Twenty- five Seven

Flowers for Ganesha #WordlessWednesday

August 28, 2019

There is an air of festive activity in Mumbai . Whether it is a private celebration at home or a community celebration, hectic preparations are afoot to receive Ganesha. Especially in the flower markets that are filled with flowers for Ganesha.

Thankfully, the rain gods are giving us a breather. And the flower markets are full of seasonal blooms and exotic flowers. For several years now fake flowers people prefer fake flowers. Unfortunately, they aren’t always aesthetically pleasing. Also, people forget that Ganesha’s favourite flowers are red hibiscus and balsam.

At street corners, temporary pandals are being set up. These structures already have the larger idols in place.

You can also spot rickety traffic control towers at street corners. These help traffic police ensure smooth traffic flow.

I’m looking forward to welcoming Lord Ganesh to our home . Today I will start the clean up and look around for flowers for my Ganesha.

Does your city see any public celebration?

Ciao

Sharing this post with Esha on #WordlessWednesday.
Lying-in with back pain on Monday Morning #MondayMusings

August 26, 2019

The first time I ever heard the term Lying-in was when I read the name Parsi Lying-in Hospital across the road from school. I used to wonder what the building actually was for, because we never really saw it bustling with activity. And the only time we visited it was for our annual vaccinations and medical exam. Those days we tiptoed in and tiptoed out from the ghostly looking place because we never saw a soul lying-in.

Here I am on Monday Morning, lying-in and coping with a severe back pain.

Now those of you who are well versed with the term lying- in will know that it is just not possible for me! Because it actually refers to: the state attending and consequent to childbirth : CONFINEMENT.

So technically speaking I would be lying down or lying in bed with a bad catch in my back. This in itself is a strange occurrence because I have developed a strict routine that prevents me from getting a backache

I got up early enough ( at 5 am to be precise) to make a cup of tea for the driver who was taking Hubby Dear out of town.

After they left, I lay about for a while before getting down to the morning chores. This, was a fatal mistake . Because once awake, you should stay awake or at least exercise your back to get it ready for the day.

So when I got up from my bath, I found myself bent over in pain as a sharp spasm just grabbed me . Somehow I managed to dress up, take a tablet and call up Anna Shetty to ask her to fetch Little Po and Ms Papaya from school.

Anna Shetty recommended I stay at home as the medication would make me drowsy and she would keep Ms Papaya for the day.

Hence I find myself lying-in (bed) on a bright Monday morning………..

Hope your Monday is more productive.

Ciao
The Fishtail Palm #ThursdayTreeLove

August 22, 2019

Golden berries cascading down

I was at my father’s this weekend when I noticed this Fishtail Palm.

Actually it was the shower of golden berries hanging outside his bedroom balcony caught my eye. They looked quite splendid like a bunch of cascading gold beads. I thought it was some kind of betel nut but bit my father said, “It’s the most useless fruit imaginable”.

“Why did you plant such a useless tree?”

“Because it is an ornamental palm that has unique fishtail leaves.”

“What use are they to you then?”

“They are used in floral arrangements.”

Considering that the palms are so high up that my dad would need a 20′ ladder to bring down the lowest frond, it was hardly likely that he would bring down a leaf or two to use in the weekly flower arrangement.

Besides my father isn’t in the least bit interested in flower arrangements!!!!

Would you plant this tree in your garden?

In fact, do you plant ornamental trees at all? Or do you just stick to those trees that are useful and fruit-bearing?

p.s. My father assured me that when the berries fall down they create quite a mess. And cleaning it up is quite a task!

Sharing this with other tree lovers on Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove-70 .

Ciao