Precious raindrops

Purple pride

Lagerstroemia speciosa  -  Pride of India, Queen Crepe Myrtle.
Now showing on a tree near you!

@ Turnbulls Road

@ The Kottur Tree Park

The crepe-papery flowers

 It's the season for the tree flowers.
Purple, gold and red.

The Flame of the Forest

It is the season for the Purusai to  flower, and all over central India the forests will be aflame!

Butea monosperma - Palash, Purasai
@ the TS

On one of the Chithirai tree walks of Nizhal I learnt that Madras was also full of these trees.  Purasawalkam was full of Purusai trees!!  All have been systematically felled.  One survives I am told in one of the temples there.

One flower is all I saw, fallen on the ground

And then Alok sends me this picture!!  A set of blooms from a tree in Shanthiniketan

And now I know why this is the flame of the forest!!

Reds!

Scarlet, orange and red, today.
My 400th post deserves some colour!

Gulmohar - Delonix regia. An exotic from Madagascar
@ Thiruvanmyur

Gulmohar - a flaming torch stands up to the summer heat.

African Tulip tree - Spathodea campanulata
@ the TS, Adyar

Sita's Ashok - Saraca indica
@ the TS, Adyar

Beach Hibiscus - Kaatu poovarasu - Hibiscus tiliaceus
@ the Kottur Tree Park

Beach cordia - Cordia subcordata.
@ the Kottur Tree Park.

Strings of amber

Showers of Gold, yesterday.
Strings of amber today.
Colours of a Madras summer.

Lannea coramandelica - otiya maram, Indian Ash tree.
Seen @ Besant Nagar

September - 2011

In September, post rain.
@ Thiruvanmyur.

Showers of Gold

Cassia fistula

Blue skies, Laburnum yellow
A mundane drive no more.

The beautiful Vaagai

Albizia lebbeck.  Siris/Sirisha, Vaagai.  In bloom at the moment. 
Besant Nagar, Chennai

Window views

Two barbets, calling for mates.

One bulbul, sitting sedate.

Many mangoes...soon on my plate?!

Nizhal's Chithirai tree walks

Nizhal has announced their summer tree walks schedule for the month of Chithirai!

The event is on facebook. 

Summer is upon us, as also vacations! Nizhal is organizing a set of tree walks once again. Do come and enjoy the colours of summer. Learn about trees that are indigenous to our city and take a little time to say thank you to these voiceless sentinels of our health and well-being!

Our walks are at the Theosophical Society, (in the public areas) and at the Kottur Tree Park.

April 17th (Tue) TS 8.30 am to 9.30 am
April 19th (Thu)    TS 8.30 am to 9.30 am
April 21st (Sat)    Kottur tree park 5 pm
April 22nd (Sunday)    Kottur tree park 5 pm
April 24th (Tue)    TS 8.30 am to 9.30 am
April 26th (Thu)    TS 8.30 am to 9.30 am
April 28th (Sat) Kottur tree park 5 pm
April 29th (Sunday) Kottur tree park 5 pm

The Theosophical Society walks will be from the main gate (opp Malar hospital), and the Kottur tree park is on the banks of the Adyar river, opp Mac Spin Foundation/Abirami community hall.

The walks will start on time, so please arrive early. Given the temperatures, please do wear a hat and carry drinking water. Do wear comfortable shoes to enjoy the walk. They will last for approximately an hour.

For further details and registrations, please call 9003011372 or 9444955903 between 10am and 5pm.

Interestingly, they also have an online registration form, which seems pretty fuss-free and straightforward.

Soapnuts and shikakai

At Children's park Guindy.  Sapindus species

Lately, I have soapnuts on my mind.  It's a bit strange and ironic, this whole human "progress" thing.

There was my ajji, quite happy with her shikakai and soapnuts for the family's washing and shamppoing needs.  And then there is amma who is yes, shikakai, but detergent, thank you.  And here is me who post-marriage moved to shampoo and did not think of anything else but detergent for my family's clothes.

Until recently.

I sceptically and tentatively tried the Krya Natural Detergent Powder this last month. My good friend Gangapriya was the early trier, and recommended it!    Into our front-loading washing machine it went, as I followed the pack instructions, and awaited the results.  Hmmm, not bad, not bad at all!  (Part of the trying-to reduce-the-chemicals-from-my-household-into-the-environment programme.)

I was intrigued and read some more about soapnuts and their surfactant qualities.

Sapindus emarginatuus.  This variety has notched leaves.

Krya uses Sapindus trifoliatus, and their blog explains the surfactant action rather interestingly!

1. Reduce surface tension
The surfactant molecules have a water-loving head that attaches to water molecules and a water-hating tail that attaches to the dirt molecules. This creates a force that detaches the dirt from the clothes & suspends the dirt in the water. The agitation of the washing machine or scrubbing by hand further helps detach the dirt from the clothes. As a result of the dirt getting detached the water now starts looking murky.
2. Emulsification
Now that the dirt has been removed, it is critical that they don’t re-deposit on the clothes. This is the done by the second action of the surfactant i.e emulsification. Emulsification is the process by which the dirt and the water form a mixture. This keeps the dirt suspended in the water till it is washed down the drain

Heads and tails, now that is rather vivid! 

I have continued using this natural detergent, and I do feel that the clothes are softer.  My ajji will sure be pleased!

But next up, I am going to try 108 Soapynuts from Daily Dump.  Why?  Becuase their Sapindus is the Himalayan variety Sapindus mukorossi, which has more saponin!  Also, they are selling them as full fruits, so they are to be reused until they vanish.  So, even though they may have a longer journey to me, it also means that they will last longer.

Interesting, I can even be finicky with my choice of these natural detergents!! 

Can I go back to shikakai though?  The pods of Acacia concinna.  Memories of my youth, Sunday oil baths.  Contrasted with the convenience of that blasted shampoo bottle.  No, not this summer definitely.  Shall be reviewed when the cool season comes again!

Is there anough soapnut for 6 billion people though?  Most likely we won't have enough food to eat if we all wanted soapnut detergent, so is the answer then moving to some other naturally derived kind of surfactants?

Chameleons and calotes

This here is a garden lizard, aka onaan aka "bloodsucker"!

Probably called bloodsucker, as its throat turns a bloody red during courtship.

As also this -

Among the teak flowers, high up, on the prowl for butterflies.  

But this here is an Indian chameleon!

Chamaeleo zeylanicus.  Fixing me with a beady stare, as its skin moults.  I did not see that long tongue of his.

Eyes shut.  They have a long tail, almost like a fifth limb.

And this here, is a video of one of the six chameleons seen in the Snake Park, Guindy enclosure.  Watch it, and see those eyes, as they move independent of each other, and the chameleon moves slowly along the tree branch.