The Photo Meditation of the Month (November, 2010): BEING OF SERVICE TO OTHERS

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Bark of a birch tree in a family garden in Toronto
Photo (Toronto) © Jerome D'Costa

Bark of a maple tree at the campus of
St. Jerome's University at Waterloo, Ontario
 Photo (Waterloo, Ontario: June 19, 2010) © Jerome D'Costa

Being of Service to Others

The bark of each type of tree is different -- in shape, colour and natural design.

Scratching of the bark is a kind of art. Romantic people scratch barks to leave their messages and love symbols of a heart pierced with an arrow. "John was here" or "Shawn loves Jennifer" are such examples.We can call it "the bark language."

Barks are used for various purposes. Almost all over the world, different barks are used for their medicinal properties. North American Indians used to make light canoes with birch tree barks to travel in rivers and waterways. In Europe, making corks of bottles from a special kind of bark was a big industry. Rubber trees give out a whitish juice when their barks are cut in a certain way and the collected juice is turned into rubber after some processing. Tasty maple syrup is also extracted similarly from Maple trees. Certain animals eat selected types of barks for their nutrition and healing. Cinnamon, a spicy bark, is a common spice used widely in the Middle Eastern and the Indian subcontinental cooking.

Barks are so simple but useful to others. We need to thank God for providing such wonderful items for use by his other creations. As the barks are there to serve others, so are the mankind -- the best of God's creations. We also need to be environment-friendly and not exploitative and inimical to trees and other flora. This mutual respect and love will make this world more livable for our generations to come.

The Poem of the Month (November, 2010): THE RHYTHM OF LIFE

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My poem Jiboner CChondo in Bangla (Bengali), was published in the above little magazine Doel of December 25, 1987, from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Aldrick Biswas was the editor of the magazine.

For the readers of this blog, I am presenting my poem in English:

The Rhythm of Life

By Jerome D'Costa

We lose the rhythm of life,
We regain the rhythm of life.

Again, we lose the rhythm of life,
We get back the rhythm of life.

That's the way life goes on, so will it go on.

The Quotation of the Week (November 28 - December 4, 2010)

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Photo (Portland, Oregon, USA: 1976) © Jerome D'Costa

Bishop Patrick D'Rozario, CSC, Appointed Co-adjutor Archbishop of Dhaka

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Bishop Patrick D'Rozario, CSC, of Chittagong,
while on a recent visit to Toronto
Photo (Toronto: October 24, 2010) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Patrick D'Rozario, CSC, of Chittagong Diocese as the co-adjutor archbishop of Dhaka, Bangladesh, reports Vatican Information Service (VIS).

In the last week of January, 2011, Bishop Patrick D'Rozario will assume his new office in Dhaka. At the retirement of the incumbent Archbishop Paulinus Costa in October, 2011, he will officially succeed him as the new archbishop.

Bishop Patrick D'Rozario, born on October 1, 1943, at Padrishibpur of Bakerganj District in Bangladesh, became a priest on January 8, 1972. Later he taught at the National Major Seminary (later renamed The Holy Spirit Major Seminary) in Dhaka. On September 12, 1990, he was consecrated as the Bishop of Rajshahi Diocese. He was installed as the Bishop of Chittagong Diocese on April 21, 1995.

According to The Catholic Directory of Bangladesh, the Catholic population of Chittagong Diocese in 2007 was 32,950 and that of Dhaka Archdiocese was 78,813.

On a recent visit to Canada, Bishop Patrick D'Rozario met with Bangladeshi Catholics in Toronto on October 24 and offered a special Mass, arranged by the Bangladesh Catholic Association of Ontario (BCAO). He also went to Montreal to attend Brother Andre's post-canonization solemn thanksgiving Mass at the Montreal Olympic Stadium on October 30. Bangladeshi Catholics of the city were happy to meet him, too.

The Quotation of the Week (November 21 - 27, 2010)

An illiterate village mother with her child
at Char Harirampur -- an island in the Padma River --
in Faridpur District, Bangladesh

Photo (Char Harirampur, Dt. Faridpur, 1984) © Jerome D'Costa

A Modern Casanova Charms His Way to 19 Marriages!

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Oliver John Killeen in an attractive dress

Photo courtesy: The Toronto Sun

Oliver John Killeen in ordinary dress
Photo courtesy: The Toronto Sun

Oliver John Killeen (72) is an Irishman and a modern Casanova who is said to have seduced and married 19 women in four countries including Canada. This inter-country charmer is now facing trial in Toronto on the charge of bigamy (having two wives at the same time), reports The Toronto Sun of today.

He had a way with women who found him to be a good talker with tall stories and a charming personality. He was a good talker and an attentive listener with a remarkable knowledge of female psychology. He would talk about what the women wanted to hear. Once he was arrested in Britain but got away easy. In an interview to an Irish newspaper, he had said: "Getting divorced is costly and time-consuming, so I decided not to bother." He further said: "I gave women what they wanted. If they were foolish enough to marry me with a few weeks of meeting me, that was up to them." He also bragged: "Conning women is easy."

Casanovas in Bangladesh

There are examples of Casanovas in every country. Bangladesh newspapers from time to time come up with such examples which mostly happen in rural areas where mostly illiterate and financially disadvantaged people live simple lives and where the rule of law does not extend to its full extent. Dozens of years ago, I had read of a full-bearded elderly guy who had married 44 times. There was another case of a fellow marrying for the eighth time. In those areas, Muslim men can get verbal divorce by shouting "talak, talak, talak" (I divorce you) three times at the wife!

The Real Casanova is from Italy

The real Casanova, after whom the word 'Casanova' (a womanizer; a philanderer) got mentioned in the dictionaries, is originally from Venice, Italy. His name was
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (1725-1798). He was a soldier, diplomat, adventurer, spy and writer. In his autobiography he mentioned in detail the erotic conquests of women he had made. He claimed to have conquered 122 women in several countries of Europe, especially France.

A Doodle on NGOs in Bangladesh

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A doodle on some non-government organizations (NGOs)
 in Bangladesh

Doodle (Dhaka: February 26, 1994) © Jerome D'Costa