Gerento-Tourism - On Earth Day encountering 'back-to-the-elements' truth

Happy Earth Day!  April 22, 2024

After exploring scenic tourism, development tourism, agri-tourism, edu-tourism, pilgrim tourism, it was now my turn to do a gerento-tourism.  With the short time, available I went around four districts and about 400 kilometres to meet with the elderly in my circle. 

Had a long day starting with my young IITian yoga tutor online. Then putting my privileged room in the provincial house back to order. I managed to reach Vimalayalam and spent some 'quality' time with Aetty. Sr Sophie, Dr Sr Alphonsa etc gathered around. Aetty was going about carrying a pack of medicines, and cribbing about no one to help her out with the application of the eye drops. Sophie examined and found that 3 of the small plastic dispensers were all empty and she had a new one along. Now she suspects. Perhaps, my endorsement makes it easier for her to let go! I unwrap the packed new ones, there are 2 of them. 

I agree to have a lime juice lest Aetty intervenes and creates a mess. She is under control today. Sr Alphonsa, the only doctor of the congregation is energetic, and tries to reason it out with Aetty.  Aetty is unhappy, as she has no (health) problems, but because of her sight & hearing impairment, she is not able to do what she wants.  I  point out to her the examples of people who have nothing, and the many things we have that we take for granted. I tell her about our former provincial Bp Gregory who has gone blind, and at 90, the congregation didn't feel like experimenting with a treatment costing around 30 lakhs, with no guarantee of eyesight restored, but he leads a cheerful life. And I challenge her to take up her daily cross for the millions who are even much worse disposed. And she kind of swallows in and doesn't refute.  I also tell her about the status of Vellichayan.  Apparently, she was put to ease...Don't know for how long! She is comforted to learn that Vivek and Annie are doing well. 

We have plenty of kisses and hugs. I should have said a prayer. We force a smile on her to take a pic. I insist her not to come down and she is ok with it.

Next time, if possible, I hope to find time to visit her and join the community celebration of the mass. 

I also meet Sr Eliamma, Sr Thressiamma who all gracefully greeted me and enquired after the rest of my brothers and sisters. 

My visit to Vellichayan was fine. Vellichayan was found to be healthy physically. When Aji asked if he knew Prashant achan, he agreed.  But when he asked about who this was,  he was unable to place.  That is not a very happy experience though. 

This time, I had many such visits. At Muvattupuzha, I met Fr Gallus, 90+, almost confined to room, and bed, but still able to move about.  There was Fr Joachim, former energetic prior of Thevara & manager of the press - he appeared ok for his age, Fr Kuriakose, a silent but persevering missionary who used to trek the several miles to KAITHAPPARA Sunday after Sunday for several years - he is almost bedridden. Then there was Fr George Kalambukatt, who was of a younger lot, in early 70s, but suffering from memory loss. He spoke normally and gave the appearance of having recognized me. 

Thereafter, at Chethipuzha, Changanachery I found our former rector and general, Rev. Dr Mampra Thomas. He struggled to respond, but was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open.   I recall his glorious days as the powerful rector of Dharmaram college, due to his unexpected raids of our sections to instil discipline, we used to call him 'ripper'. I met the very powerful and musically inclined Fr Vempala, who made Christ, Trivandrum, a welcoming community, the tradition continues to this day.  There are very cheerful ancient presences like Fr Ludovicos (whom our friends used to call with the addition, mar Malpiduthabava) who appeared lean and strong past his 90s. Similarly, Fr Sebastian Pinel, who was keen and eager,  supported by his Walker.  I connected him with his batchmate, the great scholar Agastya (Thottakkara) of Kochi. I also met Frs Ignatius Prakuzhy, Joseph Puthenpura, John... of the twins.  Puthenpura was very vibrant, was active and appeared well on his way to normal life after his latest tryst with a heart attack. My former scripture professor Rev Dr Antony appeared very energetic for his age.  Many of them were casting votes in the election with the new provision for those elderly to cast votes at their own residence.    

At Karukutty, I felt blessed to have spoken with Fr Jose Koluthara my guru, a radically creative spirit. I tried to comfort him saying that his mantle of creativity has been taken over with great gusto by my confrere and his disciple, Rev Dr Varghese Panthalookkaran. He appeared much better than what the reports about him said. We spoke for about 8 minutes.  I was consoled to find him in a much better shape and spirit than I had expected, though he is in need of a wheelchair now. I had a longer chat with the bible scholar Fr Palatty, who appeared ok, though he is in need of assistance. The great liturgiologist Rev Dr Pathikulangara was there, almost confined to room and bed, still fully conscious and able to eat, read and speak.  He even manages to check his WhatsApp messages. 

At Thevara, I met the evergreen Fr Austin, who was and is and shall be at Thevara - student,  teacher, manager, senior citizen, college mentor. past 85 and an open heart sugery, he seemed to underscore the commitment to life. I told him that I was visiting older people all over, but didn't visit him, as he was still young. We had a hearty chat! 

But before all that, on the very day of my arrival,  I had started with Fr Alex, my professional mentor, who in his mid-eighties and after an angioplasty almost 20 years ago, and a stroke a few months ago, is still maintaining an office schedule - occupying himself as the finance director of the huge Rajagiri Hospital.  Others in the combat were Fr John Thekkekkara, who is able to move around, but is requiring assistance, Fr Pynadath another giant in the field of school education of our province, is now gone thinner, and hence able to manage himself better and his assistant also is able to help him better. He appeared fresher, leaner, more graceful, but unable to speak as he had undergone a tracheostomy some 3 years ago.   Fr Mathew Vattathara, with whom I had lived many years under the same roof, has to undergo dialysis thrice a week, and has to follow a very strict diet, not to let his potassium levels go up, and also keep his creatin level under check.  I also meet my former prior and provincial, and a giant predecessor at SH, Rev Dr Jose Kuriedath. He has thinned down, and is combating pancreatic cancer bravely.  Chemos - but still attending office at the director of Rajagiri Engg College. 

But on the last day, I was happy to meet Thankamani chechi, the mother of my good friends James and Sunny, our neighbour.  At 97, she must be the seniormost citizen of Perumanur. Still pleasant and cheerful, but suffering a hearing loss, though not total.  She was very happy to meet me. 

