Chapter 123 - Flashback-Magical World (Part 8)

The food had been ordered. There was soup for starters. Actually vegetable soup, corn soup, pea/lentil soup and also tomato soup. After soup were a wide variety of dishes. Some of the dishes were steamed, some were stir-fried, still, others were deep-fried. There were two types of bread, and also flatbread made of brown flour. Then there was yogurt, buttermilk, homemade butter. Plenty of salads of cucumber, carrots, lettuce as well as onions and tomatoes. There was a rice pudding for a sweet dish. Coffee/ tea for afterwards. We had a sumptuous lunch. On the way out we took an apple each.

Aarvin continued talking and informed us that the people on the Magical World did not use any chemicals as fertilizers or pesticides. He said that compost was in use in place of fertilizers and that they made pesticides from herbs and some trees like the neem tree (Azadirachta indica also called Indian Lilac). This tree has the ability to drive away harmful insects and pests. So, the apples that we were eating were entirely organic and the taste was definitely better than the one available on Earth which were grown using inorganic fertilizers and inorganic pesticides.

He further informed us that the neem tree was a native of the sub-continent. Then all of a sudden he said why was he telling us all this, we should ask the neem tree. It would tell us everything about itself.

We all wanted to hear the truth from the horse's/ tree's mouth and agreed to ask the neem tree.

We had understood that this was due to the talking chip that answers all questions put to all the things in this world.

We had about 3 hours to while away our time till our slated meeting with you guys. So we decided to explore asking questions from things. At present we had only spoke to the rock and grass when we sat down.

Soon we were off in the flying cars, going down the mountainside flying above the treetops and approached an area where there were a clump of trees around a small lake. We also saw some daffodils growing beside the lake. It was a beautiful picture. The scene was completed with the chirping of the birds as they flew from branches of one tree to another or flew down to drink water at the lake. We could also see a huge group of butterflies

The 4 cars came down glided towards the grass and soon hovered above the grass. Zen here, wanted to know if the fuel used by the flying cars was environment-friendly, as the cars did not seem to emit any smoke. He decided that he would ask the flying cars later.

Aarvin said that he had brought us here so that we could talk to the plants, the lake, the fish, the frogs and the trees as well as the bird. Not to forget the animals like the rabbit and squirrel. He then added that first we must ask the grass for permission to land the cars and then sit on it and talk to it.

We, hence, sought permission from the grass to land our cars on it and to come out and spend some time sitting on the lovely grass. Surprisingly, the grass did not object and gave us permission.

Zen asked the grass whether we could ask questions and would the grass answer them. The grass replied that it would not be able to answer everything. It could only answer what it had been programmed to answer.

Zoya then asked the grass to tell something about itself.

The Grasses informed that it was covered under the family of Poaceae or Gramineae which is a large family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly and collectively called grass. Poaceae includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and cultivated lawns and pasture. Grasses have stems that are hollow except at the nodes and narrow alternate leaves borne in two ranks. The lower part of each leaf encloses the stem, forming a leaf-sheath. With around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, Poaceae are the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae, and Rubiaceae.

The grass family is most widely distributed and abundant groups of plants on your Earth. They are found on every continent including Antarctica as hair grass on the Antarctic Peninsula. Grasslands such as savannah and prairie where grasses are dominant are estimated to constitute 40.5% of the land area of the Earth, excluding Greenland and Antarctica. Grasses are also an important part of the vegetation in many other habitats, including wetlands, forests, and tundra. The Poaceae are the most economically important plant family, providing staple foods from domesticated cereal crops such as maize, wheat, rice, barley, and millet as well as forage, building materials (bamboo, thatch, straw) and fuel (ethanol).

Seagrasses, rushes, and sedges fall outside this family though they are commonly called "grasses".

Grasses include some of the most versatile plant life-forms became widespread toward the end of the Cretaceous period, and fossilized dinosaur dung (coprolites) have been found to contain a variety that includes grasses which are related to modern rice and bamboo. These recent findings of grass-like phytoliths in Cretaceous dinosaur coprolites have pushed their existence to date back to 66 million years ago.

Grasses have adapted to lush rain forests, dry deserts, cold mountains, and even intertidal habitats, and are currently the most widespread plant type; the grass is a valuable source of food and energy for all sorts of wildlife and organics.

Grasses may be annual or perennial herbs, with the following characteristics The stems of grasses, called culms, are usually cylindrical and are hollow, plugged at the nodes, where the leaves are attached. Grass leaves are nearly always alternate and distichous (in one plane), and have parallel veins. Each leaf is differentiated into a lower sheath hugging the stem and a blade with entire (i.e., smooth) margins. The leaf blades of many kinds of grass are hardened with silica phytoliths, which discourage grazing animals; some, such as sword grass, are sharp enough to cut human skin. A membranous appendage or fringe of hairs called the ligule lies at the junction between sheath and blade, preventing water or insects from penetrating into the sheath.