Butter cups and honey bees!

The butter cups are open only for three hours in the morning! The honey bees appear in the scene at the correct time! I find this timing surprising!

We too have an intuitive sense of timing! A friend told me that he strongly felt to call his friend at a particular time! When he called the found out hat his friend was desperate to talk to someone!

To have such a sense of timing is because of an inner sense of awareness which can grow within us as we develop the habit of interior vigilance and attentiveness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

During the mid day!

While on a holiday recently, I felt inclined to take photographs at different times of the day of this bunch of flowers. 

This picture of the mid day was captivating because the bright direct sunlight masked and distorted the colours ! When the bunch of flowers were hidden in the shadow of the adjacent tree, it had a gentle and visually appealing brilliance of its own! 

It brought home a truth that engaged my attention.

Each of us has our own unique personhood! We are often covered from the vulnerabilities of life by family, friends, mentors, etc. We need them for us to feel safe and secure when there are all kinds of pressures working on us all the time! To be exposed unprotected is a terrible experience!

It is a good practice to stay connected with others who feel for us and with us in times of stressful situations. We draw strength from others who carry us in their thoughts and convey solidarity with us in our times of need!

Above all, God is the guardian of our life!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Do not disturb me!

If Dulcie cannot be found and has not responded after calling her twice, it is a message to us, that she is wanting to be quiet or sleep. Her preferred position for her day time sleep is to lie underneath a chair! She developed this by habit!

Even a dog needs pauses from socialisation! 

Sometimes we crowd our days with activities that we forget that we need 'aloneness' !

It is necessary for us to learn to spend time with ourselves! It is to be a time when we enter into an inner conversation of gratitude, searching our thoughts, considering issues at hand, reflection on pleasant and difficult experiences, etc. Each of us has to grow in this attitude of friendship with ourselves!

Who am I! This is an ongoing search that we need to be engaged in! Our soberly view of ourselves is a result of such personal encounters! When we are in touch with our emotional and thought world we have better outer orientation and responses! God is the source of our being. It is when we are on a journey into ourselves, we get surprised by the consciousness of the presence of God in our lives!

Take time for 'Time Out', this is how we cultivate the habit of personal retreats!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Our view !

I was surprised to find how this fern tree presented itself differently depending upon from which side I looked at the tree- from the side of the Sun or opposite! The tree was the same, but views were decided form which angle I viewed the tree!

As I sit in meetings and listen to conversations which progress into arguments, I get a similar feeling. The differing arguments spring from the view of a person on a particular issue! Other views are also equally important for the discussion. But some in a dogmatic way overemphasise a perspective that it leads to misunderstanding or confusion! 

I too have a tendency to be biased... when one becomes conscious of it or when pointed out by someone who cares, it is necessary to step back and recompose oneself to be open to others as much as one desires for others to be open to me! 

A senior friend was in a habit of revising his opinion every time he was better informed! 

Our inner growth is conditioned by our openness... 'to do to others as we would have them to do unto us' !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Dew at night and hot during the day!

One of the first things that I look for when the sun rays fall on the leaves in the morning is for the dew on leaves! I find dew each day although it is decreasing day by day. 

The day time temperature has shot upto 38 degree celsius! It is too early to have the summer temperature almost daily! 

These are extremes in the rhythm of nature! This has affected our plants and the lawn. They have a 'burned out look'!

Yesterday in a conversation we covered this phenomenon of extremes in human behaviour! Recently there have been many 'hate' slogans during the electioneering in five states in India. We are yet to recover form the hate language used during the American elections!

Somehow we are loosing the art of moderate outlook to life and situations! There is a meeting point when there is a moderate view of life and events, unless it is an issue where a conviction rules our thinking!

One situation which reminds me of the loss of this moderation or consideration is on the roads! The heated arguments that motorists engage with each other is a call to turn our attention from education and employment to human formation!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Attitude to learning!

While visiting the Jew town in Fort Kochi last week, I found a few groups of students sitting in the road side and drawing the street scenes! I happened to talk to one of them about his exercise. They as students in training in visual art go to places to do this exercise to capture the sights in black and white. 

As I have some interest in photography, I am quick to capture whatever calls my attention! The is an unfortunate second nature, which can take away the art of appreciation and  engagement!

These students spend about three to four hours watching the same sights and create their expressions on paper. It is a meditative and reflective time to visualise the details and feel connected emotionally, socially and figuratively. This student mentioned to me that he felt so immersed in the architecture of a 100 years old building that he felt like being one among the original builders! He travelled far back into history to appreciate it in terms of the original setting when that building was built. He told me that he would have a lot of library work to do once it is finished to understand more about the style of the construction that existed 100 years ago!

