Cherry blossoms in aamchi Mumbai?

Driving along the Vikhroli stretch of the Eastern Highway in Mumbai last week, I was thrilled to see the road lined with gorgeous pink-laden flowering trees. I thought they were cherry blossoms. My wife corrected me. They are “pink trumpets”, not cherry blossoms, she said.  Every year, from December to April, the portion of the highway between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli, opposite Godrej, turns pink as the flowers are in full bloom during this period, she explained. Tabebuia rosea, commonly called pink trumpet or pink poui, is an evergreen tree with a long, smooth trunk topped by a rounded spreading crown. It is best known for its often spectacular bloom of showy, trumpet-shaped, purplish-pink to white flowers (2 to 4” long) with yellow throats that bloom in clusters (up to 30 flowers per cluster). Well, whether cherry blossoms, or pink trumpets, I have never seen Mumbai look more beautiful. Wonder why the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has not decided to plant this tree from El Salvador (where it is called the Maquilíshuat) in more locations around the city.

It is actually cherry blossom season in Japan right now. And nothing in the world is perhaps more spectacular. This year Tokyo’s cherry blossom season commenced officially on March 20 when the first flowers opened on a Somei-Yoshino cherry tree at the Yasukuni Shrine. Japan has over a thousand cherry blossom “hotspots” all over the island nation. The Miharu Takizakura in Fukushima, recognised as a national natural treasure, is one of Japan’s Three Most Famous Cherry Blossom Trees. A walking path is paved around the large weeping cherry tree, which is believed to be over 1,000 years old. Cherry blossom viewing there is nothing short of a spiritual experience. At Hitome Senbonzakura, the Shiroishi River, which flows through the southern part of Miyagi prefecture, is lined with about 8 kilometres of cherry blossom trees along its embankment, creating a stunning landscape enhanced by the backdrop of the majestic snow-capped Zao Mountains. Maybe the BMC folks ought to visit there for inspiration.

Not many of us would know that Shillong in Meghalaya, every November, hosts the India International Cherry Blossom Festival. The buds start to show up in late October, and the flowers begin to bloom in the early half of November in the north-eastern city. Also known as prunus cerasoides, the cherry blossoms are locally considered a gift from the Himalayas. They usually grow across the east and west Khasi hills.

When I was younger, we used to often ride up on our mobikes to Mashobra in the Shimla hills. In March every year, you were in for a real visual treat. The orchards there didn’t just offer cherry blossom sightings during the spring season, but also full bloom apricot, peach, plum, apple and pear trees that filled the landscape with swathes of pastel pink, white and purple. It was just incredibly beautiful.

Chandigarh’s defining summer flowering trees are the amaltas, gulmohar, and pink cassias. The most amazing of the summer show-offs are the amaltas (cassia fistula) that turn from a mundane foliage of dusty, dry looking leaves into orbs of gold almost overnight, packing in all the sun’s summer radiance. The gulmohar (delonix regia) is another one of Chandigarh’s beauties. These magnificent rounded canopies come alive with brilliant blooms of vermillion and scarlet red flowers in the summer months — made even more spectacular by the contrasts between the dark leafy greens and the full-blooded reds. And Chandigarh also has light pink to rose pink Java-ki-rani (cassia javanica), more commonly referred to as the pink cassia trees. The shy, delicate pink flowers are actually quite similar to the gulmohar foliage, only less intrusive and far gentler.  

Flowers have never really been a saleable theme for brands in our country. And I wonder why. L’Oreal uses the peony for radiance boost in its products claiming that the flower stimulates skin microcirculation for a fresh, relaxed, rosy complexion; its sell story for irises — known for their beautiful blue petals, sometimes with a mauve or violet tinge — has been the flower’s astringent and balancing powers, making it a great combination for oily skin to regulate seborrhoea production and to limit shiny patches on the face caused by excess sebum. But its advertising stories in India rarely, if ever, glorify flowers. No social media posts, no focus on the beauty of its key ingredients, no poetry, no romance. Is it because in our country floral beauty just isn’t part of our cultural narrative?

That is really not true. The lotus as a holy flower has its association with Hindu deities Brahma and Vishnu, and goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati. The star jasmine, marigold and plumeria are also essential in the celebration of Indian culture. Japan in pre-Covid times attracted 40 million sakura celebrators that spent $5.8 billion in a month appreciating the flowers. Can a few hundred at least head out to Vikhroli to enjoy our pink beauties, please?

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The writer is managing director of Rediffusion