Clamouring Clerodendrum
Delhi is a city of extremes... It swings slowly between between opposite ends of the spectrum over a period of twelve months, but continues to give us glimpses of its incredible beauty through its flora and birdlife, both of which are diverse and proliferating. I love its trees and creepers , many of which have travelled from exotic climes , armed with flowers in incredible colours , names, shapes and sizes. I love the wild rose, the thin pink-tipped jasmine, the plump mogras, the passionflower, the shankh pushp, the madhumalti, the wisteria and the trumpet flowers, to say say nothing of the multi-hued bougainvillea that can climb trees and walls and electric poles and street wires and then send down thorny leaf-curtains well-loved by sparrows, but for me the creeper that embodies the spirit of Delhi is the clerodendrum, a hardy creeper that I have seen densely populating walls around homes, schools, colleges and public institutions. Most creepers in fact are gregarious, they are nature's climbers after all, and reach new heights and newer destinations more often than not.
When a small spot opened up in front of my house, several years ago, I planted a clerodendrum creeper that was eaten alive by an itinerant cow before it could get its act together. In recent years, since cows are now schooled in goshalas and are seldom allowed to stroll down colony roads, unless bedecked in a heavy embellished sheet and patrolled by an attendant, I embarked upon Project Clerodendrum again by purchasing yet another creeperling from a nearby nursery. I planted it in the same spot , but a giant mulberry tree which was now lording it over the section of the street shut out the creeperling's sun. Listless, it took on a grass like identity and grew at the rate of half an inch every year, but couldn't really put a foot forward because it got very little sunlight. For a while it straggled, living and partly shrinking, until last year, a newly appointed maali used a long string to lead the clerodendrum up the walled path. I wondered howthe attached string would help if we did not chop off the overhang of the mulberry tree. When I broached the subject with Rakesh, my not- newly-hired-anymore maali, about trimming the mulberry branch, he announced that the clerodendrum required no such assistance. Puzzled l began to trace the movement of the single vine climbing up the wall of my house and discovered to my delight that it had leaped and bounded to a height of 17 feet and then spread itself out atop the mosaic platform that sheltered the wardrobes in our first floor bedroom.
Laying down a nest-bed of leaves, the clerodendrum had burst into several floral clusters and was preparing to bloom. This unexpected, magical moment, showcasing an incredible event, slowly began to sink in. I have been watching the flower-buds emerge for about a month now, and continue to marvel at the tenacity of the clerodendrum, and the alacrity with which it has created a space for itself, traversing a long distance from its roots.
