live selfishly !

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Reprting on children!

I gathered these reports on children focussing on different experiences of children following the recent devastating flood, when their homes and schools have suffered damages!

I think there is an effort to appreciate the special needs of children at this time, from the reporting I have followed in four English dailies.  

The word, trauma, which is referred to here is again a frightening word! It speaks of pain, suffering, grief, and loss! Therefore it is not a casual experience for children! If the recent flood in testate of Kerala was exceptional in 100 years, it reminds us of the huge burden of stress the children are subjected to!

I watched children going to the school yesterday after the holiday season. They did not wear the uniform or carry the bag of books or did not wear their regular footwear! They have to get a new set as they were lost when their houses were flooded! 

During this season of loss which children feel, the least we can do is to help them to share their loss ...talking about them brings a link with others and create an experience of being partners together to overcome this sense of loss!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A reading room!

We added a reading room to our department, thanks to the efforts of my colleagues. With three new professionals in the team, there is something more each day, which is refreshing!

This is the sixth year of the department...what have we become, is a question I keep asking!

My colleagues have been at work to bring a handout on 'play' for parents and professionals. I found their efforts as an expression of bringing their creative skills for the benefit of others!

It is a lso a season, when I have been preparing for enabling them to take the leadership of the department ! I feel that to be the compelling reason for my presence for a short while more!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A pair !

It is the first time during this season, I found two dragonflies next to each other! It is about three centimetres in length and slender in appearance, therefore easy to miss them when they are in the grass! Th bluish tinge to their body gives them an attractive look!

I have a now collection of small visitors in our garden. As I revisit  their photographs, I feel enthused to make the as the object and attention of my photo expedition! They exist quietly and unless one looks for them, they remain silent and unnoticed!

It is more than a symbolic message to me! 

We humans get conditioned early in our life to occupy ourselves with what is visible and apparent. 

Bu there is more to life than what is just external or easily visible!

Yesterday, a colleague of mine read a poem to us of a 16th century poet, which was profound in meaning about the purpose of life and calling in life. In reading that to us, she was inviting us to have a glimpse of the truth and depth of her being! One can almost miss this dimension !

Our journey is as much into the chronological years in our life as into the hidden pages of our lives, where realities which leaven our lives reside!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A plant with delicate flower!

Some things in life are meant to be delicate!

All relationships carry a delicate dimension!

We need to approach children in a delicate way to affirm them and their worth!

When people suffer stress or trauma, they recover when there is a caring attitude!

All of us carry within us a dimension of being mindful of others!

We grow in kindness and bless others with our goodwill when we have a thoughtful awareness of others and their needs!

When we speak kindly it is life giving to others!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A daily sight!

As I watch this sight almost everyday in the garden, of water drops remaining intact on the leaves and flower, I get a sense of the mystery that surrounds us! Even when there is a breeze or movement of leaves, the water drops remain!

There is something beyond the science of it!

It awakens us to appreciate small things which are full of meaning and inspiring messages!

It is a small sight, but large in its appeal!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo) 

The Two flowering plants all through the year!

These plants, an Orchid and a Musanda flower all through the year in our garden! They are not conditioned by the seasons of the year! 

I feel challenged by this sight! To live above circumstances with fullness of life for the benefit of others!

I have had an experience of feeling almost overwhelmed by adverse circumstances due to broken relationships a year ago! I had to step back and review my thoughts, actions and reactions. I had a sense of failure because I have been used to accompanying others while resolving conflicting situations in their organisations! I was privileged to facilitate transition planning of leadership in five national organisations! But in the recent instance, which left me drowned in circumstances, I was not able to facilitate the transition process of leadership smoothly! I have pain and regrets about it, although I have sense of progressive recovery now, to carry on in my calling!

A year later, the adverse circumstances are still lingering, but I am beginning to feel freed from the heaviness I carried for a while! So I begin again to rediscover my calling! I feel that the latest winter in my life is  behind me now,  leading me into a season of spring!

Life is a luminous journey only as much as we feel enlightened by the vision of life and mission of living! This comes to us through occasions of 'givenness' of grace to endure and trust! 

As I sat watching these bunch of flowers in the garden yesterday, I was moved because, they survived even the recent heavy rains!

In the book, 'Falling Upward' by Richard Rohr, he wrote about those who fall, while bouncing on a trampoline! They usually fall upwards because the trampoline bounces the one jumping! So a fall restores everyone to come back to standing!

So every trying time is like falling upward towards new insights, mission and revelation! A fall can help to bounce back to life! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A timely marketing!

