Looking out for the night shelter of birds!

I set out when it is still dark on some days to move around in our garden to find the night shelter of some birds frequently spotted in our garden. 

I spotted a Barbet and felt good for getting it photographed amidst the poor light conditions. It was when I downloaded it from the camera, I realised that its pair also was perched in the next branch, whose body was visible partly in the frame. 

For better visibility I edited the photo. The original was too dark only with  faint outline of the birds.

Some bushes are night shelters for some birds. I remember  watching or hearing some bird movements at dusk and at down around some trees and  bushes in our garden. 

In my curiosity I went under a small mango tree in the late evening and played some bird calls. There was a reciprocal response. That was when I suspected that some trees are regular night shelters for some birds.  Now that I find them in pairs, this investigative journey becomes even more interesting. I need to get some introduction to night photography to become near to  birds at night. 

I know that birds do sleep during the from the photos I captured of a few scenes. Now the interest is turning to spot them sleep at night!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A fly rests on the Flower!

I was watching the sunset with the sun rays fading away while the dusk was setting in. When the sun had set and with the twilight still left,  I noticed a fly approaching the rose flower in our courtyard. It hovered over the flower and settled on the it! Was that its night halt!

A fly small and insignificant as it might be, found its resting place for the night!

In fact I was carrying a burden of some unfinished work- writing medical reports of children, pending writing projects, getting into the digital mode at work, etc. I have recently got up in the nights with the thoughts of pending work. 

I was inspired by the stillness that set in at dusk. The chattering of the birds that create a cacophony at dusk was settling down to bring the stillness of this transition time. The brilliance of the horizon in the sky gave way to darkness. The trees and the bushes appeared merged with darkness. Th nature had clothed itself in the bliss of darkness and quietude. 

Watching this drama of transition, I too felt invited to let the burdens drop. I carry them only to feel heavy and end up having interrupted sleep. 

My thoughts went back to Isaiah, chapter 11, when the prophet spoke of what was to come: 'And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the Leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them (v 6). A vision of contradictions!

This came home to me that freedom from strife and stress was the substance of the vision of Isaiah. 

Yes, I live with the longing for peace amidst the burdens that remain within. To find peace inspite of the burdens is the calling. 

The twilight seasons in our life is an occasion to seek and find peace. The twilight time is a bright time or a transition time. The twilight can lead to the morning light or the darkness of night. 

In both instances the twilight is a resourceful time in one's life. Whether the twilight precedes the brilliance of the morning or the darkness of night, contradictions can stay within us- longing for peace but evasive because of the burdens we carry! The day is given to us to work through our contradictions to prepare for peace to embrace us in the darkness of the night. We consciously rest at night, hoping for peace promised in the vision of Isaiah.   

The night is a symbol of a way of living, when our striving shall cease and hope shall conquer our spirit! 

The fly settling in the embrace of the rose flower became a symbol to me as the darkness covered even the sight of the fly! The flower alone was visible in the darkness. 

I wish this imagery stays with me. Even in an intense darkness, the fly rests on the flower!

That was what, Jesus of Nazareth said, 'Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest' (Matthew:11.28)!

I stepped back to our cottage carrying the imagery of a fly resting on the flower! That was a rest providing vision for the night!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Hidden danger!

The grass hopper underneath the leaf is the one which would have eaten away the parallel leaves on the opposite side of the stem. I noticed it only after I downloaded the photo from the camera. 

A small grass hopper can consume so much!

That reminded me of how some small events in life can be devastating sometimes! A family who came yesterday narrated how misunderstanding between a husband and wife, initially small events, grew into a mountain of suspicion and mistrust that they sought for legal separation. The child who is now sharing his time between both parents during the week shows stressful behaviour!

To ignore small events or hurts or suspicion or mistrust is risky. It is important to pay attention and find a remedial path. 

Whether it is in friendship or in family life, trivial acts of commission or omission need attention for reconciliation!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

The tree pie was back!

It was dusk and the visibility had dropped yesterday. From the study, I heard the bird call of a tree pie from the bush in our courtyard. What I watched was a friendly look of a tree pie, similar to what I watched in the morning on a coconut palm just beyond the bush. As it kept engaging me, I wondered whether it came looking for me, remembering the morning ritual of photographing it!

Whatever it might be, I felt visited. Those ten minutes were like a conversation in silence! It was an affirmation of friendship !

