With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?
Cities are filled with gloom. Large spaces of concrete with no thought of aesthetic tower over a scurrying mass of people in Mumbai, like sorrowful giants. There is no beauty apart from that of smooth glass and cold metal, and even the bright lead paint peels away in some places to reveal the rust beneath. It is much livelier in the villages away from Mumbai though. Vast tracts of land today are cultivated with seeds of plants that used to grow oceans away. Stalks of maize, blossoming lavender, and even golden sunflowers dot the landscape in rural communities, blessing the earth with abundance as the sun shines and the plant thrive. But amidst all this development, where have the flowers been left?
What few people could have is the joy of a florist opening near them. A greenhouse filled with the most amazing scents; rows of neatly pruned flowers; and an artiste of taste who knew just what to gift for what occasion. Even though they dealt in something quickly perishable, florists, much like their flowers continued to thrive in part because of the needs of people for beauty in their lives. Today, you can order flowers online, or send birthday flowers online.
The city I used to live in was one they built nearly half a millennium ago. Even then, the ancients recognised what it meant for people to have free access to nature’s beauty, and so they built wonderful gardens replete with lush verdancy and streams, with flowers covering every possible nook and cranny. Building gardens sadly do not seem to fit in with the modern agenda.
Looking at Mumbai, all one can see are scores of housing complexes, their tall ranks were broken only by the odd tree. Roads of concrete play host to thousands of vehicles, each with a driver bristling with impatience. Sometimes there’s a maidan, a ground where even grass has been trampled with human feet seeking rest from hard stone and cement. There is no rest, no respite, and no beauty. Where there could have been vestiges of nature are rows of shanties and slums, overcrowded and smelly, where even delivery boys sometimes refuse to tread. It has become common place to get things delivered online, rather than physically stepping outside into the heat and dust to purchase something as essential as provisions of food and medicine. The city has no flowers, no beauty.
Fortunately, the flowers still exist. And people living in grey gloom may still revel in floral beauty. Online delivery of flowers has sprung up, and with the simple click of a button, you can have something you’ve only seen online come to your doorstep in real life. Order flowers online or send birthday flowers online in the blink of an eye with new technology. Stalks of flowers carefully gathered, arranged and decorated, all so you may yet have a slice of what Nature has to offer. Delivered to your doorstep, at minimal extra cost. It’s the little things like these that can brighten your day, and perhaps someone else’s as well.
