Flowers and Fruits are for others!

As I walked past these sights yesterday in our garden, I kept thinking about the garden that produced flowers and fruits for the last seventy years, since my parents bought this property and cultivated it. It still yields and feeds the birds of the air and gives plenty for us to live on! Whether it is monsoon, winter, spring or summer, the plants and trees give their produce for others to feed and live on!

Life is lived in the garden of humanity. 

The last 20 months since the corona pandemic struck us, humans live in a frozen state in fear and deprivation. Fear because, who would get a serious disease or would be consumed by the illness is still a guess. Deprivation, because thousands who lived from the daily wages or small earnings have been denied their livelihood because shops were closed, factories shut, eateries in partial functioning, tourism spots declared out of bounds, etc. People who lived from the proceeds of their enterprises have had to sit and wait. 

Our neighbour who earned from his tax service about 1500 rupees a day does not earn 300 rupees now. A mobile street eatery vendor has an income of 200 rupees as agist about 1000 rupees every day. People are sliding in to debt, poverty and distress. 

With all the loud talk by the state governments and the Union government, of helping people to live and resettle themselves, those who remained at the margins have got further displaced to hand to mouth existence. 

About 20 percent of those whom my colleagues have contacted to enquire about their children confessed that they are not able to visit the hospital as the consultation fees is too high for them to bear. Even with the fifty percent discount we offered, we are still not able to welcome them back.

As these thoughts surfaced in my mind while I was on my walk watching the earth giving its produce in all seasons in plenty, I felt awful about those who do not get a share of such blessings as they have no land to cultivate or money to invest on farming. 

The humanity is not a home for those who do not possess or have no roots. They are the have-nots.

I took a bunch of banana to a shop keeper and asked him to give a dozen banana free to each migrant worker who live in our area, who do not have daily jobs due to the monsoon. This shop keeper who has a meagre income told me that he arranged for a kilo of rice each week for about 20 of such workers who come to his shop. He allowed the regular customers a debt upto 200 rupees for a month. He also owns a coconut oil extraction machine, because of which he sells coconut oil at cost price. 

I returned from that visit from that shop realising how much less I am mindful of those who do have not much to live on during this time. 

I remembered what Nehemiah exhorted the people while celebrating after rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem: '..send portions to him who has nothing prepared..' (Nehem.9:10).

The flowers and fruits are for others. 

I wish, I can grow in greater consciousness that what I have is also for others, when they are in need. We live indebted to others because of whom we have what we have. So they too deserve a share from our abundance. 

I confess I am only an early beginner in this consciousness at 72 years of age! Let me invite people younger to me to begin early to grow in this consciousness! That is the only way we can live gratefully and fairly!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)