I try to stop over and see Paily chettan, but could not. His  family plot appears like a miniature Walden without a pool, all the same a mini forest. I meet Achutti (I always thought he was James) and his wife Annie, they are past 80!! Can't imagine. They are now our next door neighbours, and chechi was saying, she enjoys looking through window at the greenery of our ancestral plot of land! She said that while she was looking at that plot in the morning she wondered where the achan might be now!! That is nice.  

Missed to have a picture with Ammini aunty (Nisha's mom) - that too was part of the gerento-tour.

OMG! Old age sets in. And we have to be ready for the limited editions of our lives!

Signs are evident: I forgot my bag at Manikath house, but before soon, I remembered and got it back from there; at SH I forgot my phone, the story repeated, and someone brought it for me to the monastery.  Painstakingly, I had gathered documents regarding my teaching career, and safely kept them in a folder, only to forget it at Kalamassery as I hurried back to the airport. (That was fun - riding to Kudackachira for the wedding of a former colleague's son, in our e-car, I found it nearly impossible to reach the airport.  Hence got a motorbike brought to me en route, shifted to it, and rode with the rider as the pillion and rushed to the airport, just to manage the check-in, in time!! Felt almost like Phileas Fogg.)

On the trip, I am glad to catch up with my old friends at Kainakari - ageing with me! They are doing fine!  I also meet with the new generation of the CMIs all energetic.  We all share the lunch together at Chavara's family property!  

Already I feel impaired - my knees reveal deterioration of the bones, even the bones of the fingers do. Dukha Satya! Accept it, and do the good one can!!  And further, get ready to disintegrate into the elements from which we emerged! 

May the source of all goodness and strength empower us on that path!

The Great Commission: Mtt 28:16-20, II Cor 13:5-15, Josh 1:1-9, 2 Chr 15:1-7

The Great Commission: This Sunday presents before us the Great Commission of Jesus. 

Often the question arises who is a missionary.  In the assembly of the faithful today, I asked how many of them were missionaries.  None of them raised hands. Earlier, when I was involved in the ministry of education at Rajagiri and Sacred Heart in Kochi, people have asked me, 'Are you in some mission? or are you a missionary?' invariably my answer would be 'yes'. (This implied mission was some territory where Christianity was unfamiliar and missionary, someone who worked to announce the Christian message in such regions.) Then they would further probe as to where or which, and I would respond 'Kalamassery or Thevara'.  This usually brings a smile to their face, as they would either think I was trying to be funny, or they would get what I was at. 

By accepting to be a Christ disciple, vouching that one is a Christian, ipso facto, one is a missionary, carrying out this great commission of our faith leader.  However this presupposes Christ and his message are the first priority for the Christian, and one is passionate about them and feels benefitted by it, and hence wants to share the same goodness with others. In today's India, where the very term missionary is becoming a politically incorrect term, and those bearing the title or the nomenclature of Christian, becoming increasingly vulnerable to all sorts of attack and intimidation, especially the Norther we are, the rigider the anti-sentiment towards Christians.  However, the great commission is that we announce this message to all nations, and the best possible way is a true Christian life, lived after the norm of our life, Jesus Christ. 

The Great Commandment: What is the mission or proclamation all about? That takes us to the second aspect of today's message:  The Great Commandment.  The Lord in his parting message instructs all of us to 'teach all nations to observe all that he had commanded'.  What is that he has commanded - he had summarised all that into 2 simple statements, 'love God' and its practical aspect 'love neighbour'.  The love of the neighbour is the test case, and it is expressed through unconditional and unlimited goodness. St. Paul stresses this when he says that 'you do what is right' or 'do good' irrespective of the adverse situations, irrespective of the failure of the leaders (II Cor 13:7). The test of being a Christian is the ability to follow Jesus who went about doing good - an outpouring of unconditional goodness is what sets a Christian apart from others. 

St. Paul adds a dimension of this praxis to Christian leadership. He reiterates the function of leadership, or authority in the church is to promote growth (II Cor 13:10).  So the test case for a Christian who exercises office or position of authority is to examine whether that is supportive of the growth of the people who are subjected to such authority. 

The Great Promise: But this requires the conviction that 'Christ is within us' (II Cor 13:5), the support of His empowering presence within which can strengthen us always and everywhere.  We need this faith, we need this experience. May the Lord fill us with this experience so that we may be able to go about sharing Him.  However, this promise is not anything new.  The Israelites in their migratory trail from Egypt to the promised land experienced it as an empowering and protecting presence, easily withdrawn in the face of their forsaking the commandments of the Lord.  They had a keen sense of this empowering presence, almost physically there around the Tabernacle or in the cloud-by-day or fire-by-night experience.  However, they thought it was their own exclusive possession and privilege.  This is what Jesus, the Israelite, transforms into an abiding presence within for anyone who seeks.  He is the father of all and showers rain (of water and of all graces) on all beyond human boundaries and barriers. 

This is the third aspect of today's message as is seen all the passages for reading for Sunday solemnity - the abiding presence of God through Jesus. 

Our challenge is to experience that in us, and also in others, and announce that through our lives and relationships with Him, with other human beings and also with the planet and all other beings on it. 

PS: As we reflect on the Lord's promise of his presence, we also recall the promise of the land to dwell for the Israelites. In a wider context today, it is the right of every being (human and others) to have the land (earth) for oneself to live with dignity befitting one's life.  And Israel-Palestine conflict is one such blot on the planet where millions are getting deprived of this great blessing. The map of the promised land, has shrunk much in size for Israel from Joshua's times. But for Palestinians, it is not even there! So too are several other cases like Ukraine, or Myanmar (Rohingiyas) or several countries of Africa!  

Lord, at times, I feel thoroughly lost, and feel like asking 'where is your promise - of the land, and of your abiding presence?' Correct us, strengthen us and heal your world and your people that they may all experience your goodness and abundance of life. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the great promise of your abiding presence to strengthen us in the great mission you have entrusted to us. Lord with the blind man of the gospel, we pray: We want to see.  We want to see you! We want to experience you within us, with us! Bless us with your healing and empowering touch, so that we may boldly announce the message of your unlimited goodness to all through our lives.  May we do that throughout our life. May we accomplish your commission daily through a life of goodness lived. Amen  

Sitapur, UP & Sita

Sitapur is the town (pur - pura - puram) of Sita, and it is about 200 kilometres away from Rama's city - Ayodhya.  In Uttar Pradesh (UP) there is also a district and a town named Rampur (between Bareilly and Moradabad) and a town named Ramnagar in Nainital district. 

