Where flowers sing

If you happen to go to Kakrajhore, it's not too far from the city, you will find a small idylic village inhabited by tribal people and surrounded by pristine mixed forests. Go there in spring time. Ask the locals to show you to the temple. It's across the small rivulet by the side of a narrow footpath that cuts into the forest from the main road going to Ghatshila. Take that narrow jungle trail you see going deeper into the forest there. Don't fear about getting lost. You will soon see a largish tree standing alone in the forest. It looks like any other tree but it is not.

The forest floor surrounding the tree would be green because it is sprinkled with the dropping flowers of that large tree that are showering on the ground below. Some get blown away in the gentle breeze. No one has crossed the path to crush the flowers yet. You might hesitate to cross. The tree doesn't really care. It keeps on shedding its flowers. 

If you stand quietly there, you will hear a unique, subtle sound. The sound of those green flowers falling on the ground. Yes. Flowers do make a soft sound when they fall in large numbers. You can hear them if you try. You can hear Mohul flowers also making a soft sound when they drop. But they are large flowers. You can hear the shaal flowers if there is enough dry leaves under the tree. The shaal flowers make the softest sound because they are very small and soft.

This particular tree you are standing under makes a sound like it is drizzling. As if rain drops are falling on parched earth. Enjoy the sound. But don't get too curious about the tree. It is one of the most dangerous trees in the jungle. Tribals use its poison from the seeds and barks to smear the tip of their arrows. Even the leaves of the tree can potentially kill a human, if consumed in large numbers. 

It is the strychnine tree. Nux Vomica is its other name. 

Standing on an idyllic morning under such a tree, I recorded this subtle sound. It may not create the same effect on you, sitting in an urban atmosphere. This is just for me. To act as a background music when I reminisce about Kakrajhore later.