


I just got back from attending Dasara (a.k.a. Dussehra or Vijayadashami) festivities in Mysore. Dasara celebrates Rama’s victory over Ravana, as well as Durga’s defeat of Mahishasur. There was a flower show about a block from the palace, and this gazebo was the centerpiece. The bottom pick was part of the floor of the gazebo.
So, I spent an hour Googling what the correct term was for a “sculpture” made out of flower blossoms. I’m sure there’s some lingo used amongst the Flower & Garden Show crowd (but you must need to know the secret handshake.)
However, after viewing the websites for many flower shows around the world from Philadelphia to Hong Kong, all I was able to learn is that–whatever they are–these examples from the Bangalore Republic Day 2014 Flower Show… well, they aren’t good. I hesitate to say this because someone may come back and say, “You monster, those [whatever they are] were constructed by children with Down Syndrome.”
If that is the case, I stand corrected and must say that those are the finest examples of [whatever they are] that I have ever seen made by children with Down Syndrome. I may also be showing my ignorance of Down Syndrome because perhaps children with Down Syndrome do ikebana like Rain Man counted match sticks–which is to say freakishly well.
The [whatever they are] just seem a little misshapen compared to those from, for example, the Hong Kong Flower Show. If the Hong Kong arrangements are the X-Box 360 version, these are clearly the mid-1980s Atari Pong version–not that there is anything wrong with that.
The Crystal Palace at Lal Bagh gardens, which is normally roped off and empty, has been packed brimming with flowers for the annual Republic Day Flower Show that ends today.
It would be slightly more enjoyable if security wasn’t threatening to wallop one with a stick if one loiters for a second. You can see it as many times as you can fit in a day, but you must keep moving along. It’s a one way flow, so if you don’t have the desire to go through twice (once on either side) I’d recommend going on the south side (farthest from the main entrance.) For some reason the crowd was about half on that side (probably because no one anticipated the layout would make you do two half loops instead of one full loop.) Why they did it, I have no idea, but the flowers were pretty.