The heart of nature (and poltics)

Gardening is gaining a renewed interest in my heart. A few weeks back, I bought some new flower pots, potting mixture, and some saplings. Five of the saplings were of Pinwheel Flower or what we call here in Kerala Nandiarvattom. Here is a picture of one of the Nandiarvattoms I planted. 

It’s growing pretty well. I would look at their small little green leaves and the pinwheel white flowers every morning and evening with a lot of fondness. Good going, I would tell them patting their gentle leaves. Some plants are sweeter than flowers. Nandiarvattoms belong to that category.

The other day, when I returned from school, I found one of my beloved Nandiarvattoms in this shape. 

It nearly broke my heart. What a transformation in a single day! I looked at the others. They were all safe.

I did a detailed investigation and discovered the villain. A caterpillar. A green crawling worm with big eyes and obese body. Ah, you grew fat on the leaves of my Nandiarvattom without leaving a single leaf? The creature was just crawling down the flower pot as I discovered it. My first impulse was to crush it beneath my slippers.

My brain said, Kill it. It will just move on to the next pot and eat up your next Nandiarvattom. And then the next. That’s how nature is. The tiger eats the deer and the deer eats the grass… Eating is the only significant profession in nature. [In politics too!]

My heart protested. It’s always that way: the heart has reasons that reason doesn’t understand. This is the caterpillar that’s going to become a butterfly, my heart muttered. Don’t you miss butterflies? Yeah, I do. There used to be hundreds of butterflies in this place in my childhood. Where did they all vanish? If you kill caterpillars, how will you get butterflies?

But this caterpillar is killing my Nandiarvattoms. I do have a genuine problem.

Don’t kill the caterpillar.

I listened to my heart. What else can we do?

I picked up the caterpillar on a leaf from one of the many trees I am fortunate to have around my house. I dropped the caterpillar outside the wall on to the roadside where there is a jungle of weeds. Eat these leaves to your heart’s content, I said to the caterpillar. I have been struggling month after month to clean up those weeds outside my wall. Unwanted plants grow strong and stronger. They never perish. Try killing them! [Another metaphor between nature and politics, if you like.]

That was yesterday. When I returned from school this evening, I went to check how many weeds had been eaten up by the caterpillar. Nothing. The weed-jungle remained there as it was yesterday. A little more green and robust. That’s how nature is. It doesn’t breed butterflies. Rather it kills potential butterflies. [Do you see another comparison between nature and politics?]

My devastated Nandiarvattom is showing signs of rebirth. That’s a consolation. Nature has that potential too. [Politics too, isn’t it?]