An old friend Oby (from my St Joseph's College, Trichy days) had a
wedding reception for his daughter in a place called Ambilikkai in South
Western Tamilnadu. Oby comes from an amazing family of Kerala Christian doctors
who have settled in these parts for two generations and are doing
yeoman service to the community there. They run the Christian Fellowship
Community Hospital where thousands of people from a radius of over
50kms, go to get treated for Cancer, Gastro-intestinal disorders,
Leprosy, Urological complaints and many more illnesses.
The
reception was in the evening and I got there in the morning so I got
around to doing a walkabout in the area. This is technically a very dry
area and the dominant color is usually brown but this is the rainy
season so the area goes very green, albeit for a very short time. Went
around to a few of the farms there and learned a few things besides
taking in the farming lifestyle of these simple rural folks. Here are
some pictures some of you may enjoy:
A perfect heart-shaped abode of ants who stick the leaves of the sapota tree together with their saliva to build their home!
Clitoria ternatea - no money for guessing why that flower
gets such an interesting name! It may soon turn out to be the source
for unique cliotides that can cure some cancers!
I've seen the tamarind tree since I can remember but never noticed its flowers!
Maize fields in the foreground and the Pulney Hills in the background - typical rural scene in this part of Tamilnadu
Wild solanaceous flower - those golden yellow spots are to entice insects into the flower to pollinate the flower!
Yet another beautiful wild flower - not sure what its technical name is!
This
is a first for me! Have seen this plant (Gloriosa superba - known in
Tamil as Kannvalli) back home in Kerala and have admired its beauty but
this is the first time I have seen it cultivated - it is grown for its
seed and tuber. The seed has a high content of cholchicine and
gloriosine both alkaloids are used to treat gout and rheumatism. Seeds
sell for Rs 2000 a kilo.
Close up of the Gloriosa flower!
Those are the fruit of the plant that bear the seeds which are of commercial value.
Thats the farmer who grows those unique crops!
He also grows tobacco! With one crop he cures and with the other he kills!
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