Uttarakhand’s Own Story: Why This New Tulip Garden In Pithoragarh Is Not Just About Cultivating A Flower That Also Grows In Kashmir

Early in May, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat shared pictures of a vibrant colour loom emerging from the flowerbeds in Munsiyari, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand. The snow clad Panchachuli peaks could be seen in the background.

Those pictures from the Munsiyari Nature Education and Eco Park Center were of a pilot project of the state, developed over 1200 square metres.

For Uttarakhand -- a state immensely rich in floral and plant diversity and heritage rare and divine, the announcement of this project marked a new beginning.

Tulips, synonymous with Holland, barely fit in the "local" window in Uttarakhand. In the coming years and bloom cycles, the growing of tulip in this small patch is expected to lend more than just colour and beauty to the region which has been fighting the problem of outmigration (particularly in the pre-Covid scenario).

Pithoragarh being a border district, the value of such a small measure can go a long way in ensuring that people-strengths remain home.

The tulip garden is a special attraction in Pithoragarh as a destination under the ‘13 districts 13 destinations’ initiative being pursued by the Rawat-led government. On Twitter, its pictures got a rousing welcome after Rawat's posts.

The tulip garden seemed to say a simple message in these pictures: "Another opportunity in Uttarakhand realised."

Sections of the media were quick to call it the "Kashmir of Uttarakhand." The phrase sounds a bit oddly stretched.

Pithoragarh doesn't need this cultural validation for a simple floral addition. It has just turned global into local -- alongside Uttarakhand's efforts continuing towards preserving and popularising the local in an impressive manner.

Tulip, The Attractive Puller - Global to Local

Tulip has "an aura" which takes over other flowers that are more intricately and exquisitely constructed by nature. Its colours and varieties offer a bold juxtaposition to snow. These soft factors make it a perfect pick for a destination-related appeal.

Outside flower and horticulture enthusiasts, Bollywood has played some role in bringing the tulip farms and gardens of Holland to the Indian audience. Tulip farms are seen entering the context of romance, hope and life in films -- just as the mustard fields are -- in Hindi cinema's love stories set in rural India.

Then, the Rawat-led government has been persistently welcoming when it comes to the state's projection as a destination for filming during the recent years. A tulip garden could become one of the many tourist, filming and travel destinations within the state.

The tulip garden in Kashmir has been a destination for tourists for decades.

In India, two sites have been known for tulips before the bulbous beauty landed in Uttarakhand. One is in Kashmir -- known as Asia's largest tulip garden and managed by the Jammu and Kashmir Floriculture Department. The other -- the Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

This year, the bloom in Kashmir, and Uttarakhand's first, withered away without finding visitors and tourists owing to the lockdown to fight Covid-19.

And yet, and even so, something subtle took place in Uttarakhand's context.

The tulip, making a debut on Pithoragarh's soil, got a chance to interact with the regions' geography and to blend with the region during the lockdown period.

The man behind the pilot project, Pithoragarh district forest officer (DFO) Dr Vinay Bhargav would have wished though that his efforts got an audience.

It was the Pithoragarh Forest Division which took the lead in this model, with support from the district administration.

Bhargav seems to be a man of immense patience. With two pilot sites having bloomed before him after a roller coaster ride over 2019 towards the first bloom in 2020, Bhargav is sure about the one site he would want to now take ahead.


The Ground For A Persistent Bloom

The success of the tulip garden under the Forest Department in Munsiyari Nature Education and Eco Park Center is meaningful and not cosmetic or customary. The planting of tulip is part of the model initiated to encourage livelihood opportunities for the locals and to fight the issue of outmigration.

It is a small facet in the larger efforts from the state government to create self employment in the region by encouraging community-owned initiatives and models.

Bhargav has brought his vibrant interest in bulbous and ornamental plants to his wider work. He says that his idea of giving a tulip garden to Pithoragarh received support from Uttarakhand leader and former MLA, the late Prakash Pant.

Bhargav could procure just 7,000 bulbs for a small pitch at the Munsiyari Nature Education and Eco Park Center for a project he had conceived and worked on before it sprouted on ground. What he was seeking to procure was a palette, but what he eventually had to do with, owing to several twists and turns his project met, was a small crayon box.

Yet, even with the limited material he could procure, he wanted to do things the scientific way.

The bloom at Munsiyari happened in close proximity to another bloom at another tulip garden in the district. This other tulip garden - spread in and around the Pashupathinath temple, hosted around 20,000 bulbs.

This particular park is expected to expand to an area of 50-hectare near Mostyamanu temple in future as per reports.

On the other hand, the tulip garden at Munsiyari seems to be taking the journey of tulips towards larger successes, aiming for a long and persistent bloom run. This site has an adventure-marked and weather-challenged journey.

Tulip is one of the many flowers that has found soil here.

There are 36 varieties including the Ranunculus, Iris, Fox Glove that keep the beds and soil beautifully occupied in Tulip's post-bloom period.

