The Pachalur visit!

I was able to spend three days at Pachalur, a hill station near Oddanchatram, during this week, to be with a group of medical students and doctors for their conference. It was after a long time I had this opportunity to be in such a group. I felt enthused by the sense of enquiry that most students carry in their thoughts about the way they can live purposefully as students and prepare themselves for serving altruistically when they become doctors. 

I felt encouraged with their expressions of thoughtfulness and kindness towards me. I was oldest among them. The group crossed the distance of generation gap, through friendly gestures and conversations that gave me a sense of comfort about their journey path now and their hope for the future. I felt at home as they were open to thoughts and views about learning to live in an integrated way, with an inner awareness of who they are and whose they are. The godly orientation to their choices and thoughts inspired me! 

The nature scenes impressed me as the rolling hills and planes had a charm of their own. 

The picture of some of the birds above, which I spotted, added to the pleasant experience of this visit. The birds showed a different behaviour in their flight than what I notice in the birds in our garden. They have tall trees and thick foliage in their flight path. They cover  short distance in their flight. I found some birds, the tree sparrows in shrubs, feeding on nectar. 

The ambience of the hills is quiet and free of tall buildings and structures. The birds therefore are used to living uninhibited. I heard their bird calls distinctly and loudly in the still ambience. The reciprocal bird calls were usual.

I had an opportunity to meet with a few friends who live at the Christian Fellowship hospital at Oddanchatram and and Ambilikai.  It was a delight to meet with some faculty from the Christian Medical College and Vellore. The professionals associated with the Evangelical Medical Fellowship of India refreshed me as they carry a genuine thoughtfulness to help and support the medical students and doctors in their formative journey. I realised that in the year 2024, the EMFI would be in its 50th year. 

My thoughts went back to the inaugural conference when the EMFI was formally formed after four years of formative process, which began in 1970. It was following the visit of late Dr Frank Garlick to the Nagpur Medical College, after he resigned from the Christian Medical College, the prospect of forming a fellowship of medical students and doctors was activated. The first conference in 1972 at Madras initiated the momentum for the formation of the EMFI. That conference was a significant step to explore the way a formally constituted fellowship forum can undergird the medical students and doctors to pursue their vocation. 

I look back to the days of the preparation for the first conference, when I was in the final year. My class mates used to wonder whether I was giving more attention to the conference than to the final year examination. They returned to greet me when the results came. Having done well in the examination, my class mates thought of it as a favour of God upon my life! That was a good opportunity to have had feeling of gratefulness for friendships with my classmates, which meant a lot to me, as they kept a vigil on me and my preparation for the final year   examination. 

This visit to Pachalur filled me with memories and recollections of turning points in those years and association with the formation of the EMFI. Dr Sam David, the general secretary while I was still in the committee of the fellowship sent me a long letter of recollections of those formative years. Meeting with Sam and Sarah enhanced the richness of this time. Dr Suseel Tharien, who was a medicaL student at CMC Vellore at that time, is the current chairman of the EMFI. Meeting him and Valsa brought another wave of memories within. 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)