The June flower for me is Jasmine.

In our apartment complex we have two small Jasmine shrubs growing in a quiet corner thanks to the efforts of our hired gardners. They would normally go unnoticed as the flowers currently are blooming in single digits only. For me, just one white Jasmine flower amidst the dark green foliage is enough to warm the heart as it brings back memories of rainy school mornings in Kerala☔️.

I studied till Grade 3 in Kerala; the academic year begins in June, amidst the pouring monsoons🌧🌧. I vividly remember the mornings, it would either still be raining from the previous night or the rain would have stopped, for a while at least, leaving puddles of water around the house; the drops of water still seen dripping down from the edges of the tiles on the roof and outside from leaves of the trees. From the house, we could see the river, it’s water muddy and the flow is faster.

Everyone had things to do in the morning and for me, the only task was to collect the jasmine flowers from the tree that grew in our front yard. It wan’t a strong tree (it is not a tree at all; a climber actually; looked like a tree back then, maybe because I was small), not very tall either as I recall, it’s branches were twisted and almost falling on to the boundary wall. But it was full of the pretty white fragrant Jasmine flowers. The rain caused many to fall to the ground, but there were still plenty to be plucked too. They were simple five petaled Jasmine or mullapoo in Malayalam. The girls in school wore jasmine garlands on their pleated hair and they looked so pretty. My hair was short and no way I could gather it into ponytail let alone pleat; but I still wanted to wear jasmine on my hair just like the other girls.

My grandmother or mother whoever was free would string the jasmine flowers together and attach it to my short hair with a thin black slide and it stayed along the side of my head and not at the back. I was happy🥰 !!

Jasmine garlands are worn by ladies on the hair on all auspicious occasions and festivals; I am not tempted though. For me Jasmine is a fragrant memory from my early school days and I love it that way. I still remember the cold of the rainwater that used to fall on my head from the leaves of the Jasmine tree as I collected the flowers. I still remember their fragrance in the rain. And I remember my mom and my grandmom stringing the flowers together.

The Jasmine in our flat is not the five petaled one; it’s what we call kudamulla in Malayalam, another variety, with more petals. It’s more like a shrub (and a climber maybe). All it takes is just one flower….❀❤️

Till next post, take care !!