Wonder of wonders Chapter II 8

Wonders of Nature

I have never ceased to wonder

At Nature’s antics and frivolities

But recently I was very surprised,

Astonished, nay flabbergasted
As at one go, all my concepts got Blasted

I was trying to update my biology

When I chanced to come across
‘Plant Neurobiology’!

A fledgling subject struggling in vain

to gain recognition under stress &strain.

As if the name itself was not sufficient

to shock one, it made me sit up, again & again
When I read “Darwin thought Root tips had Brain”

And this released from my brain station a long train

Of thoughts & ideas which I had to lift with a crane
Of effort, to move them out of my heart creaking with strain

And my mind began to wander, over past, here and there

When, I used to roam in the fields & farms as a youngster
For, as a child I had seen with sheer amazement
Sunflower chasing the sun, as if, with prior arrangement

And it was indeed a great entertainment,- multifold

To see the leaflets of ‘Touch me not’ suddenly fold
At the slightest touch of fingers young or old
And thought while it all lingered, before leaf did unfold
Oh! How Nature plays such child like tricks, behold!

Later I had heard about Nature’s more serious engagements

And read about its intimate symbiotic arrangements
Between plants & animals, plants & fungi, etc, you know
Brought together by nature to live as friend or foe 
And about communities in which individuals struggle and grow
Adapt, attack, or defend- to survive, or out they go .

And plants are as much adept as others in this game be sure

For they know as much, when, where and to whom befriend & lure
Wonder of wonders 9

Or best avoid or for that matter take on, with all their might
With equipment, nature fits them with, to fight all right

Of course, I had also read about hormones eons ago

And knew they carry messages swiftly to and fro
And signal shoots and roots to respond to stimuli
Regulating growth and development by and by

But I never thought they were brainy or so bright

That they can mock their, ‘superiors’! , even men, with spite
For they knew many things much before men did, strain
To learn science &arts of which they are so proud, in vain.

True, men will do well to learn from plants many many

Techniques in which they excel men definitely
To think of some instances of their superior quality
See how they harness solar energy so efficiently
And generate electro chemical reactions significantly
To produce products or energy or signal responses quickly
And, so it appears, to do their assigned duty timely
and shall we say, ‘sincerely’ merrily and cheerfully
unlike men ,with a ‘sense’ of phyto-responsibility.!

All know now that plants can distinguish with ‘pride’

Between various wave lengths of light and utilize
Blue, red and UV to ‘see’ their way out day or night.
And ensure that their seedlings future is bright .

And from the days of J.C.Bose some have, some how

Believed, but even some scientist accept it as a fact now
That the plants can also differentiate very well and ‘tell’
In their own way, Various frequencies of Sound as well .

And in the field of Arts who can beat their ingenuity

In creativity, design, colours and matchless beauty
In expression of joy, happiness and good cheer
With freshness of greenery and lovely flowers dear.

But that they have animal like emotions

Is still largely a tale of fanciful notions

Plants have no nerves or neurons is well known

But they can switch their parallel system ‘on’
Banking on chemicals akin to those in nerves & brain
And can conduct electric signals in a similar vain
Wonder of wonders 10

Their cell membrane functions in much the same way

Controlling ingress / egress in almost similar way
Operating normally through osmotic or ionic action
even electronically some gates in a similar fashion.

Their cell wall acts like intercellular matrix

Well formed for protective or conductive prefix
Well known for its strength etc; and multiple role
Better than yours and mine on the whole

Cell to cell ‘talk’ in more than one way

Is a common talk now a days any way
In this also plant & animal cells function similarly
Right from the embryonic stage on wards merrily

But even with all this and more

That they are brainy chaps or
Have emotions, no one will buy
Except in the realm of fantasy
However

Plants live in communities is a fact now well recognised

And instances of plant to plant messages have come to light;
Defense ‘strategies’ of some plants also do surprise
When attacked they send signals to invader’s foes in a trice
Oh! It is difficult to believe, by God! That they are so ‘wise
Some send attracting, repulsing, or warning signals is also know
There is really no end to such wonder of wonders to be precise.

Inspite of it all, they have no ‘grey matter’ you know

But I will concede they have a ‘heart’, I feel some how|
For if you care for them they care for you
Try loving them and they will love you too
And fill your heart with joy and happiness too

Honestly should’nt we say---------- I owe you

To wonderful Mr Plant –thank you, thank you .

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 Friendship of Legumes and nitrogen fixing bacteria is well known ,

They send chemical signals to each other—legume literally invites
and makes room for specific bacteria of choice and the bacteria accepts it
only from plant species of its choice and enter in a partnership beneficial to both .
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 Of bacterial or viral enemies there is no count—but here also

the parasites are very specific in choice of host and the war between
them is of do or die type .

5/108 SFS Santosh Ratan

Mansarovar jaipur