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In a pleasant not so sunny morning of mid April , while showing off to me the flowers in her garden (which happen to be tended on her behalf by her dada!( granpa)) , my 4 yr old daughter proudly showed me the “light pink” flowers of the mucaenda, then the “light (y)ellow” flowers of the "kanchan" .
She then proceeded to inform me that , her garden also had lots of red flowers (ixora) and orange flowers (lilies standing proud with their faces upturned on their sturdy green stems) . She has a peculiar way of pursing her lips, screwing her nose, furrowing her eyebrows and then stating her point in a very adult-I- know- what-I-am- speaking –and-you-better-believe-me-look. When she does this I have this intense urge to fold her into my arms, in fact my whole being and cover her with kisses and hugs.
Then she burst out in peals of merriment rolled on the marble window seat (kept spotless by her doting "aeba" (granma) for precisely this kind of impromptu act of the little elf) and said “ mamma daekho flowers gulo te na God “toop” (as in bindi on the forehead) poriye diyeche” (mamma see, God has put bindis on the foreheads of these flowers!!) and again rolled on the window seat in genuine wonder and joy as if she has caught God in an act of childish naughtiness.
Any one who is familiar with the “kanchan flower” will vouch that it is quite abundantly found in West Bengal in white varieties. Our (sorry my daughter’s) garden boasts of a yellow and also a burgundy colour( quite rare) of the same flowering plant. This yellow one has a beautiful rich brown dot as big as the imprint of an adult forefinger deep within the cavity where the five petals of the flower join to form a cup. This was the “toop” that my daughter had suddenly noticed and brought to my attention while staring out of our living room French window overlooking the garden.
I was wonder struck by a little one's power of observation and the ease with which the observation found expression in her words.
I and my maa exchanged proud glances, a warm feeling engulfed me like a space bubble (as I left for office and went about doing the rest of the chores for the day!) and kept me happy and perky throughout the day.