The harvest festival of Kerala, Onam, a grand festive occasion which was on Saturday, 25th August, was a subdued occasion all over due to recent floods. One favourite food which is served at the festival lunch in each family is Payasam, a semisolid sweet made of milk and cereal or rice.

Anna and I found this three wheeler parked over a bridge on the Periyar river, to sell this favourite dish, a day after the festive occasion! 

The hotelier who thought of this innovative idea, told me, that he wanted to reach out to people to relish their favourite dish, especially those who are living in relief camps following the flood of last week. 

We noticed that hotels who used to offer a festive lunch on the day of the Onam did not do so, due to the austere measure taken by them to contribute towards the flood relief fund! 

However, there was hardly any sale of Payasam  till mid day when we reached there! 

People are still in a shock after the devastating flood, that they refused to be enticed by the festive mood!

So much to learn from human behaviour! When there is distress, it moves us deeply and painfully that we often resort to be austere and express that symbolically! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A week after the flood!

Anna and I noticed a motorbike smeared in mud, obviously because it was submerged in water during the flood, on our way back home, after attending the morning worship service. That made me curious to look for a two-wheeler garage to see if there is a collection of motorbikes in tier garage, which were brought for repair after having been submerged in water. 

To our surprise, what we noticed was three parking areas near a service station, where motorbikes were parked, waiting to be serviced and repaired. The cost of repair would be thousands of rupees if the engine was affected !

The not so obvious aftermaths of the flood of the last week is emerging. A friend told me that the quotation he received to clean the house and the well was equivalent to his one month's salary. He would need equivalent of six months of salary, to replace all the household items lost or damaged in the flood! He already borrowed double his salary to get the electric wiring and the manis switch replaced!

Today the NDTV is running a chat programme for six hours with interaction with public personalities and those affected by the flood, to raise money to let people return from their relief camps with a packet essentials needed for a family for two weeks.  

The slogan, the Chief Minister of Kerala is advocating is, 'Build a new Kerala'!

The row of houses and flats along the Periyar river which was flooded last week is only around fifty feet away from the water level. The buffer space on either side of the river is occupied by human habitation ! This matter is now coming up for discussion! Should we restrict construction too close to river or water bodies! 

So while we pay the price for devastation, whether it was nature's fury or human made disaster, the fact is there is a lesson lying in ambush for policy makers, from the experience of the worst flood of the century!

It is a call to live prudently and not lavishly!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

An ornamental look!

Leaves look rich and elegant early in the morning with water particles adorning them! It is a favourite sight I look for in the garden! 

To me it is a magic of water on the leaves!

How do these water particles of different sizes stay on the surface and edge of leaves!

What is beyond this is the aesthetic look it provides! 

There are plenty of beautiful and visually captivating sights all around us!

They are visual feasts which create in us great regard for the created world!

When we have had to endure the worst flooding of the streets in this state of Kerala for hundred years, during the last two weeks, causing damage of property, houses, roads, household facilities, and drowning human lives, we feel appalled by the disappearance of all that is valuable and aesthetic around us!

The nature around us is usually a place and palace of unusually inviting attractions! I hope humans would preserve them and protect them from being damaged!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A flower hopper!

I found a flower hopper this morning in the garden! It chose to move form one flower to the other! It is about 0.75 cm in length and slender in appearance.

What struck me is the swiftness and elegance with which it moves! 

A tiny creature has its unique style and pattern!

What a sight! 

Many small things escape our sight! But when we find it, it tells us something more about the nature around us! 

No wonder there is a growing number who focus on the bio-environment to preserve life!

Life is the gift nature gives us! We are called to be keepers of life! Someone mentioned to me that snakes sting mostly when it is out of its natural habitat or feel threatened! So co-existence is the rule of nature!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Wood Pecker is back!

One wood pecker was a regular visitor to this coconut tree in our front garden! Following the monsoon, I had noticed it. 

Today, this wood pecker went up this coconut tree all the way from the bottom  as it it was reclaiming its territory! Later it returned to the place it settled for a while near the several holes which were already there. So may be it was the old wood pecker!

What surprised me is that it returned to this place three times in less than half an hour!

It is one of its favourite places to peck !

A wood pecker makes it sown choice and plans for its habitat!

Yesterday, while listening to a resident doctor I got a sense of how each day is lived driven by the events of the day! 

I wish it would not be our habit! We ought o live from within with choices we make to keep our lives  in tune with the hope of joyful living resonating an abundant measure of contentment! It does us no good if we choose the path of sorrowful living!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Flying and resting!

During the half an hour I followed this  butterfly in our garden (Today is a holiday, so it was possible) I found its rhythm of flying and resting.  

