Bamboo flowering
Bamboo flowering is considered a bad omen in several northeastern states of India, especially when accompanied by an increase in rodent population. It is believed to lead to famines and natural calamities. The next bamboo flowering is expected around year 2003-04. Should we prepare ourselves?
On October 29, 1958 the Mizoram district council cautioned the Indian government of impending famine in the state and demanded financial assistance for relief measures. This warning was preceded by bamboo flowering and increase in the rat population in the state.
The Indian government, however, rejected the financial demand on the ground that such anticipation of famines is unscientific. In 1959, the state was reeling under drought and famine.
This belief is older than the Indian epic Mahabharata , written 5000 years ago. In the story, the evil king Jayadrath forcibly abducted Draupadi, the Pandavas wife, and trampled through the forest in his chariot. She cursed the king that he would be destroyed, just as bamboos bring forth instant ruin by their blooming.
Although, the scientific relationship between bamboo flowering and natural calamities needs to be proved, botanists have a theory about what old-timers have known for centuries (see box: The scientific view ).
Bamboos are grasses belonging to the family Gramineae (also called Poaceae), the fifth largest flowering plant family. Several species like rice, wheat, oats, barley and maize belong to this family. Bamboos are, however, perennial grasses classified under the sub-family bambusoideae.
There are around 1200 bamboo species occurring worldwide. India has an abundant bamboo resource including 138 species spread among 24 genera, of which 3 genera are exotic and others are indigenous. Manipur alone has 53 species of bamboo while Arunachal Pradesh has 50 species.
Northeast India supports 63 bamboo species, which are an integral part of the social, cultural and economic life of the people. There are about 1500 documented traditional uses of bamboo from cradle to coffin.
Bamboo uses Bamboo shoots and seeds provide food for the people, bamboo stems and leaves provide forage for livestock. People fashion bamboo into hats, baskets, toys, musical instruments, furniture, chopsticks, paper, and weapons.
Bamboo stems are used as fuel wood and to build houses, fences, tools and field implements. Workers scale bamboo scaffolding to construct the tallest buildings in Asia. These flimsy-looking structures are models of resilience, merely swaying in typhoons that can collapse steel frameworks.
A secretion of bamboo, a fine, siliceous matter, called
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