August 03, 2007

My favourite flower



Kumbhakarai falls near Periyakulam in Tamil Nadu. They paved the path. I tread with care and then picked one up to examine a little closer. A pinkish stalk with off white petals- just five- not too many - not too few. A yellow blush in the centre and the fragrance, at once delicate and strong. I was all of 7 years then.

Can you guess what it was?

And also what is your favourite flower, why and your oldest recollection of it?

15 comments:

Altoid said...

Hm the frangipani(or sampangi)?

Well for me, favorite flower and oldest recollection are two different things.

My oldest recollections of flowers is from the sprawling gardens around the house where I grew up...walking down the stoneway to collect parijaat, hibiscus and jasmine for making them into bunches so Paati could wear a different colored flower around her bun. The Parijaat of course was my favorite and being from Bangalore, I love Gulmohars as well.

Now my favorite flower is the tulip, love carnations, daisies and gerbras.

There! :) Sorry for listing out so many, but its hard! to pick ONE or some!

Just Like That said...

aahhh.... i can get that intoxicating whiff now. i don't get the name, but its a tree with scant leaves, and these off white flowers fall to the ground, and still smell divine, they're around in a lot of Kerala temples or kaavus...

V said...

white Gardenia with 5 petals (or that's what I called it when I was young) It also comes in pink..

my grandmom had a gardenful of exotic flowers, paccha poo (a creeper with yellowish green sweet-smelling flowers), mahilampoo, shenbagams, manoranjitams...love them... tough to pick one..

my new jasmine plant in my patio garden is my most treasured plant these days..

Cee Kay said...

In hindi we called it "Champa" I think. I love its smell! Your post reminded me of all the flowers I love - mogra, chameli (jasmine), rose and Gulmohar. Of these, I miss mogra and gulmohar the most!

Something to Say said...

I know the flower but not the name and can almost get a whiff of its fragrance. Floweres I like - roses, tube lilies, tulips, star gazers, tiger lilies, mogras...... o love all of them. did you know till age 2.5 I said just 2 words ma and phooh - ma and flower...so you know how much I luvvv flowers

Mystic Margarita said...

I think it's called champa/champak - it's got a wonderfully intoxicating smell.

Crumbling Cookie said...

Umm..rajnigandha?
My fave flower is the sunflower. I just think its a 'happy' flower!

WhatsInAName said...

I think its called the temple flower. I know what you are talking about!
I love all flowers!

Artnavy said...

yes it is frangipani!!
updated the post with a picture in case u know it by some other name

Li'l Lite said...

my fave flower too :) there is a tree in our street end and to this day i still pick up a flower or two :))
there is a red one too..but i like this one better!

Cee Kay said...

Yay! I was right too! We call it "Champa" in hindi. Thanks to blogger, I now know two more names for it!

Tharini said...

Mine was December. You know...those violet flowers. While growing up, I always thought they were made for me as it is my birth month...and that's what my mom used to tell me.

Alan said...

Tulips! When they start popping up, it signals that winter is ending and spring is just around the corner. They come in a variety of colors and just look great.

Innovation Junxion said...

hey,
thanks to you, i did a post on my fav flower.

Artnavy said...

cool all

i am unable to comment on my own post!!

i love tulips, december and parihjaath too