It flies for a while and rests for an equal or more time! In between it has its feed of honey!

Life is an ensemble of multiple activities. 

What is often forgotten is a enlarged view of rest!

We sometimes equate rest to sleep. Sleeps provides rest physically and mentally! However rest transcends beyond sleep. Rest is an inward attitude of orienting our lives to live soberly, mindfully and consciously. 

It leads us to live above the turbulence of the circumstances. There is an inner composure of adjusting to life events without being overwhelmed by the turmoil they might bring!

I feel intensely when there is a loss or an unexpected event. I got up to notice today that the washing machine was leaking with water on the floor! It took a while for me to find the block to undo the obstruction. In that an hour or so, what was on my mind was the effort it would take to find the mechanic and not being able to use the machine till it was mended. I was already in a state of anxiety! I wish I was able to go through this exercise restfully, doing what I can and trusting to find the help! I have not arrived at such a disposition of inner attitude as yet!  

Rest is all about this inner attitude! Rest is a reflection of inner freedom to live and process the circumstances quietly and confidently!

It is this, 'Rest', I feel that  Jesus of Nazareth referred to when He said, 'Come to me all those who are weary...I will give your rest" !

M. C.Mathew ( text and photo)

Music is a confluence!

At the end of the performance of this instrumentalists, I asked a musician sitting next to me as to how they could perform with different instruments in such harmony! He replied, 'hours of practice'!

This set in motion a train of thoughts in my mind! The instrumentalists can bring such an uplifting confluence of different musical instruments because they agreed to play together following the musical notes and harmonies with each other! It is a commitment for harmony!

I have been through some intensely difficult situation where the leadership of an organisation had a differing approach to some major issues facing them. What resulted was disorder and disregard for each other, which still continue!

Any work we are engaged in is a confluence of intent and content, through the volitional efforts of every one involved! Any discordance intentional or incidental diffuses the outcome!

Yesterday my colleagues got ready the reading room after two days of preparation! When we walk in to the reading room, what is striking is the fresh ambience of the room with the neatly arranged books in the shelf. They even got ready the cataloguing of the books in the computer! It was a demonstration of confluence of efforts from everyone!

I wonder whether this way of looking at our work place relationships would be the norm rather than an exception! We are made 'fully alive' when we incorporate others into the orbit our thinking, and planning collaboratively!

We live reduced lives when we keep our doors shut to others or go our way looking for our own identity and personal success! W have a shared identity, in which others are part of our lives!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)  

Waiting for the lead!

I found this scene interesting and revealing.

During the pause before the soloist could begin, the guitarist who accompanied him was tuning his guitar to give the correct note for the singer to begin! 

During that time of couple of minutes, all in the stage and audience remained quiet in anticipation!

Once the soloist started to sing and the guitarist accompanied him, there was rapt attention and delightful tapping of the feet and swaying to the musical rhythm! Almost everyone got engrossed in the musical harmony!

While talking to someone yesterday, I realized how pauses or seasons of waiting have been rather difficult! The guitarist nods his head when he is ready and the soloist then takes it forward! That gives us a real life lesson ! 

Our lives can live the rhythm when we are tuned in to the lead we need to get moving! I have often wondered about this  synchronisation!

It is God who can give us that lead to integrate with the direction of the future! What makes that possible is to pause in silence and wait in hope for us to receive the inner nod to move on! 

Yesterday I had to unpack three boxes in which I had gathered together all my files in preparation for my retirement from the work I do on turning seventy years! As there was no other consultant in the department I was requested to continue for some more time! In the process of unpacking to put the files back in the filing cabinet, I travelled back in memory lane of thirty five years since I moved to the specialty of Developmental Neurology during which time there were several major changes in the direction of our calling! 

One change was when the invitation came from CMC Vellore to incorporate the ASHIRVAD Child Development Centre at Chennai with CMC to start the Developmental Paediatrics Unit. The invitation came in 1995 and it took two long years of pause before we decided to move to Vellore in 1997!

By then Anna and I were at Chennai for fifteen years with considerable acceptance and prospects for what we were engaged in. Now looking back, it was a call to relocate to CMC Vellore, for which we needed two years of emotional preparation! The unit of Developmental Paediatrics at CMC Vellore continues its leadership role in the speciality admirably under able leadership ! I retired in 2008.

Life is full of this form of in between times! It is peace and hope that would be the interior ambience of such in between times, when we are open to be led by a God who tunes our lives to harmonise us with His direction for our lives. 

The pause before the starting is significant and essential to live responsibly! Make that season of waiting to welcome surprises ahead!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

   

Voice of Hope!

