Adieu Dearly Beloved Fr Joseph Pulloppilly CMI

Oh my God! Dearly beloved Fr Pulloppilly is no more! It was on  June 20th that I met him last. Offered him a Dasheri mango - daal ka pakka - from our garden in Sitapur, UP, which he refused saying that his sugar levels would not permit him to use that.  He had been my confessor for the past 28 years, and for the many hundreds, who approached him, and to whom, in spite of his ill health, he willingly ministered.  

Fr Pulloppilly was already a familiar figure for me while I was still in primary school with my elder brother, a Rajagiri student, sharing the school news at home or with me.  I knew most of the teachers through him - the headmaster Mr Manjooran, the Malayalam teacher Mr John, the Hindi teacher Mr Krishnan, the Catechism/moral science teacher Fr Jesudas, the Physical Education teacher Mr Xavier,  the biology teachers Fr Silas and Fr Pulloppilly and the headmaster(s) Fr Gregory and Fr Aaron.  

But I directly came into contact with him as a member of the Catholic organisation, KCSL - during its camps and student meets, where invariably Fr Pulloppilly accompanied the Rajagiri team. I could sense his enthusiasm and zeal. When we were in VIII or IX grade, he was invited to preach the annual retreat for the Catholic students of Sacred Heart High School. Perhaps, that was the first healthy introduction to human sexuality for any of us. (I am afraid, even now, this education is missing). 

Once I joined the CMIs as an aspirant and stayed on the same campus as he was for a few days, I tried to tap on my familiarity with him, and get a cross or some other charismatic pendant for pinning up on my shirt. But it was not as easy as I thought that he would be able to provide for me.  However, he did find something - perhaps, a 'PRAISE THE LORD' brooch or so, and I sensed that he had to really take some pains to get that for me.  Perhaps, that was the last time, I had a desire to have any such exhibits on me and asked for something of that sort from someone.  I did make use of it for some time.  Then, perhaps, I lost it. 

My next encounter with him was after my being assigned to the Provincial house, either for a period of one year regency, or as a deacon or a freshly ordained priest. Anyhow, I sensed that while he was his old zealous self, he was not generally very much accepted by the rest of the community members.  Perhaps, he was too zealous that the rest who could not match up to his mould of idealism could not gel with him. Or he could not be in tune with the rest of the Rajagiri campus company. At the school, he taught Biology and guided the KCSL unit. He tried to circulate the pictorial Christian education magazine by the Jesuits from Kottayam - Snehasena (later, Soldiers of Love in English) - among the students. He deployed 'slogans of Christian values' for value education and motivating the students - the students still remember his slogans. I think 'kodukku ninakku nalkappedum' (Give and it will be given to you) - a gospel song in that mould was either his creation or he helped it to gain currency. 

I think the students called him endearingly as Fr Pullo. He knew most of his students personally. Last year, while riding to Aluva to meet him, a car stopped by my bike and Anil, Rajagirian of my age, stopped by to say hello. When I said that I was going to meet Fr Pulloppilly, he asked me to convey his regards. And when I did that Fr Pulloppilly could recall him and his brother, who were his students in the 1970s.  As a good Zoology teacher, he tried to familiarise the students with life. Some of the boarders recall him giving them 'guppy' fish to grow. 

While remaining a full-time teacher at Rajagiri, he went about reaching out to the poor, trying to spread the good news in his own way - especially by printing leaflets with useful Christian doctrine and prayers, and distributing the same among those who came in touch with him.  While normally the religious men engaged themselves in some workout or manual labour, and found some half to one hour in a day in some recreational activities, games etc. for Fr Pulloppilly, it was always about reaching out to people in conventional pastoral ministry, home visits, helping the poor or spreading the good news through his leaflets.  I think, for that,  either he spent the meagre amount he received in pastoral ministry or some people of goodwill did help him with the printing charges, which he could not otherwise have managed. 

I am afraid that the CMI congregation which is usually generous with promoting individuals and their talents and qualifications, could not do justice to Fr Pulloppillil. He had joined the order after completing intermediate, and after completing philosophy training at Bangalore, he joined for B Sc Zoology at Sacred Heart College.  In spite of having scored well, and winning the gold medal (1963), he was not permitted to go for higher studies. He got himself qualified as a teacher with a B. Ed degree from St. Joseph's College, Mannanam. Despite his several years of experience as a teacher, he was not found to be a headmaster/principal material for the prestigious Rajagiri school; and by the time the CMIs of Kochi province launched other schools, he was already relieved of duties related to a typical education ministry. Perhaps he was a loner and was travelling the less-travelled path, and while all the required health support was given to him by the congregation, and while all appreciated the great ministry he was doing, I sensed that there was a general apathy prevailing against him. 

