Wind and rain!

Yesterday, by the time I arrived back from the hospital, it was already getting dark although it was only 5.30pm. The sky was down cast and it was windy. There was lightning in the sky. Usually I look around on such occasions to spot birds around our cottage. It is common for some birds to take shelter to protect themselves from wind and rain.

I found this sun bird perched safely on this tree top, unmindful of the wind and the drizzle. I kept watching for its next move as the rain lashed heavily. It did lift its bills and neck upward to catch rain drops in its mouth. Soon it flew away!

As I came into our drawing room the lightning struck and the the lightning conductor tripped. On inspection I noticed that the wireless modem stopped functioning- the seventh modem in seven years. 

We have had to replace several of our electronic equipment as they were damaged by lightning over these years. 

Dulcie would be seated on the floor close to us when there is a thunderstorm. I feel her heart pounding on such occasions!

For me lightning is a frightening experience as I lost my class mate and a neighbour due to lightning, forty years ago! He went out into the courtyard to collect the clothes from the line and suffered lightning shock. He died instantly. My mother on two occasions fell down with lightning, but recovered instantly. 

There was a report of birds drop dead following lightning. 

The pre-monsoon season is therefore a difficult time. Three trees in our garden also bear the marks of lightning. 

For my neighbours, these are ordinary or normal events. During every pre-monsoon season there are several such instances. The technician who came to inspect the modem after this incident said that he had ten telephone calls from families who lost their wireless modem in lightning.

It is not easy to replace them as the electronic shops are closed except for two days in a week due to the locked down. 

Yes, there is a change in the way we would live in the coming months. The COVID 19 is there to stay according to epidemiological impressions. Those of us, who are elderly are warned that we are more vulnerable than others and for complications, if we were to catch the infection. 

It is now compulsory to wear mask, keep physical distance and avoid being in places where many people gather.  

All these are new experiences for all of us! 

We live with an increasing consciousness of our vulnerability!

We live aware of our limitations. 

We also live conscious of yet another reality, that it is in 'God we live, move and have our being'! This is the new normal!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A stream sustains life !

Every day for the last three months,  what occupied the attention of the world is lives lost and lives fighting the corona infection n 210 countries. The the hope that is in the horizon is vaccine trials under the Oxford University investigators have started in five countries. The possibility of a vaccine to arrest the savage created by the corona virus is in the horizon.

It is the first time humans have come face to face with their mortality by a febrile illness in the recent years. It was war, nuclear threat, terrorism, poverty and starvation that threatened us. While the debate continues if the virus was a result of human error in China or it a natural spread from wet animals to hums, the truth is that this virus has woken up the lasers of nations to a new reality. Any time, humans can face a threat to its wellness from biological hazards.

I go for a walk to look for King fishers, dragon flies, crabs, guppies, etc. along the stream which runs flows the edge of our property. Even during summer, the stream flows although the water level might be only a foot high, unlike afoot four feet water level. The stream sustains vegetation, cattle and aquatic life and is s source for replenishing the ground water level because of which plant life is preserved. 

For a short season this year the water got contaminated. The aquatic life disappeared. The king fishers no more came to the stream. The down stream vegetations got partly dread. The water had an odour. It too at least three months before life returned to the stream or the stream was 'life giving' to others. 

The humanity is like a stream that sustains life and civilisation. The voice of discordance, accusations, animosity and competition we witness during this fight aghast corona virus, between nations is too shocking to bear. Lives are being lost daily, over 200, 000 a soft now. Instead of sensing the horror of the hour, what the President of the USA initiated is a hate campaign. He even stopped the funding to the WHO,  which is the co-ordinating body to fight a pandemic. The president used the white house  press briefings to blame, accuse and give wrong informations. The latest was his advice to use Dettol or Lysol to disinfect the body. About 20 or so Americans are admitted in the hospitals with history of consuming disinfectant, so much so that the companies that manufacture the disinfectants had to put advertisements to stop people from consuming them. 

As against this the reports that come from New Zealand, Germany, South Korea, Australia etc give us a different perspective. These countries while fighting their battles, have shown generosity to help their neighbours in some tangible ways to hep and support. India too has been in this category by sending Hydroxy-Chloroquin to countries who asked for it. India sent its medical team to Kuwait and is now ready to send them to other middle eastern countries. 

Some voluntary organisations like Oxfarm, Save the children, etc have been most active. I do not get the same sense of participation from the church community in my neighbourhood. 

The mission of human society is to give birth to life, sustain life and lead humanity to be the cradle of  good deeds and neighbour friendliness between nations. Instead some countries like America, China and India are the three countries in the world, which spend the largest amounts annually for defence procurement and war readiness! Should we be getting ready for war or for sustaining life on earth! I wish these countries turn their attention to health, environment, hunger elimination, disease prevention globally !

Is  not the example of Bill Gates foundation an inspiration to these countries! The near success in Polio eradication, fighting Malaria and HIV globally, following the investment of the Bill Gates foundation in these activities globally, is a testimony to this reality, 'where there is a will, there is a way'!

The mission of Humanity is to sustain life and give birth to a civilisation that sustains life. Oh, how I wish, the government of India would view Pakistan not as a muslim country, but as our neighbour who needs a friendly neighbour! I wish Pakistan would cease to be a fighting neighbour to India!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A spring like tendril!

Nature is a collection of surprise sights. A tendril from a passion fruit plant!

I like collecting the unusual sights from the garden. That is one way of increasing the sense of awareness and observation!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A quiet Timber shop!

Since this timber shop opened thirty years ago on the same place, this is the first season, there was no timber sale for a month now, following the 'lock down', on account of Cvid 19. I stopped to have a chat with the owner. 

He gets timber on bank loans and has a regular payment to make every month. Now he would default in paying the loan and the interest would accumulate. 

