Flower in complexion of colours!

It was when I spotted this flower with a blend of colours, I became even more aware of the 

colours of life!

Each of us carries within us a complexion of personalised trends and patterns.  Friendship  is an opportunity to explore this spectrum of humane nature we carry within ourselves. 

I wonder whether we give value to friendship beyond a utilitarian purpose. Friendship is an occasion to celebrate life which we share with each other and to grow in gratefulness towards God who is at work in our lives to make us open to become gracious people. 

To be gracious is a virtue and a vocation.

Someone parked the car obstructing the passage that delayed two of us to take out our car. When the person who did this discovered this, he apologised profusely. I could sense in the tone of his voice and demeanour, how regretful he was. I felt touched by the genuine apology, something unusual on the road. I found out that he too was a doctor who works in palliative care. He carries the pain of terminally ill patients. He was alive to the inconvenience he caused to us. 

I drove back home thinking that this delay of few minutes brought a gain to me- I met a caring person who felt for others!

What an inner temperament to grow into!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Flowering trees!

Mango trees normally flower in December and give fruits in Summer. The nutmeg trees flower normally in July and give fruits in summer. 

Now that the seasonal changes have been unfavourable to the trees , it looks like that they are adapting!

It is not likely to be good enough for trees as temperature, humidity and soil conditions which are required to be optimum, cannot be maintained if the trees flower early or later!

The environment is changing! 

Humans do not pause enough to review their life style and mode of living!

I wish, we can survive a disaster!

M.C.Mathew (Text and photo)

 

Kitchen garden!

 After a few attempts, Anna has been able to get the kitchen garden bear fruits!

One interesting thing about the kitchen garden is that it is possible to make it as organic farming, as lots of support are available from the agricultural department!

So we still have butterflies and dragon flies in the garden as we do not use insecticides.

 M.C.Mathew(text a photo)

A dying coconut tree!

The farmers in our area are loosing coconut trees before of their natural life span! The agricultural scientists are active to fond a remedy for this premature loss!

In most coconut farms, one can see some trees turn yellow; first it is the loss of the coconuts before they are ready to be plucked, then it is the stunting of growth and then the leaves turn yellow followed by the leaves falling off and the stem drying up.

I have ben talking to farmers in our neighbourhood who had a tearful story to tell me. Those who have been serving on growing pineapple, tapioca, and banana have suffered huge loss as following the pandemic as the sale price dropped well below the cost of production.  Most of them have borrowed money form the bank and are not able to return it. So chance of borrowing further form the banks! The poultry farmers are also in agony as the feed cost has gone up by thirty percent and the price of the meat has not gone up proportionately!

I hear stories fo sadness and loss and I keep wondering whether it has come to stay. The fuel prices have gone up by thirty percent in rtes last three months which  has made the taxi drivers suffer loss!

I sense that it has been a season of losses for most people during the last two years. 

Amidst the losses, there might be stories of hope and peace!

One family sent me a message of how they as a community has decided to take care of people who have many challenges. This volunteer group has about fifty members, who share about three hours of their time once in a week. They function like a buffer in the community!

If only each of us can be more mindful, we would turn this opportunity into a caring opportunity!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

On the Sunday morning!

 A garden is panoramic and offers themes to meditate upon!

I felt drawn towards t theme of 'clusters and singles' during my visit to the plants. It was after five days there was a dry spell at dawn to visit the plants. 

There are flowers in clusters and in singles!

The flowers in clusters turn the plant into a contrasting appearance from its foliage. The single flowers by their brilliance shine forth!

Both of these types of plants make a garden! 

There are those who like to work in a team and some others are soloists! Both groups make their contributions! 

Each of us choose the way we live and work! The flowers bring cheer to the beholders! If the way we live and work can bring cheer to others, that is what matters in the final analysis!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Weekly clinical meeting!

Dr Vinitha Varghese, consultant in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from Bangalore Baptist Hospital visited us recently!

It was Vinitha who initiated an interdepartmental clinical meeting once a week, on Child development and Rehabilitation on a TEAMS platform about six months ago. Now that it has been regularly held every week with three departments from other institutions participating, it has become a learning resource for the professionals. 

For us in Developmental Paediatrics, it is a refreshing experience. We conducted a clinical meeting fortnightly for about a year in our department for the professionals in our imitation. But it did not proceed to have the desirable benefits. 

This weekly meeting is emerging into a forum to explore critical issues that affect child development of developmentally challenged children. I hope it would evolve into an online learning support for professionals!

Thank you Dr Vinitha for your interest and initiative! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Looking and finding!

I realised yesterday that many things happen in the garden. Often they go unnoticed!

Each of the photographs above gave me a refreshing experience of the quiet events in the garden. They are noticeable only when we go closer to look out for them! A closer look is not what is not common for me. I walk and proceed. This time I paused to behold!

I noticed something interesting in each of the flowers that I would have missed unless I went closer to them. 

In a conversation with a colleague whom I happened to meet in the car park, the conversation was all about work. The easiest conversation between people is about work and work related matters. That is an escape route from self disclosure. 

I wondered whether I reveal more of my thoughts or feelings in conversation. It is comfortable to relate to others at a thought level. At thought level, I can engage with others at any subject matter. At a feeling level, I draw people into my inner world of comfort and discomfort, which is one way of sharing more about myself and inviting others to reveal more of themselves. 

We remain confined to ourselves as long as we insulate ourselves by our thoughts and opinions; we open up ourselves when we share little more of ourselves with others, whom we can trust, about our joys and hurts which we experience. 

To be close to a few in trust and acceptance is the only way we allow ourselves to be  directed by resonances and exploring questions, which can clarify and demystify what we find  difficult to process. 

Look out for such people who can become companions to our inner world of events and experiences for us to find the clarity we need to interpret and integrate experiences. We are humans because we are created for relationships. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)