I think when he attained the age of 55 (?), the Kerala government prescribed age for retirement, he was relieved of his service at Rajagiri School.  Though I did not understand the entire dynamics of the decision, I sensed that the provision was aptly utilised to remove an inconvenience from the scene.  I felt that he could not accept that decision happily, though apparently he did not revolt. I am afraid that decision did affect him adversely and led him, perhaps gradually, into a state of depression.  However, that did not deter him from carrying on the ministry he was at home with - that of ministering to the Catholic faithful - especially, hearing confession. 

As his depression-related status aggravated, his mobility became restricted and so too his ministry.  Yet that did not prevent him from being available at Aluva monastery for the great ministry of the sacrament of reconciliation. 

He lived a spartan life - his dress was always simple, and generally, only the prescribed religious habit - the traditional one and the modern one. I think he has never travelled abroad.  Perhaps, he has never had an occasion to fly. He is hardly found in any photograph*. I tried to find a picture of his younger days, hardly anyone has any such pictures.  Perhaps, he did have a collection. He never tried to migrate to the WhatsApp Facebook age. Yes, he did use a mobile phone.  I have never seen him using any vehicle other than public transport  - no bicycle, no motorbike, scooter or car.  Yes, when someone sent a car for his transport he would not refuse, and as he grew older and his health conditions deteriorated, he had to rely on the house vehicle for his very limited mobility.  It is my impression that  if he ever gathered anything it was meant to be for his ministry of the gospel or to support some poor person, 

I recall a year when, while still young,  he lost both his parents in quick succession - they had lived long. He took that in the right spirit.  Not long afterwards, he lost his elder brother, who was still a young person with a family to take care of. I came to know that it was a major blow for him. 

His prolonged priestly ministry of over 50 years, I think, was based in two centres - Kalamassery and Aluva. When the former undivided Sacred Heart province was divided into four provinces, and when the members were given the option to make their choices, most of them chose the province where their native place was.  Fr Pulloppilly, though from the Muvattupuzha region, chose the Kochi region, with which he had been associating for more than three decades of his ministry. I gather from my confreres that he also served as the vocation promoter for the province and there are several CMIs who chose to be CMIs thanks to his efforts. 

I thank God for his long life and untiring ministry in spite of his adverse physical and mental conditions. I am glad that Fr Pulloppilly was an illustrious student of his batch at Sacred Heart.  I admire his simplicity and unwavering faith in the face of great despair and depression.  I feel blessed to have had him as a confessor for the 3 decades of my life as an ordained minister in the Catholic church. While in faith, we submit our sins to God through an ordained minister - young or old.  However, having a senior priest for this ministry, I deem a great blessing - but while I myself grow to be a senior, and those senior to me disappear from the scene, there is emptiness! May the Lord who had compassion on the crowd form us into shepherds after his heart! 

I look forward to seeing Fr Joseph Pulloppilly with the honours of the altar - for trying to live his faith, in spite of the odds in his life - with great simplicity and fidelity - not having led or built big institutions or parishes, never having had an opportunity to exercise leadership ministry in the congregation, not having been a popular speaker, but always and consistently being available as a shepherd, and enduring dark nights of physical and mental agonies! 

May the good Shepherd lead him to his evergreen pastures, spread his feast before him, and anoint him with his oil of sanctity. May the beloved Fr Pulloppilly dwell in the Lord's house and may his cup overflow with joy that shall not be taken away! 

*Rajagiri PTA 1981. From Fr Kariamadam's collection. 

Post Script

Shared by one of his colleagues: 

Fr. Pullo was simple and naive thru and thru. A few of my memories may be interesting.

Besides selling religious articles in class rooms he used to take up collections to help the poor! 

He was not happy when the Headmaster insisted on maintaining discipline in the class: One day half in jest and half in earnest, he knelt down and said, " You treat me like a fly/ഈച്ച!"  

Looking at the beautiful lawn in front of the Provincial house he said once, "I wish I was treated like a blade of grass in Rajagiri."  Rajagiriയിലെ ഒരു പുല്ലായി ജനിച്ചിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ!  

By one of his students: 

He taught us biology from higher standards and always had a very very soft corner for me and my twin brother. Never used to cane us. All students in school knew that we both were his pets. We used to butter him and everyone knew that too.

Very sad that we lost such a cherubic person that he was, then. 

He zealously promoted and sold Soldiers of God, Sneha Sena and Kuttikaluday Deepika DAILY before EVERY class of his, and myself and my brother used to buy one of them every time he started the class to avoid being asked questions and getting caned by him with a small cane. He never used to punish me and my brother and was always partial and favourite of me and my twin... He always had a small cane and gave us only small small cuts to others.

Resolving the Syro-Malabar Crisis - An Appeal to the Holy Father

To The Beloved Holy Father of the Church on Earth, from a few clerical members of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI)

cc: Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli - Apostolic Nuncio to India

Beloved Father, greetings and peace from the Church in India!