While Sitapur is said to be associated with Sita, it is not evident. Sita is thus named after the Sanskrit word furrow, as she was said to have been found in a furrow by the just king Janaka of Mithila.  (Because of these, she is also Janki and Maithili.  Interestingly, Maithili is also one of the 22 official languages listed by the Indian state, spoken in certain parts of India and is the 2nd most spoken language in Nepal. It has great similarity to Hindi). Mithila is shown on Google map as 27 km from Janakpur, the district headquarters of Dhanusa in Nepal.  The two places are about 725 km away from Sitapur of UP, which is on the Lucknow-Bareilly national highway, about 100 km away from Lucknow. 

I feel happy to be living in a town and district named after the most influential feminine figure of Hindu tradition.  She is not just a pious, obedient wife and mother, but a symbol of human and feminine earthiness, power, determination, courage, independence and daring. (Indian Express*)

Travel through Sitapur gives the impression of a sleepy, bucolic district which has lot of mango groves and sugarcane fields. That gels well with the original meaning of Sita, furrow - as she is the daughter of earth, Sitapur also appears to be a child of earth, with the predominance of agriculture in the district. Wikipedia indicates that Sitapur was founded by Vikramaditya!! It was under the Mughal rule, then under Nawab of Awadh.  By 1858, it came under the British rule. 

Sitapur township is a municipality (nagarpalika) with 30 divisions and the population is about 1.8 lakhs.  The town appears ugly and unkempt.  The lack of waste management skills coupled with the modern consumerist economy hugely dependent on plastic packaging has done immense damage to the human environment, all around which is unmanaged plastic waste.  Though having a lot of open fields, Sitapur town area AQI is generally above 250 (Perhaps, this may be more true with the township of Sitapur, than the rest of the district).  It may be the sugar mills around the place leading to such poor air quality. 

The monotony of upper Gangetic plains is broken by rivers - some small, some big - flowing through the district - Gomti, Kathana, Pirai, Sarayan, Ghaghra and Sharda.  There are sandy stretches along the rivers, called bhurs. 

There are seven Thehsils in the district -  Biswan, Leharpur, Mahmoudnagar, Mishrik, Maholi, Sidhauli, and Sitapur.

I go about exploring the nasty appearing township - the Cantt Road is rather well laid and well maintained. As you enter the old town, it is a typical old-style North Indian town - you go to Najibabad, or Satna - it is almost the same. Narrow roads, vehicles parked around, littered all through, shops on both sides, street vendors and thele wallah, rickshaws and e-rickshaws moving helter-skelter.  Total chaos.  I find the ghanta ghar - a structure indicating some antiquity. But very poorly maintained. 

A short stopover at the old town of Lerharpur led me to a temple of architectural and antique value.  IT is just 2 kilometres off the town at Kesariganj, Naveen Nagar -  Bholenath Temple (Shivala) and Radha-Krishna Temple in one campus. The  Bholenath structure is really imposing and with an abundance of intricate artwork.  It is having 4 huge towers on the four corners and a terraced platform leading to the sanctuary.  The Radhakrishna temple appeared more alive, with some rituals happening and a young priest around, and warmly providing us with the prasad of the deity.  The temple structures were said to have been by the local King of Kattesar Raja Pratap Singh. The king's palace, which is still being used could be found beyond that. 

There is a deep well, which has water, but is ill-maintained. Adjoining the temple property is a spacious tank which again wore an uncared-for look. The campus has other structures too - one of them has been converted into an intermediate college building. 

I felt that an architectural treasure trove is being gradually given to degradation and destruction in spite of it being under ASI.

There are two imposing gates marking the two access points to Leharpur town - both modern and funded by the government. One with an architecture with distinct Islamic features, and the other royal, but modern and imposing. I wonder how such a huge wastage of public money could be afforded. My assessment is that both put together, it might have cost at least 2 crores for the structures.

Towards the east of the city, River Sharada flows with great power and life.  It emerges from Kalapani in Uttarakhand, passes kissing Nepal and flows through UP to merge with Ghagra which eventually joins the river Ganges. Humans have intervened to divide her to tap her waters for irrigation.  There is a barrage erected and the flow of the river itself provides an enchanting locale, though the premises are kept filthy with unmanaged waste.  I learn that fish abound in the river. The area close to Sharadanagar has the potential to be developed into a very good picnic spot. 

Sitamarhi in Bihar, about 140 kms from Patna, boasts to be part of the old Mythila where Sita was
found by Janaka.  It is very close to the Nepal border. Unlike Sitapur, UP, this place is quite close to Janakpur of Nepal, just 60 kilometres.  It is called Janki Sthan and the spot is termed Urjiva Kund in Dumra.  A temple dedicated to Mother Sita is found in Punaura Dham Sitamarhi, close to which a rock-cut sanctuary from Mauryan days is also found.  The spring festival of Ramnavami and the feast of the wedding of Ram and Sita are 2 prominent festivals of the locality. 

P.S.I am awaiting to learn about other places linked to Sita and Ram. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitapur_district

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitamarhi 

*https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/ayodhya-ram-mandir-consecration-ceremony-januray-22-lord-ram-idols-ramayana-hindu-goddess-9097179/

Good shepherd - Jn 10:10-30 & Rev 3:15-22 April 20, 2024

Jn 10:10b. The greatest promise of the good shepherd is the abundance of life.  His reference point is the Father, source of all life!  And what he does is to turn everyone's goals to the perfection of the father.  And the father's perfection is compassion.  "Be compassionate as your Father in Heaven is compassionate". Lk 6:36-38. 

The gospel invites us on the one hand to seek solace and comfort in the protection and guidance of the Good Shepherd, and on the other hand, to turn the mirror on oneself and see to what extent I am a good shepherd. 

Abundance of life, we usually take it in the sense of having a life of fulfilment - typically accomplishments in life and healthy interpersonal relationships. There are several instances in which we tend to lose life through human interactions. Some interactions take away life - people may fall into depression, and it is almost death, though the person might still be alive! 

