This too shall pass....
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Episode 1 - Parijatha
I love plants. Period. Anyone who has read my blog and watched my YouTube videos or has been my friend on Facebook or just interacted with me knows that gardening is my passion.
I am having around a hundred pots and plants in my terrace garden and an array of plants and creepers in my front yard filled with beautiful colourful flowers.
Every little shoot, sprout and bud in my garden lifts my spirits and fills my heart with joy. If there is anything or anyone very close to
my heart in my life after my children, it is these little babies who are my extended family members.
However tiny little a flower or leaf may be, I love and care for them when they take birth, feel proud when they grow and flower and feel sad when a leaf withers or a little stem breaks or bends. Nothing escapes my eyes and my mind.
This is the beautiful Parijatha plant in my front yard and she came home around five years ago. I put her first in my terrace pot because she was small and needed all the sunshine to grow.
Once she grew up and started flowering, I decided to bring her down to the mud and soil and earth so that she can grow further and fill my little aangan with tiny white and orange Parijatha flowers and their devine scent would fill my home and my rooms.
I transplanted her from my terrace pot to the little elevated place in front of my home so that she can spread her branches in the sun and grow well.
True to my belief and her spirits, she grew beautifully, spread her little slim branches and was dancing and smiling in the sun.
Until last week.
As I mentioned, I keep a watch on each and every plant and leaf. One day last week suddenly I looked out of my window and was shocked to see her dull leaves. I ran outside and checked. There was no problem with the water, sun, mud or soil. But day by day, each day, the leaves started drying up right in front of my eyes and I kept looking at her helplessly, not knowing what was the cause of her misery. Finally my dear Parijatha was no more. All her leaves were looking dry like they were burnt.
Today as I sat looking at her sadly, my eyes fell on a little bottle kept on the soil by my servant. Suddenly it all fell into place. It was a bottle filled with some sanitiser liquid kept by my maid. God only knows what chemical it contained. When I lifted that bottle there was a tiny little crack in the bottom and the droplets from that bottle must have seeped into the soil at my Parijatha's roots and must have burnt her.
I should have checked. I should have saved my Parijatha. With this lockdown, with this fear to come out of home, I have lost my dear baby. I sat there numb with shock and sadness for having lost her, my heart feeling heavy with grief.
But still I am thankful for just a little ray of hope, of positivity. Just by her side, I have two big creepers of Jasmine, Jaaji flowers which are budding with fresh leaves and beautiful fragrant flowers. I should thank God that I found the culprit hopefully before it is too late and I should be able to save all my other babies.
And to replace my lost Parijatha, I have a new baby Parijatha plant which has grown about four feet tall in my terrace and hopefully she will soon grow and take the place of pride again in my front yard and fill my home and my rooms with her fragrant flowers.Amen.
