A smuggled pot

Collecting souvenirs have never been my thing, trust me I am more of a memory kind of person and that too not the clicked ones, but the ones in 'the castle' , yeah as the saying goes, "once anything enters that castle, it stays there forever.." exactly that. Yeah, so the only thing I pray for myself could be to never get alzheimer's ;).

 As usual this was not a planned trip but something I decided on the go after hearing this place name from my friend during a casual convo. Munnar.., they call it the Kashmir of  South India and that is definitely not because it is covered in snow or anything like that but probably due to its scenic beauty and maybe pleasant climate as well. The last time I had been to Munnar was during my college days for an IV , well IV in Munnar ?  hmm that's exactly what IVs are for.. ;). If you have been thEre just like me, you also know what I'm talking about. Anyways, that was years ago. One lovely thing I would like to remember about this trip is that it was the first time I am arranging and taking my son and my parents for a trip. Well, it was a road trip and a lovely one , three days.; as it was planned on the go and as trying to include more members would only get it delayed we kept it a secret from everyone else. And that was the first time I saw my mom keeping a secret from my brother, yeah momma's boy is a real thing peeps, totally a real thing. She don't really regret it because that guy is obviously in the real Kashmir but she might be regretting not telling my sister because they just started talking again day before yesterday after 3 days of their own version of no parlando. All in all, it was a nice trip and I would remember that forever.

 Coming to the smuggling event, do you know how everyone says succulents are the low maintenance easiest plants to take care of.; well may be because of my generosity I always had a different story to tell. And this time when I saw a ghost plant and a donkey's tail arranged in scape I felt like I should also try that. Luckily before having to ask anyone to get me a piece I saw a few defoliated leaves and when it comes to these babies, they might be super delicate but they are also super regenerative if I am not wrong. So I collected some of those fallen leaves in good shape. On the same day on my way to a nearby spot, I saw a place where they exhibit cactii plants, while coming back from that spot hoping that they would also be selling them I went to get the tickets but to my despair they weren't selling. Pappz told there would be other spots which also sells these and we can go there. 

After inquiring a bit and driving a few more kilometers we found another spot. And even though my son was not much of a big supporter when it comes to anything living other than his family; even our mightiest pet, a rott which goes by the name perlu he has crippled once, from biting back kittens to my doll, again my puppy, squeezing live fishes in the pond to removing thorns from thorned plants to make them thornless; he is super skilled in all the tactics. As he is 5 now, it was totally worth a shot. But to my despair again, when I inquired in the ticket counter the lady in the ticket counter informed that sale was limited which might not include succulents whilst my only intention was to buy some of the succulent varieties which they were also clearly exhibiting. But mom told, we have come this far anyways so lets go check it out. Yeah I went with it as I didn't had anything better in my mind then. They had every variety of the cactii but none of those were for sale. 

When we reached their stall, there were only a few varieties of flowering plants up for sale and that too those which might survive only in the climatic conditions of Munnar or similar. Still I bought two pots because anyways I was there so I felt like buying one or two. That's when I spotted a burro's tail hanging near the stall and I quickly asked that lady in the counter if it is up for sale or not but she told it was not for sale but there were smaller pots of those available earlier. I was mainly talking about how it is sad that they don't sell more varieties of plants here and how these plants they sell might not sustain anywhere else other than in Munnar and being a tourist spot why would they not sell when majority of the visitors are tourists and how localites hardly buy any and these succulents they exhibit here are rare varieties and the way they propagate them they should also consider selling. Her supervisor was in the next stall so she didn't talk much but she told there might be a few pots down, she will go check and bring them if available. All this time during our convo my mom was standing in a nearby stall carrying a pot  which we bought in a small plastic cover. So, this lady walked down and I was waiting for her watching her walk back to me. While walking back she casually slipped something into mom's polythene bag and when she reached near me she told me it is not available. But mom had a mixed expression when I looked at her and while I was walking towards the exit she told me thatladu has given us a small slip of that plant you were asking her about. I couldn't believe that incident of a cute trading at first, our very own saadanam kayyilundu moment. It might be a gesture for buying some of those plants which she was selling there , but isn't it such a lovely gesture ?  I'm gonna cherish that forever..

 After getting in the car, mom was pointing out that instead of buying all those pots I could have bought just one pot and then tipped her the rest of the amount and I could have collected all my favorite plants. Yeah, my mom, ain't she a charm, with her own version of the golden goose tale in her head..