Presence in darkness!

I watched this Magpie Robin perched on a cable in the dark, when it was around five am. During the next one hour, when I took series of pictures, I noticed that the Magpie Robin remained still and waited for the dawn to break, to fly away. 

The darkness has multiple metaphorical meanings!

On metaphor I received from sighting this bird, is its enduring presence. Every bird has to wait for ten hours each night to move out of the darkness around. Most birds spend their nights unprotected from the harms of weather. They have to migrate to warmer climate during a freezing winter!

The stillness of this bird is what spoke to me. 

I remember an incident in a hospital during the COVID season, agreeing to give away the two of their oxygen cylinders to another hospital close by, when they already had three patients on oxygen support. The other hospital was expecting its supply in three hours. That was a desperate situation of darkness to both the hospitals, The hospital which needed oxygen had five patients on oxygen and they were left with only one stand by cylinder. 

I like the way, the hospital who received the request for giving their spare cylinders, till the other hospital received the  supply, got a few staff ready to use Ambu bags to manually ventilate the three patents, if the supply promised by the hospital arrived late.  

The requesting hospital knowing the desperate situation of the other hospital arranged for an emergency vehicle to fetch the supply from the truck that was still about 200 kms away. The supply reached in two and half hours. 

When I heard the story, I felt the darkness,  which both the hospitals experienced during that night. They had very little options left before them. I realised how both the hospitals responded to a situation is an effective way to avoid a panic. They behaved responsibly and creatively. 

The darkness is not final. The light is imminent! 

It is not passive endurance which would be effective when we are in a dark situation. But an active presence by looking for alternatives and looking for open doors. 

I recall an incident, when the only earning member in a five member family lost her job suddenly due to lay off in her company. She wondered how she would manage as the bank savings were only a meagre amount. With the support from a baker, she offered to bake cakes. She had regular order and she was able to tide over the crisis till she found a job three months later.

 

I remember three experiences this mother shared with me while she narrated this. She knew that she was the only person who could work as her husband was recovering from a stroke. She knew that she needed help from someone to market the cakes which she was ready to make. She knew that she would be able to get at least a part time job as an accountant. 

She did not internalise her darkness. She lit a lamp of hope in that situation. 

It is when we allow the darkness to settle down in our mind, we feel displaced and hopeless. The darkness is only another season when we discover our resilient spirit!

Listening to the agonising stories of people in Manipur, who live in temporary shelters, having lost their family, house and possessions, the darkness is intense and thick! But we hear stories of people in the adjoining villages  sharing what they have, when only limited help is forthcoming from the government. 

We are to be pathfinders in darkness for ourselves and  others!

The Magpie Robin endured the darkness till the dawn of the morning! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)