GRASS PODS

 GRASS PODS 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

04/VII/2023

 

My childhood was spent on the campus of Sainik School Kapurthala, Punjab. It had a very unique ecosystem and one of its kind. You name a tree, from the Tropical to the Himalayan variety, it was there. Besides, we had Grape, Mango, Jamun, Malta and Falsa orchards. Our own house was a mini botanical garden.

 

Be that as it may. Weeds were a perpetual problem. The worst was wild ‘Bhang’  (Cannabis) shrubs. ‘Amlees’ would frequent that passage which led to a tuck shop called ‘Greens’ and the ‘Dhobi Ghat’. They would rub the leaves within their palms like a hand churner ‘Mathni’ and extract the brownish ‘mail’ as they would call it, for adding a ‘goli’ to their cigarette for that additional kick.

 

There was another grass which used to grow alongside, which had bristles on its pod while flowering. The prickly pods were something like Wilcro. We would pull them out from the stem, bite the juicy portion at the end. It was edible & sweet to taste. Then we would throw those pods at each other. Sometimes, behind an unsuspecting friend’s back. In case it was revenge time, we would shove it down his collar. Mind you the bristles left a temporary itch.

 

Yesterday, while on my walk I saw that grass after ages. Goes without saying, one had to take a picture of it. When I bent down to click, I found black ants swarming on it, moving up and down. I went back to the good old days again. The pods were full of nectar.

 

We would bang that pod on our forearm. Droplets would stick and we would slurp it up. Anything sweet was welcome. We would sometimes race to collect the pods, pulling out as many as each of us could. Then sit on the road and enjoy the juices.

 

All those pods used to go to waste, so an idea struck. Why not make nests out of them? We would join them pod by pod to make a cup, fit enough for a small bird. The dilemma used to be where to place them. Would a mango tree be ideal or the bushes around the house. All of us would wait for the birds to come and nest in them which we painstakingly made. Birds refused to use ‘Readymade’, a term very commonly used for pre-stitched shirts and trousers those days.

 

We actually didn’t know their nesting season. We thought birds live in nests. Some bird feed around the tree only attracted them for food. We used to wonder as to why they didn’t accept our effort. A couple of tries and the nests were left alone. How we wanted the birds to accept them.

 

Here these grass pods are rarely seen. The urge to try and extract some sweet juices remained, for old times sake but I left them there.

 

Do you guys recall playing with such grass pods during childhood? I wonder!!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© ® NOEL ELLIS