For me it was a message of considerable encouragement at the end of a day, when aloneness in this journey of life gripped me in an unusual way. I spent years from my college days, visiting, writing, enabling, etc. I had an occasional feeling of entitlement to be acknowledged and appreciated! That feeling returned to me yesterday for a while. Later in the day, it occurred to me that giving and forgiving is the calling to live with and not attaching strings to that vocation. 

That is when I heard the bird call from our courtyard. No sooner I arrived, the tree pie stopped its call and kept gazing at me with its body in stillness. Its engaging look brought cheer and calm within. To fall into self pity is a sure sign of loosing balance of perspectives. The tree pie with its captivating look in silence calmed me and called my soul to rest. 

I felt like receiving a provision that I needed at the end of labouring with my negative feelings! The fear of being forgotten can be a trap that any one call fall into. I was almost there yesterday ! 

God sent Elijah with bread when he was beside a drying brook; I was sent yesterday a bird with its bird call and calming look !

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Normally present!

Some flowers are conspicuous by their elegance. This flowers belonging to the family of Frangipani are perennial. We have three of them in our garden. There is confluence of at least three colours in the petals. They last for a weeks during winter months. 

I feel drawn by these flowers because the colour confluence is exquisite. More than its fragrance, it is the colour and appearance of the petals which add to its distinctiveness among other flowers. From a distance they might appear ordinary, but a closer look highlights its princely status!

I find the little things around me making better sense, of late. In the midst of hurried living, the little things had escaped my attention. I feel invited to take time to dwell on small and little things and events around me!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The second letter in post in 2022 !

 This letter which arrived last week was sent to us by our grandchildren. 

The school where they go to had an exercise of visiting public institutions, like the post Office, Bank, etc. as part of the environmental education in the school curriculum. The three grandchildren wrote and drew letters to us and wanted to post it in the post box. But the post box was wet with water from the rain. So the post office received the letter and sent it to us through the regular mail. Amy had sent us message to take a photo of the letter and send it to the children for them to know that that their letter had arrived. 

Children had wondered as to why a letter had to be sent, which would take a week or so to reach when message on phone was available.  We heard form them that there were only three letters which had arrived by post in the office on that day for delivery. They had a similar number to send to other places. The use of postal service for personal correspondence has declined considerably. 

This was the second personal letter we received this year, the earlier one a few months ago, from Drs Val and Frank Garlick. Anna or I have not sent any personal letter by post during this year so far. All our personal communications are through e-mail or SMS.

It is years, since I have seen a post card or an inland. They were the mostly used means of communication when I was growing up.

A changing world with more conveniences and quicker communication! The charm of writing a letter with hand is still cherished by some. I write most of the letters by hand while writing to the administration in the hospital, to keep that habit alive!

Anna and I felt enthused by the school did to our grand children. Amy made it happen. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Sunday morning visitors!

I was delighted to find some birds this morning in and around our garden .

Of all the birds, it was the tree pie who was the nearest and kept looking at the lens while I was clicking. Its friendliness captured my attention. It changed its posture to favour me to get a close up of its beautiful eyes. 

If a bird were to feel comfortable in a person's presence, the signal it receives from the behaviour of the person is friendliness, to which the bird normally reciprocates. 

How grateful we ought to feel about birds because of their presence around human habitations to befriend us. I remember an avid bird watcher telling me that some birds come searching for him in the morning. They feed and drink from the feeding corner in the courtyard before they fly away to other flight stations. 

I wait for that to happen to us in our feeding corner!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Leaving a forty year habit !

A freshly brewed cup of coffee is what Anna and I have been used to at the beginning of the day. This habit goes back to our times in Chennai. A coffee store which sold freshly ground coffee was located in the next street to our residence in Anna Nagar circle. Every week I used to get enough coffee powder for our need. 

A neighbour used to grind the coffee seeds every morning which made us wonder whether we too can one day can go to that habit to complete that experience of brewing fresh coffee. The neighbour used that noisy machine to grind the coffee seeds around the same time we were brewing our coffee with coffee powder. That desire to own a grinding machine to grind the coffee seeds every morning to prepare fresh coffee happened fifteen years after when Anandit gifted us a machine which did not create noise pollution. 

