The Fallen petal!

 

I noticed some fallen petals on their way to the soil beneath. They were in an in between state. The petals got separated form the ageing flowers and got dropped from its stem, but the other beds, flowers and leaves held them in memory of the flower they were, before they would finally drop to the ground to fade away into the soil. 

The third photo has a stem of flowers, now looking bare having dropped all the petals of the flowers! That stem is now a memorial to the flowers which gave nectar to the Sunbird and Bees and adorned the bush in an array of colours. 

The three stages of the petals held my attention. The petals when they formed a flower, when a petal getting separated and was on its way to the soil but retained by buds, flowers or leaves and the petals scattered on the ground among fallen leaves.

A petal has no life of its own. It along with other petals form a flower. The confluent existence of petals create a flower to bear colour, texture, fragrance and nectar! It is like each member of a family being a petal to form a family to fulfil all its functions. It is the whole formation of a family which gives each member, an identity, rootedness and a belonging. By being individualistic a family is not formed. A cake is formed when the dough, yeast, butter, sugar and all other ingredients are together baked in an oven. The oven is the society around us, which integrates each member of a family to be blended together. I watch the dysfunctional sate of our society; what comes forth out it is a dysfunctional family. The evil of dowry price for a bride, and the extravaganza attached to marriage celebrations and customs that highlight the material aspects of family life constitute to the dysfunctional state in the society. No wonder many families inherit these and perpetuate these thought lines in the family life. I wish each member of a family remembers that the colour, texture, fragrance and nectar in a flower happens with the coming together of all petals; each person integrating into the fullness of what a family can be!

A fallen petal is a memorial to the life that a flower lived in its giving role. I feel touched the way the Christian Medical College, Vellore remembers its founder Dr Ida Scudder. The Founder's day annual event starting with a chapel service and gathering of the retired staff for a meeting later in the day are special events. Recently I noticed there is even more effort to bring Dr Scudder visible in the history of CMC by having her photograph in all its communications. She is like a fallen petal, but held actively in the memory of the institution because of which the values Dr Scudder brought through her being and doing have become the norm and are well integrated into its fabric of heritage. A fallen petal when held in remembrance continues to effuse inspiration and affirmation to emulate the good practices. 

A petal on the ground is ready to join back to the soil. That is what is natural. A buried petal also can be remembered rather than ignored or forgotten. The Sir Joseph Bhore committee report of 1948 was responsible for creating a groundswell of service in primary health in India.  Drs. Mabel and Raj Arole in the late nineteen sixties, responded in their own way to the Bhore committee report and started a  primary health care project at Jamkhed in Ahemmedangar district of Maharashtra. The rest is history. The Jamkhed project became the model of primary health care for developing countries following the recommendation of the World Health Organisation for wide spread implementation.  Drs Mabel and Raj Arole became like seeds that fell into the ground to give life to a a new model of health care that changed the vital statistics favourably of mother and child health in rural India. A fallen petal is also life giving!

In the life of some organisations, the 'fallen petal' is a past not so well recollected! The detours some organisations make and the derailment they suffer from, arise out of forgotten past or distancing from the past. 

The plant above would drop all the petals of the flowers in the next month or so. The petals would get buried under the tree in the soil, to nourish the soil to give life to another cluster of buds and flowers in the next flowering season. 

A flower has a history. The petals have their history. Together they make the flower to stay fresh, fragrant and fragile! The bees and sunbirds would find nectar when flowers bloom. Some flowers would be in the vases at home and at work places. 

The petals form the flower. The flowers give nectar and produce  seeds to continue the heritage! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)