We would like to bring once again to your attention that we are deeply concerned for the Church to remain core to the message and person of Christ.  Though these matters have been brought to your attention from various sections, however, we are prompted to reiterate them and our concerns. 

As it has been communicated to us, you have pointed out that issues of liturgy have to be sorted out amicably at the level of the sui juris church itself.  The changes introduced in the Liturgy in the past few decades are indicative that this can be done and that there is no such absolute untouchability to the text or the rubrics, than what is beneficial to the celebrating faith community as decided by the synod (in a synodal spirit; not necessarily by mere majority). 

We are all for the unity of the Church, and those of us who had been in the practice of celebrating the Eucharistic Liturgy ad populum for the past many decades, have not felt any lack of unity, when we had to celebrate the Eucharist in the Chaldean way when the celebrating context was such.  We have never felt that such uniformity is required to maintain Christian unity.  If that were the case, we would not feel unity with the Holy Father or the very many neighbouring church communities who celebrate the mass in the Latin rite. 

We feel that the test of accepting a form of the ritual should also take into consideration how that communicates with the community of the faithful concerned. The Latin rite liturgical form adapted for children gives us the confidence that in the Church, such flexibilities are possible.  In this case, some matters appearing very trivial and highly ritualistic are raised as matters affecting unity, howsoever rich in symbolism they are purported to be - a) turning towards the altar and away from the people; b) having a separate table (Bema) for the liturgy of the word!

When the Holy Father sets a Christian example in trying to reach out to people considered to be in 'sin' - e.g.,  those in same-sex marriage or partnerships, those who are not married as per church regulations - to threaten almost 600000 people including their validly ordained priests with the medievalist and unchristlike Excommunication threat, for the simple reason of not following the synodal decision of celebrating the Eucharist ad orientam, appears appallingly against the Spirit of Christ. 

There has been a clever manipulation of two principles of Catholic Christian life bordering sentimentality - (i) communion with the Church and (ii) obedience (including, obedience to the Holy Father). We feel the apparent intolerance to differences/diversity and blind adherence to ritual vestiges of an archaic tradition is a graver danger than the insistence on a tradition that has taken root in this region over the past six decades or more - with the majority of the present-day priests and the faithful having been born into it, and trained in it, and accustomed to it.  

Our humble requests to the Holy Father are: 

1. Permit the variant of the Eucharistic Liturgy as practised in the Ernakulam region as a valid Eucharistic celebration, till further consensus is reached on the issue. 

2. Instruct the synod and the episcopal leadership to avoid unchristian threatening language in eliciting compliance from the believing community. 

Looking forward to your paternal intervention, 

Your sons in Our Lord, 

1. 

2. 

Resolving the Syro-Malabar Ritualistic Rift

On one of my rare evening meditations, on the feast St Anthony of Padua, the great preacher and critique of clergy of his times, the gospel presented to me was the death of Jesus.  Mtt 26:47 ff. where I read, 'then Jesus, crying out again with a loud voice, gave up his life (50). And behold, the veil of the temple was torn into two parts, from top to bottom...'(51). 

Isn't this gospel narration of the tearing away of the curtain of the temple signifying the demarcation between the holy of holies from the rest of the temple a pointer to the new phase in God-human, God-world relationship where such separation was not warranted; where God was no longer the punishing unapproachable God who wouldn't let anyone come near him, whose special presence was to be separated by a veil, lest those who approached it - human or animal - would be burnt to death, but rather, a God who dwells amidst people, with God's reign being established here (Lk 17:21)? 

I feel one of the consistent agendas of Jesus was to liberate people from slavery to rituals, but we are here literally being enslaved by ritualism, and behaving in an unchristlike fashion to preserve them or to challenge them.  Psalms (74: 4-11) of today's vespers aptly fit my meditation on Syro-Malabar Church of Ernakulam: 

O God, why have you rejected us forever?
4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;

5 They behaved like men wielding axes
    to cut through a thicket of trees.  

6 They smashed all the carved paneling
    with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
    they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
 8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”
    They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land.    

9 no prophets are left,
    and none of us knows how long this will be.

10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?
    Will the foe revile your name forever?    

11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?    Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them.  They set up their standards as signs. We are given no signs from God...

Christ must be laughing at the incorrigible human nature which always wants a  'golden calf' to satisfy its aspirations, which in the Catholic Church, especially in the Syro Malabar church, has taken the mould of the elaborate ritual symbolic of the thanksgiving and self-effacing meal Jesus celebrated.  We have succeeded in making it a magical formula with grand narratives being written on the real presence,  and the magnificent and bombastic theories like 'transubstantiation'. 

