Like all of us my tryst with sparrows began with the chiu taai chiu taai daar ughad, or like my amma would say in konkani ' gurbanji akka Gurbanji akka, baagil kaadi!

and that was it for a long time.

we had the odd sparrow build a nest in a sheltered nook on our floor when i was still a school going girl.

then around 2011 , a friend mentioned, and people also were noticing that sparrows were becoming fewer in number in urban areas. Yet in my society - residential co-op hsg society. sparrows chirped, cheeped, hopped, flew. Some monsoon mornings, when the clouds parted and the sun peeped from behind a plump crowd, and then shone brightly, glowing - a very welcome, bright orange , one could find the sparrows in groups of 6 or 7, prancing in little puddles on the ground, chirping .

it was only last year, yes, during the lock down that i actually started looking out of the window. It started with me having to rest for nearly 3 weeks, bed bound , following a surgery. it was at this time that I started noticing a crow build a nest on a tree in the building compound, bit by bit, string by string, twig by twig. An unexpected weather change made the crow abandon the nest and it was never seen around the nest again.

Soon I started noticing the sparrows. close to my window were many young palms and i as the windows remained open, with the weather being pleasant, i would 'wake up to the sound of birds' . Many different bird sounds, including the sparrows.

With that arose the desire to capture them on film... photo kheenchna. I have unsteady hands. The picture which i have in mind is very very rarely what is seen as the end result. but i was not disheartened. I tried leaning against a sliding window, sitting on the floor, using a tripod.... i enjoyed this activity.

I also realized that the sparrows were a frisky curious lot. they would perch on my window grill.. try to peep in.. gain entry..yes i have videos of the same.

soon i was walking around the building, camera in hand... friends assumed i was a professional.. they assumed i was working on a project.. Ahem!!

unko kya pata... i was the curious one.. a student - trying to shoot a few 'steady , clear' pictures. and then i really started enjoying watching them.. i have been so smitten ..that on many occasions i had just been staring through the viewing lens, forgetting to click or to hit the record button.

my 'Bird watcher' friends appreciated the pictures and then suggested that i place a saucer of water on my window sill..Place a few grains for the sparrows and soon sparrows as well as other small birds would make my window their regular haunt. - Biplov, Amey, Meghana... many thanks to you.

being the empress of jugaad, well they call it DIY now... and also being the impatient one - kaun bazaar jaaega and feeder laayegaa.. Amazon would take 3 days to deliver too. So i just looked around the house. i found an unused winnowing fan.. small in size. on it i placed an ice cream tub, filled with water. and i waited.. in my mind i imagined little sparrows, sun birds,, bulbuls,.. having their fill of water and then maybe splash around in it.

Biplov and Meghana asked me to remove the plastic tub. 1st rule - no plastic. a terracotta bowl said Biplov. it would keep the water cool during the hot afternoons. A saucer, said Meghana, the little birdies would get intimidated by a bigger deeper fuller water body.

Another jugaad happened and i found a bright red plastic lid of a glass jar which had slipped through my butter fingers. It was a decent size. the right diameter, the right depth. so it was placed on the windowing fan and the whole contraption was wedged between the window and the pigeon net. one side of the winnowing fan was weighed down by a kind of a bronze tumbler.

and i waited.

the next day i realized that i had a few , dried stalks of rice. each navaratri when the new rice is ceremoniously brought into the house, a few stalks of rice, wrapped on one end with a mango leaf , are tied to our rice container, altar, main door, wardrobes, study tables, book shelves, etc.

I looked around, and lo and behold.. my desk had one such bunch secured around one of its legs. I removed it and stuck it outside the pigeon net , secured it with thread , a little above the water contraption and... well .. i waited.. I lay in wait

it was day 2 and not one sparrow ventured anywhere close to the water or the grain.

they were all over the grill as usual. chirping , chasing each other, grooming themselves... not one looked down at the sill.

and on day 3 ..it happened. a little sparrow flew down. examined the sill, and then her surroundings..- outside and then inside. she caught me looking happily at her . she flew away and she didn't come back.

but when the window was shut, or the curtains were drawn, i could see through the glass and from the side of the curtains.. at least one sparrow was sipping on the water. the stalks of grain, the sparrows were oblivious to them.

till that one day. what had happened was the breeze had caused some paddy from the very dry rice stalks to drop on the window sill. a few on the winnowing fan, a few on the sill. Having had a go at them, one day, one sparrow simply craned her neck and looked upwards. and then it was happiness... she flew up to that bar of the grill and tugged at a grain. and how meticulous she was,, tug at one or two..chomp on them and at regular intervals, spit out the husk. yes.. i have it on camera. looking at this action of hers, i was reminded of my childhood. while we ate berries (Bor) or karvand, or orange or watermelon.. friends would caution.. throw out the seed, else a tree of the same fruit would grow in ur tummy. Also about the Pink Bubblegum - chew on it , try and blow a bubble and then spit it out, else ur intestines and stomach would stick together ..throat too i think. ( Vivek Dilawari ) The sparrows too had heard similar tales frm their mamas and grand mamas probably... eat the grain frm the paddy, spit out the husk. My friend Amey had mentioned - they like doing this. and i certainly enjoy watching them do this.

woh ek din tha... and aaj ka din.. sparrows throng my window sill at regular intervals. Of that one bunch of rice stalks that i had hung first, nothing but the dried mango leaf and thread remained. and i had started noticing that the ' regulars' looked up, to find nothing. i cld imagine their bewilderment and then the shock.

so another another look around the house and I found another , thicker bunch wrapped around a handle of the daughter's book case. it was removed frm there and duly tied to my window ka grill.

today is International Sparrows Day, i was reminded. post toh banta hai. posting 2 video clips . do watch.

and a big thank you to friends who saw my photograpy attempts on whatsapp and appreciated them.

also a big thank you to friends who helped with advice on video clips. - cutting or compressing videos - Sanjay Vasudev

Shobha Shenoykini

Day 10 Somreeta

Of Nostos and Alogos

Day 10 and the concluding part of the 10 day 'project', Somreeta.

I will begin with a confession. When I started my studies once again after a hiatus of about 20 yrs, I realized I had one short coming. I was slow in applying, or connecting studies or learnings with happenings around me, connecting 2 learnings... However I will also add that there has been some progress in that area and though the lacuna hasn't been 'fixed', I am on the path.

Okay.. now for the story of the day.

In their later years, my parents-in-law lived with us, until they passed on to the other realm. It was then that I convinced my parents to move in with us as neighbours.

Later we and my parents moved in together into a bigger apartment.

I asked my father to select a room of his choice for him and mommy. He walked through the bedrooms, standing at the windows, taking in the sights and very happily zeroed in on one. " I will take this room", said. "You know why? This room offers a full view of the garden below. It makes me feel as if I am in my native home, with the many trees around me. It makes me feel 'at home' already. It makes me happy", he had said.

Our house here in Mumbai is on the first floor. The patch of garden below our house was one abounding with trees and plants. There were several palms with various vines crawling up on them. There were many coconut palms lining the compound wall and those too were visible from his window. When the plumeria was planted at the four corners of this patch, one was right below his window.

His home in his village near Udupi was a beautiful place. Behind his house there was a big patch of land with many trees. Coconuts, mangoes and even a cashew I remember. I remember my grandmother talking about the eucalyptus trees too. Across the street, they had their fields and trees like that of the coconut, mango and tamarind as also the pineapple shrubs.

