THE UNRECOGNIZED ARTISTS

 Every day on my way to college, I used to see garland makers engage themselves in making garlands. Most of them were usually in serious conversation with the other one, but their hands strung the flowers without any mistakes. Actually, I have  an obsession with garland-making since my childhood. I still remember failing every time whenever I tried to strung jasmine. It usually gets loose and falls down, and I do some kind of patchwork. I know very well that my patchwork is clearly visible. If I don't have enough flowers, then I would go to my neighbor's home, where there is no girl child, and my neighbor aunty usually gives me whatever she has. I had short hair, so I wore it like a flower bow. Sometimes, when there is no jasmine flower, I string firecracker flower (kankaambaram poo) which is found commonly everywhere in my native. During family weddings, elders give some jasmine flowers to us, and even though they used to complete stringing those large amount of flowers, me and my younger cousin never completed our flower stringing within the time frame. But when we were grown, we both learned it. But I still wonder about the fast and perfect arrangements of garland makers. On my way to college, I used to see giant or tiny flower garlands. I think they are the most unrecognized artists that I ever witnessed.