02 March, 2010
Tuesday
Flowers are beautiful, all of them! But the rhododendrons that add reddish charm to the green forest cover especially when the snow capped mountains make the background picturesque are my personal favorite! Perhaps because they carry me to the good old days of my childhood when I would walk to Sanjauli, holding my father’s hand, through the road that had green lush trees with red rhododendrons giving them an odd proud look!
We would carry the bunch hold of flowers back home and my maa would make chutney of those flowers. She used to say a lot about the medicinal qualities of the flower. But I loved to chew them for the bitter sour taste that filled my mouth with. But I made sure to chew only the petals!
Today when I saw the road to Indian Institute littered with rhododendron flowers, I was pleasantly surprised. I looked up and saw the tree full of red color. 
I was so deeply immersed in my thoughts that didn’t even notice that the trees around me were full of the flowers. It heralded the advent of summer months! A stray thought about Shelley’s famous line “if winter comes can spring be far behind” brought a smile on my face. Yes, the winter is over, both literally and metaphorically and the red flowers littered on the road to the institute heralded the advent of a change of season!
I could not stop myself from taking a picture of the flowers on the road and was surprised to notice how they had filled with color the colorless road! Suddenly I was filled with the realization that we are so busy at times to rue over our petty problems that we fail to count the blessings of the God. I had not even glanced at the tree overhead, laden with beautiful flowers, till God showered some flowers before me. Laughing at how blind, at time, we become to the blessings of God, I thanked Him for making me walk this road. And I am sure that it was a pleasant sign from the Almighty of more colors that are going to fill our life with gaiety and happiness. Amen!
Nice post, as usual. Down memory lane, it was a pleasure looking at trees laden with Rhododendron on way to HPU via Chaura maidan, in the patch between ITI and Summer hill. In your case it was no doubt a red carpet laid by mother nature to welcome you.
that is really a very nice picture….
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