A timber merchant is usually rich, it is so because the bank lends him money. He told me that almost all that he owns is on bank loan. He has an appearance of being a rich man, which according him is important for success in business.  The visibility factor is important in business. He seemed to regret that he pushed himself to live falsely! He even wished that he ran a small provision shop! With the economy in recession, and the construction business in low profile, the timber merchants would have a hard time. His dilemma is that inspite of no income, he still has to keep up the show !

What a dichotomy to live with!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The first Moon !

This sighting of the moon from our garden at home two days back was a special occasion for me because, this marks the beginning of the festival month fasting for Muslims. I had a muslim cleric who came to visit me on the same day with his grand son, who has multiple developmental needs. He told me that he would be fasting and praying this month for his grandson. 

He looked relaxed and I let him take time to talk about himself. He was sorrowful because of what he suffers on account of his grandson. This led to a confession of his perspectives on Faith, God and suffering. 

He turned to the sighting of the moon. Although on the first day, it is only crescent, over the few weeks, the full moon would appear. The non-visible moon, except for the crescent is still in the sky. He equated this to his view of God. He confessed that he has a limited knowledge or experience of God, but God will reveal Himself to us little by little just as the moon appears bigger from being a crescent. 

I felt ministered to by his analogy.  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Borrowing, lending and bondage !

Anna and I take a road that passes through the middle of this vast stretch of land on both sides. This land belonging to multiple landowners were mortgaged to the bank in order to raise loans to plant and cultivate paddy. When the crips failed successively for three times, the landowners had no money left to to pay back the bank. So the property is now unused as the farmers do not have money even to buy seeds to sow. The farm labour is also expensive.  Even in our village there are vast areas of land that which remains uncultivated die to the escalation in cost.

It was this bad news which made me reflect on this major issue which farmers face in India. Farmers commit suicide when they are not able to pay back huge debts to the bank. The governments have not done enough to help farmers by promoting modern technology in farming or by providing high yielding seeds.  

In the book of Nehemiah, there was an outcry against some jews charging high interest from fellow Jews and and when they failed to retune the money, they lost their land and their children became slaves to the money lenders. 

Let me reflect on this from the book of Nehemiah 5: 1-19. 

1. The lenders and the borrowers. 

It happened to be a season of famine (v3) when some were mortgaging fields, vineyards, and houses  to get grain. Thy also had to borrow money to pay the tax to the king (v4). They were forcing their sons and daughters to be slaves (v5) and some of the daughters were forced to be in bondage. Some people had already lost their fields and vineyards to there fell Jews.

Nehemiah engaged the nobles and rulers in a conversation when he held them responsible for usurping the land and fields of their brethren by charging high interest by lending money(v7). Nehemiah raised a resistance movement agist this practice (v7).

This terrible practice was happening while Nehemiah was engaged in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, during which he had to encounter opposition from Sanballat, wealthy men of Samaria, Tobiah (Neh 4:1-3). 

Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall to unite the Jewish people to begin worship and reading of the Scripture. But they were already divided with some lending money for usury and others of them becoming fleeced by this heavy burden on them. 

2. Equal opportunity

Nehemiah in the assembly of all people reminded them of how he had redeemed the jewish brothers  

who were sold to nations. He charged them with an accusation: '..now you would even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us'(v.8)! The nobles and rulers were led to realise the awful act of thriving on the inability of many not being able to pay. Nehemiah and some others were lending money and grain, but without the interest (v10).

It was an occasion for Nehemiah to remind people of the need to walk in the fear of God (v9). It became an opportunity for Nehemiah to extract a commitment from the nobles and rulers that they would return there fields, olive groves, vineyards, and their houses. He even demanded that they returned one hundredth part of the money and grain that they were exacting form them (v.11). 

This was one of the social justice initiatives we see under the leadership fo Nehemiah. To so live and wrongly claim the property and the other assets of fellow brethren was presented as unacceptable practice. The distributive justice is a Biblical mandate. 

3. A new beginning

The people were sick to respond (v12) by consenting to return the assets demanding 'nothing' from the borrowers. It was a transforming moment in the history of people of Judah, that they agreed to part with usury and all lending would be to help each other and not to make large profits. Jesus of Nazareth advocated that we are to give to those who ask of us and not expecting anything in return. To make lending linked to interest collection seemed a normal market practice but not a morally acceptable practice when profit is the only motive.

The practice in India is that the corporates borrow huge amounts of money from the banks and fail to return it and escape from the clutches of law by declaring themselves as bankrupt. At the same time if a farmer or a small time businessman were to fail to return the money, the banks would prosecute them and punish them. 

This is the outlook of a market driven economy, as against the people centred economy where people are enabled to use the borrowed money to invest in activities which others can benefit from. The corporate community seems to focus on gain for themselves. 

Nehemiah's outlook is equity, distributive justice and using money to upbuild lives and not enslave them. 

4. Living with integrity

Nehemiah used this opportunity to share his way of living. Although he was entitled to the practice of other governors, who laid burden on others, by taking bread, wine and forty shekels of silver (v14), Nehemiah refrained from this and chose to be different. He gave the reason of fear of God for his indulgence in this manner. 

It was his habit to entertain one hundred or more people and officials in his table regularly by providing for them lavishly(17-18). He did not claim governor's food allowance as 'servitude was heavy  on people'(v18).

This attitude calls us to ponder on how we live mindful of others and express our accountability by reducing expenditure on ourselves. The 'creature comfort' is a dominant thought which influences the way we build our houses and acquire conveniences of all sorts. But if we were to gain benefits for ourselves and live unmindful of others in need, it is only a self acquisitive spirit. 