The bit of land behind his house, which was heavy with trees, they called it the 'haadi'. It was a cool and well shaded zone, thanks to the many trees that grew there. When dad sat on his chair in his room, and looked outside the window, from his new home now, he had said " I feel like I am in Kuthpady, sitting in our 'haadi' . Kuthpady or Kuthupady as he pronounced it, was the name of his village.

While on the subject of the 'haadi', that area was not a well laid out orchard, or a farm or a garden. The plants and trees must have been planted randomly by them when they were young, or probably earlier. In the monsoons, the wet soil sprung out wild flowers. One of which I very clearly remember was the 'baila phool'. 'Bailu' in Konkani is the bullock. The flower grew on the ground and one had to look for it after the first rains of the monsoon. It was a small whitish flower. One plucked it carefully. Like the hibiscus flower that has a stamen, this flower would have a small growth which closely resembled the bull, horns and all. Just the face. From the stem of the flower, emerged a thin filament. One pulled it back and forth, very gently and the head of the bullock would move up and down. I have a picture of it which I happened to see on a face book profile and I had saved it. Shall share it below.

Also there was a tree which bore chickoo shaped fruits. The fruit had a rough grey exterior, much like the the kavat (wood apple). We bit into it gingerly. Gingerly, because once we sunk our teeth into it, the inside of the fruit was almost waxy. The main reason however, was that the centre of the fruit was the most exciting part of the fruit and we did not want to disturb it by biting through it. The centre of the fruit, would be a very bright orange and shaped like a Ganapati. Sounds unbelievable, right? I last remember seeing it in 1985, when we had our last proper summer vacation there.

Since 1992, we visit Udupi regularly, every year for Ganpati, but this tree which bears the ' Ganpati Phala' , bore fruit only around May or early June, I have been told. And very few of the many family members and friends I have spoken to in all these years, remember that tree or fruit and have not seen it in years. I wished I could show it to my children.

So Somreeta, this concluding post was about these 2 plants from a garden we have left behind for several decades now.

I started reading a new book yesterday night. 'This World Below Zero Fahrenheit- Travels in the Kashmir Valley by Suhas Munshi. He has written a fairly long and engaging introduction to the book. About the book he states that he did not have any grand, connecting theme in mind. He was clear that he was not going to write about violence ('and I failed even at that') he adds.

At one place he writes and I quote, 'Daniel Mendelsohn , the great essayist , in "An Odyssey' describes the genesis of the word 'nostalgia'. One of its roots is Nostos, the Greek word for

'homecoming". In time, this wistful word nostos, rooted so deeply in the Odyssey's themes, was eventually combined with another word in Greek's vast vocabulary of pain, 'alogos', to give us an elegantly simple way to talk about the bittersweet feeling we sometimes have for a special kind of troubling longing. Literally this word means' the pain associated with longing for home,' but as we know, 'home', particularly as we get older, can be a time as well as a place.'

A few of the past few posts, and then today's post....these were all about memories and impressions which lurked in the recesses of our mind and heart. Why I was attracted to a few plants, why they appealed to me, why I longed for them to bloom and to match the picture I had of them, in my mind's eye.. why dad had his connection with the little garden...

Nostalgia .. a melancholy yearning..a homecoming.

 

Day 9 Somreeta

Dil Maange More!

The plants which survived and thrived, boosted my morale no end.

It is almost an emotional moment, to see a new baby leaf sprout, on a branch or a leaf unfold., a leaf stick its head out of the soil... the tender leaf...That they respond to the attention and care, lavished on them, uplifts the spirits , makes you happy. And this is where the artificial plants, however attractive, fall short.

After the success in keeping the bougainvillea, the periwinkle and the madhumalati, growing and healthy , I almost felt a bit vindicated and hence confident of bringing home a few new plants.

Also, one of our online purchase of a very popular plant - the ZZ plant , last year, had a healthy green hue to it now , it has also grown in height in the past few months

That particular vendor. Ugaoo , to be specific, packages its plants very immaculately. The plant had arrived home in great shape, with no damage , not even a leaf which had come loose.

Thus emboldened, I purchased 3 succulents and an indoor plant, with reddish green leaves.

These plants come already potted . One does not water the top soil. There is a small tray fitted to the bottom of the pot and the pot has a lip through which one can add water. The plant also comes with a list of instructions.. regarding their placement in the room - indoor or outdoor, sunlight needed, how many times it needs to be watered, etc. They were called the self watering pots. The plants draw water from the tray below it.

Ugaoo has a range of table top plants , as also indoor plants and many others.

Meet mine - The Jade, The snake plant, the Snake Plant - Golden Hahnii and the Aglaonema Red Plant.

 

Day 8, Somreeta

Of The Aarey Road and The Ukshi tree and The Shankasur Rain tree and The Yellow Gulmohar!

In the early seventies, we used to travel at least once every 4 5 months to Chembur, to visit one of our very close family friends. The trip meant first, taking the 261 bus route from Shastri Nagar to Goregaon Bus depot. From there we crossed over to Goregaon East, using the foot over bridge.

All the times we have done this, I distinctly remember a chalk artist, who drew huge figures of Gods, on the road, just besides the landing of the bridge on the eastern side. They used to be very attractive and I remember being enamoured by the sheer size of that canvas. The one figure I remember clearly is of Lord Hanuman. The devout who walked past this, would offer a coin or two. My mother would give me a coin too, while my father gave us disapproving looks.

From here we would move to the Bus Depot on the eastern side and wait for another bus . Bus Route number 341, to take us to Sion Bus Depot.

From Sion we would have to take another bus, or sometimes a taxi which would ferry us to our destination near Diamond Gardens.

This remained a practice till 1980, when that family moved out of Mumbai.

The highlight of this trip would be the journey from Goreagoan East to Sion. Actually, just that patch which was called Aarey Road.

Even if one wasn't really watching the road, one could tell when we entered Aarey Road. There would be a pleasant breeze which would hit you, and then the forest sounds.. The swoosh of the branches of a tree as the bus passed by them, or the sound of the odd branch which had spread so wide that they touched the moving bus.. The sound of the crickets, ..the sound of birds settling in for the night, heard while on our return journey.

I had noticed that the trunk of the trees carried brown and white bands as markings. I remember dad saying that they were state property and hence the marking.. that they cannot be cut. Since then I have heard many other explanations about the same.

Years passed by and after the shaadi, we resided just a little away from the Andheri end of Aarey Road. The parents stayed at Malad. For me, the many years had not taken away the the charm of that patch of 'forest' as we travelled down that road once again. The lush greenery still attracted me. When the children arrived and it was time to go to Malad, I would remember to carry a shawl and then two, so that they could stay warm as the rickshaw passed through Aarey road in the evenings. Yes, it would be cold.

One could see boards sporting directions to the New Zealand Hostel, little roads going off the main Aarey road, all of the streets and the main Aarey road itself, lined with trees on either side.. in some parts of the street they would merge and create a green canopy under which the vehicles would move.

Over the years I have seen the thick green cover, become sparse as it made way for development.

Once the parents moved in with me, there was no reason for me to travel down that road.

