On most days as I walk in the rain, little splashes of colour peek out shyly. From beneath lush green leaves or growing between concrete paver blocks as if to say look at us, all we need is a slice of earth.

The wildflowers that nobody plants, that grow of their own freewill. That stubbornly refuse to bow to the lashing of the rains no matter how hard. They smile at you with bright shining colours as we get through the motions of our everyday lives. There is always a reason to smile, things are never as bleak as they seem even now as we all live inside the tiny spaces we call home.

Mostly we know of the daffodils, the lavenders, the lilies of our english poems, and yet our own mimosas are stunning and will stop you in your tracks. The Indian Heliotrope is not just a beauty waving in the winds, it is also a widely used plant in medicine. The Tridax and trailing daisies fill our hillsides covering them in gorgeous shades of yellow and white.

I have a special place for our wildflowers, here is a quick list and amateurish painting of some of the more popular and easy to spot flowers that I see around me. These are specifically ones I’ve found abundantly even in the monsoon.

I do hope to do more of these over time but for now here’s a starting list pdf you might find fun to refer to.