Anna and I continued our habit of beginning our day with coffee sitting around the round table in our study even after relocating in our cottage in Keezhillam. During our time at Vellore I got used to getting different brands of coffee seeds so that we had coffee of different flavours each day. It was an effort to locate dealers in roasted coffee seeds while living in Kerala. But we continued our experiment with different brand of coffee seeds. 

I have had an irregular heart rate after my coronary by-pass surgery. The cardiologist recommended that I drink tea instead of coffee as coffee was known to make heart beat irregular. I tried Horlicks for a while, but it tasted sweet. After a while when stopping coffee did not restore the heart rhythm, I was allowed to drink a cup a day. That is how I returned to the habit of coffee for the last five years once again.

But ageing brings new challenges. I developed tinnitus in one ear. Among the predisposing factors, coffee is thought to be one factor. Now for the last one month, I am getting used to tea, while Anna still can have the freshly brewed coffee.

Every morning when I make the coffee for Anna and tea for myself, I go through our biography of experiments with this morning drink, which is 'brown, hot and sweet' according to Dr Frank Garlick. He was a surgeon at the Christian Medical College in the nineteen sixties. He was used to drinking coffee as a replacement for water. The bottled water was not available in those days. I recall his visit to the Medical College, Nagpur to meet me in 1970, when he stayed in my room for three days. I got a large flask and provided coffee from Indian Coffee House in our college campus. He became fond of that coffee that even now in his mid eighties, he remembers to mention it in his mails to us. 

During our visits to Katherine and Peter in London, one special experience we used to have was the liberal serving of freshly brewed filter coffee. Our conversation around the breakfast table extended for about two hours while sipping coffee. Those memories last. So conversations and coffee have a close association. We recall our times of conversation during coffee times in the homes of Hedwig, Theo and Gisela. Coffee is a better substitute to vine for socialising. I hope young people would prefer the bliss of soberness which coffee provides instead of the heady feeling after consuming alcohol!

Now that I say farewell to coffee, the memories of the ritual of making coffee and the habit of conversation with Anna and prayer time in the morning bring nostalgia. A season of forty years!

Had we lived in Vellore during our retirement years, Anna and I would have organised an evening time of coffee with chocolate cake to meet with friends for conversation. We had advanced thoughts on this. But it is unlikely that we would return to live in vellore. 

I close this chapter of coffee drinking and turn to similar experiments with tea. Anna arranged for five brands of tea leaves. I now have to find a good way of brewing to enjoy the natural  flavour of different brands!

Now that this change has occurred, I realise that more changes corresponding to the needs of the body would surface as ageing becomes a reality! 

Leaving old habits to begin new habits!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

 

Holding on lightly, loosely and temporarily!

 

The four children in the first photograph carefully and responsibly kept the garland and bouquet for about two hours of the wedding service. As the bride and groom arrived at the exit door of the church after solemnising the marriage, the children offered them to the couple. The children were given the privilege to welcome the couple florally. What children did was to keep them safe to give them away! 

It occurred to me while watching this pleasant scene, that a lot of what we acquire or keep to ourselves can last only for a season. A time to hand over would come sooner or later. 

Yesterday, a former colleague was welcomed to rejoin the department following the completion of advanced training in the specialty. After ten years of having been responsible to oversee the department, a time has come for me to leave the responsibility to another person. I recall having been involved in a few organisations as the chairman for a season, after which I needed to pass the responsibility to others. There were three other instances where after starting an organisation or a department, I needed to leave the responsibility with others for the ongoing mission of those services. 

What we are give to keep and develop will need to be left behind or handed over to others at some time. 

What then ought to be the attitude towards act we are given to keep!

To regard them in the spirit of stewardship. 

The current director of the Christian Medical College,Vellore Dr J.V.Peter will hand over the responsibility to the new director Dr Vikram Mathews during a formal function on this Sunday. This happens every five years. A director does not get a second term in the office. 

What a message of the purpose of stewardship! Each of us is given an opportunity and a role and we are to be faithful to exercise our abilities as well as we can and subsequently entrust to others to continue this vocation. 

To wanting to hold on is denial of the larger purpose of stewardship! Just as each of u sis eligible and able to discharge a responsibility, our neighbour is also getting  ready in life to receive the baton from us. 

At a relay race, the critical time is when the baton is handed over  to a subsequent runner. The race receives larger attention than an individual runner. An individual runner contributes to the collective. A solo runner does not create a relay race.  

