Common Flowers of Delhi

Delhi is world’s 10th most polluted city. This is what a recent report on World Environment Day said. But for people like me, Delhi is where home is. It is where we live, breathe, eat, pray, love, dance, sing, and do all those things that make us human. So it’s a special city and one special thing, among lots of other things, is its poetic rhythm of 4 distinct seasons, spring, summer, rainy season, and winter. Each season has a distinct color, aroma, and flavor and brings along with it its own kind of flowers. Some flowers bloom all through the year in all seasons and some stay in only certain seasons.

Recently, around March 2015, I took upon myself the task of clicking and recording photos of flowers that are commonly found all over the city. I thought it would be a good way of removing negativity from my life, of taking my mind off all those terrible things about Delhi that one finds in newspapers daily, crime, corruption, water shortage, inflation, new taxes, AAP versus BJP squabbles, etc, etc. Here are some close-up shots of flowers that I came across while going about from home to office and back. Just take a look. They look so mesmerizing beautiful!

I am still unaware of names of most of these flowers. That’s why I have mentioned only some of them. Do let me know if you do.

March 2015 (Spring)

1. Hibiscus (in my balcony)

2.

3.

4.

5. Rose Flower…

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13. a.

13. b.The ubiquitous Bougainvillea…

13. c.

13. d.

13e.

13. f.

13. g.

13. h.

14. a.

14. b.

14. c.

14. d.

15.

16. a. See Aloe Vera below (very sturdy plant, see how it continues to flower even when uprooted from the pot)

16. b.

16. c.

17.

18. Palash flowers – Lajwanti Garden – Janakpuri – Delhi

April 15: Summer is here and weather is getting warmer.

19.

20. Phlox – my terrace at home – Delhi

21. a. Sunflower

21. b.

22. The pink flowers below are very commonly found at roadsides in Delhi.

23. a.

23. b.

23. c.

46.

48. b.

49.

50. Orange blossoms…(Below)

52.

53

Two Different Worlds, Two Different Women

While travelling in the ladies compartment of the Delhi Metro on 12 September 2015, my gaze fell on two women. They sat opposite to each other and had a clinging toddler in their laps with constantly changing moods.

When I observed them individually, they did not look extraordinary. But when I compared them in my mind, the differences between them seemed to be so striking that I just couldn’t resist taking their pictures. The two women seemed to have originated from two different planets. See their pics below.

A young woman with one small kid

A young woman with three small kids

While one woman had only one child to worry about, the other woman had two more little, naughty children sitting beside her, constantly fidgeting, trying to grab her attention. The 3 kids were most probably born in quick succession, one after the other. No sooner was one baby out, another one must have taken its place!

Did she get any time to recover from the previous pregnancy? I doubt it and I guess the 4th one was already growing inside her. It was obvious that she was from a world where they thought the best way to keep a woman is bare-footed in winter and pregnant in summer!

The middle child’s nose was running, but she took no notice of it. The youngest one kept her preoccupied, requiring frequent breastfeeding sessions during the journey. Phew! What an epitome of patience!

As the metro glided on the rails, I tried to imagine the kind of lives these women must be leading.

The first woman and her child were obviously leading better lives. They were loved and respected as human beings and their lives had value to their loved ones.

The other woman, the less fortunate one, was obviously leading a tough life; she and her family were poor; but worse than poverty, she had no say in matters concerning her own body; her husband looked at her as just another pot to plant his seeds in; there was also no awareness about hygiene and family planning.

When I looked around, I found that there were several other families like hers in a similar state, all looking shabby and dishevelled. They seemed to be a big group heading to a congregation at some place.

One can well imagine what kind of people these unfortunate children would turn into; they will be uneducated, uncouth; of no use in this huge nation of ours.

When we look at the bigger picture, I think population explosion is the mother of all of our problems. Our politicians must put into place a system of incentives and disincentives for controlling population. This is more important than all the ‘yojnas’ put together till date. Once this is done, there would be no need for reservations.

When people are fewer, each person gets a bigger share of the benefits of the progress made by a country, as you can see from this example. Most important of all, men who have no respect for women and treat their bodies like doormats must be dealt with harshly.

In a country like India, which is already so heavily populated, no family ought to have more than one kid; if they need more, they should adopt.

Here are some more pics of the second woman.They need no explanation.

Nude Trees

When trees stand nude, shorn of their leaves, they seem to have a majestic beauty of their own. Here are some pics to illustrate what I mean…

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DTC Bus Singer

This young street artist sang a bhajan today, 2 September 2015, in the DTC (Delhi Transport Corportation) bus (route no. 753) I was in on my way to office. One of the lines were, “Us baap ko kabhi mat dukh do jisne tumhe pala he…”(never make that father suffer who has brought you up…”) I was impressed with the sincerity with which he sang… I wish I had made a video as well. This is one of the charms of travelling in DTC buses.