I hope he repeats his act of cleansing the temple at least once more - whipping these bigoted leaders who perpetuate ritualism and fight over it totally against the spirit of Christ. 'Woe to you for making them twice the sons (or daughters - on this account also there is an effort to maintain gender justice) of hell that you yourselves are for the sake of your traditions?' (Matt 23:15).  (This doesn't imply any hatred towards these leaders - but just a figurative way of presenting a hope of being led in the Christ way, genuinely fearing that the present mode is away from it). 

• Why is this unchristian adherence to the details of the rituals? 
• While rite itself is built on the thesis of diversity, why is another addition to diversity not tolerated? 
• Is the (so-called) apostolic heritage the only valid basis for a valid liturgy? 
• Is it the purpose of the liturgy to lead people to God, and if that is not served, can't new modes be envisaged? 
• Is uniformity in celebration of the Eucharist to be the most distinguishing feature of a Christian community? What about Christ's compassion, forgiveness, inclusiveness, and self-suffering?  If the liturgical outcomes are not on these lines, aren't we treading a faultline? 
• Does a threat of excommunication for not adhering to a norm passed by the majority befit the Church of Christ? 

While the present understanding of God's revelation guides the Church to seek to understand God's presence and revelation through other cultures in dialogue, here, for the sake of establishing uniformity in the ritualistic celebration of the Lord's supper where the authority figure shows himself as the servant and washes the feet, our Church leadership wields the threat of excommunication to those who refuse to adhere to the ritualistic details. 

While till late it was the conventional catholic sentiment of obedience to the Holy Father which was utilised as the tool for bringing in compliance, now that the Holy Father himself has declared that such matters are to be decided at the local church level; and it has been amply proven that there is no such 'untouchability' in the details of the rituals by the drastic editing which took place in the last phase, isn't it the right time to allow flexibilities while mandating that the official version remains what is passed by the Synod? 

It is the scripture which insisted that 'obedience is greater than sacrifice' (I Sam 15:22 ) and it was the Master's example to sacrifice one's self in obedience to God's will (Lk 22:42).  This is indeed laudable and all Christians can arrive at an easy solution by obeying what is decided by the majority of the Synod. 

However, the question still remains about its 'christianness' and the very idea that rituals are the core of our Christian existence and adherence to the rubrics a great Christian virtue, appears totally in contradiction with the spirit of Christ's liberating gospel. 

His insistence that God is to be worshipped in spirit and truth and not necessarily on this mountain or that (Gerizim or Jerusalem - Jn 4:20-24) is amply indicative of his liberal stand towards issues.  This may be juxtaposed with his statement on the faithfulness in small things and that not even an iota of the law will be changed (Mtt 5:17).  But almost in the same breath, he cautions that our 'righteousness should surpass that of the Pharisees' (Mtt 5:20).  The big picture Christ tries to present appears hanging in favour of liberating humans from slavish adherence to ritualistic religion, where all such means should serve to build up the reign of God, not a reign of high handed superiority, suppression of dissenting voices, but a reign of justice, peace and joy in the holy spirit.  It is worth the while to examine if either of the parties, in their fanatical adherence to their version of this means, is contributing towards the larger and primary purpose. 

Can't the leadership facilitate a consensus formula? 

1. The officially recognized form of celebration of the Syro-Malabar mass will be the one approved by the Synod. 

2. Where there are strong sentiments against the new format, especially regarding the aspect of where the celebrant should face - the people or the altar - freedom be given to the local community to discuss and decide on the basis of a majority (preferably, consensus) decision to have regular masses in the parish ad populum or ad orientam

3. In any case, the mass considered to be the Sunday Mass be celebrated in the approved form of the Synod. 

4. It would be good that the Eucharistic celebration as part of Sunday Catechesis of the Young be also celebrated in this fashion. 

I hope by now the more involved and intelligent members of the Church might have put forward similar or better solutions before all concerned. I wish I were given an audience by the new Major Arch Bishop.  I would definitely make an effort this time, hoping to share these views as a concerned member and ordained minister of the Church. 

Mother's Day - Mothers for our Days

May 15, 2024

As we celebrated Mother's Day this year (2024), I felt the world is becoming better for women? There are already at least 3 days dedicated to them - March 8 Women's Day, 2nd Sunday of May as Mother's Day and October 11th as Girl Child's day! Besides, the world nations have agreed upon a goal to ensure equality among the genders - SDG 5. I feel the world is becoming a better place for all these. 

I had the occasion to reflect on mothering and mothers.  Sometimes children are described as 'fatherless' at birth - for the conventional dominant religious morality it is derogatory; though, some modern mothers have become fearless to bring a child with such an eponym.  However, there is hardly any child coming to the planet as motherless - but for the very tragic situation of a mother dying in giving birth.  Mother is the basic connect that everyone has to life and the rest of the world. 

I read that there is (or was) a Western Christian tradition named 'Mothering Day' celebrated during the lenten season (fourth Sunday), with clerics being encouraged to visit their mother churches. Or perhaps, more in the sense of the faith mothering happening in the Church and a call to return that mother.  