All lasting and good things in life would need time and attention! There is a dimension of depth and profoundness to our understanding which comes only by patient engagement! We grow inwardly when we bathe ourselves in a patient pursuit of messages we can draw out from our multiple experiences! All the things of life have a formative impact in our lives!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Water birds!

The water birds have an alert presence all the time! As I kept watching these two birds who were near to each other, I found them in that still position for a long time. Even if they moved they just moved their neck from one direction to the other!

Every time I have an opportunity to observe similar water birds, what comes back to me is the message of presence!

I was listening to a friend the other day in the car park and my eyes and ears kept wandering to the sights in the street! He reminded me two times, 'Are you present with me'!

It is a common challenge for couples in their communication style!

Being present to the other is the only way to grow in understanding and belonging! Becoming present is both an art and attitude! All of us have a learning curve to learn to be present!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo) 

All in a few minutes!

Anna and I had a privilege of a visit from a good friend of thirty five years standing, Theo. We were little late to arrive at the Cherai Beach, near Kochi. We felt disappointed that the sun set had probably already occurred. 

But in less than ten minutes the sky turned brilliant with a glow that caught our attention. It lasted just for a few minutes!

There are times, when we can be overcome by discouragement or disappointment! This was a reminder to us, that season and situations can change if only we can be patient!

One challenge we live with in our times is the instinct for instant gratification! If only we can orient ourselves to this reality that most people who have eight scores or more years to the span of their lives were patient and steadfast! It is a missing dimension in the post modern philosophy of living!

Even a butterfly is willing to wait in its cocoon for several days!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Fig tree and fruits!

The first two pictures of a fig tree that Anna and I discovered in a village resort recently. It has large leaves and is spread out and is short in height. The fruits are in the main stem and its branches and not on the branches bearing thick foliage!

Another Fig tree we came across in Katherine and Peter's home a few years back had a different type of fig tree. Its leaves were different in shape and its fruits wee seen from all the branches covered by the foliage!The shape and texture of the fruit  too was different!

There are several dissimilarities, but both fruits belong to the same family!

It is one lesson I am learning all the time! As 'humans' we have a 'formed' character which is both inherited and acquired. Therefore all of us are different temperamentally and behaviourally! However as 'beings', we are similar with the potential to be moral, righteous, spiritual and God centred!There is virtue our 'being' brings to us as we are created beings in th likeness of God according to the Biblical teaching!

So we are different, but we are  beings of the same human family! Doesn't it create within us a greater regards and respect towards each other! We are called to a relationship of harmony and acceptance! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Summer Fruits in our garden during my childhood-4

There were two types of jack fruits in our garden in my childhood. They looked different in shape, size and taste. Anna and I discovered the two types while on a visit to The Village, a rural resort near Angamaly!

The first variety was often used as a fruit and the second variety seen in the second photograph was used for cooking purpose when it was still raw.  

Every home would have had one or two jack fruit trees with many fruits enough for themselves and for their neighbours. Even if one were to find the fruit in the market in those days it would cost less than ten rupees, where as jack fruits have become a crash crop now each costing about 150 rupees.  

During the last fifteen years there is plenty of interest in jack fruit as it is used in manufacturing biscuits, alcohol, chips, juice, halwa, etc. We visited a jack fruit emporium recently when we were told that there are about thirty different items made from raw or ripe jack fruit! There is a business prospect as jack fruit has now become a favourite fruit in different parts if India. It is exported now...

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Summer Fruits in our garden during my childhood-3

We had two varieties of mangoes in our garden during my childhood, 'kilichundan' and 'Muvandan'. 

The first in this picture described its shape in its name. The second was named for its frequently observed property of yielding fruits after three years of planting a sapling! Almost every home would have either or both  of these mango trees giving enough yield for a family. So these mangoes were not normally sold in the market. Those who did not have their own produce would receive a liberal supply form their neighbours! 

These trees were often in the edge of a property that the pedestrians could gather the ones which fell to the ground! I find this practice most fascinating! There was a social  camaraderie of great value those days! 

When Anna and I went for a mango festival during the previous season we found over 80 varieties of mango on display and for tasting!

There is plenty, but mango has become a costly fruit!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Summer fruits in our garden during my childhood-2

This fruit belonging to the jack fruit family is found in tall trees which is a high quality timber used in making furniture. Almost every house would have had a tree like in those days, deliberately planted and for using the timber after thirty or forty years! We had at least five in our garden. The two remaining was cut for timber two years back. 

Its fruit is similar to that of a jack fruit, but small with  pulp surrounding the seed arranged  in a neat fashion around a central stem! Usually the fruit was plucked and kept covered by hay for it to ripen. If left to ripen in the tree, birds and squirrel would go for them! 

