The Song of Nature!

The wise often tell us, “Count not on mere faces!”. What they mean to convey is that we should always rely not just on individuals, but on the love of all existence that shines and expresses itself through them. Help often comes forth from a total stranger or a casual acquaintance, rather than from a dear friend or a relative you were counting on, when you need it most! Nature strives in her own mysterious, immaculate ways to show us this truth, ever so often, in our lives. In her own humble, silent way, she whispers.

“Through thy friends or relatives,
Through thy pets or utter strangers,
Via the cool shade of trees,
And the soothing music of streams,
Through the sun that warms thy back,
The cool breeze that kisses thine cheeks,
All through this life or the next,
Never ever forsaking thee,
It be I alone that love ye always,
For verily, it is I that became thee!”

Air potato!

Ever seen potatoes growing on vines? Long before potatoes became commonplace in our cuisine, the people of Kerala were consuming adathape (അടതാപ്പ്) or air potato. A strain of diascoria bulbifera has been cultivated in Kerala for centuries not just for its taste and value as an edible tuber, but for its repute to cure knee pains as well. The planting material is the potato which grows on long twining vines and falls to the ground when mature. It is stored in the shade for a month or two for sprouting, and then planted in the garden. The planted potato grows like a yam to the size of a football or larger, and each vine produces up to 20 kilos of edible air potatoes. Resistant to most pests and diseases, these plants can be grown on organic manure alone to provide delicious potatoes. When the vine dries up in winter, the heavy yam-like potato in the ground can also be dug up and enjoyed. You can make delicious stew, curry, stir-fry, French fries, chips and more! Take care not to confuse the edible cultivated varieties with the wild invasive varieties which may be poisonous. The potato in the picture is the first one of the season growing in my garden.

My heartbeats bloom for thee!

My gentle gardener, my friend,
With hands deft and strong,
Thou mixed sand, earth and compost,
Filled pot ‘most up to the brim.

From where I was lying a-wait,
I saw thee shake the pot,
And tap it gently on the floor,
Oh, perhaps, a home for me?

Yea! Thou didst pick me up, a tuber,
And pushed me in, pressed just right,
To keep me tight,
In my dark and cozy new home!

Cool water descended, nectar sweet,
As I drank my fill, my joy burst forth,
Spread roots through the soil,
And colorful leaves in the sky.

Daily, waited, watched, did I,
As thou didst approach, my love!
Watering can in hand, a wary eye for insects,
Thou bathed me in showers of thine love!

Morn after morn, thou and I,
We bathed in the warmth of the sun,
Gazing at each other, celebrating our joy,
Our hearts beating in love as one!

As my love grew and grew,
Buds burst forth from my bosom,
And my heartbeats bloomed for thee!
Yea! Dearest, they bloomed just for thee!

Goodies from the garden!

A little gap in the rain. It is time to hurry outside, pluck a few goodies, and run back in again. There are guavas and cowpeas. The bigger fruits are soursop. They are sour and sweet when ripe. The mature green ones can be curried, stir-fried, or made into fritters, and are quite delicious, tasting like breadfruit. The seeds are not edible, but can be used as pesticide like those of custard apples.

Knock Knock!

Knock, knock!
Knock, knock, knock!
Come, open your window,
Let me in! Let me in!

Chilies!

Organic hot, ripe chilies from the garden, ready for drying. When the different varieties of chilies (hot peppers) are dried and powdered together, they give your chili powder a unique blend of flavor and taste.

Nighttime Visitors!

Two nighttime visitors sitting together, enjoying their kinship in peace. The larger one, a cicada, is waiting for the lights to be switched off to start its music – no mike required!

Furry visitors!

The monsoon rains bring strange creatures in the garden. These furry caterpillars do not eat leaves, but all the algae and the lichens growing on the bark of trees. Like miniature vacuum cleaners, they make the tree trunks sparkling clean in a day or two!

Strawberry Guava!

Strawberry guava / Cattley guava / Psidium Cattleyanum from our garden. A guava like fruit which turns bright red when ripe. Juicy and soft in the inside, sweet and tangy, it pops in your mouth as you bite!

The Sprouting Seed!

The cashew nuts are waiting,
Oh, to fall to the wet earth,
To sprout, to dig in their roots,
Spread branches and boughs,
To fruit, to seed,
To live out their lives,
To find fulfillment!

Alas!
The mother tree just won’t let go!

Expectantly, with bated breath,
Dangling a root,
The baby seeds wait.

Perhaps, the strong monsoon breeze,
Would give ‘em a playful push,
Or the chirping birds, perchance,
Would choose them to perch on,
Maybe the driving rain,
Would loosen the death grip,
In unwavering hope and faith,
Alert, the seeds wait…

The Ardent Lover!