Until 4 years ago, when the husband suggested we go out for a drive. The closest place where we could go to and which would truly be the balm for our stressed minds was , yes, Aarey road. Ever since, whenever I felt a little overwhelmed with the goings on in life, a drive through Aarey road would bring some calm to the mind.

And so it was in the pre lock down months of this year.

The main Aarey Road was still beautiful. Branches of trees still met in the centre of the road, creating lush green arches.

But this time we drove off the main street. Lanes, by lanes, driving past some paada or the other, driving past cattle sheds, old buildings...

It was here that I got to see the beautifully bright bougainvillea. and .the Yellow Gulmohar trees ( I do not know any other name for these).. In the light afternoon breeze, The gulmohar would gently and incessantly shower flowers on people walking by. The street would be dotted by these flowers and then the breeze would blow it off the road , on to the sides of the road. And as the late noon sun rays, mellowed further, as they passed through gaps in the trees, they would cast their golden yellow light on the little piles of these yellow flowers, making it a sight to behold.

Another sight which never failed to attract me was of the Shankasur Rain tree (thanks Amey, for identifying it ).. These were old trees. Rooted on one side of the street, the branches would have spread across the street and on to the other side. The trees had lovely feathery pink flowers At one place, we stopped to take in the beauty of the tree and suddenly we saw the tree being taken over by a horde of crows. 30 to 40 of them. On all branches.. cawing away... fluttering..

One more tree caught my attention on one of our drives. The tree looked as if it was made up of little bunches of fresh green saunf/aniseed. The green stalks of saunf that was and probably is still available at the vendors selling kacchi imli, ber or bor, whichever way one pronounces it) .. star fruit, and the kavath (wood apple). ( Kacchi imli and ber/bor sound way better than raw green tamarind and little red berries..no?)

I learnt that this tree was called the Ukshi tree. ( Biplov, thanks)

At another time, I found the street strewn with the dried Ukshi and they too were very beautiful in their woody brown color, actually appearing as if they were crafted finely, out of wood.

Such is the magic of the Aarey Road, which has kept me enthralled through the decades.

The lock down has put a brake on our weekly drives..and I wait in anticipation for a semblance of normalcy to return.

 

 

Day 7, Somreeta

'Aukaaat anusaar!'

I have been talking about the wish list too many times, these past few days. I have also been thinking about it these past few days . I had so much of time all these years, to tackle the wish list and many of them should not have been languishing there still.

Well.. it is what it is.

Today's post is about another item from the.. yes.. the wish list!

I had wanted to have a bit of greenery in our balcony... A few hanging pots, with plants. A small breakfast table amidst the greenery...A few corners, a few table tops in the house, with little green plants... .

But then I hadn't forgotten the debacle of decades ago, where the many plants I had brought home, hadn't survived.

And then to add to that four of the 6 plants we had got home, badi himmat kar ke.... did not survive..

So the wish went back to the wish list.

The son was working from home last summer, and he needed a proper desk and chair. He was looking for them, online.

I joined him in looking up the website.

He made his selections, and then I made mine.

I had convinced myself, that I did not have the proverbial green thumb or any green finger. You don't have it, you dont have it. Then what does one do? One operates within the limited boundaries and hence 'aukaat anusaar', I bought a few artificial plants, some artificial plants with flowers on them , to satisfy that desire and aspiration.

A compromise? Yes..definitely. But kya karein,..limited as I was with my own lack of skill, talent and expertise in gardening.

Day 6 Somreeta

The Plumeria

My wish list has always had Plumeria written on it. The one with white flowers and the one with red flowers. Since the past 7 or 8 years, one with pink flowers, leads the list.

For the longest time I had seen only the white and red variety. Had never thought that there could be plumeria flowers in other colours. Then once at the Bangalore airport I saw yellow flowers. And then in my housing society , I saw the pink one.

Then I also have this confusion in my mind.. are the plumeria and the frangipani, the same? I have noticed that the leaves of the plumeria are bigger and wider than that of the frangipani.

Last year, yes, last year, we did look out for a plumeria. We found one too. And it bore flowers in a beautiful shade of peach. I loved it when I was saw a video of it on the Nursery's Insta handle.

But the asking price was around Rs 6,000/- and I held back. As a new hand at gardening, I wasn't willing to risk that big an amount. Then there were doubts, whether it would thrive as a potted plant in a balcony. Then there was the bigger fear - the plant would be delivered at the society gate. The plant was biggish, planted in a big pot. There was no way, the children would be able to haul it up to the house. They would have to heave it up to the lift, and then they would have to take the lift. And God forbid, somebody's help too. Those were scary times...you touched something, you sanitized . You went out of the house, you showered and changed and washed your clothes. And I am known to be the paranoid one, one with a very active imagination and the scenes that played in my mind in those few minutes that I was watching the clip on Instagram, I myself vetoed the idea. No Plumeria,

The son tried to reason with me, tried to get me to change my mind... I did not relent.

Many months later , as I was going through Instagram or you tube videos relating to home decor - all this for our much awaited and overdue home renovation - I noted that the plumeria was being used as an indoor plant. Place it near a window so that it gets 4 to 5 hrs of sunlight, is what I have gathered.

And just around that time, the plumerias planted in the four corners of the patch of garden facing our balcony, bloomed. Bloomed a beautiful pink. My very urgent yearning for the plant got catered to , in this manner.

Around the last week of January, I started on my morning walks.

When the mind is focused on something, one starts observing. I realized there was the white plumeria, full of flowers on one side of the building. At around the same time a yellowish white plumeria bud was visible right next to the pink flower bearing plant.

It was with great joy that I ran up to my home, got hold of the camera, and clicked some pictures of the flowers.

Like the time in my Parijaat post , when the Parents - in - law had visited us, one day as we were stepping out, my Mother - in - law, pointed out to a plant. " See , how fortunate you are, there is a 'Kudchampe' plant right in front of your window.

I had always known the plumeria as 'Chaafa' as it was called by my Maharastrian friends. Sonchaafa - the yellow fragrant flower becomes 'Chaampei' in Konkani. And the white flower bearing chaafa plant /plumeria , becomes the Kudchampei in Konkani.

So what was her excitement over the plant about? Suno...

On Naag panchami day, we make a delicacy, called the Patoli. It is rice paste, smeared on the fragrant turmeric leaf, on which a stuffing of jaggery sweetened coconut is placed, the leaf folded over and steamed . The fragrance of the 'Haldi paan' is what patoli is all about.

The mother - in - law was excited because, at other times, when the 'haldi paan' is not available ie. before or after the Shravan, Bhadrapad months, one can use the leaves of the 'Kudchampe/ Plumeria) to satisfy any patoli cravings.

Now this was a 'gyaan mein bharti' kind of information. And no, that is not why I yearn for one of those - the Plumeria .

And some day, I will have my plant.

Ummeed par duniya kaayam hai,,, aur asha toh hamaaraa naam hee hai!

 

 

 

Day 5 Somreeta

Madhumalati.

A 7 year old is on a vacation, with her family, visiting her grandmother, at a small village, 6 or 7 kms away from Udupi.

And that day, there is an excitement in the air. She and her family, are off to visit her aunt, her bua - her father's eldest sister.

'Ghat vaili' she is referred to as , sometimes... the one who lives up the ghat.

They wait outside their home, to board a bus that will take them to Udupi. "The bus is here," she squeals in excitement. 'No, silly', says her father. 'This bus is going to Udyavara. That is the last stop. From there it will start again, and on its return trip to Udupi, it will pick us up'. This was the father speaking

The buses had names. Manujatha, Amba, Durgamba...

