Tag: The power of XX

Posted on

Shaken…

After a long time, I read this article that really disturbed me. The Dec 26, 2011- Jan 09, 2012 issue of the Outlook magazine has several articles that describe ‘food trails’ in different regions. I have read several such ‘food’ travel articles online and in magazines but none was as stark as this one.

The article is entitled ‘Sweat of Shiva’s Back’ by Amita Bhaviskar and describes the food and life of Bhilala adivasis. Perish any thought of a romantic account of life in the jungles. Far from it. Having said that, at no point does the article deteriorate into a ‘sob story’ of their difficulties. In a simple stark manner, the author describes their food habits that are totally dictated by the lives they lead.

Initially the botanist in me was struck by their use of the Mahua flowers and its oil and liquor made from it. Then as the words sank in, the magnitude of their situation hit me.

A friend of mine spent some time at Melghat and her account of the conditions there was of abject malnutrition, illiteracy…

Despite tall claims of our esteemed economists, industrialists and the government of being an economic superpower in-waiting, our politicians continue to focus on the caste system for their own gains, female infanticide is still rampant, girls are ‘married’ off to banana trees or earthen pots prior to marriage for some obscure ‘dosha‘ in their horoscope as their mothers and relatives look on approvingly…. (I have never heard of the same proceedure for a prospective groom, are their horoscopes universally excellent and free of doshas?). Does this mean its the darkest before dawn or is it all just a mirage? I don’t know…

Its true that ours is a vast country of diverse geographies and people. One size will not apply to all. The cities see a 24X7 rat race for more money, a bigger job designation, a bigger loan (to keep up with the Jonas’ in terms of creature comforts) and a slowly bigger list of diseases… Some migrate abroad in search of a ‘better’ life.

All this while folk from our villages fed up of lack of income and wanting a ‘better’ lifestyle come to the cities in search of the proverbial pot of gold…

We have lived in some pretty remote and disturbed areas, experienced the ups and downs of soldierly life. Combined with my work with disadvantaged kids I thought I had developed a thick skin… I was wrong…

Take care..
Archana

0
Posted on

Have we really evolved?

After my
daily tussle with completing home chores, the maid, telecallers and other
invisible forces, I zoomed out of the house to make it to work on time. As my
car idled in the choc-a-bloc traffic, my mind was in a spin. Though totally
unrelated to the IT industry, current developments at Satyam had disturbed me thoroughly. What was worse was
that it seemed only to be the tip of the iceberg of a widespread rot.
I
remembered a proverb: “Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men”.
The current incident is
certainly not the first but for whatever reason we simply shrug off and move
on. Some call it resilience or is it that we just don’t care? We are so
preoccupied with our own needs and wants that nobody wants to learn.
We go about
stoically as terror/scams/ Nature’s fury unfold in some distant place affecting
somebody else. Why bother, I am not affected… What it is that must drive such
attitude, such apathy?

We are
totally engrossed in reaching our own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
come what may. Stopping for an accident victim or going that extra bit to save
the environment or even help in safety of our neighbourhoods seem to be a
hindrance and burden. Trust – that is the basic premise for any transaction
including business or social is fast becoming extinct.
Greed
(whether for tangible or intangible assets) fuels unethical / unlawful
behaviour and always leads to disastrous results. How much is enough? All said
and done irrespective of our earnings, one needs only six feet by three feet
space to sleep on and one can eat only about 250 gms of food at one time and
that too judiciously. Any more and it brings along uninvited guests like
diabetes, heart ailments.
Man claims
to be at the top of the evolutionary chain with his wrinkled grey matter and
mastery over baser instincts. Yet do we not display the same animalistic
characteristics that remain coated in a thin garb of so called urbanity? In the
perennial rat race we call a career, we search for a better position and better
pay packet but the winner still remains a rat. In his letter to
regulatory authorities, the outcast IT czar too likened his position to that
of, “riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.”
So
complacent are we about our superiority that we go about plundering and
destroying nature. We pride in keeping our homes spick and span but dump all
refuse outside. Atrocities on and exploitation of women continue across all
economic strata and communities. Road rage, intolerance and disputes among
communities for trivial reasons often end up hurting everyone and the issue
remains just there- unresolved. If it ever existed that is….
A round of
horn blaring jolted me out of my reverie. My daydreaming had insulated me
partially from words being showered on me for delaying cars behind me. Hastily
I shifted to first and moved on, my mind a whirlpool of thoughts. Are we just
animals in urban jungles, some selfish uncaring creatures morphed from Homo-
sapiens? Have we evolved at all?
Think about it…
Have a good day!
Archana
This was first published on 17 Jan 2009 on 4indianwoman. That site is not available online anymore.
0
Posted on

Of Trees and Tree Hunters..

