Saturday, April 10, 2021

The Bougainville Love


Thorny ornamental vines, bushes or trees, named after French admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville. 

That's bougainville to Wiki. 


When I was a kid, a walk after dinner with Appa was a norm of life. It was an exclusive father-daughter time of the day. 

We would walk the length of our street, then go around this huge house at the street's end, and then walk back home the same way we came. We would catch each other up on our day's accomplishments & challenges, plans for the next day, upcoming events at my school/his office, some fatherly wisdom & advice (they just can't resist), and as we returned home, we would plot how best to trouble Amma. 


So, coming to that huge house. To me it looked nothing short of a palace, in size and grandeur, which I couldn't care less for back then. What appealed to me the most about that house, then, was its huge compound wall that had massive overhanging bougainville vines all over it, all around. Oh! What colors it added to the otherwise drab landscape! 


A part of our walk was dedicated to admiring this plant, its so many colours & shades. I would call them out one after another. For the colour/shade that neither of us could agree upon ("It's purple. No, it's magenta."), we'd come up with new names (Purgenta!!) 


I might not remember exactly what was said or what was seen, but everytime i see these colourful plants anywhere, I can still feel what I felt back then, walking hand in hand with Appa - his love. 

This is bougainville to me.

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