Who can forget Rajamalli? 
The first memory I have of the plant was of my friend Raji. Her house was by the side of the main road ( also the school bus route) and from the distance you could see the Rajamalli tree laden with flowers looking at you over the laterite wall. I wait eagerly for the bus to reach her house for two things. One to see if there is any new cinema poster on the wall and two for my friend to get inside the bus, for you see, I had already saved the space next to me for her.
Then we both will be on the look out for “otta number vandi” ( cars with single digit number plate) and eratta vandi ( two cars of the same colour). Both are supposed to bring good luck and we both needed a lot of luck. We were both permanent residents of odukkam benchiley odukkamathu  ( the chosen ones who gets to sit in the last bench because there were none dumber than us!!)
Raji’s father passed away when she was very young and was raised by her uncle, whose daughter was also in my class. They were ( cousin) sisters and good friends, but her sister was a really good student and therefore didn’t care much to mingle with us, except at lunch time. She always took whatever was in Raji’s lunch box and not once I heard Raji complaining. Then I thought Raji was the most caring sister one could ever get ( unlike mine) and now I think, sharing the tiffin  was her fight for survival, after all she was indebted to her uncle and his family.

Rajamalli was also one of my mother’s favourite plants. She was on a quest to find the purple/crimson colour Rajamalli and managed to get the seeds once when I was 14 years old. she nurtured the plant and once it was big enough to be transplanted, she took it with us to Chengannur house.
Without asking my grandmother, she planted it close to the chamba maram by the side of the house.
It was one of the times I remember fighting with my mother, for I felt she was wrong.
My grandmother was still the owner of the house and though Appa will inherit the house eventually and therefor Amma will be the new owner, it was still my grandmother’s house. All my mother had to do was to tell my grandmother why the tree is special ( very unsual colour flowers) and ask her permission to plant it.
My mother being the wife of my grandmother’s son, and my grandmother being the mother of my mother’s husband was forever trying to show each other who was the boss and both lost so much in the end and my sisters and I ended up with no home to go to.
My grandmother cut and chopped  every bit of the tree and even the root was pulled out before amma and I reached the bus stop !! ( Amma was so angry and complained bitterly to my father and his relatives. njan evidokke thendi nadannitta oru ari kittiye, athu vetti kalayade vello karyamundo thallakku? I searched so many places for a seed and why did the old crone had to destroy the plant?)

I know Rajamalli grows in Australia, but haven’t found one in Brisbane/gold coast. I think it might grow in Sydney or probably FNQ. If you have seen one somewhere in Australia, let me know. I would love to find some seeds and grow one.