Mother's Day is of a later origin, specifically American, where Anna Jarvis+ (1864-1948) initiated the first Mother's Day worship at Andrew's Methodist Episcopalian Church in Grafton, West Virginia in 1907, in memory of her mother Ann Jarvis who died in 1905. Her inspiration for the same was Ann Reeves Jarvis*, who closed one of her Sunday School classes in 1876, attended by the little Anna, in 1876: I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it. 

It was a 2-year campaign that led to this 'holiday' being thus celebrated with her conviction that a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world". Later on, it came to be recognised as a nationally observed holiday falling on the second Sunday of May. I can recall Mother's Day becoming popular in our circles just around the end of the last century. 

Interestingly, my research points to the fact, that Anna Jarvis herself was not a mother! The celebration had a motif of working for peace - against war, where many mothers lose their sons (in those times, other than the civilians dying in war; in the present times mothers lose their sons and daughters, their children) in war. This is worth emphasising every day, especially on Mother's day!  However, she is said to have been camapaigning against the mother's day celebrations which had been taken over by the market forces, making it a big commercial venture. 

My prayer would be the kusappa before the prayer of elevation in the Syro Malabar Liturgy marking the beginning of the rites of reconciliation: '...May your peace and justice reign...Eradicate all wars and conflicts. In humility and fear of God, may we live a life of peace and joy...'

The determined effort of Anna Jarvis in mothering the mother's day is inspirational. 

On Mother's day - I salute my beloved Mom and all other moms - my grandmas on both sides of the family - dearest Ummamma, who died peacefully at the age of 79, and dearest Vellyammachi who died after a few months of illness (cancer) at the age of 85! My aunts, who were like mother to all of us - only two of them remaining on this planet now! My beloved sisters and cousin sisters - all of whom are now mothers and grand-mothers; most of them having lived a modern life of managing the homefront (usually with minimum external assistance) and their career front (except four of them, all in the field of education)! The many moms of Perumanur, contemporaries of my mother, mothers of my friends, with many of whom as a schoolboy, I had great freedom. I remember the nuns of St. Thomas convent, many of whom without having given birth to any child of their own, had been mothers to very many of Thevara - Perumanur neighbourhood. I remember my colleagues for the past 27 years - at Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (including its amazing extension centres), at Sacred Heart, Kochi, at Rajagiri Public School, Doha and at Sacred Heart, Sitapur, UP! I also salute very many of my students who have become mothers and are guiding their families.  And, I greet the mothers of all my students - especially those of Rajagiri Public School, Doha and Sacred Heart Degree College, Sitapur! 

On this occasion, I think it is important that we recognize the unimaginably stupendous tasks one accomplishes as a mother! This is a great great service to the nation, to the whole of human race!  I would go with Alfred Marshall that her tasks are to be valued in money terms, added to the GNI/GDP, and all those who need a support to run a home, to be remunerated by the state for the fundamental task of citizen building! When I addressed the mothers gathered at Rajagiri Public school on the occasion, I specially remembered our teachers - especially those in the smaller classes, who stand in for the mothers for almost 5 to 6 most active hours of the day, year after year, with every changing batch!! Salute indeed they deserve! 

I would like to call upon all of us to recognize our Common Mother - Mother India, whom we should take care of as our the mother of all those who live on this land, we honour as Bharatmata!  While not being blind to its limitations, our efforts should be in the direction of preserving what is in her that would add to the great common good - e.g., the culture of 'integrated health' Yoga.  A very important theme of our cultural heritage is a dream where the entire universe is found to be a common nest, read home (yatra sarva vishwam bhavati eka nidam); the 2023 leadership of our nation has doubly empahsised it, at least as a propaganda, by reiterating the ancient axiom of : 'vasudhaiva kutumbakam' - the planet itself is our family! 

This leads us to consider and promote the idea of Earth as our Mother, this planet as our 'Common Home', to be shared by all in a equitable fashion, consumed for growth in a responsible fashion, with a tinge of sacrifice (tena tyaktena  bhunjitha. Isa Up. 1; SDG 12) bearing future generations in mind.  The Gaian thinking where Earth was seen as the Mother of All (gods) promotes a spirit that promotes human dependence on and protection of the Earth mother. From this point of view, I am afraid, the world is not really becoming a better place - it is becoming increasingly despoiled, torn and exploited. The natural fallout of such consideration is the immediate stoppage of wars and conflicts; and seeking non-violent conflict resolutions - that is being motherly! This calls for greater dialogue, listening, patience - of which mothers usually are examples, and Bhumimata, otherwise called kshama (patience, forgiveness) is its epitome! 

May we grow in such motherly spirit, and be children of our One Mother - Earth. 