Recently I participated in an interesting event- A Tree Hunt organised by the Pune Muinicipal organisation along with some organisations and noted tree expert Shrikant Ingalhalikar. Rest assured this is not another post describing trees. Its about how people reacted to the trees around them.

Instead of wasting time, lets get straight to the point.  Most Tree Hunters were ladies of the baby boomer category. Hardly any men participated and I did not spot any youth- If some did take part, I have missed them.

Our task was to travel along a given route and identify and write down the trees we see on both sides of the road or those in people’s homes/gardens but visible from the road. Simple right?
Wrong!

We were given a list of common trees that would not be counted in the final tally! Now this complicated the situation as Buccha, Khaya, Gulmohor, etc were the most obvious ones and more populous. One could write number of each species thereby getting more points but that gave the event a tinge of being a Tree Census rather than a Tree Hunt. Any way. That is not the point.

Being a sunny winter day, there were many people grouped around trees on the roads. At one particular site, I just could not identify a particular tree and kept going round and round it trying to look for any flowers or fruit. The leaves were too high to be able to touch them so I had to make do with what I could see. A couple of youth had parked their bikes and were busy chatting. They just couldnt figure out what I was doing. One of them finally came and stood beside me and peeked into my papers. Now both of us were peering up at the tree.
“Do you know the name of this tree” I asked.
“No, I am trying to find out!”
Not much help there, so I turned to a shopkeeper with premises right under that tree.
“Do you know the name of this tree? Does it flower and what do they look like”
“I dont know,” he said, “I have never seen flowers in so many years!”

How could anyone ignore such majestic greenery growing above them? If this is the situation with mute living trees, then it explains people’s apathy to reacting to any accident or misdeeds around us….

A little ahead, a tree grew right along side a hutment. It had an interesting flaky grey bark and plenty of legumes hanging amid its leaves. Again this was a stranger to me. Inquires with people there yielded nothing. They did not know the name, if at all the tree flowered or bore fruit (yes, there are some trees in Pune that do not flower or fruit). The tree had grown such that it was almost stuck between two homes. A staircase went up to a home, right along the huge trunk but obviously people gave it as much attention as a stone lying on the wayside. A friend of mine later told me that it was a Phansi (Dalbergia lanceolaria var paniculata). I plan to go back and properly see the tree in April when it is supposed be flowering!!

Across the road was a huge tree with a massive trunk. By now I had no hesitation in asking people around about its name. I still hoped someone would give me an answer; not to ‘help’ my answer sheet but just to reinforce my faith that people paid attention to trees around them. I was not disappointed. Yeah!! There was some hope after all… The gentleman sitting under the tree pointed out a paper pinned high on the bark that listed various trees and this one’s identity was ticked off… Waval… His next question totally floored me:
“Are you going to cut this tree?”
It took me quite some time to explain that I was not any ‘tree authority’ and did not have any such nefarious intentions. I was only trying to identify the tree.

The people living there must obviously be proud of their tree and concerned about its survival. I do hope it is not axed down as part of any development plans.

Trees give us shade, oxygen, flowers and fruit besides being home to some other fauna or at times plants. Like us they are a part of Nature. They are necessary for our healthy existence. Plenty of trees have been cut down in our city for various reasons- some avoidable some not.
Its not too late. Wake up. Look around. Take care of your trees and they will take care of you…
Cheers!
Archana

0
Posted on

Arranged Marriages and Astrology

Recently I attended a very interesting lecture organised by a prominent Marriage Bureau that was meant to throw some light on ‘horoscope matching’ that is almost always done prior to arranged marriages. The auditorium was full– with people standing in the aisles and corridors outside to hear what the expert (a famous astrologer appearing on TV shows) had to say.
The aim was to get answers to some questions like:
What exactly is horoscope matching? Is simply counting the गूण (loosely translated as ‘points’) sufficient? Is it sufficient to match the moon sign, नकक्षत्र (nakshatra– constellation ) नाडी (nadi) ? What about the dreaded मंगळ (Manglik) or सगोत्र (sagotra- same gotra)?