Every time we listen to a choir, their voice would resonate in our hearts.

A choir would prepare well before the choral singing! The fine tuning of their singing brings the best of their voices to sound  the harmony in the listener's ears. 

They give a tune to their voices and that is what makes all the difference to bring a melody!

Human voices have the potential to bring comfort and hope!

It can be equally true of how we speak to each other!

The tone and tenor of our voice would make what we speak comforting or otherwise!

While we sing, we modulate our voice. I do not know whether we give equal attention to modulate our voice while speaking to others! 

What we speak is not the only important thing that matters, but how we speak !  What makes a conversation affirming is when our words and voice convey mindfulness and consideration!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Hedge plants!

The hedge plants in our garden bloomed everyday even in the rain and did not show any sign of damage!

This has not surprised me but made me observe these flowers. The flowers repel water because they have multiple filamentous exterior! Even the fragile flowers are given some protection from adversity!

The conversation between people of late have been all about the flood and the damage people have suffered! It is  story of loss and grief!

But what counters this in a delightful way is the story of men and women who show the overcoming spirit in difficult circumstances.

A family mentioned to me yesterday that a friend brought food to them wading through waist deep water two times in a day for five days!

It is when adversities befall us, we discover our inner resilience! Yesterday, a senior journalist mentioned that his habit has been to collect stories of ordinary peel who reveal extra-ordinary coping skills in adversity! He received a telephone call from a family who were living in  relief camp with three children to enquire whether he was safe and well!

I feel it is  time to celebrate human resilience in abundant display, during this most trying time of flooding of this century! We need each other as companions to live with hope!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A memory of flood!

This is a paddy field that Anna and I pass by each day during our travel to the hospital and back. 

Following the recent flood water submerging the field for five days, what is left is a barren field! The acres of cultivation have been lost! 

With the waterbirds returning to the field, there is a hope that the water is less toxic now! Usually after a flood, the land takes time to recover from all the ill effects of the harm the polluted water brought to the field!

Everyday the the TV news is all about the devastation the flood water brought to many houses. About 20,000 houses were destroyed and 100,000 houses are partially damaged or without their household goods!

Now there is a strong opinion among some that the flood occurred not due to incessant rain, but because of poor management of the way water was released from the dams!

So there is a sense of double loss! Some people publicly express how much distressed they feel about the way the decision makers acted casually rather than with diligence and foresight!

This is a time to consider how others suffer when those in responsibility act without weighing the impact of their decisions on others! People are in grief...one person committed suicide seeing the devastation he saw when he returned to his house!

I have been thinking about children who feel the loss of all that was part of their lives- books, toys, bicycles, clothes,.... !  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)  

Back to work!

Since yesterday, workers are returning to their work place. The rain and flood water have receded!

While talking to the farm workers who are migrant workers form North india told me that for a week they were even displaced form their temporary shelters because fo flooding and it is delight to return to work! The spoke about the relief in being able to return to work!

That made me think! The farm workers seemed to look forward to work! Sometimes I look forward to have an extended holiday!

There are  different attitudes!

Work gives identity to some, an opportunity to express themselves to others, a job or employment to some others... I felt that these farm workers looked at their work more than just as a source of income. They spoke about their work as a mission! All five in this group were involved in taking care of a vegetable farm! They said that they normally help to get the vegetables ready to get them to the shops! They saw their role through the optic of others who need their service!

Work therefore is upbuilding each other for our common good! I felt refreshed by this conversation with the five migrant workers!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)    

Farewell !

This is the second fruit tree to get uprooted following the heavy rain in our garden. The first was the custard apple tree with many fruits in their early stage!

This papaya tree has given us fruits for  five  years now and it was our favourite tree among the four other papaya trees! 

Watching all the raw fruits on the ground in our kitchen garden area and the tree fallen to the backyard of our kitchen,  I felt that the tree was sadly bidding farewell to us!

A tree too has its life. A jackfruit tree in the hospital campus which was trimmed before the monsoon is now drying, probably the water seeped in to the stem through the cut surface ! I noticed that the custard apple and the papaya tree were uprooted, probably because the soil got eroded from around their roots in the rain!  The trees also need attention and regular care, which is sometimes forgotten!

It brought a message of 'tilling the ground and tending the plants'! We are custodians of our environment! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Then and now!

Dr Solomon Chellaiah, an alumnus of CMC Vellore was posted to a mission hospital at Gadak, in Karnataka to spend two years to fulfil his sponsorship obligation for his undergraduate studies. Later he finished his post graduate training in internal medicine. I heard him speak about his life long service in that hospital during the alumni association meetings at CMC Vellore.

