There’s this Gorgeous Tree that grows right across the road in front of my house & it blossoms only in the summer months.
Today’s post is about the flower that grows on it – These flowers have a special connect with my life – The name itself takes me back in time – The day when I learnt a very important lesson in life – “Be AWARE of your SURROUNDINGS”
But before I share my experience – let us play of game of quiz – Let me see if you can guess the name of this flower. Have a LOOK at the YELLOW BEAUTIES 🙂
The Thai people regard the Canary- Yellow Flowers of this tree as the colour of Magnificence & Royalty.
For them – the yellow colour of the flowers is symbolic of Buddhism & so the Thai Culture embraced this flower as their National Flower. The Thai people call it by the name of “Ratchaphruek”– Quite a tongue twister it is.
In Thailand, the flowers bloom annually from February to May. It is observed that while the flowers are blossoming, the tree sheds its leaves, leaving only bright yellow flowers hanging on its branches.
In India too, the flowers of this tree hold a great significance on the Vishu Festival of in the southern parts of India as well.
The blooming of these flowers indicates that the Harvest Festival is approaching – Indeed these flowers announce the arrival of the SPRING Season – Which only means Celebrations in the Indian Subcontinent are all set to begin 🙂
It is the State Flower of Kerala – and as a tribute – A postal stamp was issued by the Indian Postal Department to honor this tree.
The tree looks fabulous & the flowers all the more gorgeous when you see them in real in full bloom…It seems as though the flowers are cascading down the cliff – No wonder the tree is also branded as the “The Golden Shower Tree” – And the flowers when in full bloom are known as the “Golden Rain” or “Golden Shower”
“Imagination” is yet another name for this tree…For the tree carry the essence of Imagination within itself. A quick search on the internet bought me to this connect for this flower by Sri Aurobindo
“Imagination is a fundamental energy of consciousness, and this marvelous, indomitable energy works on without caring whether she is put to use or misuse or no use at all; she exists merely for the sake of delight in her own existence” – Sri Aurobindo
The flowers seems to delight in their own existence & so rightly have been assigned this Name – However, the Scientific name of these flowers is “Cassia Fistula” & in the southern India, the flowers are called “Kani Konna”
Indeed – These Golden yellow flowers of the Cassia Fistula tree served as a “Midas Touch” in my Life…
“Midas Touch” is commonly known as the gift of profiting from whatever one undertakes.
The experience I share today with you all has guided me towards an attitude of “Complete Awareness” in all aspects of my Life – Indeed a Blessing in disguise these flowers offered me that day 🙂
It was the day of my final practical exam in my high school & our teacher had already mentioned that we would be given a flower & a rat to dissect & label. During our practice sessions – we were given a hibiscus flower to practice but we were warned that the exam could be taken on with any flower of the examiner’s choice.
I would like to share with you some important points here… The final exam of high school were in the Month of March & almost a month prior to the dates – we would be given our study leave.
Also, during our Final exams – we would have an eternal examiner who would come from India to take our tests & she would be the one who has a final say in which flower would be put up for the exam.
Putting all the MATH to calculation – I said to myself smiling…
Dubai (the country of my residence) – is a dry place, there are not many flowers that are easily found here & so for me it would be easy to prepare myself well for the exam by studying the few flowers that we have them in our school Surroundings.
For obvious reasons – The easiest choice for the examiner would be to pick the flower from our campus. And so before the study leave started – I decided to check out all the flowering plants on our campus.
As I set out to explore the surrounding…to my surprise I found there were ample of hibiscus tress in our campus & so the obvious choice would be the RED HIBISCUS FLOWER.