As there would be hundreds in a tree, most of them were left for the birds! But its was a delicacy that I miss a lot now!It was not sold then or now!

Our neighbours could gather as much as they wanted from our garden!I could do the same! We had a prolonged season of this fruit for about four months!

I found this fruit recently in a tree of about sixty years at Bolgatty palace, Cochin!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Summer Fruits in our garden during my childhood-1

It was my responsibility to pluck the cashew fruits each day from our garden since I was a middle school boy.  We had about twenty trees, with a yield of about 100 kilograms of the fruits during the season. I looked forward to it each morning during the two months of summer recess of the school. I was not allowed to climb the trees, but I gave excuses to do so sometimes. Otherwise  a long bamboo pole with a hook at the end was good enough to drop the fruits. The pulp was given to the cows and the nut was dried in the sun. It took a week or so for the nuts to dry!

It was my mother who roasted the nuts in the fire and I used to help in shelling them. It was a daily activity in the evening. We had enough supply of the nuts to last for almost nine months!

All the trees had a natural death or were cut down when the land had to be used for other purposes. 

Four years back, when we returned to stay in our cottage, we planted one tree, which seems to be too slow to grow!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Road scenes-4

While on a walk around the mid day, I noticed this flock of sheep unaccompanied by a shepherd crossing the road outside the gate of CMC Vellore. The were not bothered by the traffic!

They crossed road seeing the foliage on the opposite side of the road. They stayed there  for a while grazing on the grass and feeding on the foliage!

This instinct for finding food is a desperate longing for animals.

There is scarcity of food and water due to a failed monsoon!

People walk long distances to fetch water and animals go searching for green pastures!

This is a common sight in rural areas.

I am not sure whether enough is being done by the government to ease the situation!

This calls for voluntary action! I noticed an elderly gentleman distributing bread and biscuits to sheep and dogs in the Vellore fort yesterday! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Road Scene-3

This  early morning scene in the streets of Vellore tells a lot about the mining of sand from Palar river! One is not certain whether it is authorised or not! 

While talking to a cart owner who transports sand from the river bed to a sale point mentioned to me that the river bed hardly has any sand left because of the rampant mining over the last twenty five years!

Our natural resources would get exhausted. The M-sand that is now available made from crushing granite stones is most popular in construction industry!

Nature's bowl of resources has limitations! There is a need to create a consciousness among children and young people that they become nature enthusiasts to preserve the resources of nature!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Road Scenes-2

A road roller is a familiar sight along the high ways. Either the high ways are widened or being repaired !

While talking to the driver who uses this roller to smoothen the surface of the road mentioned to me that it took him two years of rigorous training before he was allowed to use this roller on the main roads. It requires enormous skills to negotiate it! It is heavy to handle as well as it weighs several tons.!

It is a valuable equipment, but one needs skills to use it!A machine that weighs in tons is piloted by a driver because of his training!

Equipping ourselves with skills in each domain of our responsibility and involvement brings several advantages to us! Training is a process of advancing our capacity to lead and influence!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Road Scenes-1

This scene at Coimbatore was a special sight! To see an elephant being escorted along a busy road is not usual now-a-days as there are some restrictions about movements of elephants in public places.

So such a sight fascinated many who stopped their vehicles to have a closer look at the elephant!

Every time I sight an elephant, what surprises me most is the way it follows the instructions with ease. Some elephants go through three years or more of training before they are used for different purposes! 

It is a challenge to train an elephant, but it is also an art! When Anna and I visited a training centre of elephants last year we noticed that the training includes introducing obedience skills along with lots of compliments, praises and rewards!

The best response of  behaviour is brought about by complementing them!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Water at six feet!

While visiting the new campus of CMC Vellore at Kanigapuram,  7 kilometres away from its present campus, where a new hospital is being built, I found a pleasantly surprising sight !

Water at six feet, when excavated for pile foundation!

Vellore is a water starved area due to limited rain fall. This land which is at the foot hill of a range of mountains naturally receives the rain water from the hills. Although it is not a wet land, it used to be used for agriculture in the past. 

The hospital where Anna and I work now is through a season of scarcity of water. Only two tube wells dug recently out of five yielded water!

The ground water is the natural source for many! Its depletion can be a threatening situation!

Water conservation through rain water harvesting is successfully done in many places to restore the ground water level! It is one way of expressing our stewardship of our environment!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Foot path!

I have a fascination for foot paths. Whenever I sight one, I take  a photo because it symbolises to me the journey in life!

