Spring, oh Spring !

Delhi’s tryst with Spring continues as the city plays host to several flower festivals and horticultural events. Mesmerizing blooms with myriad hues in bright yellows, reds, pinks, and violets are attracting young and old alike. Pusa Horticulture Festival was one of such colourful events that concluded today. It was a treat to watch a vibrant display of roses, lilies, petunias, dahlias, chrysanthemums, marigolds and several other varieties. Below are a few pictures from the event.

The Blooming Blossoms - Garden Tourism Festival 2011

This year too, Delhi has ushered in Spring with élan. Just concluded Garden Festival (18-20 February, 2011) at the Garden of Five Senses had at display a variety of blooms, exquisite potted plants, bonsai, cacti & succulents, wondrous hanging baskets and the delightful floral arrangements. The burst of colours and the heavenly fragrances marked the onset of pleasant Spring. Delhi’s blossoming bond with the blooms continues as it plays host to several other flower festivals. I have uploaded a few photographs clicked during the event.

Surajkund Fair - India's Craft Bazaar

Taj Mahal - Rich man's love, dead and buried

I love Taj Mahal. I have visited the breathtaking monument a few times, and each time I was awestruck by its magnificence and unsurpassable beauty. A few steps beyond the main entrance leave you astounded, amazed and speechless. For those who see it for the first time, it is truly a moment they can cherish for the rest of their lives (especially if they haven’t visited any of the magnanimous architectural wonders of the world).

However, I refuse to call it a ‘symbol of love’. And on insistence, I’ll partially agree to the epithet ‘symbol of love’ and would rather call it a ‘symbol of rich man’s love, long dead and buried’.

A man of modest means, who has no glory or riches like emperor Shah Jehan (who built the splendid wonder in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal), can love too… only that, he won’t be able to leave behind the legend or the symbol of his love in the form of an awe-inspiring structure drawing tourists from the across the globe and the government raking in revenue.

I am in no way undermining the essence of what it essentially captures - beauty, elegance and artistry. But I am unsure about love… I wonder, does love really need such an extravagant and exquisite memento?

The lover husband (Shah Jehan) married another woman after his beloved Mumtaz Mahal (whose tomb is housed in the Taj Mahal) died. But I am told that it was Mumtaz Mahal who had extracted the promise from the emperor of marrying again after her death.

And he took not one, but two wives. (However, according to several historians, Mumtaz Mahal was Shah Jehan’s third wife, but the first one to be betrothed to the emperor. According to some, he had many wives, Mumtaz was just one of them but the most favored).

It is said that he did not share an intimate relationship with his other wives and, in a way, ignored them. Poor women, their tombs too are in the Taj Mahal complex… but who cares? Not many people are aware… tourists just pass by the tombs unless they are enlightened by a guide (if he himself is aware) Otherwise the tombs are ignored, as were its occupants during their lifetime.

With 14 children in the kitty with Mumtaz, I don’t think he needed any other testimony to his love.

But I do not wish to dissect the love-life or no-love-life of anyone, more so an emperor. I only wish to make a point… my point… that love needs not a resplendent or glorious testament… and a common man’s love is as worthy and as reverent as that of an emperor.

I love Taj and will continue to revere it for it being a splendor, a glistening dome under the sun, a symbol of opulence and magnificence, but definitely not a symbol of love.


:):):)
Wife: Hey, Will you do a Shahjehan for me? I mean, If you truly love me, will you make me a Taj Mahal?
Husband: Oh well, I have already bought a plot of land. You do a Mumtaz Mahal darling…