Hungry Deers !

The feeding time in the Deer park is a good time for children! There is enough food all deers with a second and third bunch of leaves being brought!

I wish they had a better shelter and environment! It is a deer park in  village adjacent to preserve forest. So the ones who wander from the forest or are injured are looked after here! It is a good place for rescue and rehabilitation.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Flowers for those who lost their lives and are injured!

According to the report as of today thirty people have lost their lives in Delhi and 170 injured and are in hospitals. The loss of property is enormous!

Anna and I want to remember the grieving families and those injured and want to keep them in our thoughts.

Lives lost and injured is a poor reflection of anger and hate which has come to occupy human minds.

I wish our political leaders, police officers and civil administrators think of the least in our society and stand up to protect them!

Till there is tear in human eyes, India is not a place of equal opportunities or civil society providing wellness for all!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A poor man's fruit now costly!

A jack fruit trader came to bid for the jackfruits in our tree. He quoted a several hundreds. When I grew up in this village, the jack fruits and no economic value. Now one might cost more than 500 rupees! How times have changed! One people have begun to recognise teh nutritive value of jackfruit the demand has increased! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Children's parks!

Anna and I visited a few children's parks in the recent weeks in the semi urban or rural areas, maintained by the Panchayats.  We were fascinated by the provisions in each of those parks for children. They were well kept inspite of being open seven days a week. The one at Kalamassery had a fountain which was rather special!

The walking tracks and cycling tracks were unique to these parks. 

Three cheers to the Panchayats for making this provision for children an families!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The missing birds!

Since all the teak tree have been cut, the occupants of tall trees have disappeared from the property! It is dull at dawn and dust now! I had not realised how the birds would feel displaced when the trees are cut! Anna and I feel strange that we get up to welcome a silent morning!

The birds and their movements made our cottage a pleasant place. Now we wait for the birds to return!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)  

Polish chicken and spotted deers!

In a private village farm and in the adjacent wild life reserve, Anna and I found polish chickens and spotted deers. 

In a rural setting, such sights are rare, but special. Visitors throng to to such sites. 

With the summer setting in, they would be in a protected environment to protect them form heat exhaustion!  

The private farm has evolved to be a bio-park because of the interest of a farmer to turn his property to present unusual birds to the rural folk! Although he earns only little form the entrance fees, he is passionate about his mission!

It is not profit this farmer has many rare birds, but to increase the awareness about avians and fish among common rural folk. He told me at least five hundred people have bought ornamental fish from him!

Making people nature friendly is a vocation for this farmer!  

The difference between the private farm and the deer park is the personal educational touch the farmer brings to his park to highlight the eco-friendly mission he believes in !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Looking for water !

We have an open well close to our cottage from which we draw water to irrigate the garden!

I noticed this crow, who came for water. There was no water in the bucket. 

I have been looking for a direction for the work that I am currently involved at the hospital. Although it has become a Child Development Centre with a reasonable level of quality and service profile, it has a team that is changing almost every year. Two left recently after marriage. A third is getting married shortly. We have five vacancies in the department for professionals and we are still waiting!

To be waiting in anticipation does not meet the immediate need. As I watched this crow fly away looking for its drink elsewhere, I felt awful. I wish it had come to our birdbath outside our cottage!

How we do feel when we feel denied of what we are looking for!

I came to a new consciousness about it when a mother talked about her daughter who is lagging behind in studies! Her only daughter as a single mother has been her hope! Now, that too would not get fulfilled as her learning difficulties are both emotional and organic!

What moved me after listening to her is the help she is currently offering to tow children in the neighbourhood to help them in their home work, as their parents discontinued schooling after third standard. This single mother is filling her void, while waiting for her daughter to do better, by reaching out to two other children to provide what she can!

She is overcoming her disappointment as well as finding strength to wait and hope, seeing the two children do well at school!

When we do not get what we look for, our hope can be sustained by turning our attention to enlarge our mindfulness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A broken tree!

A teak tree is strong. But it also can give in to wind or mechanical pressures that comes upon it! It life is cut short and a tree becomes timber. 

A tree has life, protects lives of birds and gives shelter to smaller plants and bush! 

When its life is over it might burn as firewood or become timber for furniture, door posts. doors, windows. In that sense a tree lives on! 

A tree lives longer than its tree life!