The bus takes them to Udupi. From their it's another bus ride. In a smaller bus, the front of which reminded me of a lorry. It was called the taxi.. if I remember right. The conductor at Udupi would try and fill the bus with as many people as he could. cram them in. The more the people, the more the tickets sold, the more money he would make. The frequency of this little bus was far and in betweeen and it was a long journey of about 4 hours.

The bus was small, so that it could navigate the hairpin bends of the Agumbe ghat. My aunt was referred to as the 'Ghat vaili'', she had her home, up and beyond the Agumbe ghats. Agumbe village was made famous by the makers of Malgudi Days, when they shot the series here.

The crammed bus would mean that many people sweating, that smell, mixed with that of the hair oil, talc, the fragrance of various flowers the women wore in their hair - champa, mogara, aboli..., then acrid smell of the bidi ... Oh it was overwhelming...

Adding to that were the sharp curves of the hairpin bends,. One was climbing up the hill.. steep roads, tight corners at the bends.. at every bend the standees would sway and end up leaning on one side and then the other.,, my nose would sometimes be hit by the little bags they carried on their wrists.

And then there was the retching!

The torture would end at Tirthalli,

From there, another bus ride to my aunt's village - Bileshvara. An hours ride. But no more hair pin bends now.

Bileshvara is a km or 2 away from the town of Humcha, known for its Jain basadis. Shimoga is the closest city to this village of Bileshvara.

The village of Billeshvara is beautiful . Every house has gardens and plants are laden with colorful flowers. Bell shaped flowers in colours I had never seen before, Hibiscus flowers - red, pink, orange, Ixora. and many many other ..most of whose names i do not know. But along with these there was one very overgrown lush shrub, full of little bunches of pink and whitish flowers which graced every compound. Some a pale pink.. the others -a reddish pink. They looked pretty as they swayed with the breeze, the little bundles.

It was only very recently that I got to know that it was known as the Rangoon Creeper or the Madhumalati.

And yes, I had it in my wish list, and yes, it became part of the wish list tackled in the lock down of last year, and yes, it has not flowered in the 7 months that it has made my home its own.

But somehow, whenever I look at it, it seems like a happy little plant, sprouting bigger leaves now, the thin branches, spreading out a little wider now, and one branch has even grown taller in the past 10 days. It now has fresh pale green tender baby leaves.

Some day, it shall flower, or maybe not !

I enjoy having it around me....... and see it thrive!

Revisiting the happy old times., recalling happy moments .. and in a small way re-creating little bits..reliving them!

 

 

 

Day 5 Somreeta

Madhumalati.

A 7 year old is on a vacation, with her family, visiting her grandmother, at a small village, 6 or 7 kms away from Udupi.

And that day, there is an excitement in the air. She and her family, are off to visit her aunt, her bua - her father's eldest sister.

'Ghat vaili' she is referred to as , sometimes... the one who lives up the ghat.

They wait outside their home, to board a bus that will take them to Udupi. "The bus is here," she squeals in excitement. 'No, silly', says her father. 'This bus is going to Udyavara. That is the last stop. From there it will start again, and on its return trip to Udupi, it will pick us up'. This was the father speaking

The buses had names. Manujatha, Amba, Durgamba...

The bus takes them to Udupi. From their it's another bus ride. In a smaller bus, the front of which reminded me of a lorry. It was called the taxi.. if I remember right. The conductor at Udupi would try and fill the bus with as many people as he could. cram them in. The more the people, the more the tickets sold, the more money he would make. The frequency of this little bus was far and in betweeen and it was a long journey of about 4 hours.

The bus was small, so that it could navigate the hairpin bends of the Agumbe ghat. My aunt was referred to as the 'Ghat vaili'', she had her home, up and beyond the Agumbe ghats. Agumbe village was made famous by the makers of Malgudi Days, when they shot the series here.

The crammed bus would mean that many people sweating, that smell, mixed with that of the hair oil, talc, the fragrance of various flowers the women wore in their hair - champa, mogara, aboli..., then acrid smell of the bidi ... Oh it was overwhelming...

Adding to that were the sharp curves of the hairpin bends,. One was climbing up the hill.. steep roads, tight corners at the bends.. at every bend the standees would sway and end up leaning on one side and then the other.,, my nose would sometimes be hit by the little bags they carried on their wrists.

And then there was the retching!

The torture would end at Tirthalli,

From there, another bus ride to my aunt's village - Bileshvara. An hours ride. But no more hair pin bends now.

Bileshvara is a km or 2 away from the town of Humcha, known for its Jain basadis. Shimoga is the closest city to this village of Bileshvara.

The village of Billeshvara is beautiful . Every house has gardens and plants are laden with colorful flowers. Bell shaped flowers in colours I had never seen before, Hibiscus flowers - red, pink, orange, Ixora. and many many other ..most of whose names i do not know. But along with these there was one very overgrown lush shrub, full of little bunches of pink and whitish flowers which graced every compound. Some a pale pink.. the others -a reddish pink. They looked pretty as they swayed with the breeze, the little bundles.

It was only very recently that I got to know that it was known as the Rangoon Creeper or the Madhumalati.

And yes, I had it in my wish list, and yes, it became part of the wish list tackled in the lock down of last year, and yes, it has not flowered in the 7 months that it has made my home its own.

But somehow, whenever I look at it, it seems like a happy little plant, sprouting bigger leaves now, the thin branches, spreading out a little wider now, and one branch has even grown taller in the past 10 days. It now has fresh pale green tender baby leaves.

Some day, it shall flower, or maybe not !

I enjoy having it around me....... and see it thrive!

Revisiting the happy old times., recalling happy moments .. and in a small way re-creating little bits..reliving them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4, Somreeta

The Sadapushpi, aka Sadaphuli aka Sadabahar aka Baaraamaasi aka The Periwinkle.

Again, this has a childhood association..was found in abundance in gardens.. planted along the periphery.. close to the compound walls... the white and the pink periwinkle.

I lived in a predominantly Maharastrian neighbourhood till I was in class 7. Sadaphuli was the name I was familiar with. The husband's side of the family call it the Sadapushpi. The plant nursery owner referred to it as the Sadaabahaar , the Gujarati side of the family, for them it is the Baaraamaasi, and in school, I had learnt that it was also called the Periwinkle. How melodious a name, I had thought,

For me, like the raat rani, the bougenvilla and the parijaat, the periwinkle was also a lock down phase purchase.

After losing 2 flowering lavender plants (called so because it sprouted tiny lavender coloured flowers), and my raat raani which did not sprout any flowers, I chanced upon the periwinkle.

The lock down months, no house help.... and as I did the dishes, I was used to looking out of the window.

Our housing society when we moved in , had a lot of plants but very few flowering plants. I had heard a friend mention - accha hai na... varna sab tod tod ke le jaayengien

Yeah... makes sense, I had thought then.

Then there came a phase when one of the members, planted a lot of flowering plants.. varieties of roses , lilies , other flowering plants like the hibiscus, ixora and also a periwinkle. Luckily for me, the periwinkle was planted in my line of vision and I could see them while I tackled the dishes at the kitchen sink. And it was there, that I had my Eureka moment.

