Finally, I have selected a topic to write upon. But the truth is that it got selected by itself. It all happened when I was taking a walk in the park near my house. My observant eye was scanning the surroundings. Lo, I was immediately struck by the magic wrought by spring in the most spectacular form.
The plants, shrubs, and trees appear to have woken up from a deep refreshing sleep. There are the new shoots, fresh and glistening like the washed face of a healthy child and surfeit of riotous blooming flowers. It reminds us of the umbilical bond which has always existed between man and nature and which we have almost forgotten, embroiled as we are in ‘the world is too much with us’ syndrome!
Nature displays its charms unobtrusively, suddenly and soothingly without crying hoarse for attention from the rooftops. Can we get even a penny without toiling for it? Here nature casts its jewels in our path without a murmur. The priceless trinkets of nature’s bounties go a-begging. The generosity of spring is unbounded. We receive its visual pleasure for the moment and forever and gratuitously also. Wordsworth’s wonderful poem ‘The Daffodils’ celebrates the joy and fragrant beauty of spring. The poet is enamored by the sight of blossoming yellow daffodils and the spectacle becomes embedded in his imagination and he poeticizes, “They flash upon the inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude.”
The spirit of peaceful co-existence, hope and self-renewal are constant in nature and amazingly visible in spring. Two contrasting states overlap on the Neem and other deciduous trees. Each gives space to the other. There are tiny baby leaves on top of the branches, and near the stem, weather-beaten brown leaves are still hanging calmly. The pruned branches of evergreens and perennials are having a blast of glossy, eye-catching, green-hued new sprouts, heralding the rebirth of nature.
On a micro level at the home front and in the neighborhood, spring has unraveled its charms no less generously. My rose bushes are aflame with flowers and today(28th March) when I stepped out of the door I was greeted by newly blossomed red lily, growing on the inside of the boundary wall. The lawns are much greener now. “Can you imagine my oval-shaped thorny potted cactus is budded now and I expect blooms any day? Isn’t it nature’s marvel that a prickly cactus bears the most delicate pink petalled flowers?” The Marigold in my back yard came to flowering early, at the beginning of March. My cherished herbs curry Patta; mint, aloe vera, and Tulsi are out of hibernation and regaining their lost glory fast.
In my neighbor's side yard (a corner house) there are a couple of Bottle Brush trees. They are laden with flowers and their boughs hang downwards with the weight of the flowers and thick leafing. The mango tree is loaded with tiny white flowers signaling a bumper crop of mangoes. Together with other plants these weave kaleidoscopes of resplendent colors all around.
If the flora is in abundance in the spring fauna is also making waves. Cuckoo has surfaced and coo coos perched somewhere on the mango foliage. Larks, long-tailed sparrows, and woodpeckers are seen pecking at worms and insects in the lawns and parks. I even saw a lone dove balancing itself on an electric wire. Squirrels are having fun, hopping and racing from one tree to the other. Butterflies and buzzing bees are savoring myriad choicest dishes. Glowworms glow at night switching on and off their night light. Undoubtedly spring has infected all with joy and pleasure.
A peep at the weather front surely is in order. The mornings and evenings are luxuriously breezy and invite one for a relaxing walk. The wind envelops the body and massages it tenderly while passing by. There was even a light shower last week bringing in an invigorating coolness and bright clear sky.
Early summer vegetables have started arriving in the market. The advertisements for cool drinks and other beverages are already filling the T.V. screen and shop counters. Let's enjoy April’s moderate climate before the May heat cows us down.
