Mitali celebrates the beauty of a Chinese flower that bloomed in her garden, in China, many moons back. An exclusive for Different Truths. 

Long ago, when I had a
garden, flowers sang with
children’s shouts, birds’
notes, quiet-pawed cats.
 
Kois played in the pond
under mauve flowers on
strange trees — I did not
know their names. They
 
called one yue liang hua
or moon flower from
Shanghai — used it on
the dashboard to give
 
a whiff of what was then
home. It was a bit like
jasmine, a fragrant caress
of nostalgic olfaction.
 
Yue liang hua, jasmines,
tuberoses, sweet peas
beat butterfly wings to
the gardens I have known.
 
Paradise was a garden too. 

Photos by Mitali Chakravarty

Mitali Chakravarty

Mitali Chakravarty is a citizen of the world. She writes and edits with the hope of creating an equitable Earth that transcends artificial barriers created by manmade institutions. In that spirit, she runs an online journal called Borderless. She has been widely anthologised and published. Her life revolves as a mother and wife around her two sons and husband.

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