For all of us this is a thought worth pursuing! 

About twenty three people have died in violence in New Delhi in the last three days on account of clash between two groups of people!

For those who have left us, I wonder how the families would face their future especially if he or she was the only earning member of the family!

How they would be remembered! What do they leave behind! Victims of violence! Or as those who laid their lives down protesting against the recently introduced Citizen's Amendment Act which threatens to change the profile of citizenship!

I agonise over this! In  a civil society should a citizen suffer violence and death when he or she protests about a civil law which seems to alter the character of citizenship! Should not the government hear out the thoughts and feelings of people! 

A tree has fallen! That itself is a loss! How much more and deeply disturbing is the loss of human lives!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)  

A morning walk before the first meal!

There is a routine to the elephants in the elephant truing centre which is, 20 kilometres away from our home!

The chief trainer has a schedule for each elephant. Before dawn they are taken for a long walk through the forest, which is a time of training with new instruction modes introduced to them each day. It is also a way they get domesticated once they are brought from the wild. 

Following this, they fetch their food, some leaves and grass. It is after that they are given a cereal meal in front of all visitors. The next in the morning schedule is bath, either in the river or in the yard. 

I felt fascinated by the orderly behaviour of all the six elephants. It takes ten years of training before a person is certified to be independently ready to take charge of training one elephant. 

All elephants are 'wild' by nature and instinct. At the end of five years or so, they become human and environment friendly. It is then they take part in processions and festivals!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A terrible discovery!

This picture of a teak tree which used to be tall and offer a shelter for birds for over forty years caused a fright to us. The centre was hollow.  It withstood a few storms and adverse soil condition all these years without accidentally falling! For the timber merchant this hollow in the centre was a bog loss as he would not get half the normal price for it!

It speaks a lot about human life and living! 

A visitor told me all about his life... after ten years of dubious living, he is looking into his life and feeling frightened to face the emptiness within. He lived a social life of high acceptability but is now in agony for all the cover up exercise he had to do to be in that acceptable role. 

The inner life is very core of our existence. Who are we inside is what makes us authentic and not dichotomous. 

This is  a message to me at this time, when in the seventh decade of life I am still revising my life to live from within. 

The life within known to us alone is the source of fullness of life! That is the sacred place of abode for God which makes it  holy place of communion!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

At mid day

At the middle of the day, this jack fruit remains hidden with some light around it and on it! It is not visible usually to those who walk around the tree in our garden. Yet the jack fruit is growing and soon would be ripe for us to enjoy the fruit. 

Some good people and their good deeds remain hidden. I met with a family who told me about a neighbour who has educated both their children for over ten years because pf which both of them have a job and hopefully they woeful have a house to live in and they would be soon married. One instruction they had to follow was not to mention to anyone about what they have done! Similar to what Jesus of Nazareth used to say to those whom He healed, 'not to make Him known or tell no one about who did this'! 

Good deeds become even more significant when they are done quietly. In fact an act of thoughtfulness or kindness has its origin in human heart. It might loose its sacredness when it is made known beyond the essential level. In fact Jesus of Nazareth did say;'let not the right hand know what the left hand does'!

In the context of social media becoming scenic sights of all things which ordinarily would have remained private, it is good to practice the virtue of hiddenness! It is this which would help to keep many things solemn and sacred!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A season of plenty!

Since we have been living in our cottage for seven years, we have a surprise awaiting us-plenty of jackfruits just above the ground all around the stem of the jackfruit tree. It is a tree, which suffered badly in a thunderstorm. We had no hope of seeing many fruits in the tree during this season.  

Fruits amidst adversity!

Ever since I read this book, I am no more surprised by nature's response to an adversity! Even a tree can turn an adversity to its advantage!

The stress can be productive and restorative. 

The leader of a local grief support groups is one who suffers frequently from the physical assault of a drunken husband. She has turned this experience to be a grief counsellor to those who seem to loose hope. Most of the people whom she visits are those who are in palliative care or senior citizens with multiple needs. In a group meeting she told her friends that, when we face grief without respite, we have a potential to be compassionate and caring! A belt connecting the pulleys to move an engine is stretched and put on the wheel to move the other. It is this stretching which initially appears to be an obstacle, which turns out to be an advantage in the long run!

