Heaven in the middle of city....

I expected an regular run-of-the-mill weekend in Pune with constant badgering of relatives and my perpetual wish that I had not made the trip. There were after all so many things I needed to do in Mumbai. But everything outweighed my need to meet my sister so there I was in Pune on a bright Saturday morning with air are fine as chilled wine, ploughing a huge plate of breakfast, wondering how I was hungry this early in the morning.

Agenda for the day was a drive.. and I did not bother myself with route or the destination espcially since 'the journey is what is more important'. But before we left the city, my uncle and designated driver for the day, needed to pick up some rose plants for his farm (which we were to visit by the end of the day).

Post a stop at 'Japtap's nursery' and I had forgotten all about the proposed drive. I was running up and down their cobbled pathways, trying to see and memorise all they had. This nursery (bang in the middle of Camp, in Pune) could not have made me happier. There is something to be said about unexpected things that makes you happy - you tend to remember even the smallest of details about it.

Poinsettias, cannas, magnolia, dahlias, geraniums, verbenas, impatiens, honeysuckle, lotus, bougainvillea, jade, zinnias.. all these lovely little saplings waiting to be planted. This was like a description od a garden from an Enid Blyton book come to life for me. Am no green thumb when it comes to gardening but this once I was wanted to pick as many as I could. And with most sapling beginning in a range Rs 10-25, it will definitely something I could pick up.

Each flowering plant had more than five varieties, making it a delightful sight. I noticed three kinds of marigolds, about six kinds of poinsettias, more than fifty kinds of roses and lots of lovely colourful plants like celosia which looked so pretty and delicious that I did a very Mumbai-like thing and had the gall to ask if 'that plant there' (me pointing in a vague direction) was a real one! I think at that moment, everyone in my family refused to acknowledge me.

This nursery had all kinds of other plants and trees which could be picked up, put in a trolley (very much your super market variety) and wheeled over, billed and loaded on to the car, with loads of staff to help you. A very kind and informative staff (as opposed to pompous staff I have encountered in nurseries in Mumbai), they will readily help load and unload.

Ferns, cacti, bamboo, trees like banyan, jasmine, ficus, neem, lemon grass, types of basil and other herbs, green 'chafa', yellow 'sontakka', kevada, passion flower purple, chameli are other names that stayed with me while I walked though the various paths, pretending I was in a jungle.

I tried to turn around, back the humanity there (all of may be fifteen people) and only look at the plants - at a zillion shades of green, glossy leaves, transparent leaves, tall plants, short ones, huge bonsais that also looked small, smattering of colour with all the flowers and huge boards indicating the names of them and smaller print below telling you how much you would have to pay.... sigh.

The nursery has sheds which house a lot of stuff like organic supplements for plants, implements, seeds (for fruits and veggies too), pots and such to house plants and of free dispension of tips on how to keep the plants healthy.

We walked out with only three shades of impatiens, vowing to go back.