A bird call and thereafter!

I watched this tree pie in its early morning hopping flight between trees and engaged in its bird call. It looked like another morning of wasted birdcalls till I noticed another tree pie appear next to it all on  a sudden. The two were together for a short while and flew away in to the horizon.

It is one instance when I noticed in recent times the bird call giving an immediate response and pairing take place. 

This happened around six in the morning when I was still recovering from the shocking news of the Indian air force planes entering the Pakistan territory to attack and kill a terrorist activity centre where about 300 men were located. By the early morning the Pakistan air force planes had attacked Indian territory in which Pakistan and India lost one plane each in the plane to plane fight in the air. An injured Indian pilot is in the custody of Pakistan army. 

It is the sixth intensified military action I have witnessed since my childhood between India and our neighbours, one against China and five others against Pakistan. 

The first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru developed the Indian foreign policy of friendship with neighbours. It was China who attacked India in the early sixties and annexed Indian territory. Since then the trust, the India political leadership had on our neighbours vanished and with Pakistan it was hot and cold relationship on account of Kashmir where Pakistan occupies part of Indian territory. Inspite of all these, India spoke a language of moderation, engagement and bilateral ties between our neighbour nations. 

The political climate has changed in india during the last four years where the political dispensation has been in a mood, to 'teach a lesson to Pakistan and break its neck' due to regular terrorist cavity in Indian soil from across Pakistan with consent from the Pakistan army. 

During the last ten days since the terrorists struck killing forty of Indian security personnel, the dominant view of one political party in india was to 'retaliate'. When the Indian air force plane invaded the terrorist camp in Pakistan and damaged the building killing all present there, there was some jubilation among some people. The TV channels even showed people celebrating by bursting fire crackers! I wish the TV channels did not show that scene as it is a cruel way of celebrating human loss and grief! 

The national leaders of a political party during political rallies in some states following this, spoke about the 'triumph' India has over the 'rogue neighbour'! The talks in the rallies in preparation for the national election due in May 2019 sounded jarring and disturbing to me! I felt that India, a land of non-violence as practised by Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, has lost its soul and the ruling party in india is intimidatory to our neighbour even after the prime minister of Pakistan publicly appealed to resume bilateral talks between India and Pakistan. 

It is one time, when I feel at a loss! The opposition parties have cancelled all their election rallies and programmes as an act of solidarity with the armed forces now engaged in this confrontation with Pakistan. In  a joint statement yesterday, I sensed anguish over the state of affairs, where as what I sense in the attitude of the leadership of the country is aggression!

The cross border terrorism ought to stop and the Pakistan government and military ought to be forthcoming to do this boldy and decisively! This propaganda that it is 'jihad' against India ought to  stop and  find a solution to the simmering dispute about Kashmir. 

During the Chines war in 1965, the government made it compulsory for all the college students to join the National Cadet Corps. I could not attend its training session for four months due to Hepatitis. Although I presented a medical certificate it was not honoured. Having had only fifty percent attendance for the truing sessions of the NCC, my university result was withheld for lack of attendance in the NCC. My representations failed and I had to repeat the year of study to qualify for the medical college admission. I still carry with me the pain of the unreasonableness a war like situation can bring into our psyche!

A war harms and destroys and bilateral talks pursue prospects for for future for the good of all. 

It is this I wish could persuade the government of India. I came across about fifteen nations advising India and Pakistan to deescalate the tension and find a common ground to restore peace.  The Indian side representing an ideology of 'nationalism' is vulnerable to a religious 'majoritarian' outlook. It is here, I hope that the opposition political parties by their collective view would act as a restraint in escalating this tension in to a war. For over 72 hours now, there is active firing between the two armies. 

Let me recall the bird call of the tree pie! It called for friendship and companionship and it received its response instantly!

A civilised nation becomes a responsible nation  when it calls for for friendship between nations!

This is my wish for India. 

India is in  a better position to take the lead to show friendship. The partition of India to form Pakistan happened in exceptional circumstances. Now that it is history, I hope the political dispensation in both countries would seek for friendly existence. 