I get a new enthusiasm about being faithful to do all that is committed to me diligently. One responsibility that I have struggled to do well on time in the recent months, is writing medical reports of children who visit us.  The family needs it to use it for introducing the child to other professionals from whom they need further help. I have a sense of failure in making parents wait for it. 

I feel challenged to be diligent about each component of my stewardship when I prepare to leave behind what has been under my care!

To be responsible enough to do what is possible and to leave the scene quietly entrusting the continuity to others is stewardship in its true spirit. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Nesting season ahead!

I watched a pair of parakeets during their search for a nest. The first visit was to a coconut palm tree where an earlier nest existed. After moving around the stem and looking at the hollows in the stem, they seemed not inclined to choose. The parakeet on the top of the trunk gave a whistle, looking downward and instantly both of them flew to another coconut palm which too had some gaping holes in the stem

The inspection of the pre-existing nests in the other stem looked more meticulous. One of the parakeets peeped into one nest and they flew away into their flight path after that.

I shall look out if they choose one of these nests for the coming winter!

The partnering of some birds for building a home is striking. They do it communicatively.

It is this which is not forthcoming when I listen to some families. During critical periods of   life events, I suspect that partnering and communicating between husband and wife need more attention. I currently live in a culture where lot of decisions related to choice of partners, life after marriage and choice of setting up home are under the external influences of their parents, extended family or job location. 

In an audit of fifty families who recently visited us in one week, only nineteen families had both husband and wife living together and taking responsibility for their children. The rest had only one parent available or both parents absent with grandparents or uncles or aunts taking care of a child. 

I find this as a crisis situation. To leave children to the care of any one else is not consistent with the calling of family life. Children belong to parents and only in an exceptional situation can parents entrust the upbringing of thier child to anyone else in the family. 

Watching this pair of parakeets preparing to set up their home brought these hurting memories of conversations. 

In my enquiry, I found three reasons why parents are forced to stay away form their children. The compulsion to earn better salary to build a larger house, an obligation to educate younger siblings or return a loan taken from the bank for college education!

When I see the large edifices of churches and the property around some churches, I realise how rich some congregations are. Some of them build commercial buildings in their property to increase their income. Some churches are steeped in corrupt practices so much so in the recent months some Bishops are under investigation for fraudulent practices.

What if these rich congregations offer to oversee supporting students in their congregations who need bank loans to study, by offering loans at no interest, to be paid back over twenty years or so!

I remember my undergraduate study season in medicine. I was given a merit scholarship by the government of India. It was offered to children of teachers as a goodwill gesture. The  monthly teacher's salary was around five hundred rupees at that time. I was required to refund the amount over 25 years. If after becoming a doctor, the scholar joined a teaching profession it was not required to be repaid. The college fees and hostel fees including food in a year was only rupees fifteen thousand. My scholarship covered most of it. 

A medical student spend about forty five lacs of rupees for five year undergraduate training currently. It might be around twenty five lakhs if it is in  government medical college.  I cannot fathom this strangulating experience which students go through. By the time he or she finishes a post graduate training he or she starts with a huge educational loan because of which all focus is on paying back the loan. 

When a person starts with such a financial load and burden, all matters related to building a family get subservient to paying back bank loan. 

If we expect  doctors to 'consecrate their life for the service of humanity', as stated ion the code of ethics, we need to give them education at an affordable cost. During my days of undergraduate training, there were only sixty medical colleges in India and eighty five percent of them were in the government sector. The government subsidised the medical education to create a social consciousness in doctors. Today we have nearly seven hundred medical colleges in India and seventy five percent of them are in the private sector. This reversal had made education unaffordable for a middle income family, except by taking loans. 

No country can afford this one sided perspective on medical education- to train doctors by making education expensive and still expect them to be socially minded with an altruistic calling!

I think of the parakeets. Planing for their home and family! They borrow the nest left by other birds. They receive what others provide. 

When will our rich churches come to pay attention to helping students from the burden of debt trap they fall into, while pursuing their education! 

At the MOSC Medical College, there is a provision for students to avail scholarships with a service commitment for two years. What a relief and gift this is to the deserving students!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A Bulbul's presence!

I notice a Bulbul almost every morning in the same flight station in the black upper creeper in the courtyard! I cannot make out whether it is the same Bulbul! 

The message is that some birds deliberately choose to be near human habitations.  

It is the bird call that alerts me of its presence. 

The gift of presence!

It has led me to think on the theme of how I can be a gift through my presence to others around me!

