Consider the lilies of the field
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Here's a user-friendly book that introduces you to the world of wild flowers.
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CARL SAGAN once commented that we pass through life without taking any notice of the world that surrounds us. One dimension of the external world is wild flowers. Being a tropical country, India has an incredible wealth of bio-diversity, of which wild flowers are an important part. They are all around us, ever changing. In the outdoors you are always close to some wild flower. But there is very little awareness of them and the traditional knowledge, even their nomenclature, is slipping out of our collective memory. If we can learn to observe these flowers, we will be adding zest to our lives. Kehimkar's book opens our eyes to this precious aspect of our natural heritage.
India has diverse geographical features that are rare in their variety — alpine meadows, rain forests, riverine forests, marshes, grasslands, scrub jungle and desert. These habitats sustain a great abundance of flowering plants. In a book of this size, only representative genus and species can be covered. The author has chosen 240 species with a crisp description of each. Though this is only a small percentage of the species we have in India, the selection is adequate for one to get familiar with at least some species of flowers that are easily seen. Once your interest is ignited, you can proceed from there. However, I do not understand why Strobulanthus (the fabled Kurinji of Tamil literature) is not included.
All the 240 species are represented here in photographs taken by the author. Photographing flowers is a tricky operation. As you have to get close, you have to manage with a very limited depth of field. Your subject is in constant motion due to breeze. Kehimkar has handled these problems well and has produced impressive pictures. He shares his skill in this area with readers through a section on photographing flowers. This is a valuable part of the book.
But the book is not just about flowers. There is a section on raising wild flowers and one on bio-geographic areas, which gives brief descriptions of all the different parts of India. But ignore mistakes such as this: "Anaimudi is in the Nilgiris". This peak, the highest in South India, is in fact in the High Ranges of the Western Ghats.
The author has provided the popular names of flowers in local languages. This is another important dimension of this book. If we were to spread the message of conservation, we have to use the local language and traditional nomenclature. In fact, there is an index of local-language names, in addition to the index of scientific names and a general index.
Kehimkar uses a very reader-friendly language to introduce you to the world of flowers. That he himself is not a scientist is, I think, an advantage here. He plays the role of an explainer, like Issac Asimov, effectively. Earlier, he provided an introduction to butterflies and later to insects, and both the works have been received well.
The book has been designed well and impressively produced. It is a delight to handle and can comfortably fit into your trouser pocket on your walks and treks. And it is a great idea for a gift.
Common Indian Wild Flowers, Isaac Kehimkar, The Bombay Natural History Society and the Oxford University Press, Mumbai, hard cover, p.142, 240 colour photographs, Rs. 375.
S. THEODORE BASKARAN
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