Delhiwale: ‘Summer burns, but petals stay’

Amaltas flowers bloom in Delhi, offering a soothing golden glow amidst summer heat, with iconic spots showcasing their beauty throughout the city.

No doubt, the street lamp’s glow is brighter. But these tiny lamps emit a more soothing light, casting a cool, calming glow over the faintly smoky midnight air of this central Delhi neighbourhood.

An Amaltas in Green Park Colony. (HT)

These are amaltas flowers, in the first flush of their great annual blossom. Some of the flowers have already completed their life cycle and fallen on the lane, shrivelled and smashed. Among these pile of corpses, a lone flower has drifted toward the middle of the road, resembling an inverted star. It has five petals.

Delhi is an arbour of very many blooming trees. There’s the red of semal and gulmohar, the purplish-blue of jacaranda, the pinks of bougainvillea, the white of frangipani, the pale green of saptparni… The golden-yellow of amaltas tends to be more consoling. Perhaps because these blossoms grace the city during the most difficult time of the year—when Delhi reels under terrible heatwaves. As the daytime air burns with sweltering heat, amaltas trees grow dense with their blossoms. The best way to experience the bloom is to stand under a tree, and look up at its golden-yellow canopy. The flowers fall all day long, carpeting the roadsides in thickly padded layers. And yet, the trees show no consequent loss, remaining stubbornly covered with flowers.

Places apart, very many city poets have penned verses on the so-called “golden shower.” Here’s the ever helpful ChatGPT responding to a cue on “a four line poem on Amaltas in Delhi.”

Golden showers in Delhi’s glare,

Amaltas trees spill yellow air,

Summer burns, but petals stay,

A soft, bright hush on a searing day.

PS: The photo shows an Amaltas in Green Park Colony