A budding obsession

Spring is here, but we needn't travel abroad to find beauty in bloom

- SEEMA GOSWAMI

The last time I visited Japan was seven years ago. Watching the Sakura (cherry blossoms) bloom had long been on my bucket list. And in 2016 I was lucky enough to arrive in Tokyo on the very day when those amazing white and pink flowers bloomed across the city. I spent the next week doing what the Japanese call 'Hanami', which basically means sitting quietly and taking in the beauty of the flowering Sakura. In this I was joined by what seemed like all of Tokyo, Sakura-watching being a national pastime during the fortnight when the flowers are in situ.

I remember coming back to India and writing a column bemoaning the fact that while we have plenty of flowering trees in India amaltas, saptaparani, tesu, palash, to name just a few - which are just as pretty, we didn't make much of them.