Hail the Sant !

You might have seen this plant several times, without paying much attention.  And you probably did not know that it is called Tradescantia Pallida, often referred to by folks as purple heart. 

My friend Amit Amembal grows these in his balcony, and posted this  today, with some amazing information . 

This plant does Phytoremediation :  it actually has some wonderful capabilities, that allow it to handle the pollutants and bad stuff in the soil  , and treat it in a sustainable way, without creating mounds of trash, smells and junk, which are the hallmark of our garbage system. 


For scientific types, Phytoremediation consists of mitigating pollutant concentrations in contaminated soils, water, or air, with PLANTS able to contain, degrade, or eliminate metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil and its derivatives, and various other contaminants from the media that contain them.

There is only one word  that one may add. 

Sant, which means Saint in Marathi/Hindi.

All Hail  Sant Tradescantia Pallida !

कुठे नोस्ट्राडामसची भयानक भविष्यवाणी , कुठे जग वाचवायला येणार्या अनेकातला  भव्य  संदेश घेउन येणारा कोणी  एक दिव्य संदेष्टा … आपल्याच सान्निध्यात , आणि आसपास वास करणारे संत त्रादेस्कान्तिया पालीडा यांचे जीवन कार्य , अचंबित करते … वसुंधरेची वाट लावणारे तिच्यातले अपायकारक घटक , आपले विष आसपास च्या पाण्यात बेमालूम मिसळणारे रासायनिक चोर, वेळप्रसंगी ह्या सर्वांशी असंख्य हात करून, आजूबाजूच्या जगाच्या नकळत त्यांना सरळ करणारे आणि अतिरेक झाल्यास त्यांचा बंदोबस्त करणारे संत त्रादेस्कान्तिया पालीडा, आपल्या जाम्भ्ळ्या  मंडळींबरोबर आपल्या सुरक्षेसाठी दिवस रात्र कार्यरत असतात …. शेवटी प्रश्न पडतो, कि हल्लीच्या फोफावलेल्या कोन्क्रीट  जंगलात , आपण अशा परोपकारी संताना जगून देणार कि नाही ?

You don't need Nostradamic guys with dire predictions warning us about arrivals of entities to change the world. We have within us Sant Tradescantia Pallida, an expert in detecting those that shouldn't be where they are, detecting them, then quietly engaging with them, so that they give up being bad, or simply turn over, for want of a better word, "leaf"; and in toughest cases, simply arrest the progressing culprits. The question is, will we let the Good Samaratans live or simply make them obselete in our increasingly concrete world. ?