LadybirD!

A perfect round of brilliant red it was…I almost mistook it for a ladybird that had lost its way from the bush nearby…with childlike curiosity I bent down to take a closer look at it and probably poke it a little so that it opened its wings and flew in its characteristic robotic motion! Almost like it were a mechanical device, set up on hinges!

It was absolutely static. Hmm…so I blew at it, keeping my distance lest it fly straight into my face. But it dint move an inch… I went round that dot to ascertain whether it was or it was not an insect at all, leave alone a ladybird. Having ensured there were no eyes and no series of legs hidden under the belly, I forwarded my hesitant finger to touch it. Round and perfectly smooth and glistening in my palm a minute later, I discovered what the blob was! With a kink to one side, I knew, it was a seed! Just the other day, my teacher had taught us in the science class!
I ran across the road to the gate and from there to the kitchen where ma was cooking.

“look what I just found!” ,I shrieked right at the entrance door

“…see how beautiful it is, isn’t it?” and I forced it in mamma’s palm

“I’m cooking dear”, she replied, but perhaps anticipating my grumpy demeanor later, smilingly took it in her hands.

“It is a seed, is it not?” I continued, the thrill returning to my face

She turned it around and said it was. She also said it was a beautiful seed!

“Can I sow it? Will it bear red roses when it becomes a plant?” I asked her.

She smiled again and said she dint know what seed it was, but it wasn’t a rose seed, cause roses do not grow from seeds. Later I even learnt in the next chapter of my science book that roses were grown from grafting (…whatever that meant)

My face fell. I so wanted to grow my own little flower plant from that very seed. It was so beautiful.

Mamma smiled again! She picked me up and walked to the garden tickling my belly with her nose (!) then she told me! I could actually sow it and get many similar seeds at a later date.

So I decided id sow it! My seed it would be, bearing little ones as bright as ‘she’ herself was! Some 4 days passed & nothing peeped from the soil… Mamma said I must wait and give it time. So I waited.

I went and watered and watched the seed religiously for another seven days. Nothing…
So, I dug it up…!!!

There it was, red as ever, though soiled. I brushed it against my trouser and it shone in glee…I had tears in my eyes…I ran up to tell mamma. My seed had not become a plant.

Mamma smiled again and took out one of papa’s fat books! We together flipped pages till we came upon a picture of a bunch of seeds that looked like my seed! Red Sandalwood it said! Native to India & Malasia. Ma told me that these were traditionally used as jewellery items by kings of yore! They were even used as weights by jewelers in those times. Besides, their powder could be used as an antiseptic!

“ But no, why did it not grow”, I insisted.

She read on.
The seeds can only germinate if they are scratched (scarified), boiled for one minute, or dipped in sulphuric acid. This suggests that in nature, they must be eaten and go through the digestive system of an animal before germination. The tiny flowers are said to smell vaguely like orange blossoms.

So that was why it had not grown! I understood! She even showed me the picture of the tree! It was as beautiful as the seed was!

Last year, I saw the tree near my aunt’s place. Walking upto it I saw a blanket of similar beads strewn across the base of the tree. So many of them… they reminded me of the one I had kept safely for years in my cupboard as a souvenir! There was one right ahead of my foot that looked a little different. It was a little brighter shade of red, but its countenance was marred by small specks of black. I moved my hand towards it to take it in my palm…but before I could touch it, it spread its wings and flew, in its characteristic robotic motion!!!

I, I just stood there and smiled!