With complete confidence – I reached for the exam. All my friends were going crazy trying to catch up on the last minute study details – but for me – some how the Red hibiscus flower available on the campus – served as a confidence booster & I kept telling my friends, not to worry as the flower is known to us and the rat is the only available thing in the Biology lab. (Even our teacher had updated us that the flower was the only thing that could be different)
So this exam would be just a cake walk for the ones who had studied the RAT & the RED FLOWER 🙂
But as I walked in – I saw something “YELLOW” on my table. What it could possibly be. A yellow hibiscus – But I didn’t spot any on my campus on the day of my exploration tour. What did I miss & how did I miss – WAS the question on my mind… Still confident – after all it is just a different colored hibiscus – I said to myself & walked toward my table.
This yellow BEAUTY smiled at me…and I knew it was not the RED BEAUTY I was looking forward too…Neither was it a sister to the RED beauty…It was totally a Different BEAUTY this time.
My biology notes, thankfully,came to my aid – I recognized the plant & thanks to my learnings skills, I dissected the flower & labelled the parts well – And yes it was a flower from the CASSIA FISTULA Tree – You see the BEAUTY – YES it this is Gorgeous – But that day, it seemed like a STRANGER from no where !!!
As I left the class with a perplexed feeling – My teacher called to ask if I done my exam well. To which, the obvious answer was YES – But I still appeared muddled – And when she forced me – I shared with her the reason to my confusing state of mind.
Smiling, she held my hand & took me to the exact spot where the Cassia Fistula tree, in its yellow grandeur smiled back at me.
“This is where the examiner from India picked the Flowers for today’s exam. Today Morning when she asked me to take her around the campus…She spotted the bloom on the Cassia tree & felt this would be a better choice for the exam today.”
Coincidentally, she was from the southern part of India & something tells me today that she had a liking for this State Beauty – And hence the decision – I am grateful to her – For she was the reason behind my Midas Touch Connect. 
My teacher further went on to explain me as to why I might have missed the Cassia fistula tree –
The reason being the tree blooms only during the summer months of March to May & so when I was exploring the campus during the month of February – The tree was not yet ready to blossom.
I might have overlooked this tree and taken it as one among the many green foliage on the campus – For the tree takes on the green hue due to its shiny green leaves after the winter & just before the blooming season.
“Be Aware of your Surrounding”
These words, she silently whispered in my ears – But they still echo in my heart. Indeed that day I learnt – That awareness of our surrounding is a MUST…every detailing helps strengthens to our understanding. Never must we take any things lightly – just on face value.
To this day – I approach every aspect of life with more clarity & details. Be a person/place/any object of investment – I make it a point to get into the core so I can be in complete awareness of my understanding 🙂
Midas Touch – the gift of profiting from whatever one undertakes comes true when we are aware of our surroundings…For then we are in complete awareness of the Learnings that Life sends our way…And that is the real “MIDAS TOUCH”
I learnt a FABULOUS LESSON that DAY – Thanks to these “Yellow Beauties” who became the reason for NEW PERSPECTIVES & NEW JOURNEYS 🙂
The sight of golden yellow flowers continues to inspire me with their Beauty & significant connect of Imagination even TODAY !!!
Imagination is the beginning of our Dreams and our Desires – You may be a writer, an architect, a chef, an engineer, a homemaker….It is Imagination that brings out the Creativity in the professions we pursue.
Being a creative person – I know it is IMAGINATION that leads us to NEW HORIZONS…& WONDERS galore…“Imagination” to me has always been the existence of my life. My creativity springs from my Imagination – and I must confess it is my imagination that keeps me going…and so I say with CONFIDENCE that it is Cassia Fistula – Symbolic of Imagination which I take as my “ANCHOR” with respect to “AWARENESS”
Sharing these WORDS – A bridge to my New Anchor that have served me as “Guide” towards a Better Tomorrow 🙂
“We are here to DISCOVER more of ourselves,to add – drop by drop – a new level of awareness to our being.”
Until next week – I hope you enjoy these Golden Buds of joy – My fabulous yellow beauties that I couldn’t resist capturing in my frames…while I catch up with my imagination & bring you some fabulous connects next week 🙂
Journeys & Reflections 