A little over 30 years ago, lovebirds swayed to “Dekha ek khwab to yeh silsile hue,” Javed Akhtar’s words of longing and togetherness. The song seemed only incidentally about the lead characters in the film; it seemed to have an emotion of its own; helped no doubt by its majestic picturisation. The song introduced us to rows and rows of tulips, red, mustard and white; and lilies. As the camera kissed the petals, it left many a lip quivering. It brought love alive with throbs of passion, the joy of the unexplored.
Director Yash Chopra though had to go all the way to Europe to find the flowers which evoked a thousand emotions. If he had, however, looked closer home, he would have found Delhi’s Mughal Gardens –– part of the Rashtrapati Bhavan –– as replete with life, love and flowers. Any time of the year, the gardens, spread across 15 acres, smell of roses. With more than 120 varieties of the flower, including 40 fragrant ones, the garden can claim to have the best rose this side of the Himalayas. They all come alive around this time of the year –– February-March –– with each variety being named after an achiever. So you will find a rose named Jawahar, and yes, for those who keep in touch with Mohan Bhagwat’s sayings, there is a rose called Mother Teresa too.
Roses, roses, all the way, all aflame, all inviting. If you do, however, manage to look beyond, you will discover some 70 varieties of seasonal flowers. There you will find over 5000 tulips, orange, red and yellow. You will find yourself next to a flower carpet. Then there will be marigold, viola and the rest. All part of an Udyanotsav that takes place around this time of the year. It is an utsav graced by lakhs of visitors every year: in 2012, more than six lakh people stepped in. Maybe many of them quietly hummed Akhtar’s song.
You can do better. Go beyond the tried and the tested. You could just croon to Indeevar’s song “Phool tumhe bheja hai khat mein” even as you take a walk around the gardens inspired by those in Kashmir. And maybe, just maybe, send someone special a special flower. This, after all, is the season of buds and petals in Delhi.
Photos: Shanker Chakravarty
President Pranab Mukherjee posing at the Mughal Garden in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Pansy Flowers are in full bloom at the Mughal Garden.
Tulips are in full bloom at the Mughal Garden at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Asiatic Lily flowers are in full bloom at the Mughal Garden.
Ice Berg Roses are in full bloom at the Mughal Garden.
Zambra rose flowers are in full bloom at the Mughal Garden.