A perfect solitary Sacred Lotus…

May is the storm season in this part of India, when the plains heat up and the hot air collides with the cool air coming off the Himalaya. Yesterday was hot and sultry with a very hot breeze coming from the Punjab. I knew we were in for something special as what was coming in was of biblical proportions.
Having moved all the furniture and made sure all the doors and windows were shut, went to bed feeling slightly apprehensive, to stay the least. The thunder and lightning started at around midnight with a spectacular sound and light show. Then of all things, a gentle rain began to fall, couldn’t believe my luck, as Basunti has been bone dry for over six weeks. This was all too good to last and after five minutes the hailstones came accompanied by a howling wind. These were no ordinary hailstones; the majority were the size of marbles with the occasional golf ball sized one thrown in for good measure. They were hitting with such force that they were breaking some of the roof slates.
Woke up this morning to a scene of total devastation, looked like someone had loaded a shotgun with ball bearings and just blasted everything in the garden. The ponds were especially badly hit, but amazingly, amongst all the damage was a perfect unscathed Sacred Lotus…