Lost Paradise..!

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In my childhood we were having a small garden in our court yard.' It was small but beautifully arranged with flowering plants.' It was totally different from the present style and type of plants and flowers. (It was in 1960's)'

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Chembaka flower tree with blossomed flowers filled its fragrance all over the garden and the chembaka tree stood as a centre figure in our courtyard.   More than fifteen different types of chembarathi (hibiscus) plants with its full bloom of flowers in various colours and styles, stands as supporting pillars of the centre figure.

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Real rose plants, various types and colours with its pure heavenly fragrance flowers blossomed in all seasons, stood most of the areas of our garden.

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Beautiful flowers and plants like bougainvilleas in different types and colours, 3 different types of fragrantic nanthyaarvattam (gardenia), thulasi (mint), krishnathulasi, karpoorathulasi, mulla (jasmine), pichi (lavender), chethipoo (ixora), jamanthi, chendumalli, sooryakaanthi (sunflower), kaasithumba, kozhivalan (cockscomb), koalambipoo (trumpet flower), koorkkachedi, cheerachedi etc. were some of the members of our garden.' Most part of the garden ground was blanketed with different coloured and types of pathumanipoo and naalumanipoo and the linings were made with cheerachedies and koorkkachedies.

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Our house was very old (Kerala) style, L-type block built with hard clay (not clay bricks) and painted with everlasting colour with red-stone powder and the roof covered with coconut palm leaves.

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When we enter in to the court yard through the gate, the garden were in the right side, and in the left side we were planted many different types of coloured garden leaf plants in two lines.' This was protected by a fence made with the stems of mylanchi (henna) and chembarathi (hibiscus).

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The walking way in front of my house (now it is a PWD road) was the only way to reach the main road, which was more than one kilometre away, at that time. There fore most of our villagers in that area were frequently using this walking way in day and night.'

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We had a neighbouring house across the walking way and both of the houses were face to face.' In summer season, breeze or wind comes from western side to east and sometimes towards southeast.' Even in the rainy season, the situation was the same.' This wind or breeze were spreading the heavenly fragrance of our garden flowers (from real roses, jasmine, lilies, tulsi etc) to our neighbouring areas and spraying fragrance to people those who were passing through the walking way.' We can have this great feel of fragrance at least 100 meters away from my house, and many of the passers by may stop their walking when they reach the shadow of our small garden for taking heavy breaths many times to grasp or gulp the fragrance and I heard many of them were saying that when they reached their houses, their family members were asking them from where they got this spray or fragrance. That was the proud moments for us children at that time.

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Watering the garden was an important daily routine for us.' Every morning we have watering the garden before we go to schools. We have a pond, always with full of water and it was far behind of our home.' We were using clay pots to bring the water from pond to watering our garden. I used to carry two pots of water at a time with a volume of 10 to 12 litres each and my young sisters and brother also were doing together.' An average 50 to 60 pots of water were pouring in the garden every day.

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After school time at 4-o'clock when we reached at our home, the next thing we have to do, to take our food as quick as possible and assemble at our permanent seats in our garden to play our own games.' That will continue until the prayer time at evening.' While we were playing in our garden at evening, there were many companions with us like, birds, sparrows, butterflies, squirrels, hens, crows and sometimes green snakes also.' They all were our playmates.' Sometimes hens and chic crews together as battalions spoiled our play areas inside the garden.' At that time, there were no doors at the gate or even no compound walls, but most of the areas were covered by fences built with branches bamboo leaves and some with bamboo leaves and coconut palm leaves. 'There were some little naughty thieves in our area, exercised their talents to take away blossomed flowers as well as plants with pots or uprooted the plants from the ground and we felt very painful at that occasions.' In many occasions we could identify them, but our parents were telling us not to do any quarrel with them regarding this matter and this may be their childish acts'..and forget it.

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In the beginning of 1980s as a part of quick development all over the state, our village also became under the pressure of quick development boom, and many changes had happened in the village.' The walking way in front of our house, widened both sides and became PWD road commuted with bus service.' Electricity and Telephone services together came with a fast ravishing style in to our village and most of the house holds got the opportunity to subscribe them.' Gulf financial support was the main resource to enable the public to achieve this quick development boom in our area.

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This situation made our villagers more pleasant, happy and energetic in each and every event to transform them to celebrative festivals.'

But, the blue sky and atmosphere began darkening day by day'.!

The light of the days and the brightness of the darkness began decaying or diminishing day by day'!

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On that day, when our walking way became a PWD road, we have lost our Paradise ''.. Our garden was our paradise!

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Today we got a new two storied modern house with an area of more than 2600 sq. ft. and there is a big beautiful garden with landscape in front of it.' More than 50 different types of trees and plants were felled and removed from the site to construct this beautiful landscape garden.' Mango trees, jack trees, cashew trees, drumstick trees, papaya trees and some of the aged coconut palm trees and areca nut trees were also slaughtered in this fest.'''

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Now, what is in it in this beautiful garden?' The landscape ground is carpeted with green coloured grass which the cows are never ever try to bite them because they knows actually what it is.' There are many decorated ornamental leaf plants in the garden which even the goats are never try to bite them and they realize what is it, which is reversing an ancient proverb about goats that no leaf plants left in the world the goats could not bite! 'There are many pots with flower plants decorated in different areas of the garden, and I could not find even a single butterfly in this garden, and I believe, even the flies and insects are reluctant to sit on these flowers and plant leaves because they knows very well that they are poisonous and dangerous to them.' And there are many wild plants with jungle look with sharp edged hurting leaves and thorns got special placements all over the garden.'' More over a most modern sprinkler system is used to watering the garden and landscape.

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Now everybody knows about the modern gardens and modern gardening which is decorated with wild trees, plants and flowers.' Present architects are having tricky plans to please their clients even in the name of some vastu or nastu, insisting that modern gardens prime duty is to give an uplift of the front view beauty of the building. 'Therefore no shadows in the court yard, no cool wind or breeze and no fragrance at all in any where in the garden or its surrounds and instead we felt too hot and too humid every where and poisonous odour are spreading out to the neighbouring areas due to the insecticides used to protect these wild plants and flowers.'

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Therefore this part of sky and atmosphere became wild and lifeless without oxygen and transformed it to a platform of empty space.' There were western mild winds and breezes flowing towards southeast through our fragrantic garden in the sixties and seventies are became a memory now.'

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Recently when I was in our new landscape garden, I felt that a group of fairy breezes are approaching me, and I was waiting them to welcome with great honour but my waiting was going long and long and at last I could understand that they left my area without having a hi or a sigh to me. 'Trees and plants in my neighbour's court yard were laughing at me by shaking their leaves and flowers and they were dancing with the fairy breezes.'' I am became ashamed myself of this new modern landscape garden!' (Presently this new modern garden is not mine; they are for our younger generations!)

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Our lost paradise, Can we re-incarnate like that once again'?

It is not easy as impossible..!

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In memory of my village''..

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T. K. Unni

05-03-09

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