Excellent image Venu. Along with selective dof I love the grains very much which seem to give a very artistic touch to the image. If this were mine I would crop just a few pixels off from the bottom. Thanks for sharing.

Composition is excellent. If you can cut down on the grains it would put this image over the top. I guess the grains is as a result of cropping? Just a guess ...

Ganesh Sir, thanks for the appreciation. I tend to follow rule of thirds and that's the reason I didn't crop the bottom.
Pramod Sir, your guess is right! These grains are because of two reasons: 1. High ISO:400 (had to bcoz of poor light) and, 2. Due to cropping.
I remember that CNP members have suggested to use a tripod for macro shots. But I don't have a decent one and I don't feel comfortable carrying it around the neighbors . Most of my shots lack something or the other and the prominent reason being lack of a tripod. May be its high time for me to buy one and start using it.

Thanks a lot for appreciation and criticism.

love the contrasting stigma(?) against the backdrop of soft blue tone, venu. is this the colour of the flower or just a play of white-balance?

regards.