The net take away for me was as follows:
  • First and foremost, people match horoscopes to eliminate ‘risks’. 
Does this mean those with perfectly matching horoscopes face zero troubles in life with smooth sailing all around? I have not got an answer to this question… Further, people with who do not believe in horoscopes or do not want to match them are suspected to have ‘something’ to hide! 
  • Verify if the horoscope has been ‘made’ correctly. Currently available computer-generated horoscopes are acceptable. For this one has to provide date, time and place of birth.
This raises some more doubts. Often people ‘manage’ horoscopes so that they match with the one of the desirable bride or groom. The expert at the above event said that it is possible to do so and very difficult to spot the ‘managed’ (hence fraud) horoscope. 
We depend on the hospital staff to tell us the time of birth. A doctor has told me that no staff in a delivery room has their eyes fixed on the clock at the critical period of the child’s birth. They obviously have better things to do… 
Hence what we consider as the precise time of birth, may be slightly different by a few minutes. Further what can be defined as the precise time: the time when the head is delivered or when the baby cries or when the umbilical cord is cut?
Often clashes between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can cause marriages to break. Then should their horoscopes be matched as well? 
The expert did not shed light on these vital points.
  • Parents (its usually them who insist on matching horoscopes) fall into three categories: 1) Do not believe in horoscopes hence do not match (very very few in number), 2) Get horoscopes matched from a astrologer and 3) those who do a जुजबी (loosely translated as cursory) matching. 
Its the third category that is most dangerous. Using a ready reckoner or simply focusing on a few elements to ‘decide’ weather or not to go ahead with a proposal is like losing out on a diamond!
Like most sciences, in astrology too, there are things beyond tallying points which only experienced experts can interpret. Even an unfavourable or less favourable position of a star or planet may be offset by other star/planet positions in that horoscope or in the one to be matched. There is nothing to fear in the मंगळ or other so called dreaded नाडी provided one ‘studies’ the horoscope in its totality and practically.
The expert gave practical explainations and solutions to some of these misconceptions.
  • Those who do wish to match horoscopes must consult an experienced astrologer for the same. Of course it means paying his/her fees which can be a barrier. To save this money, people resort to half-baked, self-taught, haphazard matching with insufficient knowledge that cause them to ‘miss’ out on a perfectly suitable groom or bride or worse still: end up overlooking some vital ‘mismatches’…
One of the speakers at the above lecture gave some very practical advice when seeking a bride or groom. Go ahead and match horoscopes if you believe in them but do consider the following:
Values, Lifestyles and Financial background of the two families and the children.
Its absolutely vital that these match or are compatible for a successful marriage. The young couple must have similar aspirations and values. As he said, being against corruption does not simply mean going on a candlelight march and then submitting a falsely inflated travel bill in the office!
Further, these days, parents are extra sensitive about their children (हळवे). Let us remember that if our upbringing has been correct, our children should be able to take decisions independently and take responsibility for their decisions.
There are several programs on TV or even print articles about matching horoscopes for marriage. In this case one size does not fit all. If horoscopes do match one cannot simply sit back and behave as one wills. The concerned couple and their families must understand that making their marriage succeed is an ongoing process that needs constant efforts.
In cases of so called ‘love’ marriages or intercaste, intercommunity marriages, parents do forgo matching horoscopes and yet we do find that these are happy successful families contributing to society and economy.
In these modern times, the final decision must be based on scientific and practical grounds and solutions found and acted upon accordingly. Laboratories like Golwilkar Metropolis in Pune offer Pre-Marital Blood tests (for HIV, Rh compatibility, Hepatitis, Thalassemia etc). Would this be a more scientific approach to pre-maritial screening? (I do not hold any stake in the mentioned Path lab. I just happened to see their brochure hence this mention. Others may offer the same as well!!)

This post will not change a person’s attitude, its not meant to. However if it can stimulate the reader to honestly assess their reasons to match horoscopes, I have succeeded!

