The humble hibiscus

I have always looked at the hibiscus flower as a humble one, though I don't know why so. It is quite an attractive flower, does not require any extra inputs for flowering so liberally, and the flowers, the leaves are super beneficial for us - be it as a natural shampoo, for making hair oils, or making super tasty hibiscus flower juices.

I remember my childhood when we kids used to collect the flowers and feed them to the calf which relished and would consume them and would allow us to caress it.  Even cows love hibiscus flowers very much.

Collecting these flowers for the Onam (one of the key festivals of Kerala -India) floral circles called Pookkalam was a craze as these flowers are available in plenty and would make multiple circles with hibiscus flowers of different colours. Sometimes, when flowers are scarce, we even collect the leaves and make a green circle though it was considered among children as cheating.

So I still don't know why I consider this being a "humble" flower.

But look at it again, don't you also feel like it is a humble flower?

Lockdown photos...

3rd May 2020: Last day of Lockdown 2.0. Lockdown 3.0 is starting tomorrow here in India. It is going to last till 17th May 2020. This was today morning...

The half moon - May, 1st, 2020

Just after the sunset today (1st May 2020), I got these images of the moon.
At 1200 mm zoom with Canon SX50HS, quite a decent capture I hope.

The lockdown is giving us opportunities to look at the universe in a more holistic manner..

Digging up old memories...

With nothing to do,

With nowhere to roam around,

With being forced to confine yourselves,

Just digging into the past,

Digging up old memories

That's what the pandemic is

Allowing us to do...

In conversation with nature

 With another day of lockdown, we realize how much of nature you can embed in our homes if we chose. On a normal day, with work, we hardly notice what we already have at home. With the COVID and lockdown, give us the opportunity to start loving our own home - the little spaces where we grow little plants and the little pieces of happiness - flowers they offer to us. Lockdown has taught us to start a new conversation with nature once again, the long lost times which we had in our childhood. The long trails we had collecting flowers for the floral circles called "Pookkalam" during the Onam festival. Look back, reflect, and enjoy!

Another hot year?

It was a cloudy day to start with... but as the day progressed, the clouds departed and the sun came out quite harshly.

But being under lockdown, you don't feel the heat much... at least for fortunate people like me. But for the ordinary people working in the fields, it is quite a harsh day. This year is going to be another "hottest" year, no doubt.

The evening was anyhow cool and breezy...

Thoughtful Thursday

When nature asks us to co-exist with other follow-species, it is for our common good... 

So many life-forms, insects, plants and bacteria and viruses and fungi... They have co-existed since our planet evolved. 

We, humans, came much much later. We are the new-comers. 

Bigger and mightier species than us existed and became extinct, because, probably, they did not play the basic rules, or things did not work out for them in the long run and because they could not evolve as per changing surroundings, situations. 

For us to survive, we need to adapt, change, and evolve. This is a good opportunity to do so. 

 

Hues of beauty...

A beautiful evening sky...

It is April .. We are reeling under an unprecedented pandemic... The lockdown has inadvertently given us a lot of choices.. Choices to reflect upon, to rethink, to look back and take stock.. The earth is trying to tell us something.. Do we listen?  Better we take note..