Anamika has done it again this year, shed all her leaves with summer at her doorstep with one foot inside. And just as spectacularly (and uniquely), she has burst into tender shoots, covering herself in pale green. Ever one to warm the cockles of your heart, that one, with her I-choose-my-own-path attitude. Not for her bending her will to the vagaries of seasons.

The Copperpod tree down the road, which has shed leaves on the top branches but has still some on the lower ones, is waiting for the rainy season to start to cover itself in verdant glory. That’s how things are done, and that will be how the Copperpod will do things. It favors the traditional approach and prefers to play by the rules.

How different the two are, just like us humans. Most want to do things the same way it has been done before, preferring ( or is it Professing To Prefer?) to live life the exactly the way their ancestors lived. Don’t ask me which ancestors, or how far back they want to go before they decide ‘this far back and no more’.

I asked someone this same question. When they talked of living the golden life of their ancestors, which ancestors did they have in mind? How far back did they want to go? Half a century? A century? A millennium? Or may be we should go well and truly back, climb trees and start living in them? Grow tails too, may be? They weren’t amused in the least. Yeah, I do manage to rub people the wrong way without fail, don’t I? I can’t help it. Even as I open my mouth to say what I am about to, I sigh inwardly and tell myself, ‘There you go, Shail!’

I am genuinely curious, though. Which is that golden period of time that everyone seems to be talking about? I know I’ll not get a proper reply to that, only offended silence or hate-filled glares or some answer totally unconnected to the question. Oh well, it’s better to do some butterfly-watching instead.

The lone ones who braves the heat these days are the odd Common Mimes and Tailed Jays. Did you know Tailed Jays are also called Green Spotted Triangle? They are restless fliers, constantly fluttering their wings, even when on flowers. I was lucky to catch one who was actually in a hurry trying to get away from the Paparazzi.

And what about Luci all this while? She happily rolled in the sun for the duration, an eye on me at all times.

© Shail Mohan 2019