"Being the first blooming flowers that herald the arrival of spring, tulips also symbolize rebirth and a new beginning,” said H.E. Marisa Gerards, the Netherlands ambassador to India who has planted 60,000 blooming tulips at her residence in New Delhi. Gerards opened doors to her residence to a selected group of dignitaries and guests on Sunday to enjoy the splendour and beauty of her tulip-loaded gardens.
The gardens of her residence, once the Delhi mansion of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, were nothing short of a riot of colors. From pink and yellow to white and red turning orange, the tulips, slightly swaying with the wind, were a visual delight. For city dwellers and passersby, tulips are also planted outside her 10 Aurangzeb Road home in narrow aisles and rows.
The ambassador considered this as a way to bring a slice of the Netherlands’ tulip magnificence to India, creating a mini Keukenhof in the heart of the capital. “These blooming tulips are also a sign of how the India-Netherlands friendship is in full bloom today,” added Gerards.
What lotus is to Indian history and culture, tulips are to the Dutch. The history of the flower dates back to the end of the 16th century when tulips were introduced in the Netherlands. By the 17th century, Netherlanders were so enamored by the tulip that their passion for the flower sparked a mania of sorts, the Tulip Mania and that’s what it was called. This phenomenon made tulip bulbs incredibly valuable, so much so that they were traded as stocks on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Finally by the 19th and the 20th century, growing tulips became a major industry in the Netherlands. There are more than 3000 registered varieties with the rarest bloom being the ‘broken tulip’ which has petals of two contrasting colors in a flame like design.
Today the tulip is the most iconic bulb flower and a Netherlands landmark. Millions of flower enthusiasts crowd the country to experience the most famous tulip festival in the world at Keukenhof in Lisse.
The beauty of the tulip is also exposed each year between March and April in India at the Srinagar Tulip Festival in Kashmir. It was started eighteen years ago in 2007. This year, the festival will be organised for a month between the last week of March till the second week of April.
Being a Bollywood lover, Gerards was quick to mention how the iconic song from the Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha-starrer Silsila was shot against the tulips at the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens near Lisse in The Netherlands. She also mentioned how in 2005, a tulip was dedicated to Aishwarya Rai Bacchan by the Keukenhof Gardens. The orange turning red tulips were a tribute to her beauty and were also planted at the ambassador’s residence. “We will try to invite her next year,” assured the ambassador as she broke into a laugh.