The sadaphuli it had to be. I do not remember ever seeing a Periwinkle plant without a flower. This one wouldn't fail me, I had reasoned. Well, Well !!

'Haan, Sadaabahaar hai na bhabhi mere paas. Haan pot mein lagaa ke deta hoon. Haan Haan..hamesha phool rahega iss par. abhi nahi hai uspe phool.. par aayega.' This was the plant nursery owner.

While talking to him, it was the '4 Haan(s);' that registered in the mind. The fine print " abhi nahi hai uspe phool, par aayega' bit, didn't . I asked him to plant 2 plants in one pot. I had become smarter after the bougainvillea puchase , where a little twig like plant had been delivered. I wanted the pot to appear lush.

In the night when the plant was delivered, I remembered the 'fine print'. The sadaphuli and another plant which I had ordered , were a healthy green. No flowers though. But then the parijaat compensated for it. The three were duly accorded their places of honour in the balcony and in the 'flower bed' area of the bedroom.

And then I did what I could only do ! Wait,, and Wait... Patiently wait!

The sadaphuli had come home on the 20th of September 2020 and not one flower for a long time..Now this sentence has become repetitive since the last 3 days,.. but kya karein.,, sacch hai toh sacch hai!

In the meanwhile, one of the 2 plants in the pot, dried out. I have no clue , why!

In the last week of March, I saw 2 buds, and when the flowers finally appeared on the plant, they were rather dainty and their colour a paler pink, to be the periwinkle I knew.

But yes, I was happy. Pictures and videos were clicked, shared, posted on Insta...and then.. I sang the same refrain .. Phool Kahaan hain?

The periwinkle,... the very trusted sadaabahaar, sadaapushpi.. the sadaaphuli had betrayed me. The sadaaa in their name... it didn't live up to their claim, I thought.

I watered them daily, added fresh soil, a bit of fertilizer at intervals... but to no avail. And one day while watering them I whispered in desperation and a bit of anger.. anger directed for a major part towards myself (for not realizing this before) and a little at the plant (just like that).... You need food.. you shall get your food ! Just wait !

Even to my ears that sounded like a threat!

And , though it might sound absolutely unbelievable, this is true... the next evening the plant had buds. and 2 days later they bloomed into the biggest and brightest pink periwinkles I had ever seen.

Yes , Yes.. the routine was followed... whooping in happiness, pictures, videos. The daughter commented on seeing the photographs, "Very pretty , after all that terrorizing!"

That day I ordered some plant requirements... a fertilizer stick which had pre measured quantities of nutrients to keep the plants healthy and green and another which had stuff to keep the plants healthy and help them flower.

Happy to say that since that day, the plant is delivering on its promise, staying true to its name - Sadaaphuli, Sadaapushpi, Sadaabahaar.

And I hope it succeeds in being the Baaraamaasi! ...my Periwinkle!

Bolo, Tathastu!

 

 

Day 4, Somreeta

The Sadapushpi, aka Sadaphuli aka Sadabahar aka Baaraamaasi aka The Periwinkle.

Again, this has a childhood association..was found in abundance in gardens.. planted along the periphery.. close to the compound walls... the white and the pink periwinkle.

I lived in a predominantly Maharastrian neighbourhood till I was in class 7. Sadaphuli was the name I was familiar with. The husband's side of the family call it the Sadapushpi. The plant nursery owner referred to it as the Sadaabahaar , the Gujarati side of the family, for them it is the Baaraamaasi, and in school, I had learnt that it was also called the Periwinkle. How melodious a name, I had thought,

For me, like the raat rani, the bougenvilla and the parijaat, the periwinkle was also a lock down phase purchase.

After losing 2 flowering lavender plants (called so because it sprouted tiny lavender coloured flowers), and my raat raani which did not sprout any flowers, I chanced upon the periwinkle.

The lock down months, no house help.... and as I did the dishes, I was used to looking out of the window.

Our housing society when we moved in , had a lot of plants but very few flowering plants. I had heard a friend mention - accha hai na... varna sab tod tod ke le jaayengien

Yeah... makes sense, I had thought then.

Then there came a phase when one of the members, planted a lot of flowering plants.. varieties of roses , lilies , other flowering plants like the hibiscus, ixora and also a periwinkle. Luckily for me, the periwinkle was planted in my line of vision and I could see them while I tackled the dishes at the kitchen sink. And it was there, that I had my Eureka moment.

The sadaphuli it had to be. I do not remember ever seeing a Periwinkle plant without a flower. This one wouldn't fail me, I had reasoned. Well, Well !!

'Haan, Sadaabahaar hai na bhabhi mere paas. Haan pot mein lagaa ke deta hoon. Haan Haan..hamesha phool rahega iss par. abhi nahi hai uspe phool.. par aayega.' This was the plant nursery owner.

While talking to him, it was the '4 Haan(s);' that registered in the mind. The fine print " abhi nahi hai uspe phool, par aayega' bit, didn't . I asked him to plant 2 plants in one pot. I had become smarter after the bougainvillea puchase , where a little twig like plant had been delivered. I wanted the pot to appear lush.

In the night when the plant was delivered, I remembered the 'fine print'. The sadaphuli and another plant which I had ordered , were a healthy green. No flowers though. But then the parijaat compensated for it. The three were duly accorded their places of honour in the balcony and in the 'flower bed' area of the bedroom.

And then I did what I could only do ! Wait,, and Wait... Patiently wait!

The sadaphuli had come home on the 20th of September 2020 and not one flower for a long time..Now this sentence has become repetitive since the last 3 days,.. but kya karein.,, sacch hai toh sacch hai!

In the meanwhile, one of the 2 plants in the pot, dried out. I have no clue , why!

In the last week of March, I saw 2 buds, and when the flowers finally appeared on the plant, they were rather dainty and their colour a paler pink, to be the periwinkle I knew.

But yes, I was happy. Pictures and videos were clicked, shared, posted on Insta...and then.. I sang the same refrain .. Phool Kahaan hain?

The periwinkle,... the very trusted sadaabahaar, sadaapushpi.. the sadaaphuli had betrayed me. The sadaaa in their name... it didn't live up to their claim, I thought.

I watered them daily, added fresh soil, a bit of fertilizer at intervals... but to no avail. And one day while watering them I whispered in desperation and a bit of anger.. anger directed for a major part towards myself (for not realizing this before) and a little at the plant (just like that).... You need food.. you shall get your food ! Just wait !

Even to my ears that sounded like a threat!

And , though it might sound absolutely unbelievable, this is true... the next evening the plant had buds. and 2 days later they bloomed into the biggest and brightest pink periwinkles I had ever seen.

Yes , Yes.. the routine was followed... whooping in happiness, pictures, videos. The daughter commented on seeing the photographs, "Very pretty , after all that terrorizing!"

That day I ordered some plant requirements... a fertilizer stick which had pre measured quantities of nutrients to keep the plants healthy and green and another which had stuff to keep the plants healthy and help them flower.

Happy to say that since that day, the plant is delivering on its promise, staying true to its name - Sadaaphuli, Sadaapushpi, Sadaabahaar.

And I hope it succeeds in being the Baaraamaasi! ...my Periwinkle!

Bolo, Tathastu!

 

 

 

Day 4, Somreeta

The Sadapushpi, aka Sadaphuli aka Sadabahar aka Baaraamaasi aka The Periwinkle.

