A hungry Sunbird !

The last photo of the sunbird after feeding on the nectar from underneath the calyx, searching for more elsewhere in the flower caught my attention. It is unlikely that the bird will find nectar there. 

This happened after I read the editorial today in the Times of India newspaper in its Kochi edition, something that was disturbing! Under the title, 'Just Collateral Damage' the editorial pointed out some alarming and painful statistics. Let me quote: "In Ukraine, residential blocks are attacked with drones and missiles regularly. Russia allegedly took away 20,000 Ukrainian children. It has knocked out Ukrainian power infra every winter, to make non-combatants suffer. In Gaza, 2 million people-90% of population-are displaced or homeless. Did they have a hand in the Oct 2023 Hamas attack in Israel ? No, but they are "collateral damage". So are a million Lebanese....Trump and Bibi's excursion in Iran started with a 'mistaken' missile strike on a girl's school. Since then Iran has picked soft targets across West Asia, in Dubai, Quatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia. In our immediate neighbourhood, the open war between Pakistan and Afghanistan has killed hundreds of civilians, including patients at a Kabul hospital". 

Following the World War 2,  the awakened collective conscience of the nations established a Geneva Convention in 1949, specifying the do's and don'ts during war. Not to harm civilians was part of that provision in the convention. But it is breached habitually by several nations with no sense of caution, inhibition or regret! 

The Sunbird searching for nectar reminded me of thousands in the war zones, living hungry and homeless! They live searching for safety and  food! 

I wonder if the leaders who advocate and pursue war have had their conscience frozen by selfish pursuit to get what they want and take away from others their freedom, resources and rights! 

The editorial concluded with a caution and an appeal: "On current evidence, international humanitarian laws exist only on paper and countries that pushed them once-US and Russia as part of USSR - show cynical disregard for them now. But this absence of restraint in war should bother countries that are watching from sidelines. India, China, Japan, all of Europe, S.Africa, Canada, Brazil, should speak up. All is not fair in war. Not anymore".

Yes, I sense a call for response in that editorial!

A hymn by Fred Kaan came to my mind:

" For the healing of the nations, 

Lord we pray with one accord,

For a just and equal sharing,

Of the things that earth affords;

To a life of love in action 

Help us to rise and pledge our word.

Lead us forward into freedom

From despair Your world release,

That, redeemed from war and hatred,

All may come and go in peace. 

Show us how through care and goodness

Fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,

Let it from earth be banned,

Pride of state, race or schooling,

Dogmas that obscure Your plan. 

In our common quest for justice 

May we hallow life's brief span..."

It was sighting the hungry Sunbird searching for nectar and not finding it as seen in the last photo, which awakened me to sense the thoughts within that were waiting to be born! 

Remembering the hungry and homeless in the war zone is not enough...more is needed! 

I wish that the cicil society awakens to protest against the dehumanisation caused by war! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

 

Presence of purpose !

A spider Lily blessed the garden with its blossom for longer than a week. Even after ten days, some flowers thrive ! As I followed its biological biography during the last ten days, I was surprised by its fragile presence ! Its slender and hollow stem and long petals radiating from the centre withstood heat, humidity and strong winds! 

Its presence was a message of resilience! 

When the students of Occupational and Physiotherapy led the evening chapel service yesterday at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, the leader said: 'We are a small group of twenty students selected every year to study at CMC. We have a sense of belonging to the community even though we are a small group' ! 

I heard words of identity and purposefulness in those words. They did not feel subsumed by the large groups of students in different streams of learning. They felt a space for themselves! 

To know the purpose of being is an awareness that shall sustain all of us while enduring circumstances! That is resilience! 

The spider Lily lived its mission fully before beginning to fade away!

When a group of people came to visit us to campaign for the forthcoming state assembly election, three of them stayed a longer time petting Dulcie. She responded to them warmly! That was a delightful sight to watch as they made efforts to connect with us! They conveyed a sense of presence, which is a fruit of resilient spirit! 

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)

A family of Sunbirds !

The bird visits to our garden seemed to have decreased with the summer heat making birds to move to cooler places. 

The Sun bird family was therefore a surprise sight with the mother feed feeding the juvenile bird, while the father bird was watching it delightfully! 

These are signs of hope in a war driven world, where fraternal feelings and vision for wellness of each other need a rediscovery! 

I wish those who rule over the affairs of the USA, Israel and Iran would pause to think, 'how much more we can offer to hungry lives, if we can turn our attention from aggression to mindfulness' ! 

The Sunbirds are weak and powerless, but they bring a powerful and appealing message! 

This is the season of lent- a time we ought to be thinking about our neighbours, whom we are called to love as ourselves, according to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, whose passion and suffering we would remember two weeks from now during the Holy Week! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

 

The sunshine of parenting !

The above sequence of a purple water Lily in our garden, from dawn to sunrise, was worth watching to follow the way a bud emerges from its hiddenness to visibility each morning for the last five days. By early afternoon the flower closes and returns to be a bud till the next day at dawn and blossom for the next day!

The Pink pair of the Lily is a younger bud, which is yet to open fully!