I have often wondered why India did not come forward to offer some financial help to Pakistan, when it is in distress financially. Some other countries have been liberal with their offer. China exercises control over Pakistan and I suspect that it is for a partisan purpose. 

It is time that we qualify relationships between nations by steadfast intent to bring peace and goodwill for all.

The tree pies flew away to begin their new life!

Let me wish India and Pakistan a lasting new life of friendly relationship!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Living at the edge !

I revisited today the photographs I have recently taken of the birds in our garden. 

This photo of a Drongo perched at the edge of a dry branch stood out as something to meditate on! The bird is blissfully restful and carefree, although it is only four inches from the edge of the branch at a height of about eighty meters! 

Birds fly between trees and often they choose to occupy places that would give them a good view of the surrounding. They are not permanent residents in any place except when they nest. They live by finding its food and shelter. They need to be on guard from predators. 

Yesterday, I had two educationalists visiting me when the topic of 'vocation in teaching' came up in the conversation.

I remember that my parents earned less than a mason or carpenter or such other semiskilled workers when they started as teachers. Both of them chose teaching because they considered that as an opportunity to nurture, mould and foster young minds into a formative process. They lived stressfully financially in the earlier years of their married lives, but benefitted from several salary revisions before they retired.  They even received reasonable monthly pension on retirement.

I got to know something about 'living at the edge' from the way my parents lived. I was encouraged to study well to earn a merit scholarship from the government, which saw me through my medical education. Perhaps this enablement I received from the government mad me socially conscious and encouraged me to stay on in India and work professionally as an act of acknowledgement of what I owe to the people of India. 

Almost all of my friends in Medical College migrated to other countries immediately after the graduation, to study and work overseas. I remember couple of them telling me that ' You would end up living with far less professionally and financially if you were to stay in India'!

It was a struggle to choose to live at the edge financially, but it was only for a season in the earlier years of professional life. 

Now looking back, over the forty years of my professional life, I feel overwhelmed by what I have been given! A painter who came to look at our cottage to repaint it, mentioned that the cottage although is old and not well planned, is a 'homely' place ! He offered to paint it at a lower daily wages because he liked the cottage. Just another small reminder to me that, to live at the edge is not risky, but the edge is a place of many provisions.

Some think of the edge equivalent to being in the frontier!

An edge is a place where some choose to live and work because that is where human service is most needed. 

When I set out to practice full time Developmental paediatrics in 1983, I was the only one at that time in this pursuit in India. The other full time professionals, two of them appeared in the scene after ten years. Subsequently, I have come across in the recent years about twenty who are exclusively devoted to practicing this specialty. There might be over two hundred paediatricians with an interest in Developmental Paediatrics, but not fully devoted to it. 

Yes, to live at the edge is lonely and demanding. 

But it is also a place where human experiences of receiving goodwill transcend our expectations!

It is a place where inner growth and fullness of life take a depth that one would not have anticipated. It is also a place where you would feel confined to, with others located in the mainstream thinking of you disregardfully or lightly!

To be at the edge would call for being active to communicate and stay in touch with others! 

I feel grateful for some tangible initiatives that come into being through this experience of living at the edge professionally!  

It is natural for some to choose to live at the edge and experience the mystery of abundance of goodness and provisions beyond all expectations!

There is celebration and joy while living at the edge!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Forty-five and afterwards !

As I watch the Christmas tree in our garden and see its twin parallel stem at the top, I cannot but recall the 'twin nation' approach the leaders of India advocated after independence in 1947. The partition of India forming Pakistan was following huge human loss in violence and migration of thousands between the two countries. However, there was some respite from violence and the two nations, India and Pakistan seemed to co-exist as neighbours with simmering discontent. 

Following the military intervention of india in the East Pakistan leading to the birth of Bangla Desh, the anger and hate towards India got expressed by terrorists activities, Kargil war and aggressive posturing between the two countries over Kashmir. Pakistan occupies some parts of Kashmir which is an Indian territory and  there is unresolved dispute over the rest of Kashmir. The status of Kashmir is different form other states in India as it was annexed to India through a separate provision in the constitution, over which Pakistan has strong discontentment.

