Bamboo

One of the favourite questions of teachers of level 3 is,'Which is the tallest grass in the world?'The Children are quite surprised to know that it is the Bamboo because they think of Bamboo as a tree.

Bamboo has been used by humans since pre history. The Chinese used it to write on as far back as 2500B.C. In India, Bamboo is used to make baskets, build houses , as a scaffolding during constructions, and to make paper. A delicious pickle is made from tender bamboo shoots.

Bamboo has a great surviving capacity. After the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, a stand of bamboo at Ground Zero survived the atomic blast and started putting forth new shoots within days of the catastrophe.

There are legends about the bamboo all over the world. An ancient Malaysian legend is about a man who dreams of a beautiful woman when he is asleep under a bamboo thicket. He wakes up and cuts the bamboo and finds the woman.

For the Chinese, gifting of a living bamboo means good luck.

The topmost picture is of the Golden Bamboo, Bambusa nutans which has been planted by my absent neighbour.