Take care!
Archana
0
Posted on

Embroidery: Then and Now

Its been ages since I picked up a needle and thread for something other than sewing buttons or repairing hemlines… With strong motivation to ‘personalise’ and ‘add value’ to a recently purchased kudta, I decided that it needed embroidering…

My tryst with embroidery goes back several decades to when I just about started secondary schooling. I still remember my once-a-week aftternoon class at Chembur. I was about the only young girl among my peer students who were mostly housewives— the word home maker had not been coined then…

We traced designs using a red carbon paper (yellow for dark fabrics) choosing from what seemed like thousands of them that lay strewn on our teachers dining table.. waiting to be traced onto table cloths, cushion covers, wall frames etc… The Jacobian designs were my favourite and still are…

She taught us the nuances of embroidery, what made a piece beautiful and noteworthy. Satin or Herringbone, the stitches had to be even and fine and regular not only on the right side but the wrong one as well. To this day, whenever presented with an embroidered piece (sari or anything else) I always turn it over. The wrong side must be as beautiful as the right side, with inconspicuous knots and minimal hanging threads. I may have achieved such proficiency for probably only one odd piece of work – that’s all.

Threads were always stored by cutting and stringing them on bangles number-wise and then braiding them into a plait. This way we could pull off the exact length. Some made elaborate ‘files’ out of satin with elastic holders for the threads. Bottom line, no dumping coloured skeins into one bag. Needles, scissors were  stored in empty boxes…

But lets come to the present… I was pleasantly surprised to find that most Anchor embroidery threads still had the same ‘numbers’. (All Anchor embroidery threads are number coded so 267 is a lovely moss green or pinks are in the 052 range…) I still had all my designs but tracing was more difficult. I used iron-on transfers which made life simpler…

Battling submission deadlines, my errant spectacles and truant maids I finally did complete my work. Its not one of my best, but I enjoyed a trip back to my childhood… Will I take up another piece? That’s a difficult one…

Cheers!

0
Posted on

Heart Truths

Todays TOI (Pune) features an article wherein cardiologists have reiterated that children born with certain types of heart defects can be cured.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Congenital-heart-disease-in-children-is-curable-says-cardio-expert/articleshow/10360714.cms

Heart defects are of different types and this is not the place to go into their details. Suffice to say that timely diagnosis and treatment (usually surgery) can cure the child of his or her congenital heart defect (CHD). Modern diagnostic tests are highly advanced and new surgical techniques mean small babies can be cured of their problems. Indian hospitals and doctors now have necessary skills to treat our kids, there is no need to go abroad. There may be a minor residual scar but then kids often have scarred knees and elbows throughout their childhood. Financial aid is available as well for the needy.

The children go on to live perfectly normal healthy lives contributing actively to society, industry. No more medications are required. The only thing they have to be careful about is not to let their teeth fall prey to caries. If this does happen timely dental treatment is a must.

Madhubala is a famous Indian personality whose heart had a defect at birth but was not treated for a long time.
14 February is celebrated as World Congenital Heart Defects Day worldwide.

This is a good website for detailed information.
http://tchin.org/

 This is horrific story describing parents attitude towards their children who have CHD: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Indian+girls+denied+heart+surgery+parents/5444230/story.html

There are several organisations in India that counsel parents of children with CHD.
Best wishes,
Archana

0
Posted on

Fishy encounter

This was on fishy encounter where the enjoyment has continued for a long time…
Let me explain.
For days we meant to visit a restaurant called Masemari on Tilak Road (it belongs to Lalan Sarang- an eminent actress in Marathi theatre) and specialises in coastal Maharashtrian fish cuisine. Somehow the thought of reaching the crowded congested Tilak Road had successfully sent us to other eating joints in the city.

However on this particular day we set off on our two wheeler determined to net this catch!!
Masemari situated a few steps off Tilak Road (near Hotel Girija) and we could park right outside the hotel itself but the by lanes had plenty of empty space. This seemed like a good start (oh yes it was, just read till the end…)

There is a fairly big model of a ship on the gate which was quite clear in the dark but may be interesting at daytime. Being Shravan, there wasn’t much of a rush.

The restaurant is not very big and is quite cozy. The wall decorations leave you in no doubt of its food specialty! While I knew of some Konkani food preparations I was not quite prepared for this huge range. The staff was both courteous and knowledgeable about their offerings. They helped clear our confusion and we finalised our order. Sol kadhi was a must, Pomphret and butter garlic Mussels followed accompanied by Vade and Amboli. We wanted to order more but there is only so much that two persons can consume however tasty it may be…

I heavily recommend all fish lovers to vist this restaurant. They deliver at home in a three kilometer radius.

