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Sweet Notes of Summer

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I love summers for my favourite jasmine and mangoes. The duo brings to mind, childhood summers of school exams and their sweet successor, the vacation.      The heavenly fragrance of the jasmine, also called mogra or mallepuvvu are to be plucked in the evening, the right buds that would half open while you made a flower- garland or gajra .  Our neighbour and close family friend had taught me how to make  gajras without a needle, securing the flowers snugly with little loops of a string of thread, buds tied together, neither too close to each other nor too far apart, giving the perfect look when you adorned your hair with it. Plaited hair adorned with jasmine flowers strung together with the delicate orange flowers called kankambaram or aboli and the sweet, musky, tiny leaved marvam sprigs strung together in a visually appealing tricolour was once a common sight.      We no longer wear flowers in our hair except on occasions like a close rela...
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The Monk Palash

 The flame-of-the-forest,  palash   brushing against the balcony of my second floor flat has turned orange-red. Its the usual time for it to shed green and go monk.  Little sunbirds - simply clad ones and those in royal-satin, blue, green and purple flit around the blossom laden branches since daybreak. The tree is alive with the tweets of the little birdies and  chirping and squawking mynas. To keep them company are the frolicking, squeaking squirrels. Screeching parrots are the largest visitors on the tree.  Its a delight to follow the swift birds taking in the nectar from the blooms. The sunbirds, called shakkarkhora  (literally, sugar-devourer)  sip the nectar in the flowers with their tiny long beaks, often hanging upside-down to reach the carpals. I often wonder if they 'drink to the lees'. Little red-brown bees become visible when the ruckus and flurry of movements created by the birds subsides with the climbing sun.  Until a few years...
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Ahmedabad in June and the Sabarmati

Its sweltering hot in Ahmedabad right now. I don't mind ... coming from Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, have taken it in my stride. And then, like a good tourist, I utililize my stay for sightseeing and shopping.       I have enjoyed the cycle ride along Sabarmati riverfront with friends at dawn. Visits to the cloth markets at Lal Darwaja and Manek Chowk were fun-filled and the unforgettable street food, a gourmet's delight.      The visit to Sabarmati Ashram was special...sacred! It is well maintained, with new structures being erected to  Gandhi and Gandhism. The Sabarmati flows peacefully. The enclosure where prayer meetings were held by the Mahatma is kept simple...nothing added. It was overwhelming - simplicity, peace!      Today on Martyr's day in 2021, I revisit this first little piece I wrote years ago, and vow to blog henceforth. As I do so, I wonder about the varying views on and the growing bitter discourse on the Mah...
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