'Dead, though still alive' -  chattatinokkume jeevichchirikkilum!

Generally, our reflections do not take us beyond the psycho-socio-spiritual realm as far as 'life in abundance' is concerned. Yes, we would examine it from Maslow's hierarchy of needs peaking at 'self-actualisation'.  But Maslow begins with the basic needs - physiological (food, clothing, shelter) and safety-security needs. In Sanskrit tradition, it is spoken of as 'shareeramaadyam khalu dharma sadhanam'.

I feel in today's world keeping oneself and one's flock fit, with gratitude for the gift of life, is a responsibility of the good shepherd.  A fitness culture is to be part of Christian commitment to life.  But it can go beyond theorizing to praxis, by the very valuable services of regular blood donation, pledging of organs for donation at one's inevitable departure from life etc.  

However, against the background of undeniable climate change, global warming and vital resources like water and air getting increasingly polluted on account of irresponsible or perhaps casual or ignorant human behaviour, it is an important task of the good shepherd to educate one's flock about human impact and human responsibility to preserve the life-supporting resources as well as mitigate the damage humans do to them.  It can easily take the form of 'NET ZERO PARISH' or CARBON NEUTRAL SCHOOL etc. 

Jn 10:14 Good shepherd knows the sheep.

Am I among the sheep of the Good Shepherd? It is consoling to learn that he knows me. But very often I am in doubt. Does he really know me? It is more than often a one-way traffic. Apply - apply - no reply! I feel jealous of St. Paul, who is said to be a great apostle - the apostle.  But with the kind of experience he was given, I don't think there is anything so surprising about that. I challenge the good shepherd to provide me with some such experience and see what I would be like! If all this is real, our task is much more onerous and to live spiritedly is much more challenging!

I have questions - the very same questions from time immemorial - or perhaps, from the time people began to believe in God as love: why does God permit all these?  The Jesus-solution is to leave it to God resignedly saying: not my will, but Thy will be done.  He showed the inevitability of human suffering, and set a course by which it can be faced, while also making efforts to ameliorate sufferings of others.  The reason is yet to be found, though the religions, especially the Christian editions, have discovered some thesis in the 'original sin' and Jesus' sacrifice as the expiation for the same and the channel of grace for all. 

I can only continue to pray: Lord I believe, help my unbelief.  That is a nice prayer fitting the human predicament even after 2000 years! 

Christian literature and culture have many elements to comfort and console playing the good shepherd like the Psalm 23, or hymns like: God will take care of you.  But I am waiting for the Lord to speak and hear him!

While I have list of items to crib about - neglect, lack of recognition, ill health... a casual reflection makes me realise how blessed I am! God is indeed taking care of me - food, clothing, shelter... almost anywhere you go, you are received.  I visited the ailing and the aged of our circles in the last two days - they are being well taken care of.  And I feel I am able to go around and move - bike and walk, even hike! My God, what a blessing! In spite of all the minor ailments which are there on account of the age setting in, I am blessed. It is the Loving Shepherd that takes care of me! 

I am bound to be grateful for the care of the Shepherd that I take for granted, and gratefulness is to be expressed in cheerfulness in life, not being grumpy, spreading a smile and reaching out to others in consolation. 

My young online Yoga instructor, a smart IITian with a startup HABUILD, begins the daily instruction with the reminder to be cheerful and grateful! The Reiki practitioner would advise to start the day, with the first pledge - Just for today, I shall show the attitude of gratitude. 

I am also bound to spread the message of care of the shepherd by caring for those of my flock, knowing their distress and making efforts to bring comfort to them. 

In my turn, am I a good shepherd who knows one's sheep? 

I am inspired by the modern-day banks, which year after year, try to update the data of their clients.  They call the exercise KYC - Know Your Customer/Client. How is my KYS? Do I have any sheep?  Typically, a parish priest/a pastor is having a flock - a Christian flock, and how far do such shepherds know their sheep? I felt deprived that I am not having such an opportunity. 

Do we as shepherds know our sheep? Their specific situations, their difficulties, their constraints, their stresses and strains, their anxieties? Do they know that we know? 

In counselling psychology, this calls for the skills of 'understanding' and 'empathy'.  You understand their situation, you sense the implications from their point of view, and you are able to communicate that you know that so that they feel reassured, comforted, and fortified. 

Good shepherd knows the sheep - knowing requires listening. Listening patiently to what they have to say, visiting them, sparing time for them, and listening with your eyes, observing and hearing what they do not articulate in words!  I think the non-formal or evangelical churches are able to win people to them (is it to Christ or merely to them?) because of their ability to know the sheep, through listening to them and understanding them, and being of support to them, in the times of their distress. 

For a Christian, especially an ordained minister or a consecrated person in religious life, any field of one's entrusted mission is the pasture and all who come into their contact ought to be the flock to be listened to and responded to.  Usually, it is one-way here - especially with the institutions: it is orders and commands and communique; and not dialogue and listening and responding.  It is safer to order about and get the tasks done. We slowly and successfully manage to run our small militaries efficiently, having the reputation for being disciplinarians and administrators. 

And we think we are right, and we know the best, and we are comfortable with it. Hence, Rev.3:17 would say, for you say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,' and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.  Jesus asks us to get away from our comfort zone and reach out in listening, understanding, solidarity and collaboration with people beyond our conventional thinking of flock.

The Shepherd is asking me to be a good shepherd realizing the magnitude of my pasture, the numbers of my flock, realising that everyone around is a sheep of my pasture - my coworkers, my students, the parents of my students, their families.  As a good shepherd it is my duty to know them, or as an institution, to be a good shepherd to them through a caring culture of KYS!! With the staff being formed into a larger body of like-minded shepherds caring for the flock. 

Jn 10:16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.  These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

This was the fanciful thinking of many Christians that all will follow one religion, and will become Christians.  All the more, perhaps, for the Catholics, recognising themselves as the true Christians and all will come to be Catholics!  Barclay tries to make a distinction between flock and the fold. He suggests that the original version is about flock and not fold, and says that even in different folds people can be one flock, who follow the Good Shepherd. 

