The spring time !

Although we are disturbed by the news of war and violence, most of us feel refreshed by the spring flowers we see around us. Anna and I receive flowers from friends in Europe to have glimpse of the beginning of springtime after a severely cold season !

 

I noticed today morning Rambutan flowers turning into fruit bearing stage ! That is another event in the springtime!

Poets, writers and artists refer to the springtime of the soul in their narratives and writings. 

It is an experience they refer to, when a person comes to be in touch with one's own consciousness transcending all that occupies the mind! It is like finding still water about ten feet below the turbulent sea surface !

The stillness within us is what our most being offers us when we take time to be quiet and move away the wanderings and thoughts of the mind. Our mind is only the first layer of our consciousness where most of us feel comfortable to stay as it is a known and familiar space. 

The soul is less familiar space of consciousness within as the door to its expanse opens only when we wait in silence. This form of interior silence draws us to a consciousness, where we discover a language of love, confession, forgiveness, kindness, thoughtfulness, peace and hope! 

In the book, God has a dream, Archbishop Desmond Titu tells the story of Nelson Mandela in the chapter, Seeing with the eyes of the heart (p71-74). Nelson Mandela as a member of African National Congress was leading its armed wing. He was forthright and a belligerent activist.  He was sentenced to imprisonment. He spent 27 years in prison out of which 18 years was in Robben island where he was forced to break stones into small pieces. He was an angry person when he was imprisoned, but he came out of prison with a forgiving spirit that he set up the Truth and Reconciliation commission, when he   became the president of the first independent South Africa. That commission which brought a reconciling conversation between communities diffused the communal tension and conflict that was predicted by many. Nelson Mandela suffered but was transformed  to practice forgiveness as the language of his leadership. Bishop Tutu refers to the change of consciousness that Mandela experienced because Mandela believed  that 'God loves your enemies'. 

This is the fruit of soulful living! We travel beyond the natural and temporal and experience the depth within us, which is a spiritual consciousness and ambience. 

I saw a photo of many priests laying their hands on the president of the USA while praying! I felt moved by that sight because it was intended to bring a soulful experience to desire peace and conciliation! 

This is a spring time! I long for it to become a soulful time for the leaders of nations engaged in war!

There is an alternative to war ! That is the spring time of harmony, peace and fraternal belonging!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

  

Seeker and finder!

Watching this Magpie robin foraging in or garden for its feed was an awakening experience for me ! 

I have noticed Magpie robins in the garden moving around searching for their feed on earlier occasions.  After finding  a berry and feeding on it, this Magpie robin was seen on a tree searching for crawling insects on a stem. The Magpie robin searches where feed can be found! It takes what is given !

I noticed a Barbet in our garden while being on its feeding sprawl. It also takes what is given by the garden. 

Birds receive what is given by nature! 

A sunbird finds its nectar and a squirrel and Bulbul find their feed at the feeding station in our garden!

All the photos above tell a  story of taking what is given! 

But what is another human story that we come across among the civilised nations! 

Have they become grabbers? We can take what we need or grab because we are driven by greed!

I feel disturbed when I explore this theme further. I suspect that greed creates an irresistible pressure to grab and possess, when material wealth acquisition becomes the motivation to live for!

A senior citizen living alone with his retirement benefits cooks meal for three others each day to deliver a lunch packet to each of them in the neighbourhood who are bedridden! Although their families take care of the sick member, the retired senior citizen offers one meal every day for them. He is not tired of doing this for them because, he believes, that 'he was given enough to share with others'!

That is living with a vocation as against living for acquisition!

Birds thrive on taking what they are given! 

A visually impaired lady who was qualified in the civil service examination, said, ' I was helped at very step of my learning journey'! 

That is a pointer to what giving to enable others can do to make a difference !

The birds are seekers and finders to take what they need!

They are not seekers to grab and dispossess others of their due portion!

It is in this light I view the current war imposed on Iran! One nation far away usurps the power to destabilise a sovereign nation out of its own covetousness and finds an ally in one another nation that has eliminated a neighbouring country to exist in violation of the post send world war consensus. The leadership of Venezuela was eliminated and its fossil oil is feeding a greedy nation!

I suppose we live in a world of opportunities when unjust practices dominate!

During a recent visit to one of the north eastern states, I happened to hear from some families who suffered from the ethnic conflict in Manipur lasting over two years now, about the immense help they received for the education of their children from strangers, They sponsored the education of children in boarding schools! Those families spoke about how much they were 'given' during this troubled times!