Here is the best part.. I reviewed this restaurant on Zomato (we had referred to this website for the address) and I WON the weekly prize in their Write for a Bite review contest!
This has encouraged me to try out new restaurants and yes review them as well.
You can too. Visit Zomato.com
Enjoy!

0
Posted on

The big fat Indian wedding…

May is the wedding season for us Maharashtrians… The wedding ceremony itself may have withstood the test of time but that’s about all. Everything else related to weddings is nothing like what was seen probably about 60 years ago. The event is totally ‘nationalised’ for want of another word as celebrations are spread over many days with tid bids added from wedding festivities of other states. So now we have a dedicated ‘mehendi’ some even have ‘sangeet‘ something quite unknown in this area- during weddings at least (and I don’t mean the barat)!

Prime time telly serials have increased our exposure to such events (though I am told some Hindi serials increasingly portray stories about Marathi families) and hey why not! As most families now have one or two kids, there is every reason to ‘celebrate’ in this manner. Splurging on flowers, clothes, jewelery and food seems the order of the day…

An upcoming wedding means women may go on a crash diet to best show off their zari and crepes and are not keen to lose it all in the high-calorie, deep-fried, sugar rich menus that such events usually offer. Others may have ‘weighty’ issues like diabetes, cholesterol (an increasingly common condition among Indians) hence again will not really ‘tuck into’ meals. Gone are the days when the hosts would go round to serve their guests – the exercise mostly consisted of them ‘coaxing’ (the closest possible English equivalent I can think for the Marathi word आग्रह) the protesting individual to eat some more of the sweet. So one often found the occasional guest ‘manfully’ demolishing a plateful of jalebis or several bowls of shrikhand while the ‘lucky’ others had long cleaned out their plates. Instead we now have buffets which has is own plus and minus points…

Most Maharashtrian weddings stick to our typical menu for the wedding lunch। Yet come reception time and most weddings offer a bewildering range of foods ranging from Italian, Chinese, north and south Indian delicacies, chaat, salad bar, fruit and desert spreads.

At some recent events, I found most guests had helped themselves to few preparations and some stalls were almost ignored. I shudder to think of the extent of leftovers at such events. Considering cost of food, is it really morally and ethically correct to be a party to such wastage? Are we worried about being called as ‘less hospitable’ if we offer fewer but well-prepared dishes? Are these ostentatious food spreads meant to be some kind of a statement about our social or economic status?

Do we have the ‘courage’ to stand apart from the crowd?
These are difficult questions with even more difficult answers.
But they demand some introspection…
All the best!

0
Posted on

Take a break…

Konkan has emerged as a popular weekend getaway for people from western Maharashtra and those from other parts as well. The west coast of Maharashtra is well known for its beaches and mangoes and cashews and temples. That’s for tourists. Konkan is a rich bio diverse habitat and there are over 1500 endemic species growing here. Despite being quite near we had never managed to visit that coastal belt other tourist destinations always won hands down..

So when the first opportunity presented itself in form of a study tour to the Konkan I did not hesitate for a second.

And there we were a motley group of nature lovers right from over 60 years-young to twenty something-years old. Armed with sturdy shoes, caps, water bottles, lens’, cameras, field guides and most of all knowledgeable instructors, we trudged across hill and vale, sand and stone in the blazing May noon sun, We looked at and learnt about the majestic tall and at times small flora growing there. Each told its own story, held its own place in the history of the evolution of the plant kingdom. Even a tiny pool of water on a depression on a rock held a tiny ecosystem.

As they say, to really ‘find’ good material for a bonsai, the place to look is not the front rows of nursery plant displays. One has to check out the trees languishing at the back that no one really bothers about. Similarly to see diverse habitats and plant types, move away from the tourist attractions on a beach to the low tide, near the rocks and the edge of the sand. And then see what treasure awaits you!

The bare rock was a lateritic plateau that was seemingly bare. Note ‘seemingly’. One shower was all it will take to get the hidden herbs to spring to life. The monsoon months are said to be a pure delight with a changing colourful kaleidoscope every week as each and every plant blooms. The same phenomenon is seen at Kaas pathar- an otherwise bare stony region.