The last two weeks witnessed one of the worst hostile engagements between Pakistan and India. A terrorist suicide bomber was responsible to kill over forty security personnel in Kashmir following which the Indian air force planes struck a terrorist camp in Pakistan. 

The political dispensation currently in India has had strained relations with Muslims in India and it spills over to the neighbour on such occasions. 

There is celebration in Indian media for the 'tit for tat'. To me any action, however justifiable it might appear rationally, which inflicts injury leading to loss of lives is less than a civilised action. Therefore it is grief and distress that come upon me.

India is fighting this battle with Pakistan over thirty years now since terrorist activities from across Pakistan caused intense damage to people and property in India. There is some evidence that this terrorist activity is with the approval of the Military and the ISI in Pakistan. 

We live in a perpetual war prone mentality in some parts of the world. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc have taken away the  lives of thousands in the last twenty years and displaced millions of people and made thousands live in refugee camps.! Do the war advocates pause to reflect the extent of misery and deprivation!

Now I sense the same war instinct creeping into the subcontinent. 

Any deliberate act to harm other humans is against the spirit of human brotherhood. 

The two stems on the top of the Christmas tree reminds me that conciliatory actions are required to live in harmony respecting the sovereignty and independence of nations. 

I feel that India has exercised restraint so far but the mood is changing to 'retaliation' as I sense the attitude of the political leadership. India has suffered and Pakistan has not chosen a peaceful means of dialogue to resolve disputes. I hope India would not resort to a condescending attitude towards Pakistan which is now almost in a financial crisis and political turmoil with its inability to control terrorism against its own people. 

I hope that global leadership would facilitate restrain and steps towards peace!

The only gift we can be to others is to carry the 'Good Samaritan' proactiveness to care. St Francis of Assissi prayed for peace, pardon and healing!

The healing between nations is an outstanding example that we need to carry as our calling. In 1981 when I went to Berlin it was a divided city with a wall between the west and East Berlin. Later in 1985 when I visited Berlin, there was only a exhibition of the wall to remind of its history. Since then Anna and I have visited Berlin almost every two years. Some of the best friends of Ashirvad Ms Giesela and late Christiana kept telling us about the tremendous healing that took place between the east and west Germany since its unification. 

The story of united Germany is a story that I want to bering to the attention of people in Pakistan and India- we are neighbours and 'let us love our neighbours as ourselves'!  

I hope we recapture the 'twin nation' vision that was in the hearts and minds in the immediate post-independent time in India and Pakistan.

The language of temperance and acceptance is what I feel would lead the neighbourly nations to the path of conciliation and peace. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The moon light!

It is a week since the full moon was visible in the sky! Now it is on receding journey.

But he moon still gives its light even though fading in size.

This gives a message to all of us.

Moon gives light. Humans in the words of Jesus of Nazareth are also called to be 'lights, that are placed on a lamp stand'!

A light is a gift to others!

M.C.Mathew(texta nd photo)

At the dawn !

Anna and I have many struggles to adjust to when we live in a village. Recently we waited for a month to get a climber to drop the coconuts. To get a labourer to work in the farm has become increasingly difficult. If the electricity were to be cut off due to a branch of tree falling on the transmission lines, we may have to wait for the whole day or another day before it is mended. It is occasional we have friends visiting us. There are days at a stretch when we have to manage without internet. We do not have newspaper delivery at our door step. 

But these difficulties fade into the background when we begin the day. Yesterday when I walked out  of the cottage into the courtyard at dawn, I was moved by the sights and sounds in the garden. 

All these birds who could be photographed at that short time when the sun was just rising, mad me feel that we are surrounded by an avian world each day, singing for us. 

What is so special about these birds!

They live publicly and quietly except for their birdcalls.  But for the birdcalls, one would even not notice the unless one become a bird watcher!

They occupy the public space quietly. During the flights between places the bird droppings of undigested seeds become the means for a forest to grow a few years alter. 

The trees are adorable because they are the home for the birds. 

The birds wake me up each morning telling me a lot more about eh richness of the world in which we live. We are inclined to live preoccupied, but the bird visitors tell me a lot about to abundance of goodness all around us.

