I had been writing on
different topics related to Sikkim for the last 10 years. From flipping over the
pages of Sikkim heritage to Sikkim royal family, from century-old Sikkim Postal
History to Shapi, and today we will talk about an unusual plant species. Rather
a strange case, at least to me and a few of my friends with whom I share the
photographs.
This was something
weird, never reported or heard before. I was thrilled to find this particular banana species
growing along the National Highway while on the way to Gangtok a few days back.
On that particular day near Orange Village Resort, there was a long queue
of vehicles where an army vehicle had collided with a Bolero. From the queued
line of vehicles where I was sited, I came across this banana species planted in front of a nearby residence. It took me by surprise and I could not help
myself to go near the plant. I had never come across such a banana plant with its
flower and fruits growing upright towards the sky and against gravity.
Yes, you heard me true,
a banana plant with its flower (bungaa) and fruits growing upward against its
normal feature. There was nothing fake about it, the banana fruits were
hanging upward facing the sky, very unusual.
I surfed through the internet about this strange species but to find a close resemblance with musa
ornata, a banana species of Indian origin. I shared the photograph
with my friends who echoed it to be morphed using Photoshop. This made me glad
since I had taken a different shot of that special plant. It was a pleasant sight
for me to know this wasn’t a common one.
A few months later, I
have found another banana plant with similar features to the one from
Ranipool, this time at Mill Dara, Dalapchand. When I was told by one of my
students Sudip Rai about a banana plant with its upright flower grown in his
field, I was on cloud nine. I went to his home and had a closer look of the
plant. The banana plant I saw at Sudip’s field was different from the one at
Ranipool, shorter in height and less slender.
Some say it as bad
omen, but it is true against all odds this banana species grow towards the
sky!!
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