This foot path between bushes was captivating. It is on a hill connecting to the other hill with a gentle ascend.

As Anna and I were walking, we remembered similar paths in life!

We have been pressed upon by circumstances sometimes feeling lost in an ambush not seeing the path beyond!Such circumstances repeat themselves all the time!

Yesterday in a conversation, two students mentioned to me, 'we do not know what lies ahead after finishing the course in April'!

The path ahead has to be found through all the circumstances. The foot path gets created for others to walk on them, when we trustfully walk through the bush!

So we are often called upon to be path finders and show the way for others!

That is why life is both a mystery as well as an adventure! The mystery becomes a reality as we take one step at a time....!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

A driveway lamp!

Recently we installed few lamps along our drive way and the main gate. It makes the area brighter in the evenings.

It is Daffny who seems to take full advantage of this. From her kennel now, she has a full view of the compound in front!

As I sat watching what Daffny does in the evening once the lights are on, I noticed her sit alert watching all the movements in front of the gate!

How much a lamp has changed her behaviour in the evenings!

Each of us has a lamp within ourselves, a lamp which makes us see, hear, and feel about all that is around us. 

Jesus of Nazareth talked about this lamp, which is the light of our body! If the light within  us is darkness, how great is that darkness!

We can let this light within us enlarge our understanding by bringing into our consciousness all that is, 'true, honourable, right, pure, lovely, good repute, ...'(Philip.4:8)

The lamp within us is God Himself, who abides with us!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Early morning sight!

Cattle farming as a source of income is still popular in rural areas in the place where we live! We get our daily supply of milk from our neighbour who has three cows and several goats. 

It is a common sight to see the cows being led to the fields where they would graze during the day. 

I have vivid memories of my parents do the same when they were young. In fact one my favourite holiday activities was to take care of the cows and manually milk them in the morning and evening!

As I look back over those years when I had a close encounter with the demands of living in a farm, I feel grateful. To live close to nature and feed on the produce of the land have a special charm!

When we harvest papaya, pine apple, banana, custard apple, mango, jack fruit etc from our farm, there is a special feeling of gratefulness of receiving fruits from the earth! The earth was created for us to 'till and cultivate' according to the Genesis account of creation!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Learning macro photography!

This is the best of about thirty photographs I took in an attempt to get the flowers in focus in a macro mode with a 18-150 mm lens! That was not the ideal thing to do! I could have used a dedicated macro lens. I felt lazy to do so! I do not think that any of the flowers and leaves are in focus. 

It is now thirty years I have and my first camera. I started with compact camera and moved on to SLR cameras. After using SLR cameras for several years, I have now returned to using compact cameras. My recent experiment has been with mirrorless camera! I have only elementary knowledge of the physics of light and settings to suit light and exposure requirements. And yet, I like taking pictures because the pictures tell me a lot more than what I would have observed while looking!

Never mind, if the flower is not in focus! The desert rose is Anna's favourite flower. For that sake it was worth capturing a memory of the flowers in our garden which Anna planted and tended !

I was once again taken by surprise the web in the flowers which a spider was trying to create for itself! It reminds me of the challenges of living creatures!

It brings back memories of people, whose stories I hear at my work, of their challenges to live during  difficult times!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

An entertainment!

We spent an evening with some medical students recently.  One task they asked Anna and me to do was to separate the gems into different groups of similar colours. It was to be a race between us.

It was an exercise of entertainment even for us as the students watched us and made comments about each move we were making! It was more than hilarious!

It was one occasion once again,  we realised that students often seek for opportunities to draw closer to the faculty and make efforts to make connections. It is the faculty who ought to respond actively!

When I stop to chat with students they have something interesting to tell me! Yesterday one of them asked  me,' When are we meeting again for a social evening'!

M.C.Mathew(text)

Creative creations!

A former colleague, Sneha, a speech therapist made this simple teaching aid to help children get the number concept.

There is always something or other my colleagues do to make me wonder at the human instinct to create for the benefit of others. One recent activity is to create a 'Manual of Ideas', which would be a valuable handbook for parents to draw out ideas to engage children during play time! It is being planned as a book with many line drawings to make it easy for parents to follow the idea!

I enjoy going to work because there would be something interesting and surprising almost every day!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Just one bird in sight!

Anna and I spent a day in a mountain resort recently.

During our morning walk to the summit of a hill, we noticed this bird flying alone! There was no other bird in the vicinity! We watched this bird for a while till it vanished from our sight!

It was a sight of some significance.

Each of us has to make this 'lonely' journey through life!

Most of useful feel alone in this journey sometime or other!

It is on such occasions we could remember that when we make the solo journey we might be showing the way for others to follow afterwards!