When there is a hate language spoken in public places when we read the news papers or watch in the TV, or hear fire accidents, war threats, political enmity and harassment, to me the sight and sounds of birds give enormous consolation of something to look for and carry over to others a message of hope and mission!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Flight ready!

Birds are flight ready all the time.   They displace themselves from one environment to the other  to stay secure and to fend for themselves.

They suspend themselves in the air as high as it is needed and move between places. This is their life style. They move and live!

One of the challenges we face is the fear of dislocation. We get conditioned to our circumstances and routines. 

Yesterday, I felt the pressure to do something I was most uncomfortable to do ethically. I was made to feel not being considerate. 

I reflected over this dialogue and embarrassing conversation while on way back home. 

What disturbed me was the pressure that comes upon us sometimes to conform and lose our freedom to live in resonance with the voice from within. 

In a conversation with someone who felt my stress, I discovered that it is the way of life that we need to get used to.

There is pressure upon us to live the way others prescribe for us. 

As I returned home in the evening feeling the heaviness of the difficult conversations, I stopped at a wetland to watch the waterbirds. It was an experience which helped me to get back to my mooring- live in the freedom to choose when ethics or ethos is at stake!

Sometimes the environment makes us feel vulnerable to the pressures that comes upon us, as public opinion is to choose the easy way.

As I watched this bird soar high in the air, I wondered what made that bird make this hasty flight! As far as I could sense, there was nothing in the immediate environment which was threatening for it to fly away. The bird moved at its own volition. It felt that its time had come to move on, while other water birds stayed on in the wetland! It chose its own time and path. 

The inner sense of right or wrong is always present with us. We can either ignore it or choose it volitionally to live inwardly guided!

The least we can do to ourselves is to grow in the intent to do good and follow the path of righteousness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Stressful or hopeful living!

As I watched this squirrel feed on the bark of steak wood tree, I felt rather concerned. Squirrels normally feed on fruits, nuts, honey, etc. It is the first time I noticed a squirrel having to feed on bark. Is a squirrel experiencing the stress of fending for itself!

I watched hundreds of farmers from different parts of Maharashtra walking on the highway yesterday towards Mumbai, in protest and to represent to the government about the stressful experiences they go through. It is the fifth such mass protest in different parts of India in the last six months.

I met with a few students who finished their final MBBS examination and area bout to leave for their holiday before they start internship. The question in their mind was about the NEET examination and all that lie ahead to secure a post graduate admission in the subject of their choice. 

A family dropped in with their twins who were born preterm and now struggling in their developmental process. The mother stopped working and I could sense in their tone of vice and conversation stress about the future!

I received a telephone call from a doctor who carry anxiety about her nine month old baby which seems to have consumed her into state anxiety!

An administrator in the college I work, spoke to me yesterday about the different relational stresses he faces at work!

Following the terrorist attack on security personnel in Kashmir leading to eh death of forty of them, there is a n intense posturing of political parties about the failure of the government to act on intelligence reports they received about a possible attack on the security personnel. The mourning period is now charged with emotional blackmail!

I come home from work thinking of these only to feel that humans choose to invite upon themselves the burden of living!

But the squirrel in the garden reminds me of another way of living- 'If I do not get the food I normally like, I shall be satisfied with what I can find'!  

Is that self resignation! 

Let me suggest that only occasionally we can change the circumstances in which we live! What is easy to change is our inner orientation!

A farmer in my village, has given up land farming as it is risky and moved on to cattle and poultry farming. This gives him enough and more. A resident doctor waiting for his post graduate training has evolved a method of studying which according is comfortable enough for him to secure a post graduate e admission rather than take a yer off to attend coaching classes. A family with three children who have developmental needs visit us often and encourage and inspire us because of the ease and comfort with which they adjust to their circumstances. 

As human we are not just achievers alone, or mere survivors ! We are called to live our lives in the realm of abundance! Abundance even when living is stress prone. 

Dulcie, our dog would come a few times when Anna or I work at our desks, give a lick and quietly settle down near us. She is more than satisfied with a  stroke we might offer. 

There is a message in this. Dulcie lives relationally. She comes to us because she has a sense of belonging!