Whatever be the nuances of such terminologies, we could very well realise that what is more important is to 'listen to the Good Shepherd' and live accordingly, rather than having the same assembly. Jesus recognizes the importance of reaching out to others and help them to be part of the flock - is it for any demonstration of power or for the overall growth of the reign of God - of justice, peace and joyfulness?  Can Christian living be a witness of these core values, that people feel touched by them? Or do we remain an alienated community practising our specific rituals, happily taking care of 'our sheep', and leaving the rest to themselves? 

The wide network of schools and social service and healthcare institutions all over India is a great opportunity for the shepherding task.  The mission is to spread the good news of care and build up a culture of justice, peace and joy, as John Paul would say, a 'civilization of love'! Indian ranking of 126 (146) in the Happiness Index 2024 and 134 (193) on the Human Development Index should be a challenge to all of us in various domains to engage with these values through our institutions, that the Good Shepherd's experience is there for all who come into contact with us. 

How do we reach out to others in Christ? 

This requires the ability to cultivate culture and circles of tolerance, understanding, coexistence, solidarity and collaboration.  This requires building bridges on an ongoing basis in various directions, rather than feeling smug and complacent with our rituals and feasts.  

Our religion is more about preserving our different identities through rituals than about being 'followers of Christ'.  We try to make distinctions with the Catholic church on the basis of rites and make the divisions stronger and rigid, similarly, we try to make distinctions between the Catholics and other Christians, and hardly ever seek avenues where we can come together as followers of Christ - guided by the Good Shepherd, His words and His life. 

The mission involved in engaging in dialogue with cultures is a very important one, which has been really marginalised. The importance of secular platforms where people of all faiths or no faith could come, dialogue, solve problems and act together for the common good, is a great mission for today. 

Very often, we fail to be good shepherds to our flock - whether in a typical parish or in a more difficult situation of running an institution or an organisation.  This cannot be merely done by preaching gospel in the conventional mode; But Jesus gives a clue, and he dares those who challenged him in his times:  The works I do in my Father's name testify to me (Jn 10:25); and he dares his followers when he speaks to the Church of Laodecia (Rev. 3:3) I know your works, I know you are neither hot or cold. 

Lord, be you the Good Shepherd to me! May I be assured of your guidance.  May I find you 'reproving and chastising' (Rev. 3:19) me when I feel like deprived and neglected; May you  find me earnest and repenting on my waywardness. (Rev. 3:19). May I be alert to hear your knock at the door of my house, so that I may open and receive you in to have the privilege of dining with you. 

Jn 10:  The Good Shepherd may lay down one's life for the flock.  This was hardly a possibility in our country, till recently, notwithstanding the courageous exceptions of Bl Rani Maria or Blessed Graham Steins. Now with Fr Stan Samy and with the increasing mobilisation of majoritarian religion with others being depicted as enemies, the possibility of laying down the life is much more.  Not that there is continuous threat or harassment everywhere, but the probability of any spark being spread into a conflagration is much greater. 

That we are able to convert such opportunities into another work of the shepherd's care would  be our challenge now. 

O Loving Shepherd of your sheep, thank you for being our caring shepherd.  Thank you for the assurance that you know me, know us, though very often I find it hard to believe! Help my unbelief. May, in my turn, I be a shepherd after your heart, knowing my sheep, listening to them, and they listening to me, and we all being one in your spirit of goodness and care, justice and peace! 

Hymns: 

Yahowa charwaha mera (Hindi)

Yahowayam deivam en idayanatre (Malayalam)

Loving Shepherd of Thy Sheep (English)

God will take care of you... (English)

Campus Biodiversity Blues

My salutations are to some very rare individuals who took it upon themselves as a mission to conserve the local biodiversity.  In Kochi, two such people come to my mind. 

One was Meena Menon who had fought a losing battle against KSEB and government machinery to preserve some 10 acres of forest patch on the National Highway close to Paravur in Ernakulam,  which could have easily fetched her millions, but who chose to keep the ancestral property as a green patch for the posterity! She is no more! May she enjoy evergreen peace!(https://prasantamcmi.blogspot.com/2022/10/meena-menon-solo-local-green-warrior.html)

The other is Sri Ramachandran who retired from Forest Service and also served as a member of the biodiversity board.  Under his leadership, the Ponnekkad family had dedicated some 10 acres of land which was part of their traditional sacred grove intact, so that it remains a biodiversity spot for posterity! My salutations to both. Both have become study centres for life science students and nature enthusiasts. 

My own efforts at Rajagiri campus to enrich its biodiversity was not resisted by anyone, except that as and when it was felt that a concrete structure had to be raised, the green structure was razed without any compunction or thought for that. 

The grand Rajagiri College building of some 7 floors built around 2013 in a plot of about 40 cents was once a dumping area, where rubble of all sorts of construction on the campus used to be dumped.  Then it occurred to us that this could be utilised for further expansion of the college and a 7-storey building was envisioned, and some rudimentary plan was made with provisions for a swimming pool in one of the floors. Our civil engineer confrere Fr Joy was called in for initial consultation and a rough scheme emerged. Then our dynamic senior faculty Dr Injodey suggested why not we utilise our Kakkanad property for having our Management Studies departments there, and let the Kalamassery campus retain its old time charm of social work and social action.  This was endorsed by the open-to-all-new-ideas person, Rev Fr Alex, and thus the school of management had its birth in Kakkanad. 

In the meanwhile, the 40 cents plot was used for dumping the litter of the campus which in due course got converted into very soft mulch.  And we started a campaign to increase biodiversity and various indigenous species were added to the plot, and what remained of a discarded project of a herbal garden (typical of externally funded project-based initiatives - funding over, project over), we protected (I recall, Asafoetida, Malaysian Tamarind also called jungle jalebee, chaturamulla, kallipala - all of which not commonly found), and in a matter of 6 or 7 years, the 40 cents had almost a 100 species there.  I had brought local species like punna, forest species like tambakam, other species like mulberry, gooseberry, some sort of cherry, atalotakam, ... , manja mandaram, some very special varieties of rose apple... It was a thrill to have them.  However, when the next phase of college development took place, the dedicated spot was taken over by a grand structure, and all those precious collections were removed without any thought of replacement. 