5. Finding favour with God

Nehemiah found favour with God. His prayer showed this, 'Remember me Omg God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people (v19). Nehemiah promoted borrowing and giving to each other. He got people to agree to lend without usury. His appeal to the lenders to return all the assets of others and free  children from slavery and bondage yielded quick returns. He appealed his people to be mindful of others. 

This is a foundational lesson for pilgrims who follow the ways of Jesus of Nazareth that we belong to each other and are different members in the body of Christ.

6. Social lending

Nehemiah practiced it without charging an interest for the money or grain he lent.  I remember Re Peter Miller of St Andrews church, Egmore Chennai, in 1987 when we joined the church and a practice of asking the congregation members to identify the need of a family and bring it to the attention of the congregation. The church would have a Sunday sale after the morning worship and raise about 25 lakhs and designate helping families whom the embers of congregation had identified. It was the school fees and treatment costs which pushed peel to debts. When we left Chennai in 1997, what we missed most was the association with this church, which advocated a consciousness of the needs of others.

I believe churches, institutions, hospitals can practice this. At Makunda Christian hospital, Dr Vijay Anand allows people tp pay the hospital charges in instalments without interest.

This is also the philosophy of micro financing. The money lent is returned with a minimal operation cost and not the accumulated interest.

7.  Debt Relief

Once in seven years, it was a custom for the Jewish community to write off all debts and free land back to the owner. Jesus in His parable of sower and seed referred to the yield in sixty and hundred folds. The field yields differently. S then. o it is a risk that all farmers carry with them that their crops would fail now and then. A. farmer had to burn his sugar cane crops near Nasik, as he did not get people to harvest it and the sugar cane factory who had agreed to do it defaulted. He incurred a loss of three lakhs of rupees! Who would write off his debt!

The governments have some plans, but not enough to rescue the farmers from debt accumulation!

8. Financial prudence education

A neighbour of us got his daughter married recently and he is now in debt of three lakh rupees. He has already accumulated fifteen thousand rupees as interest and he is now at a loss about payment as he was not able to work for the last thirty-five days due to stay at home order. He lives in anguish and told me that he has an extra peg to drown his anxiety, which costs him about 200 rupees a day.

I wish we foster social education to reduce unnecessary expenditure and protect our vulnerable neighbours from spending beyond their ability to afford. This neighbour had 800 guests for his daughter's marriage and served a three course meal! He would have spent all his savings on such avoidable expenses.

The  social practice of charging usury can change only if we view our wealth asa means for social benefit rather than for exclusive private possession! God is the giver and we are to be stewards of our resources and our neighbours!

M.C.Mathew  text and photo)

A missionary farmer!

A cattle farmer whom I met this week fascinated me with his story and insights.

The first photo is of the oldest cow he has, which he got when he was planning to retire from his work fifteen years ago. He got her as a calf and she had given him seven generations of calves. The second picture is of the five years old cow, again a calf from the first cow. 

He has a name for each of the ten cows he has. 

Now that he has retired, he spends most of the day with his cows. He milks them on his own and takes the milk to the milk society twice in a day. 

What fascinated me about his story is his meticulousness in caring for them. He has a doctor visiting him once in three months to examine each of his cows and to give him feed back about their health. 

He makes the cows listen to music while he milks them. 

He feeds them on his own and talks to them while doing so. He allowed me to stroke one of them and it did move away. His explanation was that his cows are familiar with his touch. He has two people helping him now to look after them as he is in his late seventies. 

He needed this extra income because he needed to care for this wife who needs renal dialysis there times a week. He contemplated renal transplant for her when she had renal failure ten years ago, but he could not afford the initial cost. He gets the dialysis subsidised through a government funding programme. HIs only son has been alcohol dependent and is not therefore not involved in the family affairs. 

He had tears in his eyes while talking about his story. But his affection for his wife and interest to take care of the cows stood out in the conversation.  

He lives in a village and leads a quiet life. 

He asked me at the end of this conversation, 'Do you read the Bible'! Before I could answer him he told me that he reads the sermon on the mount at least once week to remind himself of the way Jesus of Nazareth called us to live. He even quoted me a verse from the sermon on the mount, 'Do not  be anxious for anything...'!

A farmer who lives in difficult circumstances, but is a good news bearer!

I felt at the end of the conversation that I was in a solemn conversation with someone, who lives by the experience of nearness of God in his life!

Is he not a missionary farmer!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Remembering Friends-4

Dear Durai,

Greetings.

I took a decision to write to all friends who have been supportive and thoughtful, since the time I turned seventy years. I have some pleasant memories of my association with you since I first met you in CMC. It was at the Thursday Fellowship, I think that I first heard you speak in a simple and effective way from the Scripture. I remember meeting you a few times in the corridors and exchanging greetings. During the term of Office of Dr Suranjan, I remember meeting with you a few times in your office at the directorate. I recall those conversations because you carried a concern for the staff who did not receive enough attention or had many needs. You sounded concerned about their welfare and wanted to help them to get them out of their debt or alcohol dependence. 

During difficult times in CMC, you sensed the pulse of the staff and brought in feedback that was valuable. I remember hearing from Dr George Chandy about the healthy influence you bring to the staff because of your personal concern for them. 

I was encouraged by your interest to study the Scripture and develop your skills of exegesis. You sing and preach and strike a chord with the listener. You speak with clarity and your proficiency in language helps you to make it personal and appealing. You have a pastoral heart and feel for people because you resonate with the love of God in your life. Your skills of leadership are widely known. At Haggai circles you are highly regarded. You have influenced the St John’s congregation in a significant way through your pulpit ministry.

During my recent term in the council, I turned to you on several occasions for clarification, counsel and input. You cared to listen and bring encouragements. Your insight was most valuable on certain occasions. I knew that you kept confidentiality and esteemed situations with due regard. There were some matters which were critical for CMC. In those occasions you reflected on the issues with considerable understanding and shared your thoughts in a discerning way. During the difficult times before I left the council, I found your thoughts most valuable. I have regrets for the events during that time. 

