Friday, May 14, 2010

Giddy heat photos of the golden showers: Part 2

Laburnum makes me wish I was a feather. Makes garbage amount of sense, but it’s just such a bright happy poisonous flower that I want to wear shorts and run around like a street urchin*, barefoot and careful to not pluck it even though I would like to put in a steel tumbler** by the kitchen window.

The summer heat -- 44 degrees yesterday, did you read? – makes me have baby seizures -- or whatever you call three thousand thoughts a second. My tongue often can’t keep up. A keyboard is sometimes better.

*I say street urchin because of my cropped hair. I took it all off. Now I feel free and lightheaded, and unneccesarily giddy. I’m the kid in the lifebuoy ad. I don’t take so long in the shower. I don’t need scrunchies. I have an especially good time putting on my swimming cap. Hurrah for a short crop!

**I never usually call a glass a tumbler. That would be a throwback to chemistry class and Shanta Ma’am and the smell of amonia and failure to remember abbreviations and valencies and whatever the hell h2so4 and 3 and 2 and 1 meant.

Three thousand a second, my thoughts, I told you, all fast fast.

I was talking about laburnum. When I have a camera, I take a picture. Sometimes the pictures come out badly. The yellow is smudged, my thumb is in view, the angles are bad, and cars everywhere are honking at me to get out of the way and get a life.

But just look

Akbar Road, Lutyens, New Dally

Unsteady hand, Janpath roundabout

Nothing like bits of pinky and rim of car to kill ze photo

But oh do look!

Outside my grandparents house.
Laburnum, Amaltas, Cassia Fistula, Purging Fistula, Golden Showers -- names for the same.


Same traumatic roundabout; in bloom

Turns out, I've swooned about these lead kindly laburnums 2 years ago as well in part 1. It's an old obsession I say, but what's a summer without such enticing posion?

I'm going to leave the raving prose about the Indian summer to Sir Mark T: In the parks where I walk the golden gulmohar trees, the purple jacarandas and the lemon yellow Indian laburnum are all blooming. There are autumnal trees too, mighty arjuns for instance standing tall amidst carpets of the deep brown leaves they have shed.

Meanwhile, ten points if you knew Laburnum was the national flower of Thailand. I read it here. Twenty if you knew the fruit pulp was a mild laxative. Heh.

12 comments:

Mumbai Diva said...

no points for me. but yes the flowers are everywhere.

ah, the memories of getting lost in the roundabouts of central delhi.

Curious said...

Did you just refer to a golden shower? :)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=golden+shower

Nimpipi said...

MD: No 'maltas in Mumbai, ok, but are you eating lots of mango? Please say yes. Otherwise I will feel bad for you.

Curious: Yes, yes, hello, golden showers, i knows i knows. Piddle dee dee to you and the world, I says!

Janaki said...

Your post title might bring a lot of spam your way.. I did a double take.. :)

Mumbai Diva said...

oh yes, lots of mangoes. slurp!

Parul said...

Oho, now the pictures have made me heartsick for the Dally.

The Unbearable Banishment said...

I was going to warn you about the slang but I see that someone beat me to it. I once did a post about how I thought the animated Disney Princess used a high degree of subliminal sexuality and have since been bombarded with searches for “princess sex.” What a world.

Nimpipi said...

All: The name of the tree is golden showers, I promise! I know the slang, but it seemed to much fun to not use. :)

As for spammers, I finally changed my settings to comment moderation. One frequent-all-uppercasing-Anon was especially tiresome. (you know who you are).

Miss. Mystic said...

laxative... so now I know what to use on unsuspecting morons in my office... :D *evil grin*

Anonymous said...

JUST TO CHEER YOU UP I SHOULD TELL YOU I GOT BITTEN BY A RED ANT AND AM CURRENTLY SCRATCHING THE FOK OUT OF IT.

Nimpipi said...

Mystic: don't be mean. What happened to old fashioned fart cushions? ;)

Anon: Make aloevera your bestfriend and turn capslock off. You know you are my inspiration (for moderating comments)

P.S: Parul, come come. The dally will welcome you back with dust storms and plenty of golden showers:D

Perakath said...

What Parul said. Haven't seen that sign telling people to "go left, this is a roundabout!" before...