While the world is a home for 'takers and grabbers', it is also a hospitable place for givers ! That is a reason for celebration and living with hope !

A hymn by Fred Kaan, Help us to accept each other, summarised the inner longing that most of us live with:

"Teach us Lord, our lessons, 

As in our daily life,

We struggle to be human,

And search for hope and faith.

Teach is to care for people,

For all, not just some,

To love them as we find them,

Or as they become.

Let your acceptance change us,

So that we may be moved,

In living situations

To do the truth in love.

To practise Your acceptance,

Until we know by heart

The table of forgiveness,

And laughter's healing art.

Lord, for today's encounters

With all who are in need,

Who hunger for acceptance,

For righteousness and bread,

We need new eyes for seeing,

New hands for holding on,

Renew us with Your Spirit,

Lord free us, make us one."

 

M.C. Mathew( text and photo) 

The International day of women 2026 !

On this day, which is remembered as the International day of women, I revisited the series of photos I have of a mother bird feeding a juvenile Barbet. As the bird grew into the juvenile stage, it began taking the food from the beaks of the mother bird. Earlier in the fledgling state, the mother bird fed into the mouth of the fledgling.  

A woman is a person; an adult, a single person or a wife, a mother, a home maker and a professional at work place....!

A woman is not only a giving person but a self giving person! She is often involved in multiple caring roles at home and outside the home! She offers herself and her body to conceive a baby, nurse a baby and care for the baby through childhood formation. 

This is  more than just giving, but self-giving !

A woman lives her vocation! As a married person, while becoming a mother she gifts her heritage to bring another generation into being! She makes all the adjustments through pregnancy to give the baby a home in her body first and later in the physical space of her home !

I have observed it closely in the way Anna welcomed her roles and transitions with readiness and cheerfulness!  

Is it not to a mother an infant or toddler returns when  he or she needs comfort and consoling! It is from Anna I receive all my support, encouragement and timely guidance for health and wellness! The way she offers that spontaneously, voluntarily and thoughtfully surprises me !

According to Carl Jung, every woman has a deep seated unconscious masculine  side which he referred to as animus. According this theory, a man has a feminine side to his life, which Jung advocated as anima.

The woman cultivates the masculine side spontaneously by accepting roles which help her to integrate her animus with her womanhood. I understand from my reading that a man does not integrate the anima as well as the woman who grows up with a wholesome view of gender roles. 

I remember reading about seven feminine Archetypes: The Maiden, The mother, The queen, The huntress, The mystic, The sage, and the Lover. 

How refreshing and revealing it is to think of woman through the optic of the above archetypes! The archetype is understood as primal image, character and inwardness of a person present in the unconscious' !

It is this foundational aspect of a woman that diffuses or disarms the male dominated gender infiltration that has got blended into different domains in our society!

When Ms Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand relocated to Australian recently,  there is a search for the reason. Many of us would remember that she was used to carry her baby to the cabinet meetings and parliament to nurse and care for the baby without interruption.  At one stage after she stabilised the country during the  corona pandemic, she stepped down from the office of the prime minister and did not even seek reelection to the parliament.  Her popularity in the electorate was high that that there was no threat for her continuity! 

But she chose motherhood and time away from politics. Is that the only reason, I do not know! 

But the fact she did what she did attributes a status to women in our society.   She knew enough to be in the 'power' of leadership and had the discernment to set side the position easily at an opportune time of her choice! 

Do we see such an ability to let go of 'power' in the male dominated political hierarchy?

Here in the instance of Jacinda, she represents an archetype of the  Mystic,  the Sage and the Lover. She behaved differently from the rest of the leaders! I sense that she loved her freedom to choose! She chartered her course in life ! The political compulsions or her party's future did not make her surrender her freedom to be herself!

A woman is one who is potentially able to be herself in vocation and mission in life with freedom to shift between her archetypal roles! 

What a regard we men ought to have towards women!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The wellness that radiates !

The above photographs of the cashew nut tree with different stages of  of the fruits tell us about the process and time associated with the formation. When one notices the different stages in the tree, at one time, it points to the way the tree attends to the different stages of growth. 

The soil is the home for the trees, bushes, creepers, plants and vegetables. The roots of these growing in different directions make a supporting structure to the trees and plants. The soil feeds the tress and plants and holds them upright above the soil surface. The holding power is strong enough to withstand the wind and storm. The soil feeds the trees and plants to bear flowers and Fruits. 