What moved me was his sense of humour while talking about all the difficulties he has had to face to develop the hospital to a secondary care hospital with facilities for dialysis and other specialty services. 

The mission hospitals have had a difficult season due to shortage of medical professionals. When one hears stories of people who stayed on in mission hospitals for their life time of service, I am inspired by the sense of call and dedication which make all the difference!

Since I heard this story, I spoke to about ten senior professionals working in mission hospitals in different parts of India. I felt moved to explore their stories. They live their calling!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Music and formation!

Every time I watch a dance performance, I become conscious of the skill of body co-ordination in tune with the rhythm of the music.

I have watched the rehearsals and that is what gave me an insight to the efforts that go onto such performances. 

Those with musical ears, kinaesthetic sense and intense observational and translational skills are chosen for dance recitals. 

They follow a story line or a music line sometimes with fusion music in which case the rhythm and mood would change through the performance!

It is a performance where each performer has to have high level of attention to integrate the body movements with facial gestures!

In fact according to multiple intelligences theory, the musical, linguistic and kinaesthetic intelligences  are exercised in dance performances. 

Those who watch the performance follow the rhythm and movement intently and enter into the mood of he dancers. It is one of distressing to return to soberness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Fragile and yet secure enough!

How fragile or secure we are in one sense! All what we have do not necessarily protect or redeem us! 

As I watched this leaf securely held by a web around which a spider has woven its strands, I realised that it has withstood the rain and wind of the last five days !

It is a time when we think about human vulnerability to circumstances. 

However, I hope we would believe, that 'God who watches over us does not sleep or slumber'! It is  a paradox that we are devastated by the recent flood, but we can still trust that we are held safely, it appears to be a fragile security!

Let me invite all of us to consciously trust this security in God...it looks fragile, but it is a sure and certain direction for human soul in difficult times!

I shall keep a watch over this leaf in the days to come!

This leaf with its supporting strand is a touching sight ! It was a gift given to me to revive my spirit!

This flood brings back memory to me of 1992 at Chennai when I was caught in a flash flood and the car stopped and got carried away by the gushing water for a while off the road! Few shopkeepers saw me in a dangerous situation pushed the car to safety! I could reach home only late night! To stay on the road with above waist water for six hours was a frightening experience!

What I celebrate is is our safety, which might appear fragile, but is still good enough and certain!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Seven hundred thousand people or more homeless staying in five thousand relief camps!

I woke up this morning confused and overwhelmed by the news of what await those who plan to return from relief camps to their homes!

It is a sight of shock and despair as the whole house and household facilities have a devastated look!

I watched on TV a few who went back to inspect their homes. They looked sad but spoke about a challenge to rebuild their lives!

One gentleman spoke about the memory of the night, when the torrential rain brought flowing water into his compound. He got up to watch water enter his house to waist deep in no time!

He said that it is this memory that would return to him! This is what might lead to post-traumatic stress dusorder in some people!

So the challenges would be restoring the houses, attending to the post-traumatic stress that would manifest in different ways, financial challenges for making the homes livable...

What a I watched in the garden yesterday came back to me! Even after the rain, the rose plants have few buds, ready to blossom!

It is not comforting enough in one sense! But this is the story of human calling! We shall overcome!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

Honey sucker at dawn!

I was keen to sight any bird that woeful break the silence early in the morning after five days of rain!

It was the birdsong of a honey sucker I spotted near our gate this morning!

Th honey sucker made the rain battered tree its transient home!

It renewed my expectations and hope as seven hundred thousand people live in relief camps! Every act of small help would be a birdsong in human hearts!

The students and faculty from MOSC Medical College visited some relief camps for the last three days. One student who called to give us this news gave us heart rending story of pain and distress!

I wish more people would come forward to bring the dawn in the lives of those, who are distressed in their neighbourhood!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Beatle, Dragon fly, Grass Hopper !

These three sights in the garden of our cottage on a morning, after a week of rain and cloudy weather   fascinated me! 

All the three have wings ! That is interesting and insightful! 

As I listen to the devastating stories of loss of of human life and cattle life, I sense how they felt disabled with the flash flood which caused the devastation! 

How do we empower others to act in difficult circumstances!

What is evident during the flood relief work is that a lot of support and caring have come from volunteers. I heard a family say that few young people came to their home three times a day for five days with food and water when they remained trapped in the first floor. They even rescued their cattle!

This is our calling! How to give others wings to fly!  This a journey from self absorption to mindfulness of our 'neighbour'!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)