We were on our way back home from vacation. Driving through rustic landscape on a beautiful rainy day was enthralling and refreshing. At one point of this journey, we spotted a tiled house covered with healthy green foliage. It was an amazing and beautiful scene. We wondered, as we got closer to the hamlet, what the ivy could be.
It was a home completely covered with the plant, except the entrance. My wife and I could not resist our temptation to know what it was. We contemplated the possibility of requesting a cutting to take back home, and mustered courage to knock on the door.
The woman who appeared at the door was calm and smiling, as though we were expected. My wife subtly told her the purpose of our visit. She appeared quite overwhelmed with our interest in the plant. She took us around the house and gave us the cutting. After some time, we bid adieu while admiring the impressive hospitality to us strangers, who virtually barged into her house seeking a favour.
This house has truly embellished the scenic Western Ghats on the backdrop. Everything appeared like heaven on earth.
Back home, in three months, the plant covered almost one portion of our building. Blooming flowers adorned the wall like glittering stars. When people started enquiring about the plant, we were quite eager to share every bit of detail, for we knew it was an accomplishment.
One morning, a family friend living close by mentioned the beehive nestled in the creeper. He went on and on about the perils of fatal honeybee stings. His apprehensions were about the passers-by and us as well. Everyone at home did a bit of research to learn about honeybees. Much to our disappointment, we discovered that this ivy was known to attract swarms of bees, no matter how hard you try to disrupt their colonisation.
We became restless as everyone suggested uprooting it. It was one of the heart-wrenching scenes as our part-time gardener performed the last rites. Tears rolled down relentlessly when the heap of foliage was loaded on the tractor. I could not resist walking behind the tractor.
It appeared more like a funeral procession to me. I could neither put the blame on the honeybees nor the house that I have built in a city.
All I could do was blame myself for causing the untimely demise of a young ivy, called coral vine (Antigonon leptopus).
sujith_sandur@yahoo.in
