I won’t. — Sempervivum is a succulent. This name given to it is a Latin word that means “forever alive”. Which is ironic, this plant being named forever alive because sempervivum dies after it flowers. No wonder its flowers are referred to as death blooms. This succulent, also called houseleek and hens and…

The big ones making a meal out of the little ones — Writing and creating short video clips about wildlife is one thing. For example, about birds of prey or raptors doing what they are known to do, that is, snatch a hatchling or a chick from its nest for dinner. It is another to actually witness a bird, albeit only an…

Cannot be rammed down the throats of those who dislike something, anything, or most especially someone — Simple me learned ages ago that you cannot force anyone to like, let alone adore, something or someone that the person dislikes with a capital D. (Take my daughter who hated marmalade on her toast.) Meanwhile, some people with unlimited riches and power presume that someone could be elevated to…

A young man’s plaint — (NOTE: It’s an essay written by a relatively young man. Its wistful tone has so touched me that I stopped many beats between reading the words in the piece, rummaging answers to what has gone awry in this young man’s journey. I decided to publish this, no edits, with his…

But should we expect perfection in our locality? — Racial sensitivity is a topic that is flogged all over. In print, in broadcast, on social media — you name it. It is also a topic that is supposedly discussed in the academe, from primary years upwards. No-one can escape the topic unless one lives under the rock, snoozing in…

How a day trip to a wildlife park provides the answer — It is common knowledge, I believe, that corvids are intelligent birds. Crows, ravens, and rooks are the most intelligent birds in the world. They are all corvids. (Parrots, by the way, have high IQs, too. They are not corvids.) My interest in corvids started a few years ago with the…

Says the magnolia — Beauty, as the cliché goes, is in the eye of the beholder. You may find someone, or something, beautiful but another might perceive this someone, or something, repulsive. But who amongst us would not see the inherent beauty in flowers? Until recently or specifically, when my husband and I moved…

Isn’t over-consumption of anything being ill-advised already a given in life? — Lucky are those of us who happen to be close to or exactly under cherry blossoms when the wind blows. The blossoms are like falling snow. Trust me, it feels magical when this happens. This snow-like fall of blossoms can either be pink or white, depends on the colour of…

Apologies to all hyacinths — Harlot is very old-world. The word is so archaic that it had not been included in any of the English pocket dictionaries I compiled and edited for intermediate pupils and high school students, in my other life. But this word, harlot, which I only come across in historical novels was…