Anna and I happened to meet Mrs Anu Mammen and Mrs Valsa Augustine (Photo below) at St John's Church Vellore three weeks ago after a marriage service. They were friends whom we met at the church during the Sunday morning services during our time at Vellore from 1997-2008.
Valsa had made the flower arrangements for the marriage service on that day. The floral ambience made the church look lovely and welcoming to greet the bride and bridegroom. Anna and I enjoyed the beautiful and aesthetic floral arrangements with such attention to detail. Later after the service we met Anu Mammen who was complementing Valsa Augustine for the floral arrangements.
Anna, while expressing her admiration for the floral arrangements, recalled how Anu had provided the floral arrangements at the church for the weddings of both of our children. They commented on the beautiful flowers available in Vellore now compared to twenty years ago when flowers had to be ordered a few weeks earlier from Bangalore. Now the flowers are available from local vendors who order them and bring them from Bangalore.
As I was listening and taking in the conversations, I remembered how Anu had volunteered to make flower arrangements for so many of the weddings of the CMC campus families. Anu moved to Calcutta with her husband, Dr Mammen Chandy, after his retirement from CMC Vellore, wher he was the founder director of the Tata Cancer Centre, They had only just returned to live in Vellore recently. After Anu moved, Valsa stepped into that gap and offered her skills of floral arrangements to families who sought her help for wedding flower decorations. Valsa still continues her professional work as a psychologist at Karigiri hospital and is actively involved in the leadership of Transform 4 Life.
It was such a happy occasion for Anna and myself as in met with our friends recollected happy times, shared anecdotes and listened to each other.
Friendships bring refreshment and memories of shared experiences bring a sense of belonging and gratitude that we can cherish.
There were other friends whom we met after a long time. We had initially thought of living at Vellore after our retirement from CMC Vellore. But we are now living in the cottage which my parents bequeathed to us.
It is during the last eleven years as we have lived here, we have experienced new experiences which added that have blessed and enlarged our lives.
In fact this photo blog spot where, 3734 posts have appeared during the last ten years is one of those new experiences!
I feel grateful to Anna who encouraged me by creating this blog-spot and made possible this way of writing about our experiences and inner experiences. I feel surprised that I have been able to be fairly regular to share reflections in this blogspot!
M C Mathew (text and photo)
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