Perhaps, in the whole city of Kochi, we were the only ones who could have boasted of having a Jacrinda tree.  Usually, it is not found in this region, perhaps, it is exotic.  However, it blooms in violet all over in hilly areas of Munnar.  In 1997, an administrator felt that this was wasting space and was a kind of barrier to smooth traffic on the campus.  It was cut off with no consultation whatsoever.  Dr Injodey the Botanist felt aggrieved, and I shared the same sentiment.  I tended to the stump, and it sprouted again, and we managed to get a sturdy tree out of it, which bloomed very rarely.  Last year (2023) I saw it in bloom - nothing comparable to the Munnar blooms.  However, when I visited the campus next towards the end of the year, the tree was removed and was replaced with some ornamental plants!! 

While I felt sad that the huge Jamun tree with abundant fruits was brought down, I was glad to see that 2 or 3 of them, as well as a jack tree, planted under our initiative, were bearing fruit.  Some new, exotic, however, most likely of no negative impact kind of species, especially fruit trees have been introduced, replacing the monoculture of rubber plantation on the campus.  

I was excited to see a shrub introduced to us as 'poochakkayi/poochappazham' by our cousin in Kakkanad in our childhood. The shrub was never seen in our region, but they were available in abundance in the midland regions like Kakkanad, Kizhakkambalam etc. Secured from a nursery with the help of my good friend and naturalist Tom Peechat, it was also an addition to our 40 cent biodiversity preserve.!! This also had disappeared with the rest of 100 odd floral species as the price for the grand college building - ants getting crushed as the elephants move about. However, my good friend and confrere Fr Mathew Kiriyanthan had that rare sense to plant one close to our campus residence in Kalamassery. And yesterday, I felt blessed by the sight of the tiny shrub (just about 3 feet in spite of some 6 years gone by) in bloom and with tiny, velvety, juicy white berries. Syzygium zeylanicum known in Malayalam also as keerippazham exuded a rare beauty for me. I gathered some youngsters (of our ilk) around, many of them had no clue as to what the plant was, whereas some of them did identify it.

Sweet Raphael Struggling with the Bitter Pill

Archbishop Raphael is known to me for the past many years – he comes to us in simplicity, humour, Thrissur style and humility. My attempts to reach out to him since Dec. 5 have not been successful. Perhaps, even at that time, he was in the process of being installed as the Major Archbishop - otherwise, it was unlike him not to respond.

Being not a regular church-goer 😀(with the abundance of priests around in the Devil's own Country, having very little option but to stick to the ashramam for my daily eucharistic celebration), usually, I am not having the burden to stomach what comes through these letters - good or bad, controversial or inspirational. 

This time, one of my revered friends asked us in the group for responses, which prompted me to jot this down.  It is just free-thinking sans any animosity, though it may appear to have some. 

My impressions on reading his first pastoral letter:

It appears reconciliatory and unifying.

It has touched upon the core of Christian life – the following of Christ.

The stress on simplicity and accessibility of Christian fellowships and institutions is timely and highly relevant.

The stress on unity and the Holy Father as a rallying point is also relevant.

I feel unhappy that he, like almost all other church leaders appears blissfully oblivious of the Christian obligation towards life on the planet, and Christian lifestyle in this regard, notwithstanding Laudato Si and Laudato Deum (2023) of the very same ‘Holy Father’ whom he banks on for ‘uniformity based unity’.  Typical of the Church leaders, especially of the Zero Christian bishops of Keralam, who have nothing more than liturgy to grind, happy to throw away incarnational theology or eco-theology, provided the eucharistic theology of their brand is intact.

The references made regarding children, youth, the unorganized sector, the farmers, those afflicted by human-wildlife conflict, those in small-scale business, the need for promoting 'religious tolerance' etc. indicate a thought for inclusion, which is laudable.  However, he could have given some thought to the women of the Church who are almost 50% or above in the Church, (who are usually the faithful, obedient, subordinate and subservient lot, the unquestioning lambs) when the basic decisions are generally made solely by men (of cloth).

And when it comes to the ‘unified liturgy’, it appears that Raphael is not able to grow as Christ – who was first of all, almost totally against all sorts of rituals that tended to be an ism. He did make use of symbols - e.g., his bapstism in the Jordan, which was not falling into the category of a typical ritual. Whether it was helping the humans and promoting goodness  - within and among humans – was his core concern.  Here Raphael appears faltering and tends to be in the anti-Christ (referring to the times of Christ) pharisaic group, who tended to be pujaris of rituals, and precisely on account of His opposition to that, Jesus was hunted down (Jn 5:16).

While he points out the complementarity of traditions (hopefully, and not traditionalism!! – but he says, paramparyavaadam) and of modernity (modern thinking?), finally he is kind of forced to stick to traditionalism, which is again imposed on the basis of ‘obedience’ (vidheyatwam - subordination – thus imposed doesn’t sound very Christian on the part of the authority, whereas it fits well for the Christian as such) to the Holy Father.

This very Holy Father really appears partisan and obscurantist when it comes to this ritual(ism), whereas otherwise, he appears ultra-modern – christianly tolerating anything and everything except the uniform celebration of Syro Malabar Liturgy; the number of ‘variants’ given to the Latin rite adherents is quite comfortable for him, though, many of them are very modern. 

Fortunate to be saved from the perils of the Chaldean Obnoxdoxy for the past few years serving institutions in Latin rite regions, but still determined (by Grace) to be 'obedient', 

vidheyan

Prashant CMI

P.S. Raphael appears in the Bible in the deuterocanonical book of Tobit - basically as a guide and healer.  I hope these functions are fulfilled through our Archbishop.   Raphael would do well to go slow on the insistence, listen to people, not merely impose Liturgiology, but use Sociology as well to learn how this adds to the common good and promotion of goodness within and among the adherents of the one who saw his business as to go about doing good (Acts 10:38).

COPING WITH A NORTH INDIAN WINTER 2024 Jan-Feb

North Indian winter is not unfamiliar to me.  I have been exposed to it since 1980.  In the 10-year span of my being in Uttar Pradesh (UP) as a student of intermediate and undergraduate studies, never ever did I miss the daily bath any day, nor did I use hot or warm water for the same any time. 

In those days, we lived on a very minimalist consumption, without ever thinking of being a minimalist. 

