What does a home feel like? Is it where you feel safe and secure, or is it where you find solace? Is it where everything is familiar, or is it where you can be who you are? Is it where you have a corner of your own or is it where you feel like you …
Tag: Childhood
Journal Therapy
My sister and I started writing personal journals when we were super young, less than ten years old I guess. I don't remember who pushed us towards it. It must have been either Ma or Koka, our maternal grandfather. People would gift us corporate diaries, which they had received at new years and we would …
Then and Now #1: Value of Money
After post-graduation, when we started working, a friend shared that her female boss wore kurtas of some brand called "W". It was actually the first time that we became aware of the existence of such a brand. So "W" became a wish. Even today when I can actually afford, I still think twice before going …
Z for "Zephyranthes (Rain Lily)"
Common Name: Rain LilyScientific Name: ZephyranthesRain Lily is one of my favourite flowers. Most of the year, their bulbs would lie dormant. And once the rain touches them, they would spring back to life in a myriad of colours. I remember rain lilies blooming in my childhood home, in the monsoon in three colours, pink, …
Y for "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow"
Common Name: Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, Morning-noon-and-night, Kiss Me Quick, Brazil raintreeScientific Name: Brunfelsia paucifloraAssamese Name: Bou-PaagolYesterday-today-and-tomorrow is a flowering shrub and has pretty fragrant flowers. The flower blooms purple with a white throat, then turns lavender and then white, hence the common names. Many years ago, there was a bulky bush of this plant at my grandparents' …
W for "Weeping Bottlebrush"
Weeping Bottlebrush back home. Check out the pretty bird perched on it.Common Name: Weeping Bottlebrush, Drooping Bottlebrush, Red Bottlebrush, Red CascadeScientific Name:Callistemon viminalis/Melaleuca viminalisAs a kid, I found the Weeping Bottlebrush flower very interesting because of its look. Yes, it looks like a bottle-brush and hence the name.Back home, Deta planted this tree on the …
V for "Vine-Bleeding Heart"
The crimson variety in bloom several years ago at homeCommon Name: Bleeding Heart VineScientic Name: Clerodendrum The Bleeding Heart Vine is a tropical twining creeper. It is basically a summer flower. The crimson variety has been a part of our garden since many years now. The Bleeding Heart Vine is not to be confused with …
U for "Utonglei (Mexican Oleander)"
Common Name: Mexican Oleander, Lucky NutScientific Name: Cascabela thevetia/Thevetia peruvianaAssamese Name: KorobiManipuri Name: UtongleiMexican Oleander is a common short flowering tree grown in gardens and roadsides. It is an ornamental plant and colour varieties are yellow, white and peach. I think the yellow one is the most common, since it is one I see everywhere. …
T for "Tengesi"
Common Name: Purple Wood Sorrel, OxalisScientific Name: OxalisAssamese Name: TengesiTengesi is basically a herb. The leaves are a part of Assamese cuisine as well and are used to make typical Assamese tangy curries. The tangy juice is also consumed as a remedy for severe cough.The leaves are clover-like. Only recently I learned that it is …
S for "Spreading Sunset"
Common Name: Spreading Sunset, Lantana, Spanish FlagScientific Name: Lantana camaraAssamese Name: Goo phool Spreading Sunset is a common flowering shrub in Assam, and it usually grows in the wild. The flower has a unpleasant smell and hence the Assamese name Goo (meaning shit) phool (meaning flower). For the same reason, people usually don't have it in …