When my cousin sent me some beautiful pics of the milkweed seeds (Appooppan Thadi- literally meaning granpa's beard in Mallu), not only were those old childhood memories of running after these things evoked, I also tried finding a connection with the wonderful Monarch butterflies that I heard about last Sunday
And there indeed was a connection : Milkweed is the only plant that the monarch butterfly can lay their eggs on !! Here's a conservation site
http://www.amazingbutterflies.com/milkweedseeds.htm
Mother Nature never stops her endless mysteries.. The Monarch butterflies, they say
Some of them travel as much as three thousand (3,000) miles, approximately the distance from the east coast to the west coast of the United States. Some scientists believe that they float on air currents in order to travel so far. They fly in big groups often spending the winter months in the exact same tree as the year before!
Here are some more interesting bits
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/Monarch.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly
And, leaving the post with a link to the-only-translation I could find of the
Prithvi Sukta (hymn to Goddess Earth) from Atharva Veda
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av208.htm
Unto Mother Nature.......
2 comments:
I miss appuppan thadis too.......along with everything else in malluland. yourpost made me think of manjadi muttu (a red bead like seed kids play games with), thotavadi (which means "one that withers when you touch" referring to a plant which closes its leaves when you touch it).
Thanks RR :-)
What an irony , I had to postpone the trip again.. but never mind, there is perhaps a reason
Yeah, I think the red bead thing is what we call Manjadi Kuru or Kunni kuru.. you have a huuge Vattika full of that in Guruvayur temple..
Thotavadi, Oh yeah, how many times have I enjoyed watching them fade and then come back to life
Its these "small" things that stays on, forever with you
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