Parijaat Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

What a pleasant surprise! I see
Parijaat flowers spilled on the pavement,
And the nondescript tree smiling nearby
With one or two flowers loosely linked to it,
As I do my usual morning walk
In the Bandra-Kurla area, which houses
The International Finance and Business Centre
Of Mumbai city on West coast of India.

The flowers are small with six white petals,
Twirled clock-wise, and very tender;
Each supported by a glowing orange stalk
They have a centre dot of orange again,
Merging into a bright yellow rim around.

Above all, it is the fragrance I love best,
Unique, no perfumery has yet captured it;
Exotic and intoxicating, and no wonder
Our ancient rishis hailed it the flower
Blossoming in the gardens of Heaven.

I wonder whether it is ‘aniccham’ flower
Thiruvalluvar the ancient Tamil poet
Wrote about in his two-line couplet the kural,
“It is so tender and sensitive it withers when
One merely smells it.”