A Catholic Post Script: The Catholic church promotes a popular devotion to the spiritual motherhood of Mary in the month of May - it is a happy coincidence for those of the Catholic fold. Every month offers some celebration of Mother Mary in the Church. The month of May had a Greco-Roman significance for the cult of Artemis (fertility) and Flora (spring), when it was springtime in the Northern Hemisphere.  A Christian version of it was perhaps existent which was tapped by the Jesuit priest Latomia of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus in the 18th century. It received further push by the Papal promulgation of the assumption of Mother Mary in the 19th century.  The apparition to the young pastoral kids in Fatima is celebrated on May 13th and May 31st is celebrated as the feast of the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.   There are special devotions for the month.  Devout Catholics find spiritual support in their filial devotion to Mother Mary - a shoulder to rest, a heart to comfort, a model to inspire, a source of strength. 

*https://culturacolectiva.com/en/history/anna-jarvis-where-did-mothers-day-originate/

+https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayKSA44jnAo

Earth Mother - https://pixabay.com/vectors/earth-mother-earth-mother-nature-4307180/

On Values and the Search for Gross Organisational Happiiness

In conversation with Vedabhyas Kundu: 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/co-creating-human-values-vedabhyas-kundu-lgz5c/

Plenty of food to eat, and drink to relish. Thank you.
As we too are in the process of re-inventing the core values (as you rightly stated - not necessarily being static) of our organisation, this conversation gathers significance for me. I am sharing the same with my 'co-creators'.
In all this endeavour, I find 'co' echoing.
The first one would be that of 'consciousness' - being conscious of one's values (what one really values) and what the organisation tends to be proclaiming and/or upholding is a very important aspect of it. The primary question in this regard could be: Are my values adding to the Gross Organisational Happiness (GOH)?
The second would be to be in conversation - in the sense of dialogue. Getting to know from the co-workers and co-creators the continuous engagement what the core values are and ought to be - arriving at shared - communicated core values. .
The third would be to co-create and continue to communicate the implications and the joy(s) experienced in the process!
Sarvesham swastir bhavatu!!

Note of Gandhiji's observation: I feel the other way about. Our ancient texts of the dominant traditions are rich with axioms promoting the common good and weal; however, the individual and collective behaviour, besides the positivity of passivity, does not seem to have actively promoted the common good, starting from the material basics. The experience, as we read, of the past two centuries apparently indicate that the western cultures have done better on this count.

On the Lord's (Servants') Vineyard, Sitapur - Grape story 2024

Sitapur, UP.  But, seriously, this is no grapevine! 😆

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/QrQLoQBXECu72XSN/?mibextid=oFDknk

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/BAgguxCo7JLUiNty/?mibextid=oFDknk

Jn 15:1-9 As I enjoy the fruits of the vines in Sitapur, I recall the beautiful imagery Jesus uses to depict the ideal relationship between Jesus the Master and the disciple, between God and the individual human being.  I admire his close connect with the world of primary production.  I cannot but assume that Jesus definitely had his hands in farming and agriculture.  Of that, later.  

My earlier stints in UP in the early 1980s did have some minor interface with grape vines in our yard.  In Meerut city, where we had our study house on a 5-cent plot, we did grow vines, but don't recall them bearing fruit. In the late 80s, our neighbouring station in Najibabad, with the famous St. Mary's school attached to it, had a few vines.  I noticed them fruiting, with the bunches not getting ripe at a time, a few odd ones becoming ripe, tolerably sour-sweet, and the rest remaining extremely sour, fit for pickle.   Early 90s, during my yearlong stay at the Bishop's house, Kotdwar, the dwar to the Himalayan Hills of Garhwal, there was a fairly well maintained plot of vines, which did yield annually, and I believe it did while I was there as well.  But it didn't appeal to me much in those days.  

(In my younger days, Ammachi tended to a grapevine in our backyard, bordering the wall that separated our yard from that of Mathai chettan our beloved and simultaneously bellicose neighbour.  It was brought by our aunt Aetty of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, who brought one or two cuttings from her friend's place or from the convent, on one of her vacations. It grew well.  It was said that it should be nourished with blood, and the weekly purchase of meat, provided it some bit of it, with the water used to wash the meat being given to it.  It did bear fruit - 2 or 3 small bunches.  I am afraid my vigorous and athletic younger brother, who is now a very senior Gastroenterologist, tasted it and that was perhaps the end of it.  Perhaps, I got it wrong.  I don't recall it having borne fruit again. I regret we don't have a single picture of the plant or its fruits - unthinkable for those days.  However my schoolmate Paul N. V.* in Konthuruthy - the hamlet lying across the infamous black dark Thevara thodu - grew a vine during his 'gruhastha ashram' and it grew so well, to bear abundant fruits of beautiful violet grapes. I witnessed it when I visited with him almost 2 decades later.  I learnt that in spite of it being such a sport, he wrote a death warrant for it, apparently getting the feeling that the vine was a nuisance for the  modern terraced home.)  