I wonder, whether amidst all the stressful experience we might go through, we carry this sense of belonging!

We belong to the human family. This consciousness would set us free from the burden of living. In the human family we are 'neighbours' to each other. Jesus of Nazareth said; 'Love your neighbour as yourself'!

Living relationally in a bond of peace of love is slipping away form human family. The outcome is stressful living. 

The squirrel has found its way of living on the bark of teak tree! We might not get what we like, but we can like what we get because, we feel loved and cared for by our neighbours!

 Later in the day, I found the squirrel finding its favourite food !

I found this as a revelation in my life. 

There is another way of living than the stressful living! Grow in contentment with the present, however demanding it might be, which is only a prelude to all the good things in store for us, 'which God has kept for those who turn to Him'!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

  

Black, white and in between ! -Biography -28

Every time I notice a black and white dragon fly in our garden, I return to an unanswered question related to my vocation in the practice of medicine!

I grew up during my training with a consciousness that we are being trained to take care of 'sick children'! 

Is there a state which is in  between sickness and wellness !

Yesterday, three families out of the eight I welcomed for consultation too had this question about the way their children have evolved. 

They showed me the photographs of their well looking children, till the first manifestation of departure in growth and development was noticed by them. One child currently is showing signs of Rett syndrome, another Neurofibromatosis type 1 and another Aicardi syndrome.  All the three children are showing progressive decline in their skills of communication, socialisation, learning and behaviour, all three of them with seizure disorder which is difficult to treat. 

All these clinical conditions are known to have a gestational period of wellness from the time of birth before the symptoms of the developmental decline  begin to manifest. 

For all these three children there were  stages in between wellness and sickness. These families recollected some bizarre behaviour patterns much before the full fledged manifestation of the developmental decline occurred, which they ignored or underplayed. 

Not that anything done at that time would have altered the evolution of the disorder to what it is now, but they could have started the treatment or intervention earlier, which might have minimised the co-morbidities that aggravated the developmental decline and given them respite and relief of the adversities of the situation.

So there is an in between stage between wellness and sickness, or a stage in between black and white!

What could be the content and contours of this in between period!

I return to my own life experiences. 

I did suffer while associating with a group of leaders in an organisation whom I had known for some time. But that did not stop the drift in relationship when some disagreements broke out. I differed with them in the way some matters were decided and acted upon. This made  relationship incrementally stressful. 

There was a window of opportunity to mend relationships. I remember taking a few initiatives with the help of others. There were some indications of hope and restoration initially. It could have been an in-between time to rebuild relationships and repair the trust deficit. When one is caught in a web of difficult events, what vitiates the atmosphere is defences and justification. That is what happened on this occasion. I too played into the flow of events. The prospect of conciliation slipped. 

Since then I have lived with a sense of regret and loss because I failed in negotiating for a middle path in that situation. It no more matters to me, who caused what. What has left me bruised is my personal failure inspite of my desire and some familiarity with the dispute resolution process . 

Sometimes the in between time as an opportunity to redeem a situation, becomes more evident in hindsight. 

It is here I have become aware of the dimension of intuitive living !

It is  a way of living with attentiveness and consciousness of sensing the links and connections behind human behaviour and acting contemplatively and discerningly. 

I have watched some medical students over the years during my time in three medical colleges. I felt impressed by the sense of stewardship of learning that I noticed in some of them. But a little later, I noticed some miss classes and clinics, take short cuts in class tests by copying, get attendance marked by proxy by others, etc. While following up some of them, the drift from good practices which began in a small way gave them licence to live indulgently, dangerously or defiantly. 

I have had occasion to relate to some during this in between period, in attempting to call them to attention and supporting them to stay rooted in values and good practices. I found that they preferred to avoid being in touch to be free of questions that needed pondering or reflection. 

Between of the dawn and the day break there is only a short time. But between wellness and sickness there can be a long season. 

A young man, whom I knew well and reached out in several ways, began to drift into alcohol use. He stopped to communicate and drifted into absenteeism at work because of which he was to face serious consequences. The drift took place over a period of three years. because of friends with whom  he played carrom board and won some competitions. I feel awful that I did leave him to find his way and even now he seems to struggle along. 