How can I become a gift through my presence to the person I talk to, pass by or greet! It is the graceful look, gentle smile, words of cheer, affirming attitude, thoughtful conversation, courteous behaviour, etc which shall make the presence a gift!

To be so is still a journey for me!

The Bulbul through its presence awakened me to ponder over this. Bird's behaviour can lead us to reflect on our own behaviour!

M.C. Mathew(text and photo)

The Graduation day!

 

Another batch of doctors is ready leave MOSC Medical College!  Their memories would last with us. It was a batch of undergraduate trainees who had to forgo about eighteen months of bed side clinical learning due to the COVID pandemic.  

Yesterday as they received the certificates at the graduation ceremony at the college, there was jubilation over the resilience they showed to endure a difficult experience and yet complete the course to move on!

I felt glad to have been involved in that function to administer the pledge of the code of ethics. 

They are ambassadors of caring! Let them be a light and hope for many!

M.C. Mathew(text and photo)

Graduating doctors of Batch of 2016

I found the batch of 2016 of MOSC Medical College preparing for their gradation on 19th September, 2022. They have a two day programme, the graduation on 19th and a day of Thanksgiving on 20th September. It is after a break of two years a gradation ceremony is being arranged in the college campus on account of COVID related restrictions.

This batch, the fifteenth batch of doctors who graduate, would move on into their next phase of life, most of them getting into the mood of preparing for their post graduate admission process. 

I remember some of them for their creative and enthusiastic pursuit. The college magazine they brought out this year is a tribute to their thoughtful efforts to bring together college life in an engaging narrative. It is a collection of pictures, thoughts, recollections, poetry and summary of events well-presented to bring cheerful reading.

Every batch of students, since Anna and I have ben associated with the institution for ten years, has left with us some memories we recall fondly.  We got to know some of them well when they became part of our foster family. 

As they leave, what shall stay in our mind would be the smiles, acts of kindness and thoughtful regards. Anna and I would look forward to seeing them move on in life and live fulfilled lives. 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Friendly gestures!

The above two security guards who are responsible to keep a watch on the movements in the ground floor of the college building, have an unusually cheerful orientation to their work. They guide people who are searching to reach their location, help people to access  wheel chair when needed, and move around to look for any help they can offer to staff or visitors. 

One of them would be outside the department where I work around six in the evening to close the doors in the arrival hall, adjacent to the department. I might be still needing more time before I can leave. I have found both of them being patient to return a few times to check if I needed any help. At the end of the day, it is encouraging to receive their cheerfulness and hospitable attitude. 

I find that such people make a huge difference in an organisation. They do more than what the duty calls for . 

I have found that most of the security staff posted at different locations in the college and hospital campus have a self-giving spirit. Three cheer to them. They have often lifted my spirit by their courteous manners and cheerful gestures!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The one and many!

 The contrast between the single flower and confluence of flowers kept returning to me the whole day. 

When I left home, I remember noticing the rose flower which was in our walkway. At work place I happened to visit the conference hall where the stage was getting decorated for the hospital day gathering. 

The confluence of flowers aroused a consciousness about the richness in diversity when brought together form an ensemble. For about two months the Chaplaincy department was attempting to organise different functions to prepare for the hospital day celebration. Many people came together during the events. I felt encouraged when I watched some activities where the staff appeared jubilant. I participated in the photo exhibition with an entry on the theme 'healing touch'.

This season of two months when people came together to remember the hospital day, turned out to be an occasion of celebration and festivity. 

It is when we value others we become part of them. 

To be part of others is often a journey that only few take in a society where individualism dominates. 

I felt encouraged by a narration of a new staff who attended most of the hospital events deliberately to get a sense of the place and people. His comment was, 'I felt good that I was in a place where people of diverse abilities and gifts come together'. 

It is when we can see the good in others we become drawn towards the collective. For most of us, the self absorption is an hindrance to see the good in others. 

To receive ourselves as those, whose fullness and enlargement are made possible by growing in a sense of belonging to the collective, is an orientation that we need to cultivate within.

During the last ten years, I keep wondering whether I made good enough effort to belong the collective! Or have I withdrawn to be myself!

How do I welcome others! 

That is where it starts! If I can welcome and offer to relate others warmly with no preconditions, then the journey to become part of the collective has begun!

The collective is richer because the individuals bring their gift of  self giving!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)