It occurred to me, while I kept watching the above water Lilies, that they symbolise the way a child blossoms from the time he or she is born in the ambience of a home ! 

                   

Anna and I want to offer the above book to share our thoughts on how parents can be involved in the blossoming of their child by engaging them through a play based formative process at home! 

A home is a place where all children can feel enabled to blossom!

The parents are the sunshine upon their lives! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

 

Meeting two inspiring Men !

During a visit to an eco-tourism project and a bird sanctuary a few days ago with our friends, Anna and I met two people who live pursuing their passion! They walked the less travelled path to bring something useful for others to experience. 

The first person was Mr Rajappn, who developed a farm  near the  Kodanad elephant training centre,  to give an experience to the visitors about the way of living close to nature from the produce of the land. It is a farm where agriculture, fishery, poultry, and floriculture co-exist. It has a museum of farm implements that takes us back to the farming practices which existed about seventy five years ago. The children's park created in the natural setting of trees and plants is a pleasant place to be in. A steam meandering in the five acre property feeds the plants and trees. A home stay facility with a swimming pool is an attraction to tourists. Mr. Rajappan developed this facility in memory of his parents who owned the land at the edge of a reserved forest. For him, trained in agricultural science, it is an opportunity to show forth the heritage we have in nature.  He views his garden as a place to experience living peacefully and mindfully. He had a beaming look, when he showed us the corner where there is a butterfly farm and a stretch of flowers that feed nectar to  honey bees. 

The second person whom we met, was Mr Joemon in the bird sanctuary at Thattecad. Having been trained in hospitality industry, he had an interest in being a friendly host to the visitors. Since he lived close to the bird sanctuary, he accompanied tourists for bird watching. That initiated an interest in birds and their habitat that he became an avid student of different species of migratory and endemic birds in south India. He came to accompany us with three binoculars and a lacer beam, which was more than an illustration of his interest to get the tourists to experience sighting birds. He is well informed about bird sanctuaries in the southern states.  He took us deep into the forest where some birds spend the day time. That is how Anna and I had an experience of seeing some birds which we had not so far seen! During the four hours of morning walk of about six kilometres through the forest, we noticed how Mr Joemon had an eye to sight and track birds and an interest to make visitors bird friendly! He is widely travelled in south India with insightful information about bird habitats in the bird sanctuaries. He conducts guided tours to these places. 

A the end of these two visits, Anna and I returned with warm thoughts about the two men, who found a way of living by bringing cheer and insights to others ! They did not appear to be doing a job, but enthusiasts and messengers of their areas of interests! They had an inspirational dimension and relational attitude! 

Both of them were pursuing a less travelled path, in response to a deeper call of living !

Such experiences bring refreshment and renewal of hope about the goodness of people around us!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

 

Flowers, Fruits, and Friends.

Anna and I had a two days of visiting gardens and a bird sanctuary with our visiting friends! Such experiences leave memories that encourage and last!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Peace is the natural way!

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I found this unusual sight in the jackfruit tree in our garden. Some fruits are resting on the ground. Most of the Frits are hanging in the stems supported by its strong stalk as seen hit photo below !

It is not common for a jackfruit tree to bear fruits at its bottom part of the stem making the fruits rest on the ground! 

It is a surprise sight to watch in our garden! 

While discussing it with our gardener, he suggested that it is on account of the top portion of the main stem which was pruned last year to arrest its leaning upward growth. Having been denied upward growth, it is adjusting to a different way to bear fruits! 

This is a 'responsive behaviour' of a tree to give more fruits although pruned, denying its upward growth! When hurt, a tree responds by giving more! 

The history of war in Gaza originates with a 'retaliative  behaviour' of Israel to terrorists killing Jews about twenty months ago. Israel dragged the USA to support its retaliative attacks, which spread to Lebanon and Iran. Now it has become a 'third world war', although some nations would like to avoid seeing it as a world war. 

Violence begets violence, which I thought is a 'barbaric' habit! I recall how the post second world scene was a season of negotiation, pursuing peace and promoting cross continental engagements for climate control, health promotion and economic collaboration! 

The recent behaviour of some nations is an anticlimax to this norm that  allowed multilateral co-operation between nations with a few exceptions!

Now retaliatory behaviour is the norm! 

The Truth and Reconciliation commission of South Africa which its president late Nelson Mandela appointed with Archbishop Desmond Tutu as its chairman was an eye opener in resolving racial intolerance of several decades. The polarised position of two communities got resolved by a peaceful process of listening, discerning  and forgiving ! In fact it, it was a historic way of bringing national integration and reconciliation. 

I wish the leaders of the USA and Israel would draw their lessons from this reconciliatory process and withdraw from using violence to pay back violence! That does not align with a humane view of difficult situations! 

The jackfruit tree produced more fruits when it was pruned or 'hurt'! It expresses its 'giving' habit even by giving its fruits from the lowest part of the stem! 

Let me wish that the nations of the world would awaken to believe that  it is in giving, we upbuild and uphold each other! 

I wish that the leaders of nations would consider that violence and war are evil responses, but negotiations and consultations are civilised behaviours!

That is the message that I pick up from a pruned Jack fruit tree in our garden which has more fruits in this year !

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)