The land of Neelakurinji
K S S Pillai
Mother nature is an unpredictable force that both enthralls and terrifies. Many, like Frank Lloyd Wright, do not find any difference between nature and God. He says, “I believe in God; I only spell it Nature”. John Burroughs says that he goes to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have his senses put in order.
Nature also exhibits the most bizarre phenomena like Australia’s bubblegum-pink lake and blood-red waterfall in Australia. There are plenty of other examples of nature going crazy when in a naughty mood, like the dust-devil tornado.
Nature plays its tricks on plants, too. A plant is supposed to flower every year, bear fruits and propagate its progeny, but all do not follow that rule. There are several that flower after different intervals, some doing so only once in their lifetime of a hundred years.
Closer to home, there is a plant called Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), that flowers once in twelve years. It is a native of Munnar in the Idukki district of Kerala. Its flowering period is between August and November. It is so famous that tourists from all corners of the world converge in the area during the season.
Though born in Kerala, known as the Kashmir of the south for its natural beauty, I was a stranger to most parts of the state. Settled in Gujarat, I visit the state once or twice every year with my family. After attending to pressing matters and calling on relatives scattered in different parts of the state, very little time is usually left for sightseeing. We go back, assuring ourselves that we would do it the next time. The chance came in October 2018, when Neelakurinji was in bloom.
We all agreed when my son suggested a visit to the place, and a stay of a couple of days was finalised. Munnar is not far from Kochi, where we have an apartment. It is on the itinerary of tourists even during other times. The district is famous for tea gardens, mountains, rivers, dams and wild animals. Its climate is pleasant throughout the year. When the rest of the state suffers scorching heat in the summer, Idukki is cool.
The car journey through winding mountain roads was exciting. Waves upon waves of tea gardens with women picking tea leaves and dropping them into the baskets hung from their shoulders had a calming effect on us.
We came across several mini-waterfalls from the top of hills and mountains and saw tourists getting themselves drenched under them. There were also elephant rides of a few minutes at an exorbitant charge. The local people made the best of the situation by selling all kinds of foodstuff and souvenirs. As it was a unique experience, the tourists did not mind shelling out money.
We checked into a hotel at the edge of the forest, which, like most other hotels, had no air-conditioned rooms. There was a whole world of raw nature out there, right outside the hotel. We had never seen some species of giant trees standing majestically all around.
A myriad of insects sang their chorus just outside the windows at night. In the morning, what attracted our attention was a giant squirrel chasing another one among the foliage of a sprawling tree.
We were advised to go to Rajamala hills and the nearby Eravikulam national park, the home to endangered Nilgiri tahr, to have a perfect view of Nilakurinji in bloom. Even as some mountain goats came close to us without any fear while others climbed steep hillsides effortlessly, the view of slopes and ravines covered in a blanket of purple-blue transported us to a different world altogether. Various species of humming bees were busy extracting honey from thousands of flowers.
Nature has taken care to see that Neelakurinji is there for good. The Todas of Nilgiri, the tribe that inhabits the area, are bent upon protecting the plant, as there are taboos that prevent them from destroying it until the seeds mature ten months after flowering.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in various national and international publications)
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