Trees, Flora, & Fauna: Getting to the Root of Things

Poe's Raven in Paradise

I love walking around Bandra to see what type of trees, flowers, birds, and critters abound.  Bandra is a Mumbai district to the north of the major hustle and bustle of Mumbai's city-center.  While it is not overcrowded, it is still active and full of energy as a vital living-working neighborhood.

From budding, fragrant flowers in hues of red, fuschia, gold, and white to giant weeping leaves lazing the day away, the plants in the Bandra area give life and vibrancy to the ambling streets, juxtaposed with the man-made lines of city buildings and market stalls.  The brightness and colorful character of the plant life is recognizable throughout the area and is honored for its beauty, majesty, and the giving of shade to sun-filled streets. 

The soft simplicity of a drooping flower on a balmy day.

Getting to the root of things...

                                                
                                                 Intertwined and twisty,
                       the roots connect, interweave,
         envelop and grab hold of each other, wrapping around each branching neighbor,
                                weaving from one side of the street
                                                                                      to the next
                                                                        like a choreographed polyphonic dance.


Buildings, walls, and street lights often adapt to and are built around spectacular rooted trees that were here well before human construction exploded across the city.  Because of this, it is not uncommon to see roots coming out of walls, or visible from built-in peepholes, or trees changing the shape of a side street or entryway.  
 

An offering is placed within the opening of a rooted wall.

An embellished palm that reminds me of a hula girl

This flowering tree towered a stream of flowers over forty feet tall.

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The landscape here constantly amazes me.  Piles of trash and tiny hovels are set against the backdrop of grand palazzos and ancient roots, trees, and blossoming flowers.  The disparity and seeming paradox--the conversation between the rich and poor-- is a necessary part of daily interfacing reality.

Envisioning the Juxtaposition: Poverty Amidst Wealth

The simultaneous combination of what is hard and what is beautiful, who suffers and strives and who ultimately succeeds, 

is intermeshed and interwoven like the rooted trees scattered across the Bandra cityscape. 

   I will leave you with this final tree-consumed picture...

 and wishes that you may have a magical, lovely day.

Good morning, world!