Canon EOS 5D Mark III 97mm F / 4 1 / 250s ISO160
Born in India, Kaynat is an avid traveller and photographer. She decided to travel beyond the cliched destinations and discover the new. Her enthusiasm to travel and love for writing finds expression in her photography too. She has travelled 1,000,00 Kms in just 3 years. Kaynat’ s passion for travel, writing and photography paved way for‘ Rahagiri’, her blog.‘ Colors of India’, her solo debut exhibition celebrates the rich culture, spectacular crafts & exotic artifacts, great traditions and rituals of India. In her experience, she discovered the real India in the streets of old cities, in the smiles of innocent children running on streets, in the skilled hands of the craftsmen, and in the eyes of the people who are beautiful from within.
Dr. Kaynat Kazi kaynat @ chiiz. com
The Tulip Bulbs:
Shining Bright in Paradise
I love tulips. Maybe that’ s the reason why, when spring arrives, my traveler mind starts wandering in search of tulips. I believe, deep inside me there is a soul of a“ Flower Hunter”. Last year during spring, I was in Keukenhof, Holland, to see the world’ s largest tulip garden. This time, I decided to visit the Tulip Festival in Kashmir which takes place in the month of April every year. It is organized by the Kashmir Tourism Board, which was opened in 2007. One will be surprised to know that this tulip garden is the biggest tulip garden in the whole of Asia. The Tulip Festival takes place in Srinagar’ s Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden. Set at the foothills of The Zabarwan Range, the Botanical Garden spreads over 30 hectares of land, which is a feast to the eyes.
Over 2 million tulips were on display in the garden, with people from all over the world visiting to catch a glimpse of this beautiful sight. Kashmir, known as the‘ Heaven on Earth’, was once under the reign of the Mughal Empire in the past, so one can see the Persian influence on the designs of the gardens as well. The terraced fashion gardens were considered an essential part in the Persian horticultural architecture. One could see its influence on the Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Gardens as well. This garden which is open for a period of 15 days to the crowds is a view which will remain forever in the memory of a visitor. The bulbs which are used to cultivate the tulips are brought in from
Holland. As the festival culminates, all the tulip bulbs are color-coded and preserved with utmost care for the next season. All this work takes place under the expert eye of the floriculture department.
Flowers are nature’ s gift to us which refreshes our mood and rejuvenates us all. No matter what the mood of a person is, flowers can bring a smile on everyone’ s face. According to a recent study conducted by the State University of New Jersey, people who receive flowers or remain surrounded by flowers, experienced a substantial decrease in their stress level, they were happier and contented. Flowers are also the most powerful medium to express our emotions, they say.
The magnificent tulips cover a long distance from the great Himalayas to Europe. In spite of being the national flower of Netherlands, it is not a native crop of Europe. It’ s from the great
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