When we feel burdened or used or despised, it can turn into a profitable experience fo us and others. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A self employed senior citizen!

While on a reserve forest yesterday, I noticed this senior citizen gathering fire wood from trees which were felled during a storm. It is permitted to gather firewood provided it is only from the dry trees which have already fallen. 

I watched this lady for about forty five minutes, gathering the firewood, bundling it, and carry it as  a head load to the market.  She does twice a day and collects about 300 rupees in a day. This has been her livelihood event since her husband moved on. This is the source of her subsistence for twenty years and would remain so for a while. Fortunately she has a pension from the government, which looks after the rent of her house.  She lives each day to earn enough so that she can have enough to buy clothes for her grandchildren when they visit her three or four times in a year. 

Even in her difficult situation she has a consciousness of wanting to be a gift to her grandchildren!

I felt moved by her story and carried that back with me in the hope that her 'calling' in life to be a gift to others would stay with me even as I grow older and sense my limitations of openness and freedom to live mindfully of others around me!

It is self pity or self seeking which deny all of us the vision of purpose of life! Life is an offering to others. 

I welcomed a mother for conversation, who live for her teenage daughter amidst a distressing experience of separation from her husband! Her mission is wellness and fullness of life for her daughter!

It is a purpose beyond ourselves which gives life an incentive to be innovate and vicarious!

A farmer in a village open his farm once a week free of cost to help others to elan about cattle and poultry farming. He  remembers about twenty people who have since them begun rearing cattle or started a poultry farm which has protected them from the abyss of poverty!  

Whose neighbour am I !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Sitting but not restful!

I watched this labourer sitting on a feledl tree trunk almost lost in thought. I approached to have conversation with him. Although he spoke initially hesitantly and cautiously, he hastened to tell his story when he knew that I lived in his neighbourhood. 

He is a regular loader of timber into trucks to carry them from the garden or forest sites to timber factories. It is after two weeks he got employed today. The timber industry is in a slumber following  economic slow down. He supported his family by borrowing from his neighbours and he could no longer do that as repayment looked even more burdensome. He hopes to  have work for three days which might be just sufficient for him to tide over this critical period for another two weeks. He choked in between while narrating his story. What shocked me was his question, 'Why did the government spend 85 crores to welcome president Trump in Ahemmedabad when we live starving'!  I was speechless. While the extravaganza continued in New Delhi today, many more would go to sleep without their dinner tonight. 

I realised that I Am his 'neighbour' at the end of this conversation. 

Who is a neighbour in the Good Samaritan story! Not the priest, Levite, but  stranger! It is not the Prime Minister or state Chief Ministers who are neighbours to a labourer in distress, but those who see them daily and pass by them! 

The wall built in Ahemmedabad of several kilometres from the air port to the city to hide the slums from being seen by president Trump on arrival is the official mindset of our leadership. Hide the less privileged from the main  stream. It took some social organisations yesterday to feed those in the slums as they were denied movement outside for two days to provide security for the arriving guests. 

So we are the neighbours to others who look sorrowful and feel denied of opportunities!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Battered and Bruised!

This is one of the few coconut trees in our garden which do not have coconuts for a while now. This tree in its central leaves bears the marks of attack from pests. The bugs thrives on the sap from the tender leaves, which subsequently delays the flowering! I confess that it has not been possible to protect the coconut trees in our garden as w ego not find climbers who can keep a close watch and protect the tender leaves at the right time from pest attack. 

This is the story of life we live!

I come across this in my work often! A parent who dropped in to have a conversation yesterday told me about the 'autosuggestion' of illness with which her 12 year old son lives now. Somewhere in childhood he would have had an illness which left memories of stress and fear! He carries it with him even now! For this bright boy and diligent student, that past memory is a unresolved pain!

Many of us live reduced lives, because we have memories of past holding us back. Take time to restore our memories by finding the disguised purposeful meaning of such experiences.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

On either side of a road!

Anna and I watch this sight on either side of a stretch of road on our way to our work place and return home. Through the year we have a good view of these fields from the time they are made ready for  sowing till the rice is harvested. The field gives its yield in due course of time because the farmer sows, de-weeds, fertilises and protects the rice from pests. 

This is the rhythm of life for the farmer. He makes the ground bear its fruits. 