Now, as I spend my first year in UP after a break of over 30 years, at Sitapur, our campus provides a good learning opportunity for all such observations.  We have 11 plants - around 10 year old.  Fr John Chakkanat, one of the enthu former managers is said to have introduced them. They are planted in two rows parallel to the chapel of our residence on its western side. By November they appear weak and leaves even fall down and by December they present themselves naked. Our administrator manages to tend his 'nursery' beneath the vines which are supported by a rectangular frame (15 x 4 m) made out of used metal pipes and steel rods (some reuse principle is applied!). 

By January, they were pruned with the assistance of our gardner Sathish, though I am sceptical about the technical correctness of the timing and method employed.  By the end of Feb, beginning of March, they were sprouting, with olive green leaves showing up, and in no time spreading and almost simultaneously gathering tiny bunches of flower buds.  In a week's time, the frame is again covered, the tender green turns into a darker shade, and buds bloom almost imperceptibly.  A couple of days showed tremendous activity with colonies of wild bees buzzing around non-stop, serving themselves, the plants and the planet - a very symbiotic community.  Then as weeks go by the flowers give way to tiny bulbs, which swell and take a spherical shape. 

By mid-May, they are inviting any number of planeters to take part of the feast they have spread - formidable among them - squirrels and red-whiskered bulbuls, at least a dozen each. There are occasional visitors from other avians - crow pheasant, tailor bird, sunbird and barbet.  I don't see much of crows or pigeons or mynahs coming after the grapes. 

It's only a matter of a week, at the most, 10 days, and if not harvested, they fall down and then the task apparently is left to the bulbuls and the bees. I thought bees would feed only on flowers.  No. They pierce the ripe fruits with their sting and then feed on the syrup that trickles out - as I understand for their colony, for the next generation, and for the planet (most likely without intending that)! But they have no ego issues in this - even the half-eaten fruits left over by the bigger avians are good enough for them to do their collection, about which they go in a no-nonsense kind of rigour.  If they sense the humans gathering the second or third crop are interfering with their task, they have no qualms about deploying the lethal weapon at their disposal. 

The grapes gone, the vines, with their support frame, turn into a cool shade in the crazy summer when Brother Sun goes about his business in a born-tough manner! He is awake at 4.45 am and indulges in his tasks with a great amount of playfulness well past 7 pm in the evening. The initiators of the plants do find the area a cool shade, it also serves well for the nursery as a grooming ground for the ongoing green agenda of the campus, including the bio-bouquets. 

I am yet to learn about the grape variety we were feasting on in the past week. It is said that there were 2 types, however, when we gathered the fruits, we could hardly make any distinction.  Did the minority get assimilated or coopted? I don't know.  I can't say that they are a top-quality grape.  Perhaps, sufficient water was not given during the time of flowering and subsequent fruitin season, the fruits were small.  The skin (epidermis) was soft enough to be chewed, and not rubbery - but not as crispy-soft as the modern-day hybrid seedless black or green grapes - these have the skin firmer.  There was hardly any seed, though occasionally you found one or 2 in a few, which could easily be gulped down. 

Almost half a quintal of them have been mercilessly crushed in the home-designed winery and crusher under the guidance of my confrere Austin Thenkudam (lit - a pot of honey). We expect white wine to emerge - white or sparkling?  Our grapes being green, less likely that our wine will emerge red, though it is told that with the required mix even white grapes can produce red wine (why not, if water can be turned into wine!). Some bunches did reach our friends and benefactors in the neighbourhood - the nuns of BCM hospital, those on the campus, the parish priest, some of the staff members who were on summer vacation duty. 

Had I my way, I would have tried a hand at getting some of the grapes transformed into jam or juice or chutney - I tried my luck with the Horticultural department which is supposed to provide such services to the people. Yes, they could do that - but now they are all busy with the duties related to the great Indian festival - the national elections.  They would look into it, once the elections are over.  But grapes can't wait. They will ripe and fall and dry. 

Perhaps next time! Hope there is another year, better care, and a better harvest. 

We should feel grateful that the otherwise indiscriminately destructive 'vanar sena' was not found around this time, and that our grapes were spared and we too, the task of warding them off.  But above all, I am grateful that for the first time perhaps in life, we had grapes at our disposal, with a guarantee that no insecticide - chemical or organic - was applied. 

So that was 'Draaksha Jigyaasa' for 2024!

*Paul's Konthuruthy Vines - on the terrace of his two-storey building - around 2010. Paul seen with his beloved (late) mother, harvesting.  So the vines were let climb up the two storeys on to its terrace, almost 24 ft high, and then spread and bear fruit. 

