Passion for Plants

Mornings have become surprises for me. Chirps, flapping of wings, and the bright summer sun snatches away sleep from tired eyes. Sounds of scratching, someone moving with heavy thuds on terrace accompanies the noisy chirps. My mother is seen engrossed in her beloved plants on terrace or in the backyard. Her little world of plants. It is a beauty to see how plants become as lively and beloved a pet an animal. Their greenery, flowering, fruits, above all the need to be care sprouts out in their bloom, their colour, their dangling leaves. She adjusts potted plants everyday: moving pots form one place to another, readjusting positions, frame, colour; like a painter brushing away the existing colours repeatedly with new colours to get the desired model, effect. Every touch on the plants, plucking off dry leaves, scooping out mud, soil and refilling with new soil, cutting rough edges, watering are the caring touches of brush or scalpel on the canvas. Fingers tenderly caressing the leaves, guiding the tendrils, digging in the mud creates a silent music that attracts birds and insects. Sparrows, Mayna, Dove, Tailor bird (Tuntuni), Bulbul, oriolr, Woodpecker, Cuckoo are regular visitors in the garden. The Guava, Neem, Papaya and Coconut tree welcome them with their luscious fruits and room for shelter. Squirrels have made Neem tree their home. City rain, city breeze nurtures the budding leaves, the smiling flowers.

Sweat trickling from every pore, mud and dirt kissing the skin, unkempt hair, my mother is another of those lunatics souls burying er heart in the tumultuous waves of creation.