So how do we practice intuitive living, when we have to relate to others or in our relationships at home!

The intuitive living has three dimensions:stay in touch with others, give and receive feedbacks and engage in planned or structure conversations.  

The three parents of children that I referred to earlier, have been to doctors from the early stage of the children's developmental departure, but they did not receive any of the three dimensions of support. 

I referred to two instances, when I did not exercise my intuitive awareness failed in my responsibility.

Life is sacred and we can keep it that way if we exercise our responsibility of 'companionship' to those to whom we have the role of accountability! 

There are several people in our lives, with whom we have different levels of relationships. One level of relationship we need to keep as a sacred trust is with our mentors. This trustful and mutual relationship can lead us through the waymarks in our lives. 

When we relate to others with whom we are in a mentoring relationship, the experience of intuitive living is explicit. We relate to our mentors and they in turn to us, because we can feel for each other and be drawn into each other's situations with compassion!

The break down in relationships is because we did not do enough to mend relationships during the in between times of doubt or distancing from each other!

Yesterday a professor who worked in the institution where I am working now asked me a question: 'I have worked in this hospital for thirty one years. Will any one miss me if I stop working' !

This 'loneliness' and feeling of not being valued enough, is a burden most of us carry. It is when such thoughts take permanent roots in our consciousness we begin to value ourselves less! To think less of ourselves or not esteem ourselves well enough, would be a terrible disservice we do to ourselves.  Others might not communicate enough to give us a sense of esteem, but the voice within ourselves, ought to be, 'I am beloved' in the sight of God because that is how God sees His handiwork of human creation. The Psalmist made a confession that, 'I am fearfully and wonderfully made'. This consciousness enhances our worth and value because of which we can view and receive ourselves soberly and graciously knowing 'who we are and whose we are'!

There is an in between period or season in our lives and in the lives of others, between wellness and sickness. 

Let us pay attention to this in between period. In so doing we protect ourselves and support others to stay well !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

(Modified on 23rd and 25.6.2020, when I became conscious that I could rephrase a portion of this blog differently)

Bedside practices!

Students of MOSC Medical College, Kolenchery while in training in Pharmacology has a new laboratory facility,  where they can learn the bedside practices of giving intramuscular and subcutaneous injections, and giving intravenous injections and intravenous infusions ! The laboratory was set up by the faculty recently in the department in an innovative way using limb moulds, to make learning clinically related! A good start to make learning hands on!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

It is evening!

The water birds are still searching for the 'daily bread' even when the dusk is about to set in!

Anna and I watch this sight almost every evening on our way back from work.

The search for food!

Yesterday, I came ice to face with this reality!

A family with their nine month old baby told me that both of them have to go toward to earn enough to live on! The infant was malnourished.

We live in a world of abundance ! But there are many among us for whom 'the search' not to go hungry is a daily reality!  

I wish there would be food banks, from where people can receive food instead of living hungry or go begging for food!

I am told that senior citizens are the worst hit! There re some in our village too! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Moon and Cloud !

I get up usually early enough to watch the moon in the horizon from the steps of our sit out. 

The middle photo is of 19 th February, 2019, when the Super Snow Moon or Hunger Moon was expected to be sighted globally. This was supposed to be the biggest super moon of the year. Yes, when compared to the first photo the moon is whiter and mildly larger on 19th February, 2019.

As I kept watching this awe inspiring sight, dark cloud gradually covered the moon and stayed like that for the next several minutes. 

For sky watchers, the Super Snow White moon was a historical event of 2019. However even that significant event can get covered or subdued by the clouds. 

The cloud is  symbol of hiding something beneath. 

In the recent months, there are regular references of child abuse, indulgent behaviour of religious leadership, mismanagement of property and finance, abuse of power and ill treatment of women reported among the church leadership in India. The cloud that covered these most unfortunate and regrettable vice in the church is now getting uncovered. It is now in the public dominion.

The silence of the church leadership except for feeble defence that has no merit or credibility, is evident and shameful. 

