In my hometown, they call it the 'Butterfly plant'. The first time I saw it was in Uncle Joe's garden. Owing to the exquisiteness of the shape of its leaves, it is a thriller in every home garden. Botanically it is called Oxalis Triangularis and the common name is Purple Shamrock.
Three beetroot-coloured triangles are joined at a central point at the end of each stalk. In the night, the leaves fold up like an umbrella.
I had brought a sapling with just one leaf from my mom's garden last December. This apartment is too tiny to have a gregarious garden. The sapling surprised us by shooting up new leaves in quick succession. The brilliant foliage stood out in contrast to the other greens in my fledgling garden.
Then Mother's Day came. On the Purple Shamrock, a tiny flower greeted me.
A sapling with one leaf from my mom's garden chose to express its floral beauty in our small apartment on Mother's Day. Immediately I sent a picture to mom. She replied with a Marathi poem.
All excited, I forwarded the picture to some friends. Hamsa wanted to know the name of the plant. So I searched it up. She posted it on her digital profile. It is still there.
Yesterday, in my news feed, I found a piece on plants related to zodiac signs.
Mine is Purple Shamrock. So is Uncle Joe's.
And so is Hamsa's daughter's - because we share the same birthday.
Like wide-eyed girls, we marvelled at the incredibility of it all.
Simple joys!