Yesterday, i had a message from a former student of MOSC Medical College who scored a high rank in the NEET post graduate entrance test that he can find admission in his speciality of choice in any Medical College in India. I got to know him because he seemed interested in the specialty of neurology from his undergraduate days. He got a prize in a quiz completion in Neurology at the all Kerala Level. He hails from a middle class family and was diligent and focussed. He seems to be at the threshold of finding his aspirations fulfilled. 

If life offers opportunities, it is for us to seize it by responsible living and prudent planning!

I reflect on this theme often.

Often, it is the inability to see the end result of a long journey that dissuade us form staying focussed.

The farmers cultivating the field in the pictures above and the student whom I referred to above, tell us all about steadfastness in efforts and pursuit of purpose with diligence!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Some fruits for summer time!

Every farmer looks forward to seeing fruits in the garden! Sighting the raw fruits is already an excitement!

But a nutmeg tree is dry and withering!

This is the contrast we are called to live with.

We live with many happy experiences and some sorrowful experiences. Life is is abundant and complete because of both of these realities!

The birds who visit our garden every day celebrate the mornings and evenings with their joyful birdsongs!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

All around a ball!

Most of the popular games are played with a ball- football, Tennis, Cricket, Volley ball, Basket ball, Throw ball, Billiards, Base ball, ball badminton, squash etc! Each game has its specification for the ball size colour, consistency, etc.

What fascinates me about all these games is that they engage two or more people and they are under obligation to follow the rules of the game. They are competitive games involving prize money! The rules of the game are supreme and the umpires take a call on all the decisions.  The players abide by the decisions although there are provisions for dissent against the decisions of the umpire, which would be referred to an appellate authority. Tennis and cricket, which used to be considered as gentleman's games were played without an umpire in the early days of the games.

The rules of the game influence the behaviour of the players in the court. Any behaviour other than what is honourable can be punished. 

I recently followed the electioneering in the New Delhi elections. Every rule of decency laid down in the rule book of the Election Commission of India was broken by the Prime Minister,  Home Minister and many leaders of his party. The Aam Admy party too broke some noble traditions. The umpire, the Election commission intervened mildly, reluctantly and cautiously sparing the top leaders from any restraint. 

The election is actually a competitive game in the democratic dispensation, between political parties under the regulations of the Election Commission. But when the umpire appears weak, the game becomes wild, abusive and threatening. Even when a minister of the government was heard speaking, 'shoot every antinational' and on two occasions the crazy followers shot at protesters and injured some, the election commission just stopped the minister from campaigning! Is he not bound by his oath of allegiance to the constitution of India! Has he not violated the soul of the constitution, equality, justice, and rule of the law!

The current President of the United States of America, the Prime Minister of india, the Premier of China and the president of Russia have in the recent times shown disregard for the rule of the law and seem to justify them!

We live at a time, when autocratic and authoritarian practices seem to be the rule of law in some parts of the world!

The ball is a symbol of good practices for humans to live harmoniously and fraternally! Are  we losing this!

In the profession of medicine, where we are under an oath of ethics, I wonder whether we follow it diligently!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The evening walkers!

Even in our conservative village, women can be seen exercising in the morning or evening by walking! It is most encouraging to notice good practices to keep good health. 

In one school where I was involved in a health examination of children about 20 percent of children between five and ten years were overweight. Its was an alarming information to me. 

Although people in Kerala are most health conscious, the health abuse of alcohol or other substance dependence, prevalence of Diabetes, Hypertension, cardiovascular or Renal diseases at a younger age are an in alarming proportion. 

The life style has changed and self indulgence is on the increase!

I realise that when you have a walking companion, it more likely to become a habit!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Evening time!

The evening time is full of flight movements of birds. Just before it was dark, I happened to spot these birds during their short stops at their flight stations. The Golden Oriole was a surprise.

For the avians the nights are different from the days. They rest in one place rather than move about. 

There is a demand to make Mumbai a 24 hour city where the shops, restaurants, metro trains, cinema halls, etc run 24 hours. This is a push to increase the merchandise at a time when there is economic recession. 

Every time we encroach on the rhythm of day and night, rest and work, we are challenging the order ordained for human body. 

The silence and stillness of the night all around our cottage is most refreshing. Even our dogs are asleep unless they are disturbed intruding cats in the garden!

Rest and work is the way of life!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)