The church historically is a light to a searching world for reality, purpose and calling to live. But if that flight is covered by cloud of misdeeds and acts of commission of exploitation and indulgence or authoritarian control, it is like the 'salt that has lost its saltiness'!

When I watched the Super Snow Moon today, I was disturbed to dwell on this crisis in the church. The church is currently an organisation of activities in education, health care, social service, worship services, etc.

Is not the Church called to be the 'bride' of its Lord Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth, in which case, its role is to be set apart as a holy and righteous community of pilgrims in a voyage to be a witness to the  virtue of our calling!

All believers in Jesus of Nazareth ought to consider this: how can we let the cloud of misdeeds move away for the followers of Jesus of Nazareth to be an offering of love and healing to the broken hearted and the wounded!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Birdsongs from high!

Both these birds, a Magpie Robin and a Drongo, sing from the same site for a good period of  the morning!  They sing in search of their partners. Once they have found their mate, the singing woeful no more be so frequent or loud!

The bird calls are therefore worth discerning to know about the behaviour of birds!

It is sobering to think that the birds sing tunefully to attract their mates! The male birds offer their best in tune and pitch while searching for their mates!

It is lesson for men that they owe their best to the women whom they choose to marry! It is this self giving that is the bedrock of joyful marriage relationship! 'Men out to love their wives as they love their own body' is a Pauline teaching we find in the New testament of the Bible!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Honey birds!

I have often watched the Sun birds suck the honey in our garden.

It was the first time I noticed a Barbet feed on honey in our garden yesterday!

I have noticed squirrels too feed on honey!

So honey bees have many competitors!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Tender leaves and flowers

 

The three cashew nuts trees in our garden have tender leaves and one of them has flowers. This particular tree is three years since we planted it. 

The property in which our cottage is located had seven cashew trees, which gradually faded away as they grew older. 

Every time I look at the cashew trees my memories go back to my childhood, when I plucked the cashew nuts either by climbing trees or by bamboo poles with a hook at its one end. 

Usually it was during the monsoon months my mother would roast them in fire and shell them to secure the nut inside. The roasted cashew has a different flavour than the salted ones we get now in the market. I remember once finding this type of roasted cashews in the Colombo air port, which was similar to what we had at home. 

My parents considered cashew nuts as a delicacy and they had cashews as a desert after a meal. The only equivalent desert for them was banana. 

One adjacent property had only cashew plantation  and even at that time it was a valuable cash crop.

The cashew plantations are now confined to only some parts of Kerala and hundreds of labourers who used to shell the roasted cashews by hand lost their jobs since machines are used to shell them. 

It is a health food, but too costly for many to afford. 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo) 

Wealth of 'wasteland' !

This nutmeg tree facing our courtyard at the entrance to our cottage has one of its branches dried, following a lightning during the last monsoon.  The workmen who help us in the garden advised us to cut that off lest it affects the other branches. I almost followed the advice and was looking for someone to climb up to the top to prune the  tree. 

One day, when I was sitting on the steps of the entrance I noticed that birds preferred to sit on the dried branches rather on the branches with foliage. 

I observed eight birds arriving and departing in about forty-five minutes. That increased my curiosity. 

Almost every day, there are few birds who visit this spot during their morning flights. Usually they are small birds, such as Sun birds, Sparrows or Drongos. 

That alerted me to look for bird behaviour of these small birds. I have a strong suspicion that it is the same birds who visit come every day. The dried branches are their familiar and sought after place. 

I have often thought about this ever since I entered the seventieth year in my life. I have thought of some experiences as an interruption or unnecessary or redundant. But in hindsight, those difficult or 'dry' experiences or a feeling of being in a 'wasteland' were valuable seasons of insights and times for revision of thinking.

Life brings to us many shades of experiences, all of which are truly rich and resourceful. 

I was to have gone for a funeral today travelling about ninety kilometres. I got up feeling unwell and did not feel comfortable enough to drive all by self as Anna is away in Madhepura.

I slept most of the day and took time to read and recall the events of the last one week. 

For thirty five years, I have listened to the sorrows and pain of families who visit us with the needs of their children. For most of them, there is a loss from which they have not been able to recover.  

