Wild World

Our sub-division (and the others around us) comprise of homes with neat lawns. Short, well-trimmed bushes dot the garden and patches of pretty flowers are laid out. Decorative plants surround the house and the end result is one of neatness, neatness and well, neatness. And boredom. If you step outside and drive for a good five minutes, you start passing these old houses. These are really old-fashioned homes with blue-green-black patchwork on the outer walls (You will NEVER see those designs on these new houses), huge trees forming a canopy all around the house and lots of grass growing wild with yellow flowers peeking out. Many of these houses stand on large plots and what characterises them is the large number of trees that grow on these plots. God forbid a storm hit the county causing the branches to splinter and collapse on the structure but nevetheless, I love the look of these houses. There is such character to them, for lack of a better term. What really touches me, is how much they remind me of my Variam in Kerala.

I belong to the Warrier community in Kerala and the traditional Warrier households are referred to as Variams. Our Variam is in Thrissur en route to Guruvayoor. The house is large and ancestral, built in wood and stone and marble. There is a huge plot beside the house, overgrown with mango trees, jackfruit trees and other kinds of vegetation. They grow naturally, no one waters these plants. When the leaves fall, no one picks them up. They are there because they were meant to be. Not for any kind of decorative or landscaping value but they add that natural, real beauty to the home that a boring fern or a moss plant can never even dream of conveying.