The forerunners carry a responsibility to show the way!

Jesus of Nazareth was one such person who showed us the way of caring for our neighbour through the story of Good Samaritan!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Following a Tree Pie!

I decided to wait where I spotted this bird to observe how it adjusts to my presence! Although the bird was about fifty or so meters away, it noticed me and kept looking at my movements! When I moved from my position to get a better view, it flew away!

I have a feeling that it is the same bird that has been visiting our garden every day during the last week! 

Most birds have a territorial habit and frequent places that they feel as 'their own'!

I realize from some recent  experiences that birds feel at home only when they do not have too many changes in the environment! It is an effort to create bird friendly environment! But it is worth it!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Birthday occasion!

Every time we have a birthday gathering in the department, where I work, it is an occasion of much excitement! The conversations and anecdotes shared are fascinating! It brings a refreshing touch to our conversations and communication style ! Remembering others on their special occasions is a gift we can bring to them!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)  

Circle of light!

I had not noticed the circles of light around the half moon till I photographed it early in the evening! Nature is full of surprise sights!

M.C.Mathew(test and photo)

Artistic excellence!

This elephant looked live and standing still from distance ! It took a few moments for us to recognise it as a masterpiece of art!

The traditional craftsmen  in the state of Kerala are extremely talented! Their creative spirit is highly advanced! Whether it is the small handcrafted items or creations like this, the craftsmanship is highly commendable!

There is a serious threat to such forms of art creations as younger people do not continue the family occupation of such art forms as the income generated is not good enough and it is not always a prestigious occupation! 

While art is an expression of human creativity, it does not receive due recognition nor those engaged in such creative work receive rightful recognition! I wish this would change!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Wayside sight!

A tree own our way to Church is full of these flowers! There is hardly any leaf!

It was a good sight while we were on our way to church.... The words of Jesus of Nazareth recorded in John's gospel 15 came to my mind. ' I am the wine and you are the branches... '

There is an inherent character to human life. God makes our lives to to be a 'light'!

This tree is full of blossoms!

Our calling calling is to be full of light that ....light is most desirable when there  is darkness around!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Morning sun in the winter!

I find it fascinating to watch the sun appear in the horizon in the morning and the way it lights up the meadow covered by the night dew! There is added brightness and glistening appearance  to the grass during that twilight period! It is a short lived sight before the sun fully brightens up the meadow and the rice field!

While watching this twilight period yesterday, I became even more conscious to discover as how events and experiences unfold in our lives! Almost everything happens in their rhythm and pace although they escape our attention or consciousness!

There are dark seasons and experiences in our lives.... we wait for the sunshine of hope to lift our spirit!

A husband who came resigning his job to support his wife who was going through a difficult time at work told me yesterday that he is going through a sense of hopelessness, because he could not change the situation at home! His pain was evident in his face!

All of us to wait for respite, can live in this hope that the twilight and bright sunshine are still in the horizon!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Daffney's visitor !

I find this squirrel on this tree in the same position regular in the mornings! It took a while for me to find an association! Daffney from her kennel notices the squirrel and follows all the movements of the squirrel! It is when I noticed this, I realised that there is a language of communication in nature. Daffy resists the visits of cats or other dogs! But she seems to be fond of birds and squirrels!

I wait and watch this silent communication whenever I sight the squirrel!

When a baby is born, one of the earliest communications between the baby and the mother is, 'looking at each other'. The baby feels drawn towards the mother and the mother feels emotionally awakened! In fact there is enough proof that the mother would have more milk when such  a silent communication takes place between the baby and mother!

There is a lot we can offer to others when we look at others! Our first gift to others before a conversation can start is our look... gentle, open and thoughtful looks bring nearness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)  

Wings to Fly!

As I watched this Herren fly I kept following its flight for a short distance through the camera telephoto lens. Its wings would flap and stop at regular intervals. While not flapping it seemed to float easily without loosing height! Its body remained still while floating!

It brought back many memories of my personal journey! I have had some challenging times in the last one year having to exercise efforts to move through the maize of events which took me by surprise. I moved from one event to the other without enough respite or recovery time! 

The 'resting' time is not an automatic experience, but deliberately created by an inner volition. The need to bring an interior orientation of freedom from anxiety or preoccupation is a gift we can bring to ourselves. It is when I came to this awareness, I had a better consciousness to use the available time to call the mind to rest! 

One sign of a preoccupied living is that we are less conscious of events beyond ourselves or of people  with whom we are normally in contact!

A sign of inner rest is, there is more ease and comfort as well as light heartedness with a mood of seeing others through the optic of acceptance and thinking soberly of others and life events. !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)