The Man and His Mission

Popularly, such projects involve hybrid seeds. As per Bhargav, this moves people away, because the use of hybrid seeds requires repeated buying and expenditure.

He did not want to choose something that would require repeated procuring of seeds. "Pithoragarh temperatures are favourable for the bulbous flower. I told late Shri Prakash Pant that I would like to go for the Madhban panchayat area as the undulated space would be ideal."

Their seed of thought coincided with CM Rawat's announcement of developing 13 destinations in 13 districts. Bhargav thought of tulips as the destination for Pithoragarh.

Bhargav wanted to aim for 50 hectares of tulip growth at the Madhban panchayat land (a forest land). The corresponding cost was calculated. His efforts to rope in CSR support did not materialise.

In 2018, he happened to visit Srinagar (Kashmir). He observed the plotting done for tulips in the gardens there and got some clarity on Pithoragarh's elevation and flowering aspects and context.

In 2019, Pithoragarh under Bhargav presented a workable idea that had promise, colour, life and aesthetics. Soil, climate, the sturdiness of bulbous plants, slope topography, height and altitude were the advantages in Pithoragarh's favour when it came to the growing of tulips.

Bhargav's aim was to achieve a persistent bloom.

On paper, the tourism department was the nodal entity steering the work for the "destination" related work. This kept Bhargav and his expected execution of the plan, out of the action periphery. "I had the plan but not the funds. Others had the funds but no plan. Yet, I did not want to impose myself on anyone," he adds.

Luckily, CM Rawat showed his keenness in the tulip garden project. Unfortunately, some months later, the MLA, Pant, passed away.

Bhargav got a chance to formally present the concept to Rawat in 2019. The project was announced to the media and public.

Several ups and down were waiting to pounce -- including some not so encouraging reactions from people, who even called Bhargav's plan "useless".

He says, "I stood my ground and countered all misconceptions, including failure and recurrent costs owing to repeated buying of seed, in a positive sense. When asked, I explained the difference in the elevation of ground in Kashmir and Pithoragarh. I explained what altitude the bulbs start forming and many other solid facts."

The project swayed away to another (nodal) department. Bhargav got completely sidelined, but even a transfer order did not see him weaning away from the tulips project.

Then, Nature took over life events.

The Tulips Persisted Against All Odds

The 7,000 bulbs -- his material for the trial -- had arrived from Holland in March 2019. The bulbs started to show sprouts. Bhargav had wanted to procure a limited number of bulbs for the project to cushion it against risks.

He was rattled by the delay in the planting of the bulbs owing to all the hurdles he had faced. The bulbs had overshot the needs for Madhban Panchayat land.

Not giving up, he zeroed in on the Munsiyari Eco Park, which was under snow at that time. "We had worked hard on the Eco Park. It has a dedicated team which is out of this world. I suggested the removal of snow. Banjh forest soil, coco peat, and cow dung manure were mixed in soil. The soil was prepared in a raised bed." Germination was to begin in 40-45 days.

Foliage developed. Some flowering happened. The growth didn't happen much. The bulbs remained in soil. The bulbs witnessed monsoon. The foliage developed again --  after the monsoon. The bulbs remained in the soil and saw the winter of 2019.

They had witnessed the monsoon and the winter -- until march 2020.

Bhargav was convinced that the bulbs have life in them. Fencing was done to protect the bulbs from wild boars and langurs.

After the snow melted in March 2020, foliage developed in April. The bloom spurted. It was in a premature stage. Then came hail -- the potential spoiler specific to the region, but the tulips withstood it.

The bulbs went through several stresses. This was one of the many riding factors for Bhargav's success. The flower got strong foliage and a strong bloom. Parade -- the tulip in red; Denmark -- in its energetic blend of red and yellow; White proud -- as proud as the snow peaks in the background, and others, warmed up to their new home.

Bhargav received breathtaking photographs of the flowering twice on his phone from the Centre site. The view he had imagined was still not in those pictures though.

Then, one day, the clouds disappeared. Tulips in the front and Panchachuli peaks in the background. Bhargav's ideal view. That perfect view had arrived.

Bhargav gives the credit of success to a committee of locally trained but unemployed youth managing the Munsiyari Nature Education and Eco Park Center. It is chaired by Brijesh Dharmshaktu, who was instrumental in shaping the journey of the tulip bulbs through the various ups and downs.

Bhargav says that at the cost of Rs 1,36,000, it was worth the efforts and the twists and curves involved in the project.

Next: he hopes to extend the material to 1 lakh bulbs, and the canvas, to anywhere between 30-70 hectares if he gets the support. The persistence of the bulbous plant seems to have rubbed Bhargav in the right manner.

The nation is fighting Covid-19. The sight of the tulip garden on CM Rawat’s timeline managed to spread some cheer amid the worry and gloom sprawling over social media.

In a post-Covid scenario, its advantages would lie, solely, with the people of Pithoragarh.