Left handedness!

One of the challenges I face in my work is helping parents to accept the left handedness of their children. There are physiological reasons for them to choose left hand as the dominant hand for activities of daily living. It can be also because of an insult to the left side of the brain that a child is forced to use left hand. 

In either case the family, neighbours and all those who watch a child use the left hand feel pressured to force a child use the right hand even when a child is conditioned physiologically or due to an insult to use the left hand!

I have been keen to find the reason for this compulsive insistence for a child to use the right hand for daily living activities. The best explanation I have so far come across is that culturally we are made to to think that the left hand is a 'dirty hand' and the right and is the 'good hand'!

Many children who have clumsy handwriting or struggle to eat from a plate without spilling are those who were originally destined to be left handers but made to use the right hand from early childhood. Even after years of efforts they have not been able to master the dexterous skills with the right hand!

I wish parents, teachers and rest of us would be freed form our cultural bondage and release children to use their preferred hand with no interference or prejudice !

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

Slender and strong!

The monsoon season is a time to find some surprises in nature!

I found a spider web held strong to this plant  inspite of wind and rain. The other end was at a five feet distance. The spider was still in the process of completing its mission.

What apparently looks to be slender and fragile can also be resilient and strong.

There is the strength of power, which those in authority and position lord it over others. There is also the strength of conviction, which can stand up to power and control. The stories of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Mother Teresa illustrate this. 

What appears slender and weak externally can be otherwise because of inner courage of conviction!

To such belong the opportunity to initiate change for the benefit of others! The Right To Information Act, which is a restraint against corruption is one such social change which came in to being because some activists relied on their conviction! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Colours and designs !

I am fascinated by what we can find in different plants when we look at them with a sense of wonder!

There is almost all the colours of a rainbow beautifully displayed in the leaves of this plant.

The design of leaves is similar but distinctly different when we compare  the leaves.

I was reminded of meeting I attended recently where those present differed in their opinions on an important issue. However at the end of a long discussion it was evident that the differences were minimum, but they were only different opinions essential to understand a complex issue. 

It is in the whole there is completeness. It is in the different opinions, we discover the spectrum of truth and opportunities!

The colours and designs are good symbols of the richness we possess in our collectiveness!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Flowers that last !

The flowers from this orchid plant lasts a month or more once fully bloom. In fact even in  flower vase it lasts three weeks or more if we take care of them well!

Flowers are known to be fragile! But it does not mean that they are brittle or devoid of a character. Some flowers defy the wind and storm and stay in the stalk without any sign of stress. I noticed this in these flowers in our courtyard.

This brings home the strength it is endowed with! It is the fragile and the weak the creator God has endowed with greater enduring capacity.

St Paul in his confession did say that, that ' It is when I am weak, I am strong'! It is in our weakness our strength is enhanced. It is when we are in quiet acceptance of of our exhausting resources God adds more resourcefulness to our lives!

The water drops remaining on the petals for a long time after rain is an illustration of how the flowers receive protection from a sudden exposure to the bright sunlight after a rain!

Our lives are protected because God watches over  our lives!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Monsoon sights-10

The rich green of the lawn and the  rain washed vegetation  provide a bright look to the garden in front of our cottage. The plants thrive during this season, so also the weeds. We cannot get rid of the weeds however we try. So we ignore them and provide more care to the plants! Plants live longer and the weeds only for a short time!

We need to choose where we invest! Should it not be on what would last ..!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Monsoon sights-9

In between the spells of rain the honey bees come searching for its food! They are overcomes!

The natural instinct of all humans is to overcome and not give up!

MC.Mathew(text an photo)

Monsoon sights- 8

It is our first attempt to grow orange! There is hope considering that these oranges are still holding on inspite of storms and incessant rains!

Flowers and fruits are signs of life. Let us celebrate life for it is gift given to us for living in fullness !

M.C.Mathew (text and photo0