A Bulbul's arrival at mid day!

 

I noticed a Bulbul in a shrub in our garden, while it was chirping to call other birds!

Having found the black berry, it gave way its communicating bird calls. It had no response. It gathered the berry for itself and left although there were other ripe berries in the shrub. 

I was taken back by its mindfulness for other birds. The Bulbuls and Barbets are the birds who feed on this berry. 

The bird calls from the feeding station has a similar feature, where Bulbuls will call out for others. Before summer set in, we had about ten or so Bulbuls at the feeding station at one time every day. 

This communal feeding was a pleasant sight to watch each morning in our garden!

The Bulbul birds remember other birds while being at the feeding station ! 

Their fraternal feeling lingers on in my mind!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

The tree bed!

 

I happened to be in three gardens recently. 

In one garden, the tree beds were protected by built in areas with pots of pants around them. 

In another garden the tree trunk wore a covering with protective layer of repellent, which protects the trunk from being attacked by white ants. 

In the third garden, the dragon fruit plant bed had a circular protection with bricks and the lawn grass between the plant beds. 

The tree and plant beds need attention and protection, because the trees and plants thrive when they are well taken care of.

I have had some occasions in the recent weeks to listen to families, who become a hedge around their children in normal and troubled times. Some parents foresee the circumstances of their children and provide them shelter from being dragged by vulnerable situations. Some parents act promptly when they see their teenage children show early signs of stress, anxiety or weariness! Some other parents take critical decisions to accompany their children when they face overwhelming situations. 

I feel encouraged by such responses because the normal health giving and morally affirmative environment for children are getting displaced by risky situations of indulgences, temptations and social validation of  permissive behaviour. 

Thirty out of thirty five children in fifth class of a school close to us carry a smart phone according to a parent. He lamented that the smartphone overrides the influence of parents in their lives. 

The home and the household experiences create the bed around growing up children for them to grow up soberly and circumspectly. 

Let me suggest that we need proactive steps to make parents aware of the need to make their home a healthy ambience for children!  

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Between One and Many !

The One flower gets noticed. The flower cluster of many flowers in the last photo is in contrast to all the flowers in between the one flower and the many. 

The flowers in this sequence of photos by nature have a pattern! Their variable presence caught my attention. 

The flowers have different colours, sizes, design of petals or morphology!  

This variety makes a garden diverse, giving every plant a place to blossom! 

I feel spoken to by the uniqueness by each of these flowers. 

Having spent about forty five years associating with child development  discipline, what brought to my awareness was the variable nature of each home, where the parenting practices and opportunities for child development vary considerably. 

Most children receive their formative ingredients from their homes. How much are we focussing on making home a garden of life for children!

The news of breakdown of a stable home environment for children is causing a concern. 

While having conversation with parents on the parenting practices,  for the last two years on an on line platform, I feel disturbed by the compulsions of parents because of which the parenting focus has got marginalised!

Each child shall blossom proportionate to the caring ambience in which he or she grows up.

The dream for our children to be well placed in life professionally is a legitimate aspiration. I wish that the longing to see them as adults with sound character and noble behaviour would be an equally inviting aspiration of parents!

Our children shall become what we foster them to be!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Returning leaves to the soil!

 

I noticed a deliberate activity to gather leaves and prepare them for compost in a residential campus I recently visited. The wooded parts of the campus in between the buildings had many trees which looked bare with the fallen leaves making a carpet around them. The leaves were gathered in and made into compost as in the last photo. 

I noticed the watchmen making a fire with leaves to warm themselves just before the day break. Excepting for that, the leaves were gathered to form compost. 

In a campus where there are hundreds of trees, it is an effort. And yet seeing the attention given to gather them, lest there is  an accidental fire was a refreshing sight to watch. 

I happened to meet the estate officer who supervises the health of the environment. The desire he carries is to have an environment that is healthy for humans and plant life.  

I found him carry a message that was spontaneous with him. He said, "We are to regard our environment because it provides for us food, oxygen, flowers, timber, and shade. We can receive only when we take care of the environment" !

The plant life sustains our environment. 

One humorous part of the sights was, what was seen in a 'no parking zone'! 

When the environment is cared for, it is educational and communicative!! 

