Politicos Clash Over Crudia Zeyla-NICA, United By Astra Ze-NECA

We in the third world who cannot even dream of an expertise to match, have no options but ‘consume’ what they deliver as the sacred truth

In reality and quite obviously, our people’s representatives of both sides of the divide are historically famous for rising in unison on a common stand on an issue of gaining privilege for themselves at the expense of the tax-payer. The latest such harmonious nod by the opposition was witnessed at receiving the Covid Jab, which was hastily arranged even by amending original priority checklist. They were seen and heard making flimsy excuses when confronted by the media. One of them, who was in a mighty hurry to shun them, seemed a little confused when he said, “it is not people’s money, but the ‘Crudia Zeylanica’ vaccine was a gift from India.” Perhaps he was more familiar with ‘Crudias’. What an endemic plant accidentally discovered is capable of; it has done wonders exposing some of our politicos!

Reminiscing the study of Botany lessons, based on legendary school principal of Visakha, Susan George Pulimood’s, “Textbook of Botany”, the English medium bio-science students’ text on flora, used in early 1960s, I referred to my old copy that occupied the shelves unattended soiled and spotted, with wrinkled pages to find flora names highlighting the feminine charm in botanic terminology that ended with ‘….NICA’ , to come across the following. A Japanese flowering shrub called rose -Kerria japonica; Hyacinthoides hispanica, a Spanish shrub similar to Canadian glauca Co-nica, that rhyme with our local Ruwi-nika, Me-nika or even with Monika.

Another jubilant legislator recipient of the first dose being asked by a mischievous scribe, “Sir, did you taste the Peniya as well?” replied, “I don’t believe in myth, only in science.”

MYTH AND SCIENCE