Opportunities during a storm!

The wind was strong in our garden in the late afternoon, a few days ago. The cloud had gathered in the sky. There was a cacophony of birds in our garden, which is the way they announce an impending storm. The swaying of the coconut trees in our garden worried me as they are about seventy five years old.  Soon it started to thunder with lightning. That added to the fury of the wind.

As I looked beyond the compound wall in to the paddy fields below, there was a flock of white Ibis, feeding on the field, least affected by the storm and darkness that was setting in. 

We are immersed in a climate of many adverse situations- spread of COVID 19, racial unrest in some parts of the world, a humanitarian crisis-people without jobs or sick people not getting beds in hospital or migrant workers in distress, increase in suicides etc.

I feel disturbed by these. In the midst of these, the national TV channel, NDTV has been engaged in fund raising for humanitarian responses of the organisations like Save the Children, World Vision, Indo-American Association, etc who are active with multiple activities to sustain life.

A ström is not a reason to step back or retreat. A storm is an occasion to be proactive because storms do bring distress and displacement.

I listened to a family yesterday who welcomed a child in adoption. The elderly parents are overcome with several specialness of the child. With restrictions on children below ten years from moving out of their homes during this season, the family sounded helpless!

This is a new experience for most of us. To learn to live during a storm!

The Ibis are on the ground. The ground gives them food even during a storm. 

Most of us are adapting to live. I wish we can be story tellers of our ways of living during a stormy season to bring encouragement to others. 

I have turned to writing during this time as a resource to recall the stories of my life.

I remember a storm in my life in 1966. I had  prolonged viral hepatitis during the year because of which I had to get exemption from participating in the NCC training which was compulsory at that time. Although I was given exemption by the college, the Nagpur university did not honour the exemption at the time of publishing the results. My result was withheld and all representation failed. I had to repeat a year of study. I felt devastated and took most of the year to recover. I was fortunate to get good marks in the next examination to qualify for studying medicine in 1967.

What helped me during that time was the warden of the hotel, Fr Lawrie Fernandes, who kept encouraging me to look at the opportunity ahead. I was rescued from giving up.

A storm is a time to think of others who fall during a storm. 

The coconut trees survived the storm, but a nutmeg tree, a teak tree and a bread fruit tree fell during the storm. 

I come across the stories of people who feel down cast by the storm of unemployment! An elderly person who came searching for a job yesterday, had not worked for two months! He is now repairing all the cane chairs at home.

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)