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?

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!