I touched the Tulip

Of the many flowers I've touched, stroked, and held, the Tulip made the most impression on me.

I had seen a picture of Tulips as a little girl – it was on a wall calendar in my Nana’s (grandma) house. Looking up at the different colours of cup-shaped flowers, I thought to myself: they cannot be real; there are too many colours for it to be real. I was convinced that the picture was imagined and painted with many colours just to make it look pretty. Needed to sail (in my case fly) the seven seas (not literally of course!) to prove myself wrong, and now I know what the flower feels like too!  

I touched the Tulip. Oh the simple pleasures of living!

It was April 2015 and I was in the UK on work. I love castles and must explore at least one every time travel plans allow it. This time it was Arundel in West Sussex. Staying in Brighton, only a stone throw away from the train station, I spent the first night looking for best train connections to Arundel Castle. Then walked over to Brighton station to buy the tickets. The British Pound is a nasty drain on the INR, and I wanted to get to my destination cheap and quick. The guy at the railway ticket counter said, rather surprised: “It doesn’t get cheaper than this; you’ve managed to find the cheapest route to Arundel!” Why he wasn’t so pleased with my discovery, I don’t know - I was beaming

Like with every castle, Arundel has these massive gates and stone walls, long pathways and huge gardens complete with water fountains and all. Close to the castle west gate was a patch of Tulips – so many colours I had never seen before. They stood perfect – each single flower at the end of a green stalk, steady. No drooping to the ground like the rose or sunflower. Just erect and bold – independent. Instinctively my hand reached out to touch the flower. The petals were not soft and delicate at all! Nothing was as I had imagined. They were smooth, a satin feel to them but firm. I liked the way the Tulip felt instantly – reminding me of something I didn’t quite understand then.

Coming from the global South, tropical climate is all I've witnessed for most of my life. Schooling and college was in Chennai, and family Summer vacations were mostly in Madurai (I was born here), and Ooty was the only ‘cold’ place I’d been to by my 33^rd birthday. 

I recall being to the famous Ooty flower show one May (I forget the year). The magnificent display of flowers was refreshing - colours, scents and textures greeted my senses. Years later, still very naive, was when I realised Tulips do exist. My eyes scanned the colourful carpet of sweet-smelling blossoms, travelling over the elaborate and gigantic animal-shaped flowery displays in the Botanical Gardens to seek out the Tulip. It remained elusive until Arundel.

First impressions stay, I’m told. Spent a whole day among millions of Tulips at Keukenhof in The Netherlands last year in May – nothing changed. The flower remains its independent self – satin and firm. But this time I connected with this familiar feeling. 

As women, mothers especially, we have this dual quality of satin and firm. Kindness and boldness co-exist within the female form, and it is probably why simply touching the Tulip meant more than I could imagine - a lasting impression. I touched the Tulip; I got in touch with me.