We never owned any sweaters in the first three years.  We used what was in the stock, and returned them when we left the study house for the next stage of our training.  But when I arrived at Najibabad (Dt Bijnor) as a college student I purchased a half-sweater and later on, a khadi-woollen jacket (Nehru coat?).  Then I had a shawl donated by Fr Varghese Kanjirakompil, though I never asked for it.  I still am in custody of the same. 

Thereafter (1990) I have never faced a North Indian winter.  In those days, Mercury used to dip to even 2 degree celsius, and it could be very cold. I hardly ever used a shoe, though nobody prevented me from doing so, I just didn't feel that I should use shoes.  In those days, the fingers and toes used to be afflicted by chilblains and the swelling on them would stay all through the winter. Then come summer, there is relief.  Still, winters were enjoyable.  

After 32 years, I am facing another winter.  In between, I had occasions to be exposed to colder weather in the US.  The Mercury hovered around 4 and 5 for several days; but never felt any difficulty as such, except once, when I went out with a lightweight canvas slip-on for a walk, in less than 5006 meters, my feet began to get numb.  But this time, in Sitapur of East UP, I found it tough.  By mid-December, I started to make use of hot water that was available in my room.  I observed that Sun was hiding consecutively for several days, and appearing only for a couple of hours on some days.  Sun, a very threatening presence in the summer, is now a welcome guest.  You are glad to see the sun appearing! And, most of the people out here - young and old - enjoy to sit lazily and 'eat the sun' 😊 (dhoop khana). It was just uncomfortable to sit in the room - whether bedroom or the office room in the college. 

I began to add up layers - 4, 5, 6.  In spite of them, the cold is strong enough to pierce through them. Today with the temperature indicated 11 degree, I am able to work, as I have these layers on me. I did go against the typical conventions here - going for an early morning mass for the Holy Cross sisters who are about 7 kilometers away.  I used the 15-year-old faithful Unicorn.  But I do adequate preparation - 6 layers, a lower part of the rain suit to additionally protect the legs, shoes, hood for ears, helmet and two pairs of gloves for the hands.  I manage well.  Didn't feel greatly handicapped, in spite of the thick fog. 

On some days the fog is so dense that there is a visibility of hardly 10 meters and you have to be extremely careful if you are using a vehicle not to hit a pedestrian or a bicycle rider on the road, or even get yourself into close contact with some bigger vehicles, typically tractors which move slowly, but which would have hardly any indication of being there on the road - neither tail light nor a reflector.  This could also be true with other vehicles, especially trucks, though not all that often. 

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fprasant.palakkappillil%2Fposts%2Fpfbid08FSZezxFXvfHRxCcy32DEYPdCvQe6fXEg9cRz8pWqrFmowRsSh2JWP8FDQaA9fvXl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="798" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

Is it the age or is it the severity of the cold making the difference - I am not sure.  However, when cold water falls on my hands, it hurts.  It is painful! My toes are all swollen and red. Within the shoes, the toes get jammed and numb, and at times, they hurt.  Cold penetrates the body,  it appears, mainly through your ears, at times through your nose, through your fingers and the toes.  Packing these extremities well, appears to reduce the severity of the cold. 

In my younger days, when we had to go for a morning purchase of vegetables and fruits, on a bicycle, I used to feel the nose hurting, almost like being cut, and we used to cover our face up to the nose with a muffler, to prevent this. This aspect appears less now.  However, as I go for a ride or jog, I sense that the warm air exhaled through my nose immediately gets condensed outside the nose, making the nose dip with water drops.  

With great difficulty and strong determination, I try to spend some time in the open - jogging for about 2 kilometres.  Gradually the body gains warmth, the feet and ankles become loose, but after 20 minutes or half an hour, I feel the skin of my hands and shoulder, they are still very cold. 

Our quarters constructed in a shady corner have several rooms that do not let the direct impact of the summer sun.  In winter, they are like ice boxes.  If required, a heater is provided - but I feel uncomfortable seeking the added support of such a device. 

At night, you rely on a wooden cot, with a 6-inch thick sturdy mattress. I use a woollen blanket to cover it.  (These new age woollen blankets, very colourful and affordable are found very commonly on the roadsides.  They are available in varying thicknesses and lightness. It is learnt that these are recycled products from waste plastic.  I am not sure how reliable this information is.  The difficulty lies in getting them cleaned - washed.  It would be a tough task either to get that done by a machine or manually.  The bucket of a washing machine may be found insufficient to hold one such blanket.  So the ways suggested are to get them exposed to hot sun, when he would finally emerge; or get them dry-cleaned.  Being UP, it wouldn't be surprising if the dry cleaning may just mean that they are exposed to the sun and then neatly packed in big plastic covers and given to the customers.) Then I use a cotton sheet over that, another sheet to serve as the first layer of my cover.  Over that a thin woollen blanket, a double layered case for the woollen blanket, which itself serves as a blanket.  And on top of it, a thicker woollen blanket.  For the initial 2 or 3 minutes the bed feels very cold, and then gradually your body makes it warm. However, the space of the mattress you are not using becomes really cold. So the movements in your sleep will let you feel that. 

In my earlier tryst with the North Indian winters, our protection used to be quilt or rijai.  They used to be mattress-like stuff, usually bulky and generally not as shapely as a typical mattress.  However, one quilt would usually take care of all these sheaths which I am currently using to keep me warm in bed, though they are not aesthetically as appealing as the blankets.  The quilts are usually used with an added cover, which could be periodically removed and washed, and can even be offered to someone else, with a fresh quilt cover on it.   In some cases, we just use another cotton sheet, which would keep the quilt away from direct contact with the user, and when it is offered to a new user, a fresh sheet is given.   I also hear that there are modern rijais, which are very light and shapely, but will keep you warm in spite of their lightness.  (When I visited a rural parish in the diocese of .... in USA, I found the women's forum of the parish utilised the church basement for quilt making as a fundraiser for their charitable activities. The quilts were very attractive, shapely and light. I understood that it was a meaningful socialising activity as well for the senior women.)

However, for now, the house has provided a thicker blanket (of the modern-day wool - most likely, plastic), which can be encased in a warm and washable cover, with a ziplock.  It's heavy, but can substitute for the several layers of protection I was trying, some which invariably found their way to the floor during the sleep, making one wake up shivering at night. 

