This is the season for Bangalore’s Gulmohars – or mayflower trees – to bloom and lay a glorious orange carpet of flowers. Every morning, when I go for a walk in the park, I notice the beauty of these large magnificent trees lining up the sidewalk. Its’ canopy spreads out all across the entire breadth of the park, joining and tangling branches with the other ones of its kind, shading the roads and the footpaths. The boys on cycles wobble past it, the flower sellers and fruit vendors sit under its shade selling their wares, the senior citizens often catch up with their friends on benches under their arching branches sloping way below almost touching the ground. The trees here are almost 100 years old and they still stand tall and majestic.
As I complete my fifth and final round of walk this morning, I am filled with joy to simply revel in its presence, ignoring everything else. It is worrying that we are losing many of these beautiful trees slowly and surely and the city of Bangalore once called the ‘garden city’ is practically losing most of its green cover, all in the name of development.
The thought of losing these beautiful flowering trees reminds me of Robert Herrick’s famous lines:
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
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Today, I am joining Parul Thakur with her post based on the theme, #Thursday Tree Love – a new photo feature on her blog. If you would like to play along, post a picture of a tree and link it back to her post.
18 Comments
virgovignettes
Esha your beautiful post brought back a host of childhood memories ! We lived in a corner bungalow off Gulmohur avenue inside the beautiful tree lined campus of Head Quarters Training Command .
Its hard not to fall in love with this magnificent tree . The one opposite Shalom uprooted and crashed down on our car after a storm . Its beauty still stirs my soul .
Modern Gypsy
That is such a beautiful, majestic tree! It’s so sad that we are sacrificing nature in our quest for development. While development is important, we also need some balance. Ah well, enjoy your walks in the shade of that gorgeous gulmohar!
Esha M Dutta
Thank you so much, Shinjini. I agree our selfishness always gets in the way of our love for nature. We need to keep the balance in mind…cannot afford not to, any longer!
kalaravi16
Its the same story here in Mumbai. Thankfully I live in Navi Mumbai which has a good green cover and lots of parks. Perks of a planned city. Nothing like nature and greenery to give you a natural high, eh?
Esha M Dutta
Absolutely, Kala. I totally agree. I can see what you mean. Even here, the suburban areas outside the city are much greener as they have been deliberately planned that way while we are losing our green cover because “progress” demands it. Thats the irony of city living. Nothing more soothing than to see a stretch of green anyday. I’m all for it.
Parul Thakur
What a gorgeous shot Esha! When I walk, I too keep looking around. There is so much beauty in nature. Thank you so much for joining!
Esha M Dutta
Thanks, Parul. Couldn’t agree more. As I always say, thanks for starting the linky in the first place. Happy to be sharing my tree pics.
upasna1987
Like Bangalore, Chnadigarh is also known for its greenery. This season is perfect to capture them, red yellow and green hues of leaves, adorn the road sides. Lovely quote but its a pain to see them dying.
Esha M Dutta
You’re so right, Upasna. I’ve heard of Chandigarh and its greenery a lot over the years. Would be lovely if you would like to join in for the #ThursdayTreeLove linky on Parul’s blog. We have only a handful of people right now but the more the merrier. That way, we’ll get to see your multi-coloured tree shots too 🙂
arv!
Bangalore is synonymous with gardens and trees. I keep hearing from my close relatives residing in Bangalore that ever time there is a heavy round of rain accompanied with gust, it results in uprooting of Gulmohar trees.
Esha M Dutta
Yes, you’re right about that. With each storm trees get uprooted here quite easily. All tree-lined residential areas usually bear the brunt of the weather with such incidents every now and then. But the Gulmohars are truly a sight to see!
arv!
I’ll agree. The images of Bangalore in my eyes are firmly entrenched with Gulmohar lined roads. I have always spent time in central areas of Bangalore where Gulmohar was ubiquitous.
Esha M Dutta
Yes, those are the best places that used to be the heart of Bangalore once upon a time. As the city is spreading out into the suburbs, the city centre is also moving outwards. You need to visit Bangalore perhaps, to see the extent of change 🙂
arv!
Planning to do so, this year…after a long gap. I’m sure I won’t be happy with changes cause I’ve been hearing about em over the years.
Vinitha
Beautiful capture, Esha. 11 years ago, when I was staying in Bangalore in Jayanagar, I used to go for walk in the parks there. So many parks with lots of trees on either side of the road. It was so cool and a wonderful and serene sight. I hear that Jayanagar has since changed. Couldn’t visit the place last time I was there. How true are those lines!
Esha M Dutta
Thanks, Vinitha. Jayanagar has lost part of its green tree-lined areas thanks to the metro they now have, but there are still a very few areas where, you might find trace of those tree-lined roads. So much of Bangalore has changed over the last 7 years…and more so in the recent past due to the rampant construction work.
nabanita
Beautiful. There is a road near my home which is laden with trees dotted with flowers. It is a beautiful sight but I’m always in such a hurry that I cannot even get the time to capture that.. Maybe soon 🙂
Esha M Dutta
Thanks, Nabanita. There comes a stage in life when you really don’t have the time to observe nature because you’re so caught up catching up with life in between running errands and working! Despair not, you will have your moments of leisure too. I was there too once and its only now that I’m consciously trying to slow down because I’m done with stuff. Take your time…everything will come to you…all that which you yearn for and don’t find the time to do. All in good time 🙂