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| Saturday, 24 April 2004 |
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April Blossoms: The grandest flower show of the year Text and photographs by Prasad Abu Bakr. The annual flower show is scheduled to open this afternoon at the Victoria Park in Nuwara Eliya by His Excellency the Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka Akio Suda and Navin Dissanayake, MP on the invitation by His Worship, the Mayor of Nuwara Eliya Chandana Lal Karunaratne.
It all started in as early as 1881 not as a flower show but more as an annual agricultural exhibition showing off a variety of products in the form of cultivation that was the only round-the-year happening up-country. Farmers and land owners thronged this up-country town to take part in the annual event that not only enabled them to show off their farming and agricultural prowess but also learn new techniques and methods that can be used to improve their crops. At a time when farmers depended totally on their hard manual labour and naturally available manuring methods this kind of exhibition was seen as a great source to access information on what was happening in the outside world, especially within the territorial limits of the white masters.
It was in much later years that the colonial rulers who retrieved to this hill resort annually in `Summer', along with their families, pets and poodles gradually added competition into what was mainly an agricultural show. Flowers! which were many in this enthralling hill resort naturally surfaced as an all necessary competitor and as the years passed by became the name of the game leading it to be one of the country's most prestigious flower shows to be held annually. The interest of growing flowers caught on like wild fire amongst the population of this hill station, who were mostly into farming and cultivation at the time in any case. But a new breed of patrons entered the fray at this time and their only aim was to win the annual award that was presented by the governor of Nuwara Eliya. The British ladies that languished in their sprawling mansions and holiday cottages were the earlier competitors of the annual flower show then. The gardening was done by their obedient gardeners who were mostly of Tamil origin. even today the pattern remains so. The competition not only brought out the gardening and lay out talents of these gardeners but it also made Nuwara Eliya one of the most sought after flower cultivating locations in the country. Even though the flowers surfaces annually to make a permanent impression of beauty among the visitors, and distribution of gold medals among the winners takes place as a result, the silent and harrowing lifestyles of some of the workers who are mostly from extremely poor families, whose hard labour plays a major contribution towards bringing out a show of this magnitude into focus, find that their needs are not addressed.
Most of them find work only for about four months of the year, especially if they are working for small time projects because as the rainy season sets in the entire flower cultivation suffers, a set back that makes most of the workers lay off until next summer. This has been a trend over the years. Wages are also said to be at a lower edge and most of the workers are on a temporary basis. Owners of the larger flower growing projects that have been set up in recent times who can afford to have their employees working on a permanent basis also seem to be side stepping the issue which enables them to be on the safe side during a crisis. The other complain by small time flower growers are that earlier they got a better price for their cuttings. But as leading flower shops in Colombo acquired land to grow their own crops the demand for buying from small time dealers have drastically dropped and bargaining for a better rate has also ceased to be a talking point. So suppliers accept what is being quoted by wholesalers who also double up, most of the time as middle men to some of the big time entrepreneurs in the floral business in Colombo. `We don't have an association in that sense' said one lady who has had flowers grown in her garden as a pet project over the years. According to her outsiders are making best use of what is rightfully their way of life. It is the middleman that makes the most amount of money in most businesses but in this case it is an outright rip-off, she stated. The bigger flower farms use their crops mostly for export and what is not up to acceptable standards are sold to the local market at low prices. Small time `growers' have to compete with such odds but the irony of it all is that prices of flowers in Colombo retail outlets have kept shooting up over the years and never ceased to see a downward trend ever. `All because we too buy from these middle men and we know that they charge us threefold or even more than the original price but we are compelled to buy at least some of the flowers from them to keep our businesses abreast with the rest of our competitors' lamented one of the shop owners seated behind his desk in his shop opposite Colombo's eye hospital where flower shops have existed conducting business over the years. However, besides these and many of the other minor hiccups that are plaguing this industry, the annual flower show of Nuwara Eliya has never run short of takers; in fact the number of participants have grown in number over the years. This year there are as much as over 300 competitors taking part amongst which are the regular set of prestigious hotels that take part annually. Awards are numerous ranging from The Best Garden, Best Flower Arrangement, The Best Rose Garden etc. Flower enthusiasts will get the opportunity to witness some of the best works by leading florists and floriculturists of Nuwara Eliya competing for recognition by their City Fathers. The event will come to a close tomorrow evening with trophies and cash prizes being presented by the Chief Minister of the Central Province, Wasantha Aluvihare together with the Minister of Estate Infrastructure, C. B. Ratnayake. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Besides the glamour that showcases this prestigious event lies a few
grey areas within this industry that should be taken into consideration
and looked into by the officials concerned.