You too had difficult times, about which you referred to in your conversations with me. I realize the tolerance and patience with which you endured such times.  Even when some relationships got strained you kept your spirit high and stayed open before God to lead you on. You did not get trapped or way laid by events that happened. You turned them to become opportunities. 

Every time I hear you speak like the one I heard from the video clipping you sent to me of your Good Friday message at St John's church, Vellore, I sense the gift of communication you are blessed with. May this gift grow within you and become a means of grace to others.  

You cared to keep in touch with me even now and every time I hear from you or about you, I rejoice over God’s presence and purpose in your life. I remain grateful for your kindness and regards. May God give you the gift of His presence each day! 

You have long years ahead of you in CMC and widely as a minister at large to bring God's good news of peace and love. May you be blessed with discerning spirit to exercise your gifts during this season when people live fearfully due to COVID19.

My warm regards to the family. You remain in my thoughts, 

M.C.Mathew  19.4.2020

Remembering Friends-3

Dear JVP,                                                                                                             18.4.2020

Greetings.

I have felt moved to write to you and share some thoughts of my grateful regards. 

There are two reasons to do so. The first being my desire to send a letter of gratitude to some friends whom I have known for a while to express my gratitude and appreciation for the encouragement I received from them. This was a desire I had since I turned seventy years. The second is because of a closure I needed to bring to some matters pending in my mind since I relinquished my position in the CMC council. You have been in my thoughts although I was not in touch with you.

Let me start with what I carry uppermost in my heart about you. I might have met you during your student days at CMC, but I have limited memory of that now. l vividly remember meeting you in Adelaide in your home and having long conversations on your situation at that time. I felt overcome by what you were going through, but what is even more outstanding in my mind was your inner resolve to face the situation, turning to God and waiting for Him to vindicate you. That was an indication of how much you were used to the habit of trustful prayer. Yes, God did vindicate you.

Your response to the invitation to come to CMC Vellore to be in the faculty was another instance where I felt that you considered the opinion of others prayerfully and sought God’s guidance. CMC gained by your return and I hope you too would have a sense of being used of God in your department and in the leadership of the institution. 

When I recall both these instances, your visit with Jayanti to the Developmental Paediatrics Unit at CMC come to mind prior to your plans to relocate at CMC. You mentioned to me how grateful you were for your training in CMC and the opportunity to work in the Mission hospital at Trichi and for the experience of advanced training in Australia. I sensed a resolve in your heart to offer your service for a worthy cause. You had other invitations to consider, but your desire to give a choice to join CMC did touch me. Subsequently, after you joined CMC, I do not remember having had any regular contact with you. But Dr George John with whom I had contacts mentioned to me how much you were an asset for the critical care service at CMC. He looked delighted and comforted about the leadership of critical care falling on your shoulders. His comment about you was, ‘JVP is clinically competent, an able teacher and communicator and is in the forefront in research. He is a leader in the making’. I used to hear from both our children who were students at CMC at that time, about the way the critical care in medicine in CMC was developing into another level of effectiveness under your leadership. I remember hearing you play the piano at St John’s Church. I knew that you had a cordial and caring relationship with your colleagues. 

Following my retirement from CMC, I continued to hear about the goodwill you generate by your leadership in critical care education and the organized way you got people to work together in a situation which was prone to be stressful, with patience and understanding. 

I came to have a first-hand experience of your skills when I came back to the council in 2012. Subsequently getting involved with the executive and the finance committee meetings gave an opportunity to sense the skills you carry with you in planning and designing changes. It was during that time the turn-around had taken place in the pharmacy following your leadership, leading to reorganization and upgrading of the facilities of pharmacy. It was a novel news of conversation among us, how the pharmacy became a source of income without adding any extra cost to the patients. In fact, drugs costed less at CMC. What was evident was that you got the team in the pharmacy come together to capture a vision of preparing for an On-line prescription process and reduce the waiting period to collect medicines. This when implemented in a progressive manner, became a model, because it involved handling a volume of prescriptions with precision and promptness. I remember your humble responses to public appreciation and your willingness to give credit to your colleagues and share the complements with them. 

Further contact with you was when the responsibility of financial matters of CMC came upon you. Every time the finance committee met, you had innovative ideas or plans to reduce cost, make the accounting more electronic, reduce the heavy human interface in the accounts department, bring external consultants to study the processes and structure which would upgrade the accounting practices, etc. I remember listening to your plans in private conversations and watch your lateral thinking skills to look at the enormous cash transactions taking place at CMC and turn them into prudent practices. You were a visionary to make finance operations efficient and accountable. I remember the finance committee members speak highly of your futuristic view of financial planning instead of managing the financial operations that they were used to. I was also touched by your Biblio-centric view of stewardship, equity and fairness in practices. Even when the salary revision related matters or enhancing pension for retired staff came up, you upheld a value base approach. To me, all of these were refreshing experiences. 

There were occasions when we had opportunity to talk about the future of CMC, Kanigpapuram and beyond, Christo-centric view of medical education and health care, faculty formation, etc. In all those conversations you conveyed an insight that to me was critically needed for CMC to engage the contemporary issue with understanding and foresight.

Once I heard from you how Jayanti had found work in her department stressful and there were partisan attitudes at the senior leadership level.  I sensed your soberness and tolerance of the situation, which would have been normally viewed as an unfavourable work atmosphere. 

I remember now, when the issues of extension of superannuation age got entangled in controversies or undergraduate admission process got subsumed by multiple pressures or when the financial matters of the Kanigapuraum project became a matter of concern, you held a considered view of the situation with openness for negotiation, consultation and conciliatory processes. You remained committed to find a way forward in a thoughtful way. You trusted in God to lead us on. 