Come February, though I enter the protected 'cave' of my double-layered woollen cover, by 3 or 4 am, it would make me so warm as to sweat profusely - my dress and the cotton sheet I use as my first cover below the woollen blanket is all soaked, but you just step out and you are cold, and the wet sheet becomes colder; you have no choice but to discard or substitute it with another, during the best hours of sleep!!

I always have as a stand-by, my neatly packed sleeping bag from Decathlon, which I have very rarely put to use.  In an emergency, I think that would serve the purpose of giving a warm mattress in the cold season.  I had a very bulky sleeping bag, left over from Bhuj earthquake relief materials.  But that would require your own car/jeep to have it carried around without much burden. 

Winter Beautiful The winter of the Northern Indian plains has its own shades of beauty.  Our winter does not do away totally with the greenery.   Many of the trees, like drooping Asoka, Senna siamea, Peltophorum pterocarpum, Tectonia grandis, Dalbergia latifolia, Mangifera Indica, Litchi chinensis etc. retain their leaves, though there is patjhad (fall) happening, it does not deprive all the trees of their green cover.  But what surprises me is the whole set of flowers that emerge during the winter season - Roses are bright, there are Phlox, Antirrhinum, Petunia, Dianthus, a fabulous range of Chrysanthemum and Dahlias all of which add to the charm of winter.  

Even the fog, the dripping dew in the morning, at rare times, turning into a cover of frost on the ground etc add to the mystique of the North Indian winter.  For people like me born and having spent a greater part of our adult life in Keralam, these are novel experiences - interesting and varied, in spite of the toughness involved. Keralam remains God's own land sans all these varieties - no severe summer, hardly any winter.  Your clothing is almost the same all through the year.  It is easier to put up even with the minimum of resources - a minimalist living, with no great concern for cooling or heating of the built-up environment. And it is refreshingly, and for a typical North Indian, breathtakingly, green. 

In winter times, the North Indian public places and public transport (all the more) are found to have a carpet of peanut peels.  It is hardly ever cleaned, the floor, the seats all bear the mark of it.  Almost everyone eats peanuts - generally roasted on coals, and every nukkad would have a thelewala vending peanuts.  Usually, it is a local product, and it thus serves as a livelihood for many and a source of protine for the common people. I am not sure of the local habit, however, at our house, we usually have them after the dinner, accompanied by a piece of jaggery as a tastemaker.  While for me, bananas are still welcome in winter, for the UP people, they are unwelcome in the winter. 

For the common people, the other typical means of keeping themselves warm is a hot tea - that spicy, sweet, strong, milky tea - may be just about 50 ml. For people like me, it 250 ml is the minimum quantity for a tea.  I gladly note that alcohol is hardly ever a means for the common people to keep themselves warm, though it is much more freely accessible than in our God-forsaken God's own country! 

As for eating in general, people say, in winter you tend to feel more hungry, and you eat more - more than a month with winter, I have not really felt so, in spite of my increased fitness module. I still feel only as hungry as I used to be - managing very well with a maximum of 2 meals, often with one. 

As I ride through the hazy streets for the morning mass, I can see at several places, the labourers or vendors who have to be on their tasks early in the morning, trying to warm themselves up with some fire.  They tend to use anything they can get their hands on, including tyres, and while the fires warm them up, they indeed add to the pollution burden of the atmosphere. 

My coworkers here tell me that this year we are having a more severe and more prolonged winter spell for this part of UP. As indicated in the beginning, I too feel it is rather bitterly cold here.  But still it's ok.  It's manageable. 

I dared to ride from Lucknow to Sitapur on February 8th morning - in spite of all my protection, I felt the cold biting, and seeping into my bones. After about 20 kilometers, it was still dark, I decided to stop.  My hands protected with 2 pairs of gloves were hurting.  I warmed myself up with a hot cup of tea, and made my hands warm over the conventional oven of coal. It sustained me another 30 kilometres, and I had to stop and warm myself and the hands up.  Though sun was already out and bright, it was not sufficient to keep the extremities warm. Then it was the last leg, and somehow I managed to be back on the campus by 7.30 and comforted myself with 2 large mugs of hot masala tea, and then a hot water bath. 

February 14 Basant at the Doorstep - It should have been a very tough day around in my former campus of SH, Thevara - with all sorts of possibilities and hype related to 'valentine's day' - Perhaps, a trend set in in a matter of last ten or twelve years. But out here in Sitapur, so far, no indication of such a day! However, in the air is spring. 14th is a holiday on account of Basant Panchami.  I can sense the spring on the doorsteps.  The air is still cool - 18 to 20 degrees at noon.  However, it is no longer biting. New shoots are emerging. Our vines are pruned. There are a host of small flowers in the grass - forgotten little beauties.  There is a carpet of yellow flowering puliyarila, white spotted green carpet of kayunyam, beautiful violet, pink, yellow, golden and blue flowers of the varying grass species. 

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fprasant.palakkappillil%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02xoXqBmed3JCSy9UQV2G279uDnbohAWyvF8noChAKsWprqZHc2BHCtGE8QDErzDcCl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="683" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

Though formally the winter is said to be ending only with Holi in March, from now on, it is hoped to be mild. 

February 21 The morning showed mercury at 18 degrees, for the first time, Sarriyan Maluhi AQI was shown at 139. Not on account of El Nino or La Nina as The Indian Express carried an article today.  But on account of a slight drizzle that has washed down the particulate matters and brought it drastically down by more than 100 points.  First time since I arrived in July, I was observing AQI of this area at this level. 

March 25 is Holi.  Holika is burnt and all the evil of the cold months is said to be gotten over, with warmth spreading around.  This time, exactly after Holi, the day has begun to be warm. And mosquitoes have come back with a vengeance. The very timid drain flies which come to our washrooms in small numbers in the winter, and remain almost numb, are increasing in numbers, and have become more energetic.  They tend to fly into the bed room also.  Though so far, they appear only a visual nuisance. But mosquitoes persist, they swarn around incessantly, managed to enter the rooms in spite of the nets, hum  their music into our ears.  It is gradually warming up!! 

But all the trees, shrubs and herbs are into celebrating their life in inflorescence, with bees and flies showing forth a very vibrant life. 

Water is pleasantly cool. Not yet warm or hot.  You can now shed your dependence on the geyser.