Menuri and the Ladybird
Menuri stared at the bright red, blob like tiny creature on the leaf. It had tiny black spots on it. Her grandmother was clearing under the rose-bed. She turned around to look at the little girl, wondering why she went suddenly silent. “What is it darling?” she asked the little girl who was staring at the leaf. Menuri pointed at the tiny beetle as it flew away from the leaf.
“A ladybird!” exclaimed Menuri’s grandmother, “haven’t you seen one before?” The little girl shook her head. There was only a small garden in the apartment where she lived. She was visiting her grandmother’s house in Badulla during the school holidays and was enjoying helping her with the gardening.
“I have seen them in picture books,” said Menuri, “but it’s difficult to spot them in the town.”
“That’s because there are no trees in the town. It’s just a jungle of buildings there!” said Menuri’s grandmother. “But even here, ladybirds are not as common as they used to be!” “But there are enough and more plants around here!” said Menuri looking around. The whole garden was full of trees and flowers of different shades.
“Oh there was more greenery and less houses around here when I was small,” said Menuri’s grandmother. “There were so many different coloured ladybirds, butterflies and even dragonflies back then.”
Menuri looked around. There were a few butterflies fluttering around the flowers as if they were playing hide and seek. It was very difficult to spot a butterfly around were she stayed.
“There are lots of butterflies here!”
said the little girl, looking around.
“But things have changed even around here,” sighed Menuri’s grandmother. “When I was around your age, there were so many different types of butterflies.
Now it’s much less!”
“But why have things changed?” Menuri wanted to know.
Menuri’s grandmother’s eyes ran far across the garden. “When I was small, most of these lands were empty and they were covered with trees and plants. There were so many beautiful wild-flowers around here. Now gardens are getting smaller because there are more houses. So there are less plants and trees. These insects lay eggs only on certain types of trees,” replied Menuri’s grandmother.
Hearing all this made Menuri very sad. She loved nature and all kinds of animals. “In the future, when there are more houses and less trees, these little creatures will become even more difficult to see; even around here!” said Menuri’s grandmother sadly, “They’ll probably be completely extinct by the time you reach my age!”
“That’s terrible,” sighed Menuri.
“Most houses around our home don’t have gardens. They don’t even have grass on the ground. They put garden tiles. Why is that Achchi?”
“Oh, those concrete tiles!” said Menuri’s grandmother wrinkling her nose. “Walking on those cement blocks cannot be compared to walking barefoot on grass!”
Menuri remembered the garden of her next-door neighbour. It was a beautifully maintained ornamental garden. The ground was covered with small white pebbles. There were two tall plants on either side of the door. One day Menuri touched one of their leaves and realized that the plants were plastic. “Aunty, why won’t you have real plants?” she asked the house owner and the lady looked shocked.
“Who has time to water and maintain those, child? And they attract ants and all sorts of horrible little insects!” she said waving her hands in disgust.
Just then Menuri saw a dragonfly. It lowered itself like a small helicopter and landed on a small twig. Menuri smiled looking at its slender body and transparent wings. Two butterflies flying in circles around each other, floated pass her. “I like this more than a plastic and concrete garden,” said Menuri, “but how can I have all this back at home, in the apartment where I live?”
“You can!” said Menuri’s grandmother. “Do you remember my friend, Aunty Neela?” Menuri remembered her grandmother’s friend from the neighbourhood, who shifted to Colombo to live with her son. “She now lives in a flat. And when I went to visit her last time, she had over ten different types of vegetables grown in her balcony!” Menuri stared in surprise. She never thought of that as a possibility.
“Achchi, when I go back home, I am going to change my garden too. I am going to make it more greener. And once I go to school I am going to tell my friends about this too!” said Menuri.
“That’s really good darling,” smiled her grandmother. “Well, till you go home, you can help make my garden a little more greener too!” Menuri laughed and took some saplings her grandmother had kept ready to be planted.
The Ladybird sat on a leaf and watched the little girl plant a tree. She felt happy to see this. More trees meant more food and places for them to live. She had heard of the days when there were endless green fields and so many of their kind around. But now gardens were getting smaller and tiny creatures like herself were getting badly affected by it.
But the Ladybird felt there was still hope; as long as there were little children like Menuri, who loved and cared for nature. There will still be trees and plants. There will still be food and homes for them. And there will still be hope for their survival.