I remember your visit to our home for a day. That was indeed kind of you. There were other occasions you created to share our common concerns. I am grateful to all of them.

When you were nominated to your current role of responsibility there were stressful situations prior to it, during the process and after that. In fact, the pressures were too many that I remember losing hope to find a way forward. Those were months of turmoil for me. 

I recall coming to your home on the day you were to take charge of your current responsibility, with Dr Sanjeeth Peter, which still remains fresh in mind. I was moved by Jayanti’s hospitality and your children’s togetherness with you in your new calling. I felt the nearness you experience between yourselves in the family. Your daughter’s confession of being comfortable to study medicine in a Government medical college still resonates within me. She appeared reconciled to the situation and welcomed an opportunity to be among students who were different than what she would have come across at CMC. Every time I think of the remark of your daughter, I am amazed at the sense of vocation she had found as a student.

There were a series of events following that, including the stressful nomination committee meeting of choosing an associate director, which made me realize that my role in the CMC council ought to come to an end, at least for a season. There were pressures that seemed disruptive and I sensed an effort to unsettle the peaceful transition of the leadership. There were voices in the council, which too looked partisan. Having sensed all of that, I knew that my time had come to move on. In my conversation with you, prior to that, you gave me the freedom to choose. I am glad that I chose the way I did.  I feel good that that you had the freedom to choose to move on since then in the way that you found it necessary to stabilise the council proceedings. 

I do have a regret that I did not have a chance to take leave of the Council, having been its member for about nearly 25 years.  From the time I became its member in 1985, the association with the council had given me an inspiration to reflect on health, healing and wholeness, which formed my perspectives and influenced me in my vocation. I feel grateful for the debates in the council and the deliberations which gave me a sense of direction about health care. I wish I had an opportunity to formally share this immense gratitude I feel,  in the floor of the council.

Excepting for this regret, most of the other stressful situations are behind me with resolution and some reconciliation. I established contacts with most people with whom I had disagreements and some of them have responded, which therefore have helped them and me to move on. A few, it is yet to be mutual. I feel grateful to have been possible to express my acceptance of them with the past behind me. 

I write this with a similar intention. You have offered a promising leadership to CMC currently, which it needed at a difficult time.  You made an earnest effort to carry forward a heavy burden that came upon you financially and organizationally on account of the Kanigapuram project. You brought a measure of a stability even in the midst of some challenges and seemingly difficult situations. Hopefully with the relocation about to take place in Kanigapuram in the coming months, you would have brought an opportunity to CMC to evolve into a new future. You did give your best and continue to do so even when the burden of the loans taken weigh heavily on you. Every time I hear someone talk about CMC, there is a reference to your effective leadership. We rejoice over your leadership style.

I wish you would find a way to revive the sense of vocation in the faculty in this transition time! Senor staff retreats used to be one way of doing it in the past. 

Thank you, JVP for your friendship and regards. It was good knowing you and having had an opportunity to be involved with you in CMC. 

As I grow older, I live with memories and gratefulness. I feel grateful to you and Jayanti for your kindness and encouragement. It is likely that I might have hurt you or disappointed you in some way. I apologise and confess that the last one year in the council was a difficult time for me. I needed time to recover from it. 

I am not sure if our paths would cross again. Let me send you good wishes and greetings for a life of fulfilment at work and home. You are an inspiration and a source of encouragement to others. You have many years ahead of you in active life and leadership positions. The Christin health care in India is likely to need a new perspective in the post-COWID scenario. There are many questions that would be new to us from now on. Even CMC would need to engage the future with new perspectives. I feel that you have skills and insights to be a voice of clarity and direction. May your presence in whatever areas you are involved, be like a leaven that would influence the community that you are part of. I hope CMC would take the initiative to help leaders of Christian health care to foresee the future through a get-together at an appropriate time!

Let me send you good wishes from Anna and myself for blessings and guidance in your life and calling. We send you our warm greetings to Jayanti and chidden. We have you inner thoughts as you lead CMC during a time of opportunities, challenges and transition in to a new role with the beginning of Kanigapuram campus.

M.C.Mathew 

Remembering Friends-2

Dear George,

Greetings,

I have been writing letters since I turned seventy, to friends with whom I have had some association and from whom I received encouragement. You have been one of them, whom I want to remember and express my gratitude. 

I have a vague memory that I met you for the first time when, Anna and I used to visit CMC when Arpit was a medical student and we lived in Chennai. You met us after the selection of Arpit into CMC and complimented us for helping him to become what he had become. You were generous with your words and brought much encouragement to us. You chose Arpit to be included in your foster family, which was another source of indirect contact with you and your family. 

One instance which I still recall was when we came to attend the Easter musical in 1994, when you were involved with Arpit to help in the production of the musical. The musical was a moving experience and it did show forth your musical and organizational skills. I knew that you kept the Christin ethos in the centre of your work and life in CMC. You were a formative influence in the life of students and faculty by your friendly and thoughtful ways. 

There were occasional contacts with you when I used to come to attend the CMC Council. I got a sense every time that I met you, that you were a people friendly person, committed to see others prosper and move on in life.

It was when I joined CMC in 1997, I began to have more contact with you. You visited us once during the initial months of our stay and invited us to visit you and stay in touch. That meant a lot to us because we were only getting used to CMC and its ethos at that time. That was the beginning of all that followed thereafter.

Following your nomination to be the director, I remember meeting with you at your home and office now and them to share about areas of common interest particularly being supportive of younger faculty and develop more regular contacts with them. I remember you inviting Anna and me for lunch at the Hospital canteen when you asked whether I would offer to be available to be involved in the director’s team. I had considerable reservation because I was still new to CMC and I had challenges in the department, which was just evolving to run a fellowship programme. You prevailed over me and that was the beginning of the next three years of being part of your team. 

