Summer Blooms...

The summer in Pondicherry is always hot, humid and dry to some extent. It is quite taxing unless you are a very "sun-friendly" person, especially from 12 noon to 3-4 pm. One has to have a good protection from the sun. But this could be the same situation in other east-coast regions as well. But what was quite different is the summer in Delhi. It is dry, burning and dangerous at the same time. More about that later.

Though the summer is a bit tough, it has its own charms. The water melons, the local Kulfis, the summer vacation and free time for the kids, summer vacations for most of us are quite nostalgic. It is also the time of exhibitions, the melas, the circus and of course, the new phenomenon of summer camps where the parents want to park their kids so that they get some respite from their ever demanding kids..

It is also the time of examinations for grown-up kids (post-school of course), internships and fun camps etc. But beyond all that, the summer flowers are a treat to the eyes, adding colour and beauty to the otherwise, dry, dusty scenery. One of the South Indian festivals (State of Kerala), the Vishu or the Malayalam New Year (which comes in  mid-April)  is to start the new year with the arrangement of yellow golden flowers as part of the Vishukkani where the Konna flowers are used. (Cassia fistula, commonly known as golden shower, purging cassia, or Indian laburnum, is a flowering plant in the subfamily, Caesalpiniaceae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia.  It is a popular ornamental plant and is also used in herbal medicine. It is both the national tree and the national flower of Thailand. It is the state flower of Kerala in India: from Wikiepedia.) 

In Ayurvedic medicine, the golden shower tree is known as aragvadha, meaning "disease killer". Hardly used by the common man, it forms an important herb used in the Ayurvedic preparations. It has long black seed pods which is not very easy to germinate, and I had to wash the seeds with hot water for a couple of minutes (after several instances of googling), I could get them germinated..

Photos taken at Matrikunj Organic Farm (Sri Aurobindo Society, Poothurai near Pondicherry).

Come April and it is New Year..!!

It is a bit awkward to write about the Month when it is already April 13 today. But April 14 is considered to be the New Year in many of the Indian states and hence I thought of this post. When I searched Wikipedia, I got some interesting information about April.

April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, and one of four months with a length of 30 days. April was originally the second month of the Roman calendar, before January and February were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. It became the fourth month of the calendar year (the year when twelve months are displayed in order) during the time of the decemvirs about 450 BC, when it also was given 29 days. The derivation of the name (Latin Aprilis) is uncertain. The traditional etymology is from the Latin aperire, "to open," in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open," is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of ἁνοιξις (opening) for spring.

This reminds me of the flowering of the tree Cassia fistula commonly known in Malayalam as "Kanikonna" , the hallmark of the Vishukkani on the Malayalam New Year Day.



As children, we used to get Vishukkaineettam from our elders in the form of money. Vishu is also the occasion in Kerala when crackers are burst to welcome the New Year similar to the Diwali celebrations in Tamilnadu. My only request that please remember that when you burst so much of money in one or two nights, our atmosphere gets a bit more polluted, and the fireworks industry which employs childlabour extensively make a lot more profit. Cant we think of much more eco-friendly, child-friendly modes of celebrations?

Anyhow, I wish you all a happy Malayalam/Tamil/Bengali(The Baisakhi) New Year.

May be it is also new year to many others too.