Again, this has a childhood association..was found in abundance in gardens.. planted along the periphery.. close to the compound walls... the white and the pink periwinkle.

I lived in a predominantly Maharastrian neighbourhood till I was in class 7. Sadaphuli was the name I was familiar with. The husband's side of the family call it the Sadapushpi. The plant nursery owner referred to it as the Sadaabahaar , the Gujarati side of the family, for them it is the Baaraamaasi, and in school, I had learnt that it was also called the Periwinkle. How melodious a name, I had thought,

For me, like the raat rani, the bougenvilla and the parijaat, the periwinkle was also a lock down phase purchase.

After losing 2 flowering lavender plants (called so because it sprouted tiny lavender coloured flowers), and my raat raani which did not sprout any flowers, I chanced upon the periwinkle.

The lock down months, no house help.... and as I did the dishes, I was used to looking out of the window.

Our housing society when we moved in , had a lot of plants but very few flowering plants. I had heard a friend mention - accha hai na... varna sab tod tod ke le jaayengien

Yeah... makes sense, I had thought then.

Then there came a phase when one of the members, planted a lot of flowering plants.. varieties of roses , lilies , other flowering plants like the hibiscus, ixora and also a periwinkle. Luckily for me, the periwinkle was planted in my line of vision and I could see them while I tackled the dishes at the kitchen sink. And it was there, that I had my Eureka moment.

The sadaphuli it had to be. I do not remember ever seeing a Periwinkle plant without a flower. This one wouldn't fail me, I had reasoned. Well, Well !!

'Haan, Sadaabahaar hai na bhabhi mere paas. Haan pot mein lagaa ke deta hoon. Haan Haan..hamesha phool rahega iss par. abhi nahi hai uspe phool.. par aayega.' This was the plant nursery owner.

While talking to him, it was the '4 Haan(s);' that registered in the mind. The fine print " abhi nahi hai uspe phool, par aayega' bit, didn't . I asked him to plant 2 plants in one pot. I had become smarter after the bougainvillea puchase , where a little twig like plant had been delivered. I wanted the pot to appear lush.

In the night when the plant was delivered, I remembered the 'fine print'. The sadaphuli and another plant which I had ordered , were a healthy green. No flowers though. But then the parijaat compensated for it. The three were duly accorded their places of honour in the balcony and in the 'flower bed' area of the bedroom.

And then I did what I could only do ! Wait,, and Wait... Patiently wait!

The sadaphuli had come home on the 20th of September 2020 and not one flower for a long time..Now this sentence has become repetitive since the last 3 days,.. but kya karein.,, sacch hai toh sacch hai!

In the meanwhile, one of the 2 plants in the pot, dried out. I have no clue , why!

In the last week of March, I saw 2 buds, and when the flowers finally appeared on the plant, they were rather dainty and their colour a paler pink, to be the periwinkle I knew.

But yes, I was happy. Pictures and videos were clicked, shared, posted on Insta...and then.. I sang the same refrain .. Phool Kahaan hain?

The periwinkle,... the very trusted sadaabahaar, sadaapushpi.. the sadaaphuli had betrayed me. The sadaaa in their name... it didn't live up to their claim, I thought.

I watered them daily, added fresh soil, a bit of fertilizer at intervals... but to no avail. And one day while watering them I whispered in desperation and a bit of anger.. anger directed for a major part towards myself (for not realizing this before) and a little at the plant (just like that).... You need food.. you shall get your food ! Just wait !

Even to my ears that sounded like a threat!

And , though it might sound absolutely unbelievable, this is true... the next evening the plant had buds. and 2 days later they bloomed into the biggest and brightest pink periwinkles I had ever seen.

Yes , Yes.. the routine was followed... whooping in happiness, pictures, videos. The daughter commented on seeing the photographs, "Very pretty , after all that terrorizing!"

That day I ordered some plant requirements... a fertilizer stick which had pre measured quantities of nutrients to keep the plants healthy and green and another which had stuff to keep the plants healthy and help them flower.

Happy to say that since that day, the plant is delivering on its promise, staying true to its name - Sadaaphuli, Sadaapushpi, Sadaabahaar.

And I hope it succeeds in being the Baaraamaasi! ...my Periwinkle!

Bolo, Tathastu!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3. Somreeta

The Parijaat.

I first saw the parijaat flowers when I had been to my native village near Udupi, when I was 6 or 7 yrs of age.... at my father's home.

A typcal , beautiful house, with the red Manglorean tiles, two pinkish red concrete benches on the outside of the house. As one entered the house on two sides were two raised platfoms .. ahead of those was the aangan.

In the aangan was the tulsi vrindavan, And on the edge of the vrindavan, I saw a neat row of orange stalks. I moved in closer to have a better view and I picked one, only to realize that it was a flower with a orange stalk.

I remember being very excited when I saw it and I remember asking my grandmother about it. ' Paarijaat' she had said.

My next meeting with the flower was when i was in school. 5th or 6th std., in a Marathi poem or a song.. 'टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे ! Visualisation is a strength with me, and I imagined myself, a young girl, standing under a Parijat tree, looking upwards , twirling, with the tree showering me with the flowers.

When I was in still in school... probably in 8th or 9th I had picked out a a book from my dad's book rack. It was a collection of short stories. I do not remember the name of the book, nor the name of the author (Bengali author) , nor the name of any story. But it had stories from Bengal.

I remember 3 words from that book. Maa go, Thakurbo and Shiuli.

While reading a book, I become the protagonist. It is me living that character.. it's my story... And of one story, I have evocative memories... of a child running through the fields, on a cold misty morning, cutting a path through the tall grass with her hands... .running ... and the fragrance of the shiuli.

It was only with the arrival of the internet at home, that I 'searched' for Shiuli .. and the search returned - The Paarijaat.

Post the shaadi, the parents-in-law, visited us one summer. Me and the husband led busy lives then - rushing to work in the morning, returning home, cooking,, clearing. The weekends were for catching up on sleep.

One day, I saw my father-in-law standing at the ghar ka mandir (which was one compartment in the row of kitchen cupboards). He was placing some flowers.. When he moved away, I saw a very familiar sight. Orange stalks in a row. Probably it is a Udupi thing, placing the flowers, so )

Now that I knew what it was, I only asked him where he had found those. And his reply - ' 5 minutes walk down from your building' . It was a 'chullu bhar paani mein doob jaaoon' kind of a moment. So close, and I had not taken note of my surroundings. I walked past that tree twice a day, everyday.. and I had not noticed it !

And so it remained ... a wish .. a longing,, for a parijat plant.. in my window. in my balcony, which would flower, spread the delicate fragrance into my home...

Life happened and I forgot about it.

The lock down of last year made us ..ie me.. view life differently. We had planned to renovate our home and I had decided that once that is done, I will bring the many plants from my wish list, into my home .

At that time the mind and the heart chimed together - kaal karey so aaj karr'. ... kal kisne dekha hai... yadaaaa yadaaaa..

And after many many conversations with the local nursery owner, the parijaat came home one night. it was about a foot and a half tall.. and guess what.. it had a flower..and 2 buds.

I welcomed the plant home.

