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Gulmohar in Bloom

The entrance

A school usually looks like a haunted place when there are no students on the campus.  It's all the more so when it comes to a residential school with a fairly big campus.

My students have left for their summer vacation.  And I work in a residential school.  With a fairly large campus.  In the capital of the largest democracy in the world.

Drive along
I used to consider myself lucky to be working in such a school.  But can such a school continue in NCR (National Capital Region)?  As a school?

Isn't the land worth much more than the returns to be gained from a school?  Even the parking lot in the city gives much more returns in terms of money!  What else matters?  So why not convert the campus into a parking lot, for example?

Or a star hotel?  Or something equivalent to that for the people who matter?  If an entrepreneur is tempted by this campus, no one would be surprised.

What about an ashram?  Wow!  A swami would be tempted too.

It's a tempting campus.  I'm not advertising my school, by the way.  Just recording something. For posterity.

Home of the Parrots

I have always been fascinated by the greenery on the campus.  And now the gulmohars are in bloom.  The green parrots used to sing in them till a few weeks back.  Where did they go?

Did they go on a vacation too?

But the red of the gulmohars keep fascinating me.

I was recording them this morning.

For memory's sake.

For posterity's sake.

Destined to be mere echoes of hollowness?

Some things have to be recorded.  Because they are going to be history.  They may be going to give way to parking lots.  Or to echoes of hollow words resounding in man-made wildernesses.

When I was clicking these photos, one of the sweepers who has not lost his job yet asked me, "Why didn't you come a few minutes ago?  You would have seen the dogs weeping."

I didn't understand him.  I'm no fan of Maneka Gandhi.  I don't love animals except from far.

"The dogs were weeping," he said.  "For those people whose jobs were terminated when the school closed yesterday..."

I understood what he wanted to say.  I can afford to admire the beauty of the gulmohars.  Do I know the meaning of their red flowers?





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Comments

  1. R Niranjan DasMay 13, 2013 at 9:10 PM

    Those are some lovely blooming captures.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2013/05/haziness.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. ArchanaMay 13, 2013 at 9:38 PM

    Beautiful pictures. Even I am fascinated by gul mohars

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 13, 2013 at 10:43 PM

    we used to have these amazing trees yellow and red huge in number in Kolkata .. now they are not so common !! Nice Post !

    ReplyDelete
  4. JeevanMay 13, 2013 at 11:33 PM

    Please leave the campus as it is. They are the lungs of the city.

    ReplyDelete
  5. RaghavMay 14, 2013 at 7:22 AM

    Now we know what teachers do and think behind the students :-) Lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Richa SinghMay 14, 2013 at 10:26 AM

    I have gooseflesh.... I actually do. You write with such simplicity and yet the depth is as deep as the reader. Highly beautiful the pictures of course but I wud accept that I preferred the writing more :)

    www.subzeroricha.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMay 14, 2013 at 10:35 AM

    Same pinch! Red was our theme. That is a lovely campus - green, red and all. It should remain so - as a school.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownMay 14, 2013 at 11:05 AM

    Awwww what an emotional touch to gulmohar, the fiery trees fascinate me as well , you will often find mention of flamboyant(trees) in my poetry .

    ReplyDelete
  9. D.NambiarMay 14, 2013 at 11:09 AM

    Too bad the kids weren't around to enjoy these flowers in the campus. Long live this school.

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownMay 14, 2013 at 11:36 AM

    Heard that Radha Swami Satsang has taken over the school's admin. I can well imagine the repercussions.
    Nice pics though.

    ReplyDelete
  11. indu chhibberMay 14, 2013 at 6:05 PM

    Which school is this T.M?
    Recently i visited my old school Lady Irwin & was i glad that it's grounds had not been encroached upon?Such lovely gardens we had & it was there only that i came to know the names of various flowers.Sadly,there were no flowers over there this time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 14, 2013 at 6:09 PM

      Which school, you want to know, Indu? Didn't Abhinav above tell us that it's a school in Delhi taken over by Radha Swami Satsang? and he is correct.

      It's Sawan Public School, named after the founder of the Radha Swami Satsang.

      Has any institution lived up to the dreams of the founder?

      Delete
  12. JiggyasaMay 14, 2013 at 8:08 PM

    I am so fascinated with Gulmohar trees ever since my childhood, that the moment I saw your post, I dropped by your blog. But Your story has a different sense all together. There are just the blooming Gulmohar trees left in your campus...rest everything has turned gloomy :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. The MukhtiarsMay 14, 2013 at 9:04 PM

    Lovely Captures,

    ReplyDelete
  14. JeetMay 15, 2013 at 10:24 AM

    What a beautiful place it is. For me it is heaven.

    http://jitendravaswani.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. jahidMay 15, 2013 at 4:02 PM

    Beautiful pictures sir,reminds me of my old home where I enjoyed my childhood days.

    ReplyDelete
  16. SurajitRayMay 21, 2013 at 10:48 PM

    Beautiful ... :), now I can FEEL the song "Gulmohar Gar Tumhara Naam Hota ...". We call that Krishnachura in Bengali.

    ReplyDelete
  17. wingsMay 26, 2013 at 7:00 PM

    "Or to echoes of hollow words resounding in man-made wildernesses."
    Radha Swamy Swahaa!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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