Just as it is the dry branches and not the branches with foliage is home to the birds, the apparently harsh experiences of life can be source of enormous revelations which can be a path finder and life giving, if only we can take time to listen inwardly!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Peace and goodwill !

Yesterday, I sighted this bird, probably an Emerald Dove flying between trees. It was different in colour and size from the usual doves I had noticed in our garden during this season. So I was keen to look for its pair.

Today, I noticed a pair of Emerald Doves, a male and female perched on the same tree but on a different branch.   

It is the first time I sighted a greenish dove with a white fore head with a chestnut underside of wings. 

As its brewing time is between January and May, and woeful need only a stick base for its nest, I am hoping that they woeful make the new tin one of the tall tress in our garden. 

I am still looking for nests in the garden. That would be an assurance to me that that we have kept our garden and environment bird friendly. 

Ever since I recognised the golden hour in the morning and evening for bird sighting a year ago, I have tried to go for a walk in our garden to get used to the sites where birds normally can be found. I feel I have made some progress. 

I feel terrible about lack of a proper camera system to capture their colours decently. The micro four third camera system I use because the camera is lighter in the hand, does not have telephoto lenses of the quality that one needs to photograph birds from distance.  

But sighting the birds, listening to their bird calls and seeing them fly are scenes that lift my spirit and create within me an awesome awareness of the abundance of goodness all around us!

It is two days now since forty police personnel of Central Reserve Police Force were killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir, which has made us mournful and distressed. 

Sighting a pair of doves, who represents peace, goodwill and lot more, was a symbol of how much more we ought to long for peace in a broken world of turmoil! 

Because peace evades us, the longing becomes even more intense!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Fruits and Birds...!

I was on a leisurely morning walk in our garden yesterday, taking time to plan for irrigating the soil as the early onset of summer is making the vegetation look dry! 

I noticed a papaya fruit almost ready to pluck and went to our barn to get a  bamboo pole to drop the fruit. 

When I came black with a pole, I noticed beak marks of a bird on the fruit. I decided to wait if any bird would come back for the feed.

A Barbet was perched in a tree next to the Papaya tree. I was almost sure that it was waiting to return to the fruit.

That was exactly what happened. Once it positioned itself in the Papaya tree, it looked around for a while to see if there was any threat in its vicinity. They are usually not comfortable when squirrels are around. The Barbets and squirrels compete for the Papaya fruit.  It glanced at me couple of times.

Soon it started feeding on it from the same site where the beak marks were already present. So it was clear to me that the same Barbet had already come earlier to feed on it. As the fruit tree is adjacent to a pedestrian road, it must have been disturbed by some noise and was perched in the tree next to it to return at an opportune time!  

A squirrel was watching this from the tree next to this site. It moved slowly and steadily towards the fruit. Sighting the squirrel, the Barbet flew away.

When the Barbet flew away,  it came charging and landed on the fruit The squirrel was faster to feed and gulped large chunks of the fruit in no time, making a gaping hole on the fruit.

A crow chased away the squirrels by its noisy arrival and it caved into the fruit without  any pauses to look around in between.

The crow was ready to fly away after a sumptuous feast in less than five minutes, but only after it made its bird calls several times!

In no time, the adjacent tree had a few crows waiting for their feed.

At this time, I was interrupted by the workmen who had arrived for work in the property. When I returned after forty-five minutes, the fruit was almost consumed. I do not think that the Barbets or squirrels would have had a second chance with so many crows feeding on the fruit. 

I picked up the bamboo pole I brought earlier to pluck the fruit and returned home with mixed feelings. On one hand the fruit from this Papaya is special to Anna and myself because it is distinctly different from the others in our garden. On the other hand, it was good to give it away to the avians and squirrel as finding fruits in the garden make them return to the garden. What is in a garden without avian visitors!

Often, even before we notice, the birds or squirrels would have fed from the ripe bananas!

My parents who took to serious farming after retiring from their teaching profession,  deliberately left some fruits in the trees without plucking them for the avian visitors. I think they unconsciously made our garden a place of welcome for birds and squirrels. 

I feel immensely pleased with their acts of mindfulness for lesser beings!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)