The first thought you shared with me was to be in touch with the middle level faculty, which I too found helpful. There were valuable contacts with some of them which helped in understanding their aspirations. That led to the series of retreats, 23 or so spread over 20 months. I was encouraged by your desire to connect with the community and to revive the ethos and calling of the faculty. Those occasions were special because you were present and fully involved to support the faculty who had special situations of need. It was also an occasion to identify the leadership skills of some people through those retreats, who later became available to be involved in administrative responsibilities at CMC.

I was more than surprised when you asked me to represent you at the Friends of Vellore meetings in Australia in 2007, as you had other engagements during the dates suggested by the Friends of Vellore. One particle message you and for me was to contact Dr J.V.Peter an alumni of CMC in Adelaide and invite him to come back and join CMC Vellore. I conveyed your invitation to which he responded a few years later. Your decision provided another able professional who grew in stature over the years to become an able director of CMC Vellore. I continue to be amazed by your skills to locate people of significance for institutions. This is what you continue to do at Believer's Medical College. You created a team of professionals in that young medical college to give it an edge over other well established medical colleges in Kerala.

I found you approachable and interested to discuss many issues related n the human resource planning. That is how some regularization of contact with the faculty who were in study leave emerged; even a placement strategy to find a suitable place for study leave at the initiative of the institution rather than leaving it entirely to individuals. I was encouraged by your interest to help as many as possible even if it was outside the frame of the existing provisions. You created a culture of reaching out to others, visiting each other, creating social occasions to enlarge contacts between faculty. The atmosphere in CMC was becoming people focussed. That was the time the hospital out-patient number was swelling and the hospital income was going upward. 

You envisioned the need to have more space and facilities. You followed up on the idea of having a project at Kanigapuram.  Although it did not materialise then and the director after you did not take this forward, it did come to fruition later. You saw a need and although the community took another seven years to respond to it, the credit goes to you for planting this idea for CMC to pursue. I remember some of your presentations about the future of CMC nearing the end of your term in the office. They were factual and inspirational. I remember how some colleagues made it difficult for you, but you patiently endured it. 

I recall the stressful situation you went through on account of the admission related set back, in which two former directors were holding a polarised position and one of them was ready to take CMC to High court. When I approached you to negotiate between them, you did welcome my initiative, although by then I had left your administrative team.   You showed readiness to call an executive meeting which was the ‘demand’ of a former director to present his points of view about the ‘irregularities in the admission process’, to which you graciously consented, although it was ‘giving into’ his pressure. I was amazed at your inner resilience to go through those difficult days with patience and tolerance. There were occasions, when you did not receive the trust you deserved even form some of your colleagues. You had to face the consequences of the lapses of the Principal’s office and the unreasonable positions of the two former directors. You were magnanimous and amazingly patient at hose difficult times. I feel encouraged by your good example every time I think of it.  

I want to remember how supportive you were to the Developmental Paediatrics unit, when we were ready to start a fellowship and a PhD programme. As one senior administrator was not convinced about its need or its viability, you went out of your way to facilitate this. Thank you for trusting me and our resources to take that step, which helped to establish the discipline of the Developmental Paediatrics in India and to run the first training programme in this discipline in India. They were difficult days. But for your resolve to be helpful, that directional change would not have been possible. 

I am grateful for your wise handling of another stressful situation threatening the future of Developmental Paediatrics in CMC. There were objections from the psychiatry department for us starting the fellowship programme or PhD. The Child Health department too had questions about our competency to go the academic way. Amidst these strong objections, you stood by me to pursue the academic initiatives. I want to appreciate you for giving me an opportunity to move forward, which is what helped us to get three consultants trained, out of which two of them continue in the department at CMC, giving leadership in this specialty in the country. This also led to two consultants finishing their PhD in the specialty. It is only in CMC among medical colleges in India, there is a core team of trained professionals with academic credentials in this sub-specialty of Paediatrics. Thank you George, for facilitating the birth of this academic specialty in India and being a midwife for it at CMC.

The next significant contact with you was when I needed by-pass surgery at Chennai. You facilitated everything so well that you turned a stressful situation into something bearable and manageable. You even allowed Anna to use your home as her base. You were remarkable with help and support, which to me was an important factor for the wellness I experienced during that time. Anna and I are grateful for your hospitality and welcome you offered to us at a time when we needed it most. 

I remember visiting Believer’s Hospital for a workshop in Foeto-maternal medicine. You went out of your way to welcome me in a special way. You arranged for me to stay in your apartment. You organized campus visit for me. This is your style, the way you make others feel welcome and looked after. I was touched by that extra-ordinary care. 

During my involvement in the CMC Council you reached out to me on a few occasions to support me when I was finding the going difficult with pulls and pressures. You had something special to say to me on a few occasions. I have regrets about the way my association with CMC ended in difficult circumstances. Thank you for encouragement and counsel you offered when I needed it.

Your home in CMC campus was a place Anna and I could drop in at any time. Neena was warm and cordial all the time. We loved having contacts with your children. They are adorable children. Neena’s friendliness and thoughtfulness stay with us in our memory.

We watched you cope with various demands and changes in your life. You went through all of them with ease and trust in God. You remained warm and mindful of others even in times of transition.

I am not sure if our paths would cross again. We live in uncertain times. With the corona infection is taking us by surprise in a devastating way, what holds for our future Is not known to us. I wanted to say from my hart how much Anna and I feel blessed by our contacts with you over these years.

I would have hurt you or disappointed you during my time in the director’s office. I am sorry for that. I apologise for making it difficult for you sometimes. Thank you for trusting me and inviting me to be associated with you. I remain grateful to you for your friendship and kindness. 

