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?

Spirit Has No Birthday!

The body is built of matter,
The eternal unborn is Spirit!
The body exists in time and in space,
The Spirit just dreams of time and space!

Humans are bodies with Spirit,
They are born, they live, they die!
The awakened one is Spirit with a body,
And being unborn, never dies!

A train of thoughts is the mind,
Mind links the body to Spirit.
In a restless mind, the ego reigns,
When the mind is still, the Spirit is!