The Photo Meditation of the Month (March, 2009): DOING IT WITH LOVE

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An elderly village lady preparing vegetables for cooking
Photo (Rangamatia Village, Gazipur District, Bangladesh) © Jerome D'Costa

Doing It With Love

This is an elderly Bangladeshi village lady doing her daily chore with intense care, love and attention. She knows from her long experience that whatever she does with love will end in success. She is cutting leafy and other vegetables and chopping potatoes for a tasty curry she will prepare later.

Her pose and gait tell it clearly that she has put her mind and heart into her work. There is nothing that can disturb her. Every cut and every chop acquire a new meaning. All the vegetables are not to be cut in the same fashion -- the size and shape differ according to the type of vegetable she uses and that's the secret of making the items tasty. Her deftness, her skills and her patience go into the work she does. Although she is slow, she is steady. She knows her work will result in happiness of everyone in the family during the meals.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said: "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love." Yes, doing it with love should be the motto of us all. Only then will that make the doing meaningful, more humane. A real bond then will be created between the doer and the doee.

The Photo Meditation of the Month (February, 2009): THE ELDERLY

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An elderly lady in Kalikapur Village of 

Natore District, Bangladesh

Photo (December 15, 1989) © Jerome D'Costa

The Elderly

By Jerome D'Costa

They are everywhere -- in families, societies, and countries.

Some call them the elderly, the aged, the seniors -- whatever suits them.

Some see hopelessness in them, expect them not to last the next day or two.

Some tolerate them, take their existence for granted, but think of them as know-nothings.

Others see them pregnant with age and wisdom, the source of knowledge and hope.

In reality, every fold of their skin, every white hair on their head, tells tons of stories.
Their faces are mirrors of the earlier generations, their faces bear messages for the next ones.

Their smiles, their tremulous lips can be forecasters of the good news, if you're attentive.
Their slowness, their gaunt walk can give them a dignity, a grand poise, though.

Whatever their limitations, they are ours, they passed life as we are passing.
We have to tread on the same path they have trodden.
Let's give them our respect, our love, and our sacrificial care,
So that their remaining days on earth be worth living, fruitful and enjoyable.