I am a nocturnal person... at my active best, post 11 pm. As I was pottering around the house, I smelt it.. the fragrance.. aaahhhhaaah! I dislike the phrase 'happy dance' , but believe me, I did some version of it. As also calling up the sister and showing it to her ..clicking many pictures and posting it to the few who knew about my love for the flower. I am also crazy about the fragrant yellow champa, rajnigandha , baby pink carnations, white and purple gladioli, mogra gajra and a string of surangi...Just saying ! .

The flower wilted the next day but the 2 buds bloomed on night 3. After that the husband noticed that the leaves were shriveling and on checking he found an infestation. A white feathery infestation on the stalks..branches, and white patches on the backside of the leaves. We were inexperienced plant parents, we did not know how to stop its spread. The nursery owner advised a spray of neem oil. We tried that. He asked us to trim the plant.. we did that. '

Today about 6 months later, one dried stick and one dried leaf is all that remains of my dear paarijaat.

I am not very keen on acquiring a new one, and I don't beat myself up about not being able to grow and sustain a healthy plant.

I try.

The Parijaat is too deep rooted an attraction. And now sometimes I feel it is good that the yearning remains in the heart. Makes me long for it.. Hazaaron khwaaishein hain aisi.... har ek poori hui, toh kyaa mazaa.. some small, very personal desires.like this one ... are worth yearning for.. waiting for....precious that they are..

In the meanwhile.. that is a good two years ago, I made one more of my Parijaat dreams come true......The टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे

How?... dekho dekho..

 

 

 

 

Day 3. Somreeta

The Parijaat.

I first saw the parijaat flowers when I had been to my native village near Udupi, when I was 6 or 7 yrs of age.... at my father's home.

A typcal , beautiful house, with the red Manglorean tiles, two pinkish red concrete benches on the outside of the house. As one entered the house on two sides were two raised platfoms .. ahead of those was the aangan.

In the aangan was the tulsi vrindavan, And on the edge of the vrindavan, I saw a neat row of orange stalks. I moved in closer to have a better view and I picked one, only to realize that it was a flower with a orange stalk.

I remember being very excited when I saw it and I remember asking my grandmother about it. ' Paarijaat' she had said.

My next meeting with the flower was when i was in school. 5th or 6th std., in a Marathi poem or a song.. 'टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे ! Visualisation is a strength with me, and I imagined myself, a young girl, standing under a Parijat tree, looking upwards , twirling, with the tree showering me with the flowers.

When I was in still in school... probably in 8th or 9th I had picked out a a book from my dad's book rack. It was a collection of short stories. I do not remember the name of the book, nor the name of the author (Bengali author) , nor the name of any story. But it had stories from Bengal.

I remember 3 words from that book. Maa go, Thakurbo and Shiuli.

While reading a book, I become the protagonist. It is me living that character.. it's my story... And of one story, I have evocative memories... of a child running through the fields, on a cold misty morning, cutting a path through the tall grass with her hands... .running ... and the fragrance of the shiuli.

It was only with the arrival of the internet at home, that I 'searched' for Shiuli .. and the search returned - The Paarijaat.

Post the shaadi, the parents-in-law, visited us one summer. Me and the husband led busy lives then - rushing to work in the morning, returning home, cooking,, clearing. The weekends were for catching up on sleep.

One day, I saw my father-in-law standing at the ghar ka mandir (which was one compartment in the row of kitchen cupboards). He was placing some flowers.. When he moved away, I saw a very familiar sight. Orange stalks in a row. Probably it is a Udupi thing, placing the flowers, so )

Now that I knew what it was, I only asked him where he had found those. And his reply - ' 5 minutes walk down from your building' . It was a 'chullu bhar paani mein doob jaaoon' kind of a moment. So close, and I had not taken note of my surroundings. I walked past that tree twice a day, everyday.. and I had not noticed it !

And so it remained ... a wish .. a longing,, for a parijat plant.. in my window. in my balcony, which would flower, spread the delicate fragrance into my home...

Life happened and I forgot about it.

The lock down of last year made us ..ie me.. view life differently. We had planned to renovate our home and I had decided that once that is done, I will bring the many plants from my wish list, into my home .

At that time the mind and the heart chimed together - kaal karey so aaj karr'. ... kal kisne dekha hai... yadaaaa yadaaaa..

And after many many conversations with the local nursery owner, the parijaat came home one night. it was about a foot and a half tall.. and guess what.. it had a flower..and 2 buds.

I welcomed the plant home.

I am a nocturnal person... at my active best, post 11 pm. As I was pottering around the house, I smelt it.. the fragrance.. aaahhhhaaah! I dislike the phrase 'happy dance' , but believe me, I did some version of it. As also calling up the sister and showing it to her ..clicking many pictures and posting it to the few who knew about my love for the flower. I am also crazy about the fragrant yellow champa, rajnigandha , baby pink carnations, white and purple gladioli, mogra gajra and a string of surangi...Just saying ! .

The flower wilted the next day but the 2 buds bloomed on night 3. After that the husband noticed that the leaves were shriveling and on checking he found an infestation. A white feathery infestation on the stalks..branches, and white patches on the backside of the leaves. We were inexperienced plant parents, we did not know how to stop its spread. The nursery owner advised a spray of neem oil. We tried that. He asked us to trim the plant.. we did that. '

Today about 6 months later, one dried stick and one dried leaf is all that remains of my dear paarijaat.

I am not very keen on acquiring a new one, and I don't beat myself up about not being able to grow and sustain a healthy plant.

I try.

The Parijaat is too deep rooted an attraction. And now sometimes I feel it is good that the yearning remains in the heart. Makes me long for it.. Hazaaron khwaaishein hain aisi.... har ek poori hui, toh kyaa mazaa.. some small, very personal desires.like this one ... are worth yearning for.. waiting for....precious that they are..

In the meanwhile.. that is a good two years ago, I made one more of my Parijaat dreams come true......The टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे

How?... dekho dekho..

 

 

 

Day 3. Somreeta

The Parijaat.

I first saw the parijaat flowers when I had been to my native village near Udupi, when I was 6 or 7 yrs of age.... at my father's home.

A typcal , beautiful house, with the red Manglorean tiles, two pinkish red concrete benches on the outside of the house. As one entered the house on two sides were two raised platfoms .. ahead of those was the aangan.

In the aangan was the tulsi vrindavan, And on the edge of the vrindavan, I saw a neat row of orange stalks. I moved in closer to have a better view and I picked one, only to realize that it was a flower with a orange stalk.

I remember being very excited when I saw it and I remember asking my grandmother about it. ' Paarijaat' she had said.

My next meeting with the flower was when i was in school. 5th or 6th std., in a Marathi poem or a song.. 'टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे ! Visualisation is a strength with me, and I imagined myself, a young girl, standing under a Parijat tree, looking upwards , twirling, with the tree showering me with the flowers.

When I was in still in school... probably in 8th or 9th I had picked out a a book from my dad's book rack. It was a collection of short stories. I do not remember the name of the book, nor the name of the author (Bengali author) , nor the name of any story. But it had stories from Bengal.

I remember 3 words from that book. Maa go, Thakurbo and Shiuli.

While reading a book, I become the protagonist. It is me living that character.. it's my story... And of one story, I have evocative memories... of a child running through the fields, on a cold misty morning, cutting a path through the tall grass with her hands... .running ... and the fragrance of the shiuli.

It was only with the arrival of the internet at home, that I 'searched' for Shiuli .. and the search returned - The Paarijaat.