There is aesthetic attention to bring plant life close to spaces, where people come to work! This is seen in the indoor spaces within different work places in the campus that I recently visited!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

The giving earth!

I returned yesterday after a week of travel, to find the garden around our cottage, looking green and fresh in spite of the day temperature soaring to 36 degree celsius on most days. The respite was brought by short spells of rain in the evening on couple of days. 

We feel grateful to our domestic helper, who tends the garden and irrigates it during the summer. 

The flowers and fruits in the garden give a decorative look. The cashew nut trees look colourful from a distance with the blossoms and different generation of fruits. We look forward to a good yield from the Rambutan trees. The banana plants seem to thrive. 

What greeted me on arrival was the flower vase in our sitting area, which Anna stocked with lilies from our garden. 

 

A garden has different symbolic messages. 

One message that came to me was the resilience the plants and trees convey while being exposed to high day time temperature and humidity!

The recent earthquake in Myamnar and Bangkok and the drivenness of the president of America to settle territorial dispute by threat of war and the aggressive attitude of Israeli prime minister to occupy Gaza by depriving the Palestinians their rightful occupation, send shock waves to human consciousness- have we returned to the culture of dominance and control, after having been advocates for equality, fraternity and freedom after the second World War?  

The earth brings its yield to sustain life on earth. To think that the farming in Ukraine which brought rich yield of food to other countries has come to a halt since the Russian invasion is far too much to bear!

The human psyche and mindset seem to shift towards selfish pursuit! How we loose out in being noble and generous when a neighbouring country is viewed to be subdued!

I return to our garden around our cottage. It provides us disproportionate yield than corresponding to the attention we offer!  

We receive more than we give!

This is the lesson our garden brings to my attention!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The rich landscape around us!

Two students on the way to school, two women on their walk, two dogs together, a hen searching for its feed, and the garden sights on a campus, represent different themes!

This happened on a day, when the news of the earthquake in Myamnar and Bangkok were aired in the news channels. 

The above pictures of visual comfort and delight was a contrast to the photos of the damage caused by the earthquake. 

On one side there are signs of activities which speak of the peace and tranquil we need in life. On the other side is the devastation caused by the earthquake which destroyed buildings and consumed human lives. 

I noticed a hasty construction work going on the bank of a river, which normally overflows and even causes flood during the rainy season. The construction of a resort close to the river bank is an irresponsible activity especially because it is at the foot of a hill, where rain water would gush during incessant rain. 

The buildings in Bangkok resisted the quake, except a few which crumbled, because they were built to withstand earthquake with large water pools on the roof of the multi-storeyed buildings. The video of water overflowing from the pool during the earthquake, while the building did not get affected, was a good illustration of the technological planning which protects the environment. 

A good illustration of how wise planning protects the earth; exploitation of the earth brings disaster. 

The earth is the only dwelling place for humans as of now! 

 

Some protect the earth to make it liveable and hospitable, while some others turn it for a utilitarian benefit!

Though the number of those who lost their lives during the earthquake is trickling in, we will not get enough information about live stock killed, gardens vanished, schools and public places erased, lakes and streams damaged, or devastation to trees, plants, roads, bridges...!

I wish there is greater attention to regard earth as our home! It is not by legislation or rules we make this happen, but by voluntary response to make our environment least risk prone!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A green campus !

The tree island above, is one among the many, in a campus that I visited recently. It stands apart as a deliberately planned lung space in that campus, which has been expanding with many buildings in the last two decades. 

The avenue trees along the loops of roads in the campus is another inviting sight to behold! The colours and contours of trees are captivating!

 

How much we care is expressed in different ways. One expression is the respect and regard we offer to plants and trees and the space we offer to grow them. If at least one third of the total place in a campus is offered to the green the campus, it is a good start. Most campuses have only concrete structures. 

The campus above has only one third of its pace as built in space. That is how the planners envisage campus for the future!

Let me suggest that while the urge is to monetise the land space  with  mechanise in view, the counter of it is, a value based approach to promote healthy living, by creating green belt in all campuses where people congregate, such as educational institutions, hospitals....! 

That is the way of living mindfully of ourselves and of our environment!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)