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).

Submitted by Raghu Menon @ http://tprmenon.blogspot.com/