Paul reminds me that this is the day of 'Corpus Christi' (on which wine does play a significant symbolic role) and updates that in that year, the best of the harvest was offered at the parish, which was auctioned at Rs. 12000, and the amount has remained a record auction at the Church to date. 

Thanks to this post, Paul could scour and discover these pics which he had reconciled to have gone corrupted in a hard drive. 

Sapphire Evergreen: Three Decades and yet going!!

Three decades? It is no big deal! Mammootty, Mohanlal etc. have been in the field of motion pictures now for more than four decades and are still going strong. Many of my teachers and my colleagues in education had an active career lasting more than 3 decades.  So completing 3 decades does not appear to be a great career accomplishment. 

However, completing 30 years as a minister of the word and of the sacraments of the church, called to be a healer of the planet, makes one feel good - and I wanted to share that joy with the batchmates who have travelled more or less the same path for almost 45 years to accomplish this career mark. Setting aside the questions of careerism in all this, I will briefly narrate our inaugural gathering of the 'Sapphire'  or 'Pearl' anniversary of ordination as some have started naming the 30th anniversary. 

We were a small batch of just 31 - with 4 of us completing the theological formation at Jnana Deepa Vidya Peeth, Pune, 2 from Krist Premalaya Theologate, Ashta and the rest of us from Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram. Two of us have left active ministry to build their own small families, and one has been called to eternal life. Of the 28 remaining, 3 are in Germany, 1 in Italy, 1 in Kenya, 1 in Australia, 1 in the USA, 4 in Gujarat, 1 in the Philippines, 1 in Madhya Pradesh, 2 in Maharashtra, 1 in UP, 1 in Tamil Nadu, and the rest in Keralam. Our section master, Rev Dr Joseph Areeplackal has been in Peru for over 2 decades. 

Yesterday, May 26th 10 of us including Fr Master, gathered on the waters of Alappuzha for the launch of the Sapphire year. Mariyalayam (Josekutty) had been singlehandedly behind calling up people one by one and seeing to the logistics of the gathering place and food. Fr Master's presence served as a catalyst for all to gather. He appeared as young as he used to be 30 years ago! And he had good news to share on his health front. Joshy's presence (that too with a Glen Fohdry!!) was also crucial as travelling from abroad is never easy.  Joshy Plamoottill (generally, Play moottil) travelled all the way from Trivandrum (the last phase from Ettumanoor) befitting a religious using public transport, and managed to be at the venue in time. All others managed to get themselves to the venue in 3 vehicles.  Puncha (Jose Punchapudussery) who had just recovered from a bad road accident involving multiple fractures, was another key figure. Ampalathattil had problems with transport to arrive from the novitiate house in Punaloor. We remembered with pride that our small batch has produced a General Councillor (Paulson) and a Provincial (Mathew Manjakunnel), besides provincials in other orders (Titus, Mathew Perumpil...) and several others doing exemplary and effective ministry. 

The boat was spacious, the food was sumptuous and the snacks and drinks scrumptious - bearing labels of different parts of the world. The pure coconut syrup distilled naturally and locally added flavour to the gathering. Some key experiences were shared. 

The gathering remembered our fellowship and those who have departed from this fellowship through death.  Some very special experiences regarding health were shared by Mathukutty and Puncha. It unanimously resolved to find a better time with better planning to accommodate more people.  Mathukutty (Thengumpally) has promised to host it at Trivandrum. This could be considered a very good option. The other possibility is that of a gathering at the nature centre 'Bhoothathaankettu'.  However, Zachary aka Joshy had a private bill which proposed a gathering outside the boundaries of India - Srilanka, Male, Malaysia etc were hotly considered.  The other important resolve was to urge Puncha to go for a break from his tried and tested routine for a month-long health care programme.  Puncha has agreed to that (!!).  There were very dramatic revelations on the part of Joshy Plamoottil, which the gathering is yet to digest. 

We had an on-call conversation with our friends Varkeychan Thannippara and Job Edathinatt.  Though it was past midnight, Job still obliged and took up the call.  Showers of blessings were there at the beginning of the gathering and towards the end of it - en route trip back. 

The only regret is the short notice and the consequent inability to include our extended batch of the various other orders and dioceses. Hopefully next time. 

I was personally happy to make it to the gathering, as it was not easy to get a convenient flight that would not make me lose working days, which was accomplished. It was thanks to Paulson and the very agile Ginson at the wheels, that I could manage to reach well in time at Nedumbassery - Delhi, snatching a couple hours of sleep at the airport - 5.15 am to Lucknow Amausi - a metro trip to Hazrat Ganj, then a cycle rickshaw to bus station at Kesarbaug,  local UPSRTC bus to Sitapur to be picked up at Khairabad bus stop for a gruelling day with university inspection for a new course - with the core issue being how much each of the university expert panellists is to be paid - that is our UP style higher education and after all that, we yet struggle to get our seats filled.