Where do I go!

It was a dark and quiet morning in our garden yesterday with no bird movements or bird calls. I kept looking for birds in the regular flight stations of trees and bushes. It was down cast, windy and the forecast was intermittent heavy rain during the day. With cyclonic storm developing in the Bay of Bengal, the forecast was, five days of heavy rain  fall. The pair of Bulbuls who come to our backyard for their fruit feed in the morning did not appear yesterday. The Magpie Robin who comes to the Bird bath corner also did not arrive. 

I looked up to spot any bird in other tall trees. That was how I noticed this Barbet, on the branch of a tree, that was swaying in the wind. I waited to see how this bird behaved in this inclement weather. Its still body and silence without the usual bird calls, suggested that it was looking out for a safe place to fly away. It did after a few minutes of me spotting it. 

During such a weather, we as humans have the safety of our homes. Yesterday, it rained heavily for a few hours in the morning and afternoon.  When I was in the Quiet room reading to edit the text that was prepared on Towards Parenting Readiness, a lightning struck and the modem stopped functioning. Later, when I took it to the technician he found out that it was the charger that was burnt in the lighting. 

That was when I realised the safety that we experience, by being indoor in a squally weather. That was not how it was for the feathered friends in our garden. They had to refrain themselves from their usual flight movements and finding feed for themselves. 

I happened to hear the story of a family yesterday, who has considerable difficulties with their pre-adolescent daughter, because of her cognitive and behavioural difficulties. She is not able to read or write although she is in a regular class room. Mother is the primary care giver as the father stays at work place. She has also to care for the two elderly people at home. She herself needed two surgeries and has few health challenges to adjust to. Her story sounded to be a narration of helplessness. I sensed in that narration a question, 'Where do I go'!

Then the question surfaced in my mind , 'What can I do'! The resource of resilience and availability was limited in that family. 

An isolated Barbet and a struggling family!

That was how Anna and I felt in 1995, when the rental house we lived in Chennai had to be vacated with the owner giving us fifteen days of notice. Our older son was preparing for his entrance examination for professional course which was about a month away. We searched for a house and did not find a suitable one close to where we lived.   

I used to go to MITHRA, a special school for children, once a week to help with their neuro-developmental monitoring. Sister Mary Theodore, who was the nun in charge of that facility, was a friendly and caring towards us. She would find time to greet me when I visited the school. A day before we were asked to vacate the house, when I was at the school, sister Mary said, 'you do not look well. Is there something I can do'! I happened to mention about not finding a house to move into. Her response was, 'come and stay with us till you can find a ouse'! We were given three rooms to shift our belongings and a bed room with attached kitchenette. We lived there during the next two months. It was during this time our son had to appear for the interview at CMC Vellore. Sister Mary's delight at the news of our son finding admission at CMC touched us immensely. She invited us for a meal and prayed for our son. 

Where do I go! It is a question that many of us live with due to our disturbing situations!

But the other question is, 'What can I do' is an important question! It was response to that question which we witnessed in Sister Mary Theodore's invitation to us to 'come and stay with us'!

I took time to dwell on this theme. Anna and I make an effort to keep in touch with some people regularly. During the recent transition after my retirement in June 2023, I was not so regular in staying in touch. A friend called yesterday, wondering about us as he did not receive any communication from us for two months. He was in the midst of his post graduate examination, and called to let us know about the successful completion of his course. It was reminder to us that a phone call is also something one can make. So this question, 'What can I do' opens up possibilities of doing something to help and support even when one is preoccupied !

We live in an environment, where we hear language of intolerance and indifference. 

All the more reason to light a candle of hope wherever possible to announce the message of goodness. 

We filled the bowl of bird feed with double portion than we do every day, thinking of birds who might need them on a rainy day!

Our life is a treasure of goodness! We need to trust in that and be an offering to others by our mindfulness!

M.C.Mathew  (text and  photo)