Post the shaadi, the parents-in-law, visited us one summer. Me and the husband led busy lives then - rushing to work in the morning, returning home, cooking,, clearing. The weekends were for catching up on sleep.

One day, I saw my father-in-law standing at the ghar ka mandir (which was one compartment in the row of kitchen cupboards). He was placing some flowers.. When he moved away, I saw a very familiar sight. Orange stalks in a row. Probably it is a Udupi thing, placing the flowers, so )

Now that I knew what it was, I only asked him where he had found those. And his reply - ' 5 minutes walk down from your building' . It was a 'chullu bhar paani mein doob jaaoon' kind of a moment. So close, and I had not taken note of my surroundings. I walked past that tree twice a day, everyday.. and I had not noticed it !

And so it remained ... a wish .. a longing,, for a parijat plant.. in my window. in my balcony, which would flower, spread the delicate fragrance into my home...

Life happened and I forgot about it.

The lock down of last year made us ..ie me.. view life differently. We had planned to renovate our home and I had decided that once that is done, I will bring the many plants from my wish list, into my home .

At that time the mind and the heart chimed together - kaal karey so aaj karr'. ... kal kisne dekha hai... yadaaaa yadaaaa..

And after many many conversations with the local nursery owner, the parijaat came home one night. it was about a foot and a half tall.. and guess what.. it had a flower..and 2 buds.

I welcomed the plant home.

I am a nocturnal person... at my active best, post 11 pm. As I was pottering around the house, I smelt it.. the fragrance.. aaahhhhaaah! I dislike the phrase 'happy dance' , but believe me, I did some version of it. As also calling up the sister and showing it to her ..clicking many pictures and posting it to the few who knew about my love for the flower. I am also crazy about the fragrant yellow champa, rajnigandha , baby pink carnations, white and purple gladioli, mogra gajra and a string of surangi...Just saying ! .

The flower wilted the next day but the 2 buds bloomed on night 3. After that the husband noticed that the leaves were shriveling and on checking he found an infestation. A white feathery infestation on the stalks..branches, and white patches on the backside of the leaves. We were inexperienced plant parents, we did not know how to stop its spread. The nursery owner advised a spray of neem oil. We tried that. He asked us to trim the plant.. we did that. '

Today about 6 months later, one dried stick and one dried leaf is all that remains of my dear paarijaat.

I am not very keen on acquiring a new one, and I don't beat myself up about not being able to grow and sustain a healthy plant.

I try.

The Parijaat is too deep rooted an attraction. And now sometimes I feel it is good that the yearning remains in the heart. Makes me long for it.. Hazaaron khwaaishein hain aisi.... har ek poori hui, toh kyaa mazaa.. some small, very personal desires.like this one ... are worth yearning for.. waiting for....precious that they are..

In the meanwhile.. that is a good two years ago, I made one more of my Parijaat dreams come true......The टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे

How?... dekho dekho..

 

 

 

Day 3. Somreeta

The Parijaat.

I first saw the parijaat flowers when I had been to my native village near Udupi, when I was 6 or 7 yrs of age.... at my father's home.

A typcal , beautiful house, with the red Manglorean tiles, two pinkish red concrete benches on the outside of the house. As one entered the house on two sides were two raised platfoms .. ahead of those was the aangan.

In the aangan was the tulsi vrindavan, And on the edge of the vrindavan, I saw a neat row of orange stalks. I moved in closer to have a better view and I picked one, only to realize that it was a flower with a orange stalk.

I remember being very excited when I saw it and I remember asking my grandmother about it. ' Paarijaat' she had said.

My next meeting with the flower was when i was in school. 5th or 6th std., in a Marathi poem or a song.. 'टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे ! Visualisation is a strength with me, and I imagined myself, a young girl, standing under a Parijat tree, looking upwards , twirling, with the tree showering me with the flowers.

When I was in still in school... probably in 8th or 9th I had picked out a a book from my dad's book rack. It was a collection of short stories. I do not remember the name of the book, nor the name of the author (Bengali author) , nor the name of any story. But it had stories from Bengal.

I remember 3 words from that book. Maa go, Thakurbo and Shiuli.

While reading a book, I become the protagonist. It is me living that character.. it's my story... And of one story, I have evocative memories... of a child running through the fields, on a cold misty morning, cutting a path through the tall grass with her hands... .running ... and the fragrance of the shiuli.

It was only with the arrival of the internet at home, that I 'searched' for Shiuli .. and the search returned - The Paarijaat.

Post the shaadi, the parents-in-law, visited us one summer. Me and the husband led busy lives then - rushing to work in the morning, returning home, cooking,, clearing. The weekends were for catching up on sleep.

One day, I saw my father-in-law standing at the ghar ka mandir (which was one compartment in the row of kitchen cupboards). He was placing some flowers.. When he moved away, I saw a very familiar sight. Orange stalks in a row. Probably it is a Udupi thing, placing the flowers, so )

Now that I knew what it was, I only asked him where he had found those. And his reply - ' 5 minutes walk down from your building' . It was a 'chullu bhar paani mein doob jaaoon' kind of a moment. So close, and I had not taken note of my surroundings. I walked past that tree twice a day, everyday.. and I had not noticed it !

And so it remained ... a wish .. a longing,, for a parijat plant.. in my window. in my balcony, which would flower, spread the delicate fragrance into my home...

Life happened and I forgot about it.

The lock down of last year made us ..ie me.. view life differently. We had planned to renovate our home and I had decided that once that is done, I will bring the many plants from my wish list, into my home .

At that time the mind and the heart chimed together - kaal karey so aaj karr'. ... kal kisne dekha hai... yadaaaa yadaaaa..

And after many many conversations with the local nursery owner, the parijaat came home one night. it was about a foot and a half tall.. and guess what.. it had a flower..and 2 buds.

I welcomed the plant home.

I am a nocturnal person... at my active best, post 11 pm. As I was pottering around the house, I smelt it.. the fragrance.. aaahhhhaaah! I dislike the phrase 'happy dance' , but believe me, I did some version of it. As also calling up the sister and showing it to her ..clicking many pictures and posting it to the few who knew about my love for the flower. I am also crazy about the fragrant yellow champa, rajnigandha , baby pink carnations, white and purple gladioli, mogra gajra and a string of surangi...Just saying ! .

The flower wilted the next day but the 2 buds bloomed on night 3. After that the husband noticed that the leaves were shriveling and on checking he found an infestation. A white feathery infestation on the stalks..branches, and white patches on the backside of the leaves. We were inexperienced plant parents, we did not know how to stop its spread. The nursery owner advised a spray of neem oil. We tried that. He asked us to trim the plant.. we did that. '

Today about 6 months later, one dried stick and one dried leaf is all that remains of my dear paarijaat.

I am not very keen on acquiring a new one, and I don't beat myself up about not being able to grow and sustain a healthy plant.

I try.

The Parijaat is too deep rooted an attraction. And now sometimes I feel it is good that the yearning remains in the heart. Makes me long for it.. Hazaaron khwaaishein hain aisi.... har ek poori hui, toh kyaa mazaa.. some small, very personal desires.like this one ... are worth yearning for.. waiting for....precious that they are..

In the meanwhile.. that is a good two years ago, I made one more of my Parijaat dreams come true......The टप टप पडती अंगावरती प्राजक्ताचे सडे

How?... dekho dekho..