Identifying oneself

 Identity is carved out in association, rather than in isolation. This is one fact that struck me hard and strong years ago when I was preparing a paper on the Salesian Brother.  

Often we think that in order to make ourselves stand out we need to be apart from the rest.  But even there, without the other(s), we do not have a measuring yard.  

Understood in this context, the invitation of Jesus to lose oneself, in order to find who we truly are, makes perfect sense.  Only when we understand all and everyone around us, do we begin to make sense of ourselves!

Borrowed impressions

 In Hyderabad, for quite some years now, there is this ritual one gets to notice practically every morning, all across the city.  There is the municipality garbage van that goes around collecting garbage, door to door.  Nothing unusual about that itself, except that the van has a 'wake-up call'.  A particular tune and song that is played, followed by a message calling upon the ladies of the houses to bring out the garbage.  

Initially I never 'heard' it! Once someone commented on it at table and since then everytime I heard it, I felt annoyed and irritated by it.  Now after a couple of years, I don't 'hear' it again! Not that they have stopped announcing or changed the call sign, it is just that my ears don't pick it up.  

I realised the initial annoyance at that particular sound was because the negative observation and comments I first heard about it.  Not that I personally made an opinion.  I merely imbibed and assimilated that negative impression.  Now, on those rare occasions, that I hear the song and the message, there is still a bit of that awkward feeling, but not as strong as before. 

Surprising myself

 The joy of having successfully completed a task is good. But the joy of having completed a task of which you had no clue or knowledge about and which you discover so much in the process of fulfilling it, is truly great! 

Such was one of my experiences yesterday.  I observed an SMS that I received on the office phone a month ago and I could not make head or tail of it.  So began my attempt to understand what it was all about.  It was about an application that we had submitted in 2020, six years ago.  The government had not decided to act upon it and also grant a concession for completing the process within a stipulated time. It was about the Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) of the Telangana govt.  

Yesterday I completed the process of reducing the quoted fee by more than half.  All of this because I discovered, through a long and passionate follow up, that the calculation was wrong - although that miscalculated figure itself was far FAR below the present day rates.  

Another instance of me surprising myself!  From the classroom to the courtroom. From being a lecturer to being an administrator.  From philosophy to economics and law.  

And the journey continues! 

Guard your compassion

 Here's the extract of the letter (dated 23 July 2026) written by Amol Palekar addressed to the Gen-Z students protesting at Jantar Mantar over the last few days.  I liked especially the concluding words of encouragement: 

Take care of one another. Guard your compassion and your hope.  Do not allow anger to harden into hatred.  Stand firm.  Walk forward without bitterness, without fear and without apology. 

My name

The power and influence of one's name over ones own life, especially the psyche, is enormous. I've seen its influence over the years of my work with the young Salesians and Diocesans. 

There have been times, when years later, people have approached me with a BIG THANKS, for one primary reason: consistently addressing them by their name, rather than the nickname given by their own companions. Even to this day, I prefer to call people by their given name or a name they liked to be called by, rather than a nickname or some weird nondescript sound. 

 

Love transforms everything

 [Reflection by Fr Jijo Jose Manjackal MSFS] 

 A Dutch diamond collector was seeking for a very rare diamond. 

 A diamond dealer in New York heard of this inquiry and contacted him letting him know that he believed he possessed the diamond he was looking for. The diamond collector arrived and the dealer had his salesman present the diamond. 

 The salesman described all the technical aspects of the diamond. However, within minutes, the diamond collector rose his hand and said: “I am sorry! This is not the diamond I am looking for” and began to walk away. 

 Watching from a distance, the diamond dealer hurriedly intercepted him and he asked him if he could present the diamond again. Since he had travelled a long distance, the collector agreed to listen once again. The dealer pulled out the same diamond and started describing his admiration for this particular diamond. 

 Within minutes they were signing papers, and the diamond was purchased. 

 As the gentleman was walking out, he asked, what just happened? Why was it so easy for me to say no to your salesman a little while ago, while with you I purchased the diamond? The dealer replied: “That salesman is the best in the business. He knows more about diamonds than anyone, including myself, and I pay him a large salary for his knowledge and expertise. But I would gladly pay him twice as much if I could put into him something I have, which he lacks. You see, he knows diamonds but I love them!” 

 Love transforms everything!

Groundnuts (Part 2)

  Two stories related to groundnuts are famous in the Province. The second story, sometime in the 2000s, at Karunapuram. 

