I got out into the courtyard while it was still dark today to check on Dffney, who is convalescing after an infection which made her weak and kennel bound!
My eyes fell on a small rose bush in our garden opposite the kennel. It had seven flowers and one bud!
That sight was a symbolic of 14th September, 2012 when Anna and I joined MOSC Medical College at Kolenchery.
In fact, 14th September happens to be the hospital day, and this year it is the fiftieth year of the hospital which is being celebrated with many events.
For Anna and myself the last seven years was a journey of learning abut life, living, and working in health care in the state of Kerala, which was different from all the experiences we had elsewhere in three states in India or overseas.
For Anna it was becoming part of the pharmacology department and contributing to the continuing medical education initiative and beginning the Institutional Review Board, leading to considerable research activity among medical students. Now Anna is involved in helping to introduce the new medical equation plan of learning for medical students. The innovative hands on practical learning with computer and laboratory based approaches is unfolding in her department. Anna found immense satisfaction from her association with about forty research projects with more than half of them already published in journals. The team of other pharmacologists in her department are her cordial companions in this journey!
As for me, the Developmental Paediatrics and Child Neurology department is hopefully beyond its infancy the end of seven years. The highlight of this experience is the array of services this facility offers to children and parents. Although we ought to be a team of 12 people, we rarely had eight professionals at any one time. Excepting for four of us, the average time other professionals spent in the department was one year, all of them leaving following their marriage. This arrival and departure rhythm would normally dislocate services, but I marvel at the way all the professionals adapted to the needs of children and family to improve the repertoire of services we offer. The five strands that evolved by the seventh year are: child development services, Learning support services, academic initiatives, partnership programme and family support perspectives.
The rose bush is the smallest of all the rose plants in our garden. Out of curiosity I looked at all the other rose bushes. None of them had more than three flowers or buds this morning. There is abundance of life in that small rose bush as there at least three other tiny buds in formation!
The seven year is the jubilee year for the jewish people according to the instructions given to them in the book of Deutronomy in the Old Testament of the Bible. The jubilee is to celebrate the fruits they received from the land and to give rest for the lant from cultivating for one year. They were to live one year from the produce of the land gathered during the seven years. They were also required to cancel the debts others owed to them. This is an invitation for gratefulness and mindfulness!
Now that we crossed the seventh year in the department where I work, what inspires me is the one bud in the rose plant. The eighth year is before us! The eight year follows on the seventh year when jubilation and rest was the theme. The eight year is the beginning of a new phase of sowing, planting and gathering of fruits. That is an invitation and an opportunity!
For Anna and me the last seven years was eventful- relocation from Vellore; coping with my cardiac surgery; upkeep of the property and the cottage; some stressful experiences during my association with the governing board of Christian Medical College, Vellore; losing professionals and finding new ones; growing older with several adjustments to make...!
We found all those challenges bearable because both of us found our colleagues in our departments caring and cordial.
The families of our two children and five grandchildren blessed and delighted us in several ways.
With the blurring of vision in one eye following keratitis during this week, I sensed that the three habits I enjoy most, reading, watching sights of nature, children and people, and photography would suffer!
So the eighth year would also throw up some challenges !
Th rose plant with seven flowers and one bud is rooted in the soil. So it shall flourish.
To grow in that consciousness that we belong to God 'in whom we live, move and have our being' is both anchoring and restful!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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