Human Flower Project
Flowers Cheer on a Muted Holiday
Concern hangs over Independence Day in India this year, but celebratory flowers in Bangalore keep spirits high. Thank you, Lubna!
A dinosaur made of 50,000 flowers, at the Lalbaugh Botanical Garden’s Independence Day Horticulture Show 2009, in Bangalore, India
Photo: Lubna Kably
Tentative celebration describes today’s observance of Independence Day, marking India’s freedom from British rule, gained on August 15, 1947.
Across the nation, festivities took place under heightened security, this being the first Independence Day since the tragic terrorist rampage in Mumbai last November.
Tensions have already turned deadly in Kashmir; four Muslim separatists were killed Saturday by authorities. “Since 1989, when insurgents launched a revolt against New Delhi’s rule, (Kashmiri) separatists have marked festivities honouring India’s independence as a ‘black day’ in the Muslim-majority region.” This year, it’s black indeed.
An airplane of banana leaves and flowers, Lalbaugh Botanical Garden, Bangalore
Photo: Lubna Kably
In his official speech, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged both determination to stamp out terrorism and greater respect for the nation’s minorities. “He insisted that caring for minorities is not appeasement—a charge often spelled out by the main opposition and Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
Even as far south as Bangalore, the holiday spirit was apprehensive—but at Lalbaugh Botanic Garden, the flower show bloomed on. There were 720 species on display, and 120 novelties, “including tulips, wax-flower, nebrane and rice-flower … introduced for the first time.”
Our friend Lubna Kably was there again, enjoying the exhibits, and generously sent along these photos. Lubna reports:
“In the count-down to India’s independence day celebrations on August 15, Bangalore, the Garden City of India, decided to celebrate once again with its Independence Day Flower show at Lalbaugh botanical gardens. The glass house was a riot of colours. Teddy bears, dinosaurs (a huge model and a baby one) and aeroplanes (made of banana leaves) captivated the kids.
Rose teddy bears, Lalbaugh Botanic Gardens, Independence Day Horticulture Show, August 2009
Photo: Lubna Kably
“The kids didn’t care whether the dinosaur was really made up of 50,000 flowers, they just stood there, spell bound. As always the plants and flowers that had won prizes also decked up the glass house.
“Bangalore is not immune either to the impact of climatic change nor the economic slow down,” writes Lubna. “Celebrations were a tad muted, what with the swine flu scare. But, this flower show, gladdened many a hearts, including ours.”