Gloomy day after day, so bleak,
Of restless, grumpy dark clouds,
And of persistent bone-chilling winds,
Amidst driving sheets of rain!

When all seems lost in anguish, in despair,
‘Ere dusk glides in to welcome the night,
The smiling sun parts the curtain of clouds,
And with magnificent enthusiasm, says!

Hi! Cheer up! Smile!
At times, hiding and now showing,
In this world do I play,
Games of hide and seek with you!

When you get tired of playing,
And forever need me, dearest,
Know that your ardent lover, I am,
Beloved, just look for me within!

Open the door to the cave of your heart,
With your secret key of stillness,
Therein, you’ll find me cool and bright,
Not a cloud of worry in sight!

I’ll free you of all chains, cumbersome,
Grant you wisdom divine of light,
Show you all is made of love,
That you are blissful, immortal life!

Happy Guru Purnima, dear ones!

The new moon waxes to full moon,

Only to wane back to new moon,

But the alert one, once awake,

Wakens forever in awareness!

The Infinite Sky of Awareness!

The infinite sky of awareness,
Thou art;
And every painting therein,
Thy dream!

Nature’s Play!

Extinction does happen every once in a while, just as the dinosaurs who were the dominant species on the face of the Earth simply disappeared one day, leaving only fossils to excavate. Every year, a few species of flora and fauna do find their places on the extinct and on the endangered lists. Yet, by and large, Nature has a way of preserving her biodiversity. Almost always, she finds a way to rebound, to come back, in the midst of a constant kaleidoscopic change in the rivers of time.

On this patch of land, five years ago, I had planted a number of elephant foot yams before the rains. Giant plants came up during the monsoon, and at the end of six months, we got a fantastic crop of huge yams. Since then, that patch of land was left fallow and soon got covered with weeds, except for some mango trees which, enjoying the natural ground cover, grew nicely and bore fruit. Last month, I cleared the weeds to collect the mangoes. Then came the rains. Today, my son and I went up there to collect the last few sweet mangoes of the season. We were surprised to see little elephant foot yam plants springing up all over the place.

Perhaps, five years ago, the mother plants had left little nodules in the soil while they were dug up. Evidently, nature had shielded them from all harm, hibernating safely in her bosom for half a decade, until the conditions were right for their germination. With the weeds gone, a bath of nitrogen rich rain water had triggered them awake, raring to grow to their full potential.

Who knows? Maybe one day, nature may reveal the secrets of reviving lost species to our devoted scientists and we may yet find the gentle dodo rubbing feathers with the fowls in our farms!

Black Pepper in Bloom

After a dry long winter and rainless spring come the welcome midsummer rains. The parched earth kissed by the first shower of rain proclaims the start of the monsoon celebration, releasing burst after burst of fresh wet earth scents. Thirsty trees and plants sing silently in rapture, and soon deck themselves with new attire of brilliant shades of green. As I walk around the garden, a pepper vine (piper nigrum) catches my eye and puts a stop to my promenade.

Fresh and beautiful with new lush green leaves, she puts forth spike after pendulous spike of piper blooms – flowers which are pollinated neither by bees, nor by the ants, but by the graceful droplets of rain which wash the pollen down the long white spikes to produce scores of drupes all along their lengths. The drupes mature in mid-winter and are handpicked, threshed and dried to bless the world with black pepper corns; spicy, pungent, warm and medicinal; a must for every kitchen and dining table. I pause to admire the heartwarming sight and click a picture to share with you all.

The post and the moss!

In a truck, brought they him,
Along with his brothers,
A hole was dug deep,
And in he went for keeps!

The lineman did climb up,
Hooked him up with wires,
Jumped back in the truck,
And off went home to sleep!

Alone and upright,
He watched the traffic flow,
Passed people, cattle, dogs,
He proudly viewed them all!

Seasons came and went,
The post had not a friend,
At times, a bird perched,
Or the tomcat left his scent!

Lonely and alone he bore,
Living monotony’s affront!

A day in the hot sun,
A grain of sand, loosened, fell,
Leaving a tiny hole,
Which wind did cover with dust!

The hot summer breeze,
Blew in seeds of moss,
Dark clouds, thunder and lightning,
Prelude to monsoon rain!

The funaria seeds did sprout,
The post had a spot of green,
And as the moss plant grew,
Emerged love in the heart of stone!

Clinging to him for support,
She thrived in the rain and shine,
Her glee erupted in capsules,
Full of spores of mirth!

The infectious joy of the moss,
Brought thrills of cheer in him,
But alas! The rains came to an end,
Stern, dry winter set in!