You have many years ahead of you in your profession and in your leadership roles. May you remain well and blessed to inspire and enable others n doing good. Let your Good Samaritan spirit be an example to many. Anna and I thank you profusely and keep you in our thoughts.

With regards and good wishes, 

M.C.Mathew, 18.4.2020

Remembering Friends-1

Dr Sunil Agarwal- an outstanding surgeon and a humble human being

Dear Indira,

Greetings. 

Anna and I had planned to come and meet you at your home on the dates you suggested, but because of the travel restrictions due to pandemic corona infection, we could not come. We made arrangements twice, but had to change plans. Instead of waiting to personally meet you and share our thoughts, we want to send you our regards and grateful remembrances about Sunil.

We wonder how the previous weeks have been for you, following the blow and shock in your life. We hope you have been able to return to some order…it is unimaginable for us to think of your situation as everything might have come to a standstill. There is a lot to attend to each day. We think of those lonely moments when you feel bereft and long for Sunil’s physical presence! We bear you in our thoughts as this season brings unforeseen demands on your inner strength. We wonder how your children are adjusting to their loss!

I remember meeting him for the first time after your return from Australia. But I used to hear about him much before that from friends at CMC Ludhiana, when I went there for their governing board meetings. The surgical department at CMC Ludhiana had a difficult phase in the  eighties and early nineties. I remember many comments I heard about him from friends in Ludhiana about the difference he made when he was in surgery while Indira was doing her  higher studies. Sunil’s commitment to care for patients surprised other surgeons and post-graduates alike. They were amazed at his surpassing surgical skills even though he was still young in his surgical career. His conduct and character made him stand out because of his kind-heartedness, thoughtfulness and consideration for others at a time when the surgery department was internally divided. Sunil’s bed side rounds were peaceful, academic with regular teaching comments for the benefit of the post-graduates. The staff when they had a medical need preferred to consult him because he had a listening attitude. His post graduate classes were sought after. One comment moved me: ‘It took a surgeon from Vellore from another faith to start the weekly departmental prayer gathering in the surgery department’.  

This last comment was uppermost in my mind when I met Sunil for the first time. I was keen to hear more about the inspiration for him to propose starting the weekly prayer gathering in the surgery department at CMC Ludhiana. He opened up a lot at that time about his experience at CMC Vellore. It was our first meeting, but the openness and cordiality with which he spoke touched me. He attributed his formation as a person and surgeon to CMC Vellore. He talked about the departmental prayer gatherings at Vellore as an occasion where he learned to grow in respect for all religions. He felt at home being in the Bible study discussions and found some sound values to look up to. What he saw in the surgery department at CMC Ludhiana was different from what he was used to at Vellore, criticising seniors, pulling down others publicly, competition, intolerance, etc. He was disturbed by this and thought that reading from the Bible might help to move the attention of his colleagues to something noble and humane. After the departmental prayer gathering started, there was a definite change in the attitude towards each other. He spoke about this gracefully taking no credit directly or indirectly.

I remember in one of our casual meetings, Sunil referring to a block in the promotion of Senior Readers at CMC Vellore for lack of professorial positions. I had already heard about it from few others when I joined CMC Vellore in 1997 and had mentioned this to Dr Mathen and later to Dr Joyce the directors in succession at that time. They made me feel that till the next cadre revision, this might continue like this. I remember requesting Dr Joyce to give a professor equivalent salary and other privileges to the senior Readers till the next cadre review took place. I sensed that this involved financial implications that CMC was not ready to face as there were about 40 or so in such positions. This discordance remained in my thought. I remember taking up this matter with Dr George Chandy, during his tenure as director, when I was part of his administrative team. That was when I was asked to propose a plan to correct this anomaly. I remember that it got corrected over a period of three years and professor level salary and privileges were awarded to senior readers if they remained in that position after having become eligible to become a professor. What stands out in mind is a few conversations that I had with both of you on this matter and the sense of friendliness you conveyed during those conversations and contacts. It was a genuine loss and grievance, and yet both of you spoke about it with considerable understanding and patience. 

I remember the occasion when our second son Anandit had a nasty gaping wound on his face which was bleeding profusely. Sunil and Dr Philip Korula were the surgeons at the casualty who were called to help. I was amazed the way both of them approached to help with considerable understanding. Anna and I had concern about a long scar that would be left on his chin. Dr Philip was a man of few words, but an exceptional plastic surgeon. It was Sunil who kept in touch with us and prepared us to take utmost care for wound healing to reduce scarring. It was during this time I realised how thoughtful and generous Sunil was with his time and attention. This  left deep impressions within us about his devotion to caring for his patients. 

We watched the lighter side of Sunil during the staff entertainment. He looked reserved, but he was a bundle of creativity and humour on such occasions. The way he danced on the stage and participated to entertain the students gave us an indication of his nature of self-giving to others where ever he was involved.

During the years when the surgical sub-specialities was developing, some surgeons felt the heartache of not being given their first choice. I know of some surgeons who refused to negotiate and took a stiff position for their advantage. I remember Dr Banerjee who was leading this process mentioning to me once, ’the easiest people to negotiate with  are Dr Aravindan and Dr Sunil’. That spoke a lot about the gentlemanly way with which Sunil conducted himself in a difficult situation. I am not sure if Vascular surgery was his first choice. After the new system of six units were started in surgery, it was evident to some of us that some got more benefits than some others. I remember a conversation with Sunil after all this was over. I was keen to know how the department was coping with the changes. He was profuse with compliments to Dr Banerjee and made no reference to any personal loss he suffered on account of some colleagues not being accommodative. That was the time when  some surgeons were loud with their disappointments and did not spare a few who took advantage of the situation. Sunil’s approach to look forward to the future and interest to develop his subspecialty was a sobering example to others.