This incident was during the time of Fr Gopu Marreddy as administrator at Karunapuram.  This is narrated and verified by him in person! 

It was his first year as administrator at Karunapuram and there was the place around the football court that was cultivated once or twice before him.  The farmhand reminded Fr Marreddy that it was time to plant something in the garden and when asked what was planted the previous year, the farmhand replied that they had planted groundnuts.  So they decided to cultivate the same.  Fortunately there were some leftover seeds of the previous year and they decided to use them instead of purchasing again.  

The seeds were planted, they sprouted, the community was involved in taking care, additional people were employed to weed and spread manure and fertilizers and finally the crop was ready for harvest. The Brothers did the harvesting and the yield was good and plentiful.  

As a goodwill gesture, the same evening Fr Marreddy sent small portions of the harvest to the neighbouring religious of Karunapuram.  The next day morning when he went to the JMJ convent for Mass, he noticed the Sisters quite amused and jittery! He somehow celebrated the Mass without being able to shake off this feeling.  After Mass when he entered their dining hall for breakfast, the Sisters, in chorus, congratulated him:  "Congratulations dear Fr. We never ever heard or saw this before, but you successfully managed to grow seedless groundnuts!!"  

It turned out that although the harvest appeared good and was plentiful, it was empty inside for most of it!!! Thus began the saga of Fr Marreddy growing 'seedless groundnuts'!  

Groundnuts (Part 1)

 Two stories related to groundnuts are famous in the Province. The older story first. 

In the early years of St Antony's, Kadapa when the Salesians were entrusted with the house and much before the Hyderabad Province was carved out, Fr M. A. Jacob was the Rector and Fr EJ Mathew was the administrator.  So on the particular occasion of the commemoration of the multiplication of the walnuts by Don Bosco at the Oratory during his time, the Salesian houses then distributed groundnuts in India (for walnuts were not available). When it was the day, Fr Jacob reminded Fr EJ to get groundnuts for the Technical school boys. Fr EJ's Telugu was not that good, but somehow communicated to the staff to get the groundnuts. 

When asked how to distribute it, Fr EJ told the staff to fry them.  "But how?" asked the staff. "Mix them up in sand and roast them in a pan," was the instruction given out.  The staff looked puzzled and not sure if that was right.  After much insistence he did it. Before the distribution could begin, he brough out the bowl. Inside it was groundnut powder mixed with sand!!! The staff had understood groundnuts as groundnuts powder!!!  

Dependence

 My recent reflection based on the FCRA cancellations and the upcoming concerns with foreign funding, brings back to the fore our reliance on projects, to the extent of crippling out initial passion to work by ourselves. The availability of funding actually makes us lazy!! 

Earlier our predecessors worked with a vision, firmly rooted in the context of the place. Their humble initiatives were not project-bound. They just did all they could. Their time, talents, will and available resources were the investment. Recognising this total and joyful commitment, donors offered their mite by way of financial resources. The focus of our early Salesians was not projects or funding; it was the apostolate. At no costs did they halt the apostolate, even when funding dwindled. God provided. 

Today we ride on the merit of their hard work. Our commitment levels are far lower than theirs. Riddled with personal agenda and selfishness, our apostolate is often a showcasing of ourselves rather than a genuine concern for the growth of the young people. In such a context, external funding only feeds our lethargy and selfishness. 

So I wonder, if my insistence on accountability is misplaced. The greater emphasis should be on discerning the real needs of the young, with a far sighted vision for their long term growth; earning by the sweat of one's brow; maximum utilisation of available resources rather than new resources - with a clear firm focus on the young and God, taking ones own wants out of the calculation. 

Staying put on the primary purpose

 The parable of the good seed and the bad seed, calls our attention to focus on the purpose and not be distracted or settle for something less (negating evil) than primarily intended (doing good).

Weeds are a nightmare for any gardner. They are those plants which have mastered every art of survival except that of growing in straight lines. Moreover they never can be got rid of. However the farmer in the parable chooses to stay focussed on growing wheat and not to focus on the weeds. He chooses to stay a farmer rather than turn detective hunting down the culprit who showed the darnel; or shift his attention to the weeds, at the cost of the wheat. 

The farmer stays put on doing good (growing useful wheat) rather than eliminating evil (weeding out the darnel). The former indirectly achieving the latter, while the latter does not always or necessarily result in the former.