The moss tried to carry on,
From the mist who nightly kissed,
Yet the hot day drained her blood,
And they knew her time had come!

In a silent tremble, asked he,
“What now?”, Calmly the moss replied,
“Here dear, all things must end.
Grieve thou not for me!

Thou hast protected me well with love,
Seeking naught in return,
I am so loath to leave thee,
Helpless, calmly I accept my fate!

Know that we never truly die,
For my life, I have kept in my spores,
Soon as the rains are back,
My kids will sprout evermore!

Through them, I will hug thee tight,
Every monsoon, with thou, I’ll be,
Our love doth bind us together,
I’ll never leave thee, my own!

As I free, do I see,
Thy father, eternal spirit,
My mother, scintillating nature,
Dancing together for joy!”

A Wild Orchid!

Most of the trees growing densely in the forests of the Western Ghats are home to several beautiful varieties of orchids. These plants cling to the tree trunks and absorb water and nutrients through aerial roots. Most of them bloom once a year, and produce seed pods which often take another year to mature. Each pod bursts open to disperse thousands of microscopic seeds which are carried away by the wind and deposited on the mossy surfaces of tree trunks. A few germinate to produce young plants. Rarely, a new strain develops from the cross pollinated seeds.

Here, in the mountains of Wayanad where I live, it is common for ferns and orchids to grow on shady trees. This orchid plant, probably a vanda, growing on our jackfruit tree, bloomed in its second year. The white and purple blooms are sweetly scented. These lasted for a couple of weeks, until the snails made a feast of them!

Tips on growing lotus flowers in your pond!

The sacred lotus or the Indian lotus – Nelumbo Nucifera grows naturally in muddy lakes and ponds in warm countries. It comes in two colors, pure white and light pink. Its bewitching beauty and sweet fragrance, combined with its edible stem, makes it a fit plant to take its place as the jewel of your garden. Though many novices try growing it in water pots (as I did years ago), they rarely succeed getting it to bloom profusely. Here are a few important things, which I learnt over a couple of decades, to grow lotus successfully in your home garden.

Water lilies grow and bloom well even in small pots, but the lotus requires a pond of at least 2 square meters (20 square feet) size and a depth of at least 50 centimeters (1½ feet). The pond can be of concrete, fiber glass or a simple dug-in affair lined with tarpaulin or a durable, thick waterproof sheet.

The bottom needs to be covered with potting mix, preferably soil, sand, and dried farmyard manure (or compost) at the ratio of 3:2:1 for a thickness of 10 centimeters (3 inches). A thin carpet (1 centimeter / ½ inch) of sand can be spread uniformly over the potting mix to avoid the soil coming in direct contact with the water. This will help keep the water clear, while ensuring nutrition to the roots of the lotus.

Now, just spread a sheet of newspaper over a part of the sand and gently hold your garden hose over it to fill the pond with water without disturbing the potting mix. Once the pond is full, remove the paper. If the water is chlorinated, it is best to leave it for a week for conditioning. You can plant the lotus plant in the middle of the pond, gently pushing the roots under the soil and leaving the base of the plant just above the sand. The base can be weighed down by a couple of rocks to keep it in place.

Lotus seeds are known to sleep for a thousand years or more in mud without sprouting. So, if you intend to use seeds to grow your lotus plants, you need to activate them for germination. Just hold the seed firmly between your fingers and rub the eye of the seed briskly over coarse cement or a rock a few times. This will wear off a part of the thick seed coat. Plant it in the soil just beneath the surface and it will sprout in a few days.

If your pond is not yet ready, you can put the rubbed seed in a glass of water and leave it in partial shade to sprout. Once the first leaf comes out (in around 7 days), it can be planted in the pond. The first leaf will have a stem length of about 15 centimeters (6 inches), so, it is wiser to have only that much water in the pond to start with. The second and third leaves will grow much longer, and you can fill the pond up. Once 10 to 15 leaves appear, it is normal for the younger leaves to rise up above the water line.

Though waterlilies (Nymphaeaceae) can bloom well without any added fertilizer, the lotus requires weekly fertilizer application in garden ponds. NPK 19-19-19 or 20-20-20 complex fertilizer can be applied at the rate of 10 grams (2 teaspoons full) once a week in the pond water to ensure profuse flowering.

While introducing fish in the pond, take care not to put in grass eating species like Giant Gouramis or Grass Carps, for they love to gobble up the leaves. Lastly, and most importantly, the pond must receive direct sunlight for the larger part of the day. Lotuses may not flower well if the temperature goes below 20°C (68°F). Replanting can be carried out once in a couple of years, by changing the potting mix and removing unwanted dead stems and roots. I hope you find this helpful. Do send me some pictures when your lotuses bloom!

