Bringing Up Aboli.....

If flowers ever had a  Miss Flora-India 2015 contest, they would all vie to have their portfolios done by my friend Deepak Amembal,  who , almost daily, posts some wonderful captures of flowers that bloom in his balcony.  Sometimes  , it is hibiscus, sometimes roses, sometimes jasmines, and sometimes the Abolis , as seen below.

Aboli, known  by posh folks  as  Crossandra infundibuliformis  and by the proletariat as  firecracker flower.

As always, nature mirrors society.  And teaches us a lesson. 

Hopefully , we learn.

Sometimes,
a balcony mirrors the society
in which we strive to live.

Green parents,
well entrenched in life,
bringing forth kids
into a complicated world.

Some strong single minded,
in more ways than one,
directing all energies
into the nurture in a single branch,
painstakingly creating
a beauty,
wrapped in its own life whorls,
with an ability to change color,
looking ahead to a life
of individual applause, emotion and color,
while participating in the
mandatory social and religious stuff,
as an unusual hot summer
wilts them fast
into petals on the ground.

And then some,
respectful of generations,
growing individually,
in clearly crowded circumstances,
quietly sharing resources
of the matriarch branch.
Each aware
of its place and duty
as part of a group,
that must face
the arduous summer together.
Sometimes,
tired and wilted,
sometimes
in mock quarrels with siblings,
sometimes a stubborn
turning away.
But always true ,
to the color
they were born with
while avidly uniting and
stringing together in fragrant ways.

Sometimes,
success isn't about
individual achievements;
but how well you lived
with those around you,
and made them happy.