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.