Sketch by Girija Giridhar Kini (kitchenarchives.com).

Lord, Lord, I am ready when Thou art!

Out of thine desireless desire to play,
Was born my world and I,
The innocent child, I played and played,
In thine alluring magical world!

Mistaking myself to be an ego in my body,
Falling prey to thine illusion of time, of space,
Of me as different from all else,
I built mansions of fancies, of desires!

Forgetting thy infinite ocean of bliss,
Thou hadst hid deep in mine heart,
My restless desires wove a veil of darkness,
Keeping me from thee, my joy!

Slave to passions hawking false ephemeral joys,
Believing the phenomenal world alone as real,
Blindly I wandered, seeking thee,
In things, in faces, in experiences!

Soon enough, realized I,
In this world, nothing is free, nor forever!
Childhood gives in to youth, and youth, to old age,
Good health to disease, and disease to death!

Wealthy or poor, huge or small,
Time pulls the rug, from under all feet!
This world is not real,
Actors and stage, all make-believe!

Roving thy world, my feet in tatters,
Fervently I searched, I sought thee!
Receiving thy showers of grace, sprouted,
The seed of memory – so vague, so hazy, eternal me!

Thy love and thy grace,
Flooded my being,
Inundating, melting every flaw,
In thy wondrous flow of bliss!

Oh divine source, do harken to my heart,
Content in thine awareness, doth it whisper,
“Though stay I, this world anchors me not,
Lord, Lord, I am ready, when thou art!”

There is no ‘Other’!

I had stepped out onto the terrace to enjoy the sunset. This bulbul flew in and perched on a rusty iron pipe and sang melodiously in the gathering dusk, inspiring this poem.

Gazing adoringly,

At the face, august,

Glowing blissfully,

So silent, serene,

Humbly, the novice asked,

“Oh, Great One!

To enter the gateway

Of Spirit,

What be the first rule

That I need keep?”

With a smile, at once

So remote and so near,

The Adept spoke,

“Dear one, hurt none;

For there is no ‘other’!”

The Rain Lily’s Story!

Almost a year ago, in pouring rain,
Was I born, clinging to my mother,
Feeding off her love, grew my siblings and I,
Until the farmer’s spade tore me off, alone!

Then came the dry, cold winter,
Slept I, buried in the clod,
Dreaming of the joyous day,
I would taste the sky, prosper!

Summer came, with it, the heat,
The merciless sun baked the earth,
Cracked the ground, parched my skin,
Nematodes devoured my roots, misery!

A dog burrowed, in fear cringed I,
The cow came by, and off hurried the dog,
Alas, she trod on my sod,
All but cracked apart, did I, nightmare!

The heat grew and grew, and I almost gave up,
All moisture gone, my outer sheaths dry,
For deliverance in despair, prayed I,
A sudden chill, a rumble of thunder, hope!

A procession of clouds proudly blew past,
Lending my friends and I, not a drop of succor,
Leaving not a mark to endure on for me,
Boiled in my jacket, perhaps my lot to die, darkness!

That night came a pitter patter, rain drops a fall,
As they started drumming, my heart went a humming,
Penetrating my being, the scent of wet earth,
Rain flooded the ground and my soul, grace!

New roots, green leaves, drenched in rain,
Kissed at times, by the sun, so warm,
Peeping in through the passing clouds,
A bud in me is born, to grow and bloom, flowering!

Now I dance in the caress of the breeze,
Enjoy the touch of the sun, pat of the rain,
Embrace of the dew, kiss of the bee,
Enfolding love of nature, freedom!

Itchless Taro!

Over half the populace of the world consumes taro. Some people fear to use taro because of its characteristic itch. Have you heard of a taro plant which does not itch? It is the presence of calcium oxalate in every part of the taro (colocasia esculenta) plant that causes the itching. The calcium oxalate is mostly neutralized when the taro is cooked properly. Adding a few cucumber tree fruits or raw carambola fruits in the taro curry or stir-fry while cooking is the practice followed in the East to get rid of the itch.

Now, however, a new strain of taro has appeared which has practically no itch at all. A neighborhood friend gifted us with a little plant. We planted it in the semi-shade. In just 3 months, it grew 3 feet tall. We made a stir-fry of a couple of stems. It was absolutely delicious, with not even a hint of an itch. It is said that this type does not produce any rhizomes (tubers) unlike the common taro. Propagation is through suckers which come up from the base of the plant. Let’s see!

If taro can flourish without itching, if cactus and rose can grow and bloom without their thorns, can’t we?