Souls Fiddling on the Roof

One morning a couple of days back i received a carpe diem kind of message from my younger sister. This is how it appeared on my phone screen.

*हो सकता है हर दिन अच्छा ना हो, लेकिन हर दिन में कुछ न कुछ अच्छा होता है।*

    *सुप्रभात*

सुप्रभात in English means 'good morning'. About the rest of the Hindi words that preceded the good morning i discovered it to be a great quote from Alice Morse Earle. " Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day".

Thanks to my sister not only did i learn something of Alice Morse Earle but also got the exact words to express my feelings. 

Just like everyone i do get insufferable at times. The creeping heat, and most importantly the absence of helping assisting hands can be enlightening on good days but utterly depressing on a daily basis. Being used to having people who would do jobs or run errands for us is like addiction and i guess dealing with all the chores for a few days is as exciting as joining a gym the sole purpose being weight loss. Now it feels like being in an addiction rehab and the withdrawal symptoms are killing. Chores that are never-ending, tiresome and monotonous. In fact some chores are happily bundled and thrown out of mind for 'laters' but much to my chagrin they do remain in sight.

i wouldn't have realized the importance of the wonderful whattsaap message what to talk of using it to express until grumbling under my breath i walked into the already heating up terrace to feed 1500 or more babies in their beds. Yes i am talking about my plants in their pots. Pots of all sizes ranging from three inches to one and a half feet. With daily temperatures now creeping and nearing 40 degrees they need to be watered twice. 

It was then when i saw what was there to see did i actually recall the words again. *हो सकता है हर दिन अच्छा ना हो, लेकिन हर दिन में कुछ न कुछ अच्छा होता है।*

    *सुप्रभात* 

The tree which these days is a cynosure of eyes had been flowering for a few days now but today it seemed to radiate flashes of whites in a random manner. Walking close to it and breathing in the mild fragrance i could make out not only flashes of white but even more. The pretty thing was a venue for ' Party Time'. Different kinds of bees, insects and butterflies going berserk dipping into one flower then next then again returning to the first but hurriedly flying off to take a sip from another.

Citharexylum spinosum or the fiddlewood tree. A graceful tree with fragrant, creamy white, tiny flowers. The wood perhaps is used to make stringed instruments hence the name 'Fiddlewood' but which ones i still have to know. It is not used for violin that much i know. Why i bought the plant not knowing anything what to talk of it being a tree was the instant attraction to the glossy bright green color of the leaves. Also i was quite taken with the color of the leaf stalk. A juicy orange. The seller did not bother telling me anything about it having blooms because i did not ask anything either. This was seven years earlier. The plant cried out for help outgrowing the twelve inch pot into which it was initially planted only then did i learn of it being a tree. Learning has been happening ever since but in bits. First the fact that the beautiful bright green foliage turns orange in early spring and finally falls off . Hence perhaps it is a deciduous tree. 

It left me wide-eyed the day i saw flower buds. Some elegance and grace in how they hung. Clusters that arched like fountains. Finally the flowering and the mild fragrance of the clusters. 

It was that first flowering day when i stayed awake till late that night and sought 'Google' to help me know it's name. Slept somewhat content and somewhat in wonder later after discovering not only the name or how to pronounce the name but quite a lot more. Funny facts that native birds don't nest on this tree and hence the local name 'Sitaranjan' . i have wondered if native birds have after all started nesting on sith-uh-REKS-il-um spy-NO-sum after being renamed Sita Ranjan or Sitaranjan. For now it suffices that butterflies and bees have taken quite a fancy to it.

Today it made my day special indeed when slightly irritated with unfinished chores i walked to the terrace to hydrate my babies. Seven years does not feel long when i stood close breathing in the gentle and mild aroma. After reaching maturity it has flowered regularly on time. i have captured photographs earlier too with the lone cute Lineblue. This butterfly which thought-to-have-gone-extinct reappeared much to the delight of lepidoterists. https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/butterfly-spotted-in-delhi-in-2018-was-last-seen-in-1962-researchers/story-zwdFFokFUUMZ4pt6x76ebJ.html

The celebrity butterfly resting on it made that day super-learning-special too. That day the learning centered more on the lil angel with tiny moving legs and glittering orange dot on the wings (Lineblue). 
Today not one or two but many butterflies hovering around it made it extra special even when the butterfly is commonly seen. At one time i counted and there were eight common Indian Pioneer butterflies. Some white with black, others having yellow quite pronounced and yet some who did have mist sprays of subdued yellow. It was magical. 

My friend would've felt the same magic i guess when she sent me a mobile picture of many white butterflies over a Moringa (Drumstick) tree. What kind of whites i would't know but many whites over a tree indeed can be a great sight.

The entire scenario refreshed the mind and body. After indulging later when i returned to my chores i was cheery and raring to go. Nature indeed has the power to renew and refresh. Couldn't agree with this Helen Keller quote more. Not only did i unplug from all the botheration i felt recharged too. i returned to my chores feeling the 'runner high' and completed most remembering to have enough time at my disposal to relax and do absolutely nothing.
Finally i would love to add to what i started with. Do one thing everyday that makes your heart sing for that would make your day the most beautiful day.