And how can one forget mangoes? and cashews? Several residents of Konkan have thrown open their homes or some have created spaces specifically for ‘city folk’ so as to get a ‘taste’ of living among mango trees – inside a mango grove…

Many villages in India have what are called ‘sacred groves’ (devrai). Its a subtle method to conserve nature and biodiversity. We did walk through a couple of them and the experience is quite something. There are parts where the sunlight does not reach the soil even as the air is filled with bird and insect sounds. Clamber over rocks, several inches thick layers of dead leaves and twigs to reach an amazing buttressed roots of Ficus nervosa or a dry looking fern called Dryneria or orchids blooming unassumingly high on tree branches, just to name a few…

The bottom line: do visit foreign lands, other parts of India but before that take your next holiday to visit the interiors of your own state and try to understand local culture. There is much to learn…
Cheers!

0
Posted on

Botany at Forty

I love trees, plants, herbs, shrubs… in fact almost all green (and not green) things that grow in nature. When setting up our home at each posting the sight of similar vegetation growing in our garden or even our residential campus gave a comforting familiarity. I almost looked upon the trees as a friend. While the Neem was rampant in Bidar, this tree was not as easily found in Assam. I never did think I would miss Neem even amidst the widespread greenery of the East. Yet miss I did. Ditto for the bamboo when we moved out from Assam. Often I recognized the tree or the blooms but did not know their names… I did try to Google their identity but success was not assured… The feeling was akin to not knowing the name of a close friend…
A course in Field Botany seemed just what the doctor ordered. I would be able to learn not only know names but habitat, classification, growth patterns, characteristics of many many more green friends. Full of josh, I made copious notes, referred to my old photographs and supplied notes. The first discordant note appeared after a few lectures. It was March on the Tekdi and being a dry/moist deciduous forest (my newly acquired gyan!!) the trees that had become bare in winters were just springing forth with tender shoots. While previously I would have admired their different shades of green and so on, I now found myself trying to analyze shape of the leaves, their arrangement on the stem, the stipule (if any or if modified), petiole, venation etc etc.
I started carrying my Cell Phone just to take photos of leaves for my homework. I did not have time to admire the forest that was bursting back to life nor for the few flowers in full bloom that tried to attract my attention with the fragrance…. Walk became work and study. Suddenly it began to lose its charm particularly when confronted with an unidentifiable specimen… I seriously contemplated going back to an indoor work out…
On the botany front, we had progressed to inflorescence. This is not to be confused with flowers. Our module was so designed that we would be able to view (study) most angiosperms that grow in our part of the world. Naturally my bonsai too were blooming. My daughter and I were admiring my Kamini (Murraya panniculata) with when she suddenly dropped a bombshell. At least that was what it was to me…
“Aai what is this type of inflorescence called?”
“Hmmm… Looks like the inflorescence is of the determinate type…”
“Yes- that is cymose. Go on…”
She has a biotechnology background so I knew I would not be able to bluff my way through this one…
“Is it a dichasial cyme?”
“You tell me…”
I started at the bright red fruit looking for inspiration. How come that branch had escaped my pruning shears after the flowers had wilted? I felt about three feet tall and was immediately transported back to the early 1990s but with roles reversed. To be specific, I was the child answering a viva!! I wished the flower would talk back to me describing itself. I did talk to my plants did I not?? There was no help in sight…
The Cell phone rang and took my daughter’s attention away and I breathed a sigh of relief… That call saved my day.
I still have to work on a presentation and luckily I have the freedom to choose a topic. Mainly I have to describe in details whatever trees I choose. That means I would have to undergo more of what I have just described and plus some more. I have to describe the stem, leaves, inflorescence, fruits etc etc… Is it an herb or a shrub or tree?
The timetable shows that our ‘abbreviated course’ will have four lectures on the flower even though we will not be studying microscopic characteristics. Will I ever be able to enjoy the fragrance of a Tuberose or admire the colours and shape of an Orchid without analyzing its petals, sepals etc etc. Does it have to be beauty or science and can the two not go together?
Suddenly I hated myself for joining this field botany that did not allow me to enjoy my flowers or greenery around me. Did one really need to know the name and biodata of every tree around me? Would I like the Nerium lesser if I did not know that its leaf arrangement was decussate or that the ‘flower’ of my Anthurium was actually a spadix? Would I be less aware of my responsibility to maintain the fast disappearing green cover over my city? I don’t think so….
I have to rush now, my books are waiting…
Wish me luck!
0
Proudly powered by WordPress