It was while visiting a family yesterday, Anna and I got yet another glimpse of the resilience of that family to withstand the disturbing events in their life. This elderly lady needs a support system to take care of her husband who is bed ridden with cognitive limitations following a road accident five years ago. The two care givers support her. She carries on with a full time job. Her three children live overseas. Recently she bid farewell to her mother-in-law at ninety three years. With the main care giver preoccupied with her domestic pressures was not available for about three weeks now. Yet the way she narrated her story of these experiences in a reconciling way surprised us! We felt that she was alone facing an intensely demanding responsibility and yet holding on in hope and trust about better times ahead! This professor is currently involved in organising a continuing medical education workshop at the college where she works. Her enthusiasm and strength amazed us. We did not sense a complaining or a disheartening spirit in her outlook to life. 

The tree in the above photo seems to be flourishing with flowers and

fruits. This friend of ours is also flourishing amidst the trying situations she faces. 

Each of us has a story and experience. Who we become as we go through life is what matters at the end! 

Anna and I were reflecting on our experiences in life during the recent years. Both of us live in our cottage in a village where our social support is minimum. Our domestic helpers are caring and thoughtful. We stay in touch with our children and grandchildren. We have some on line engagements with professionals related to our specialities. Both of us are well physically. We felt overwhelmed by gratefulness for the general sense of wellness we experience. I wondered if we communicate that in our conversations!

What the visit to our friend did was to open our eyes to the way she lives amidst the enduring experiences in her life! She was resilient hopeful and self-giving. She conveyed fullness of life amidst her trying experiences. 

The fullness in life is an inner orientation which transcends the realities of circumstances. 

The cashew tree in our garden is thriving and bearing fruits. 

Is our sense of wellness reflected in our being and doing to bring encouragement to others ? We returned home with this thought! 

Life is for living fully and giving graciously!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Communicating presence !

These flowers above in our garden tell stories of their distrinct features. The differences between them are many. But each of them is a flower with a colour, fragrance and delightful appearance. 

Every morning when I walk in the garden, I feel enthused by the confluence they bring to the garden. It is their togetherness which makes the flower bed a garden!

What makes a family?

I noticed two families next to our table in the restaurant when Anna and I had our evening meal yesterday. One family with their two children in early in childhood, seemed to lead the conversations in which parents participated. There was an atmosphere of openness and  communication. The children turned to us and smiled in between. The other family sat quietly and had their meal. 

During that half hour we noticed two patterns during their meal time. One family engaged each other in conversation during the meal and the other family ate their meal. 

This scene awakened within me two scenes that could be patterns in families. One family turned the meal time for fellowship and shared experiences and  in the other family each person seemed to confine to themselves. 

It is when each person is present to each other communicatively, the family life becomes a shared experience of joyful memories. It is when children grow up in that ambience they feel a traction to grow up relationally !

I did not notice the parents turning to the mobile phone in the family that engaged in  conversation. Both parents in the other family had the phone next to them, scrolling in between! 

The first family overcame distractions to be present to each other which brought a conversational ambience. The second family was distracted or preoccupied and not present to each other conversationally!

A family becomes relational only when becoming present to each other  conversationally is a pattern to build intimate relationships!

The garden is a colourful presence of flowers. 

A family is a place of communicating presence of all its members!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Promoting life on earth!

Our garden has an unusual colourful appearance now, with Lilies  blooming, where ever they were planted a few years ago. 

They have a story to tell through their silent presence. They through the blooming reveal the care, attention and nurture offered by the gardener who faithfully crafted its growth process. They are also a tribute to the nurturing soil where they are rooted. 

As I watched them in different places in our garden, they symbolised to me the human life on earth!

The recent escalation of violence leading to war between nations is the pathway for destruction and devastation! The sweat and toil of generations of families which erected symbols of human habitation and tilled the ground to produce food seem to be trivialised by the short sightedness of the leaders of global power. Do they seek destroying the fruits of human labour by a whimsical view of global affairs! One country seems to acquire the role of a global police patrol deciding the nature and destiny of other sovereign countries! The president of that country seems to by-pass the approval for war from the senate, which is the ultimate decision maker in such times in that country. 

The premier of another country advocating war and destruction represents a community who lost five millions of its countrymen during the second word war due to racial genocide. 

Another fragile nation still under attack by another neighbouring country seems to have offered to join the war to protect Europe! A nation under siege speaks of an aggressive approach, an indication of the instinct of aggression instead of pursuit of peace!

