Neel Kamal

 I glanced upon a board en route to Sirsi. Hotel  Neel Kamal (Blue lotus). That started my thought wheel. Why Neel Kamal. Kamals are always Laal -red or safed - white. Why would they be blue? 

If you think about it, in the plant kingdom, blue is not a preferred colour. You find most flowers being red, pink, orange or yellow. Rarely are they blue. As blue is not very bright and will not attract butterflies. 

So I imagined a painter - in the good old days. He painted a lotus on a temple wall. In pretty blue colour. When other painters saw this painting, they guffawed. Blue lotus? He is crazy. ( they did not know to say deshdrohi kahika) They ridiculed him, but he kept saying this is Neel Kamal - unashamed, unapologetic. So they kept ridiculing about Neel Kamal. No one knew when ridicule changed to novelty, which changed to admiration. Hence came the phrase Neel Kamal. 

But I could not be any more wrong. There are actual Neel Kamals in India. Called nymphaea nauchali scientifically. They are also called blue water lily and are native to Indian subcontinent. 

This flower is from my sister’s garden. 

And of course, there is a mythology about this Neel Kamal. Before going to Lanka to battle with Ravana, Sri Rama was seeking the blessings of Goddess Durga. He came to know that she wanted 100 Neel kamals. Searching all over the world, he could procure only 99 of them. He then offered his eye as 100th flower to the Goddess. Pleased with him, Goddess Durga blessed him and gave back his eye.