HEARTBREAK

 

HEARTBREAK

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

24/V/2022

 

What can be more frustrating than finding the flower you desperately waited to bloom had fallen. Aahhhh! That maddening feeling has no correct expression. Plant lovers would understand that.

 

Conspiracy theories, Whodunnit kind of questions; why this one, zip past the mind. ‘Kisi ki nazar to nahi lagi’. I saw one auntie ogling at this flower. That uncle keeps an eye on my garden. When this flower was plucked, why didn’t we hear footsteps? Should we install a CCTV camera? You become Sherlock Holmes looking for footprints. Whose slipper prints could these be?

 

Why did they pluck it and leave it there itself? Probably to hurt us. All this churns in your mind. The culprit has to be caught and exposed is the next feeling. You feel sad all day, until the same flower blooms again later.

 

Nature has its own ways of doing things. A plant enthusiast just cannot bear a scratch to a leaf, plucking a flower is demanding ‘Dafa 302 & 304 taziraat-e-hind’. The pen’s nib has to be broken after passing the verdict but one still doesn’t know who is the villain. Let us nail the wrongdoers.

 

High speed winds are the biggest offenders. Sometimes when you are fast asleep, they start blowing. A single gust can just snap a branch or stem. If it rains heavily, one drop at a particular angle can do the same damage. These two, no one can prosecute.

 

Birds & Bees are the next criminals. Birds sometimes hang on a flower for nectar. They do not weigh much but then even their light weight can snap the flower. ‘Khatak’, 'flower ka sir dhar se alag’.

 

Bees are in a hurry to collect nectar and leave pollen too. Sometimes they visit the same flower repeatedly. In case they fight for the same flower, this also results in a delicate flower to snap.

 

Sometimes the culprit is the milkman or maid. If the pot is displayed right at the entrance & the maid or the milkman are not aware of the change in position of pots. As they walk in & snap…. The maid used to take off her slippers at a particular place every day. That freshly placed pot doesn’t register in her mind. Her sari pallu gets stuck and snap…...

 

Machines of the Horticulture people also cause damage. One flick of a stone from underneath the grass cutting machine has broken my car windshield twice. Does a flower stand a chance? No way.

 

Dogs are the biggest sinners. They lift one leg and spray to mark their scent. In the process the leg which has been raised brushes against the flower and snap…. Cats too cause damage during mating season. They chase each other and manoeuvre through the pots at full speed. One jump & snap…….

 

Chameleons too are on the list. Comparatively they are heavy. If they decide to cling on to this flower laden branch, it is a disaster. In their enthusiasm to catch a butterfly…. snap and it is all over.

 

We were training a morning glory creeper on a tree. It would be lying flat on the ground every morning. The culprit was a chameleon. His route to his place of rest was this tree. He would catch hold of the vine and climb up. The vine stood no chance with his weight and the grip of his claws. He could pull down the dainty vine.

 

Sometimes the offender has been yours truly too. While pruning, hoeing and watering you could snap off flowers of the neighbouring pot. At times while turning the pots towards the sun, branches mesh with each other and snap…... You just plead guilty.

 

Lastly it is the free loaders. Flowers are ‘plucked’ for pooja. They may not pluck the same flower which one awaited so long, but in their hurry to evaporate from the crime scene, they take shortcuts, they damage while jumping over that pot. Snap…...

 

There were times when the buds would be close to blooming. Then nature would take over. Due to some deficiency that bud would yellow and fall. Sometimes bugs & beetles eat them and that would end the long wait for your hard work to fall off.

 

Gardening is actually much hard work and patience. There are many pitfalls. Setbacks are umpteen. What you just don’t think of happens. The least expected thing will definitely happen. Predictions go wrong, nothing can be taken for granted and then there is Mr Murphy.

 

Forethought and planning do play a role but finally it is the verdict of nature which prevails. Once you realise the uncertainties, it is easier to console yourself. In case you cannot control those feelings, it becomes…...Snap, a heartbreak. Anyone experienced all these? I wonder!!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© NOEL ELLIS