What disturbed many of us in India, was the silence of the government of India when Iran was attacked and its supreme leader killed by a deliberate act, although Iran was a friendly ally of India for decades. It was five days after the incident, the foreign minister of India sent message of sympathy from what I pick up from the news papers. 

Have we lost the mantle of pursuit of life on earth? Is not the world a place to allow diverse ideologies and traditions! Is it not through dialogue, consultation and persuasion we cause change! Is violence, force and imposition of might of military power befitting democratic norms and universal co-existence?  

I feel deeply shaken to know that soem countries perpetuate hatred of other nations and some sovereign leaders are hate protagonists. Even this can only be overcome by engagement, conversation and negotiation! Why has the United Nations Organisation become so silent that it announces its redundancy at such a time when its strength of negotiation ought our have been decide to avert this global crisis. Has it lost its feeling soul of the misery of people in the war zones! 

Do we have only a 'veneer of civilisation' as an insular superficial layer as Robert Bregman refers to it in his book, Human Kind ! Quoting, Gustave Le Bon, a French scholar, Bregman suggests that 'man descends several rungs in the ladder of civilisation' (p xiii and xiv). 'Panic and violence erupt and we humans reveal our nature'! 

The new realism that Bregman refers to is, 'That most people, deep down, are pretty descent' (p2).

If so, what we see in the attitude of leadership of some of the 'dominant' countries' is an exception and departure from the norm.

Where is the voice in favour of life on earth at such difficult times? While listening to the discussion in the House of Commons in Britain, I was reminded of the sensible reference of Bregman that most people are decent. I heard in the debate, voice of reason, caution, alarm and plea against war and aggression and a sense of anguish about loss of lives and  property. 

The flowers above represent to me all that is virtuous about human life on earth! 

I feel that the current war is against the epitome of virtue and not against evil! Who leads this league of nations into war! It is the president of a country who  withdrew from all global  humanitarian partnerships as soon he was elected to the office. He even abolished the need for compulsory state funded immunisation of children to protect children from infectious diseases. He introduced tariffs on trade transactions to harm other countries and for solitary gain of his country! 

I return to the flowers. They are fragile and yet they stay alive and colourful in spite of the heat and humidity of the day!

The flowers are resilient during their life time. Yet they fulfil their mission of presence!

It is to this bright prospect I return to pursue my thoughts! I feel challenged by the hymn about lighting a candle: 

" There is a candle in every soul

Some brightly burning, some dark and cold

There is a spirit who brings a fire

Ignites a candle and makes his home.

So carry your candle, run to the darkness

Seek out the helpless, confused and torn

Hold our your candle for all to see it

Take your candle, and go to light your world

Take your candle  and go to light your world.

So carry your candle, run to the darkness

Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn

Hold out your candle for all to see it

Take your candle, and go light your world

Take your candle, and go light your world..."

( A song by Chris Rice popularised by Kathy Troccoli 1995).

We currently live in the interface of war and peace, wondering when would peace be the language of the heart of those who advocate war and violence!

I heard about a devout person going to light a candle in the foyer of a busy mall, to announce his call for peace by singing the above candle song! 

That song resonates within me and gives me hope to look beyond the global turmoil. 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Living engaged and enabling!

I received a message today from Arpit, giving me a link to a citation on Dr Ulhas Jajoo,  who closed his term of service at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Seagram after forty eight years of uninterrupted service as a professor of Medicine. 

Jajoo and I were in the same clinical batch during our undergraduate days at Medical College, Nagpur. I got to know him and Abhaya Bunk, who stood out as two students hailing from families who had close association with Mahatma Gandhi and the freedom movement. 

As a student

Jajoo carried a zest for his studies as he had left his engineering course to join the medical college, when he felt persuaded by what he heard from a family friend who spoke to him about the need of doctors in rural India. What was special about Jajoo was to spend his evening hours in the ward joining with the residents for the evening rounds and participating in caring for the people admitted for treatment. He even picked up bedside procedures and communication skills by developing a habit of listening to the stories of people. He influenced some of us by his attitude of 'learning from patients and not just from class room lectures and books'. Our preparation for bed side clinics became interesting before the tutor arrived to lead the clinical discussion because Jajoo had insights about the patient that made us ready for an in-depth discussion with the tutor. 

