The Flower Mandi at Fatehpuri, Jan 15th
Fathepuri even at 8 am is a flurry of activity. The day is already two hours old for the flower sellers, as they lay out their perishable wares in bundles of 10 kg each. 'From the river bank' they say of the Zafris I saw growing yesterday on the waters. The 'Gaindas' come later in April they confirm. "What you see here are not from Delhi but from UP." By 10 am they will be all gone, several tonnes of glorious sunlight yellow flowers, all without stalks and all used for making garlands, for decoration and for some type of auspicious festivity. I wonder how long back is that association, and how flowers came to be part of such events, especially these flowers. I promised myself that I would delve deeper into that question!
1 comment:
Hi, Ravi,
Looked at your blog. It's exciting to see the path you're following. I'm looking forward to seeing if you're going to stay in pursuit of the flowers, as they get on to the necks of deities, the arthi of the dead, and from there -- so often in polythene packets -- back to the river from where you began the chase.
I went to the Fatehpur mandi once -- for a TV programme that was thrust upon me -- well before sunrise. To enter the dark and gloomy cubicle-filled halls, where all your other senses are on hold, and only your olfactory nerves are stimulated, and those to the extreme, was quite a surreal experience.
Love,
Annie
Post a Comment