On one occasion Anna and I came to invite both of you for the wedding of our son, Arpit. To our surprise we noticed that Dr Henry from Bissam Cuttack was staying with you after his cataract surgery. I noticed that you had other guests as well at that time. A few days later when I met him in the corridor, I happened to refer to this generous hospitality both of you were offering to Dr Henry. His response, ‘What we do to others is what really matters’. That gave away his outlook to life and its noble mission. Knowing Dr Henry and his advancing age at that time, he was no ordinary person to look after. He spoke about it with a measure of joy and comfort. 

During my involvement with retreats for faculty at CMC, I happened to know about some inherent tensions in vascular surgery department. There was an unusual pressure on Sunil as his colleagues in his unit behaved unreasonably. There was one occasion, his colleagues even refused to look after post-operative patients operated by Sunil, when Sunil had to be away on short notice. I felt grieved by this. In a conversation with him once, he avoided blaming anyone. To me, that was magnanimity at its best. 

His post graduate residents adored him. Our son and his friends often mentioned to us about Sunil’s habit of giving post graduates hands-on-experience. In fact, he was more than just a teacher, but a mentor to his students. The every fact that he met with this tragedy when he was on his way to help a mission hospital at Kotagiri speaks volumes about his desire to make his skills available to others. 

A nurse who used to work with him in his ward referred to him as a surgeon with high moral and personal values who cared for nurses and their wellness.  He was polite and courteous. He did not compromise on his high standards of hygiene, infection control and good bedside practices. But he got all these done not by demanding or enforcing, but by demonstrating and influencing others. He had immense composure on the operating table even when there were complications. An anaesthesiologist who was commonly posted with him mentioned about Sunil as one who accepted responsibility fully and did not blame others when unexpected situation sprang up during surgery. The lounge at the theatre, where surgeons met in between surgery tended to have an ambience of gossip, but not when Sunil was present. His presence had a restraining effect, which was noticed by a young surgeon who said: ‘Dr Sunil was known for his ability to accept others and affirm them. He was protective of others’. 

I remember some remarks which Sunil made in the CMC Senate during difficult debates. He brought a sobering comment to help us find the middle path. During a debate on whether access roads within the college campus had to concreted to make it easy to for road users the house was divided. Sunil’s comment that, ‘For hundred or more years we had mud roads. What if we had concrete roads now, for the sake of better rain water harvesting!’ That was the turning point in the debate. I recall some of these instances, because they were instances of that created a new collective consciousness. Sunil seemed quiet, but was articulate when necessary.  

Being a vascular surgeon was not easy at CMC Vellore at that time, when an interventional radiologist and a cardiologist with interest in peripheral vascular disease exercised ‘territorial’ claims over patients. On some occasions it appeared to be a competition between the specialists. I remember having a brief conversation with him once, while sitting next to him in a meeting. He too was concerned about the breakdown of communication between specialists, but had something profound to say : ’I have decided to look after patients referred to me rather than canvass for patients’. He had settled this in his mind -what and how he would negotiate with others.

A friend, who is a transplant surgeon in Sydney needed Sunil’s help for his mother, who had peripheral vascular disease with complications of Diabetes. At the end of his time at CMC Vellore, this transplant surgeon told me something most refreshing to hear about the level of care and professional competence he found in Sunil. He placed Sunil at par with the best vascular surgeons he knew in Sydney. In fact according to him, Sunil‘s interventional skills were outstanding. Those of us who knew Sunil would agree with me that he carried this eminence lightly on his shoulders without using it to his personal advantage or for projecting himself. In fact, this transplant surgeon wondered whether Sunil would be happy to relocate himself in Sydney! 

Among surgeons, those who are athletic, musical or artistic have a special status. Many surgeons tend to be overweight and destress themselves in unhealthy ways. But to see both Indira and Sunil walk briskly in the CMC campus regularly was a good example to others. I know of at least three couples in the college campus who were inspired to regard walking as a regular form of exercise and a useful family time, seeing the example of Indira and Sunil. Sunil looked healthy and trim, which is indeed a big tribute to his ability to live an orderly life in spite of being a busy surgeon.

To many of us, who refer to CMC‘s ethos and health care practices as the bench mark, let me suggest that Sunil was an ambassador of this value system to his surgical colleagues, students and the surgical fraternity. He was an extra-ordinary person whose life was cut short by a road accident. We are poorer because he is no more with us in his roles as a teacher, mentor and pioneer in vascular surgery.

Behind a married man there is a woman and behind a woman there is a man. Sunil once told me something that revealed about his keenness for Indira to pursue her professional interest. Indira was already a leader in the sub-specialty of Paediatric Nephrology at that time. Indira was away overseas for a few weeks in getting advanced training in Paediatric Nephrology. I happened to ask him how he was managing on his own. His remark was unlike many men. He seemed happy that Indira had an opportunity to get further training and how that would benefit her in planning to start a kidney transplant facility for children at CMC Vellore. He said something like this: ’I would want to do everything to help Indira develop a full-fledged facility in Paediatric Nephrology’. There was no reference to any difficulty he had in coping  with Indira’s absence. I was touched by his commitment to Indira’s professional development. 

Sunil’s class mates, few of them whom I know personally refer to Sunil as an exemplary person and a friend who could be trusted. Some of his class mates were in administrative responsibilities at CMC Vellore recently. That could have been thought to be a good time for him to get some additional facilities for his department. Such a thought did not cross his mind. 

Many good people have a shorter life span. For Indira and children it is a loss for the rest of your lives. Anna and I stay with you feeling your loss. We look forward to an opportunity to meet with you personally sometime. In the meantime, let this reflection summarise our admiration for Sunil. We have not had a better example of humility than what we saw Sunil practice in his day-today dealings.  

With flowers from our garden,  Anna and M.C.Mathew, 6.4.2020