Jajoo was an activist in the Medico Friend Circle. He would lead students to visit the slums nearby the Medical college, on week ends and take active part in education of its residents in hygienic living, nutrition, healthy practices, child care and abstinence from alcohol. I remember a few visits which made deep impressions about the stories of people hidden away, which do not get adequately attended to when they come to hospital for their health care needs. The attitude of friendly listening was Jajoo's style of learning! 

The hostel life was another experience that I recall because his room was a place of dialogue and engagement about life, its mission, health care, attention to people in disadvantaged position, justice and fairness in social life, etc. As students we heard his views with appreciation as he was a 'Gandhian' by attitude and practice   I felt influenced by his thoughts on practice of medicine as an opportunity for service.  

As a post graduate trainee

I felt a traction towards community medicine for which I had to go to B.J.Medical College Pune for my post graduate training. Jajoo was clear about his direction to pursue training in Internal medicine for which he joined at Nagpur Medical College. I overlapped with him for one year while doing my senior house surgency to stay eligible for training in child health if I were to return to it afterwards. During the six months in child health I remember occasions when I needed his help as the registrar in Renal Unit to care for children who had renal complications. It was then I recognised his thoughtful attitude and readiness to help, often going out of his way. 

I recall his presentations of clinical discussions in the weekly clinical meeting on Fridays, which was at the level of a consultant's knowledge  or experience. Jajoo thought and applied well in clinical interpretations and clarifying the clinical pathway of diseases and treatment approach. He excelled clinically and relationally. 

As a teacher and clinician 

Anna and I happened to overlap with him for about two years at MGIMS, Sevagram, when we worked there. I having completed my post graduation in community medicine joined the department whose head of the department was the director of MGIMS Dr. Sushila Nayyar. It was during that time Dr Nayyar was developing a general out patient service overseen by consultants from community medicine and other basic specialities with the help of interns. That was a brain child of Dr Nayyar greatly influenced by few others, one of whom was Jajoo. 

Jajoo was in communication with Dr Nayyar to foster a three tier system of health care- community level, general OPD services and speciality services.

The idea of family medicine was at the root of this perspective which involved orientation of this outlook to young consultants and interns. Jajoo argued, how important that interns learn in an atmosphere where primary health care approach is introduced to them ! 

What I saw at that time was how Jajoo innovated a health care insurance scheme for the people in villages, where, by donating grains during the harvest time as their insurance premium, they could get subsidised health care from the hospital. It was a popular and effective scheme which the hospital honoured. 

Jajoo visited the villages around the MGMS, more than any one of us from the community medicine did at that time. It was due to his alertness, an epidemic of Measles could be contained in  few villages. I remember being called to help in caring for children admitted with complications of Measles at his request, which opened an opportunity for me to be attached to child health department. It was during that time I felt a traction for post graduate studies in Child health, for which I left to Nagpur Medical College. 

Jajoo was a regular visitor to our home during our time at MGIMS, and a companion on dialoguing on issues of social medicine and distributive justice. I feel grateful looking back, because he influenced me to integrate child health care and community health practice. 

As a friend

Jajoo was one among the immediate circle of friends during my undergraduate days who helped me in clarifying issues on social medicine and family medicine practice. It was a delight to meet Jajoo's parents and visit their home.   They lived a simple life but were immensely hospitable. Jajoo's younger brother too was pursuing medical studies. 

Jajoo visited us in 1984, when Anna and I lived in Chennai in our pursuit to develop child development and rehabilitation services. Seeing the set of the Child Development Centre and the direction we felt inclined to follow at that time, although surprised him, he was enthusiastic to value the small beginning. This was at a time when the speciality of developmental Paediatrics was yet to take roots in any medical college in India. 

Jajoo himself being in pursuit of family medicine practice, which was at its pioneering phase, he could find space in his imagination to an innovative effort we were pursuing in child development.  

A recollection 

I confess that I have not been faithful in staying in touch with my class mates of undergraduate days, except a few. In fact I lost contact with Jajoo after our time in Sevagram. Although he would have expected us to return to MGIMS, Anna and I proceeded to CMC Vellore after my training at Nagpur in 1980. I have regrets for having lost contact with Jajoo and Abhay, who moved on to create new horizons in health care.  

But I remain grateful to Jajoo for his critical role in my formative years to influence me with sound thoughts on social medicine and distributive justice! 

As Jajoo closes his time at MGIMS and begins elsewhere to continue his contact with people to make a difference, Anna and I send our warm regards, grateful recollections and good wishes for health and wellness. 

You touched our lives and we are grateful!

M.C.Mathew ( text and photo of flower from our garden)