Hello Dear Fellow- Gardeners ,
Resuming my blog after a very long gap- almost a year.
Some time back I chanced upon an amazing Bonsai artist- Manoj Kum.I did not really chance upon Manoj,but sought him out in pursuit of my own hobby of creating Bonsais via good friend Mr Satish Mathur,a respected and well known floriculturist of Delhi. It was a rough drive in to Manoj's Nursery through many fields on the banks of the river Yamuna near Lakshmi Bai Nagar in East Delhi.When I got off the car at the rather inaccessible Nursery with no sign board,I saw a fascinating treasure of truly amazing Bonsais and Penjings ( the Chinese art of Miniature landscapes made with Rocks and decorative ceramic figurines and Bonsai trees).
Manoj has been practising,teaching, learning and living Bonsai for almost thirty years.Manoj's personality of a simple, honest, tenacious and hard working man is reflected in his works of art art.He comes to his workshop every day on his M'bike to work on his Bonsais. Many of his Bonsais have won national and international awards by various Bonsai Associations.He has also been invited as an expert delegate at Bonsai seminars held in China and Taiwan.
Manoj suffered huge losses two years back when his nursery was flooded by the inundated Yamuna.He showed me the skeletons of his Bonsais which had been ravaged by the floods and how he was trying to overcome the losses suffered by him by putting in extra efforts.
I was so struck by Manoj's sincerety that I took it upon myself to promote his art among my friends and social circle.I offered to him the holding of an exhibition of his Bonsais at the Delhi Gymkhana Club where I am fairly active and have friends in the club's management including the incumbent President.He readily agreed.I wrote to the Club as long back as early December introducing Manoj and his extraordinary talent of creating beautiful Bonsais proposing a show of his Bonsais on Saturday February 11 and Sunday 12 at the Club's Kashmir Lawns which draws large gathering of Members and their guests for lunches out in the open on the week-ends at this time of the year.The response from the club was positive.
Manoj was given almost one months lead time for this project and he really worked hard.In addition to my friends and family, I invited the active members of the Delhi Bonsai Association including Satish Mathur.Ms Shyama Balbir, the Secy. of the Association agreed to make a presentation on the art and techniques of making Bonsais at the inaugural function.
The inaugural function was well attended and went off well.During the preparations and the exhibition I was most impressed with young Vinay Rathore who calls himself a "student of Manoj" and worked with totally selfless devotion and passion for the success of the Exhibition. Vinay is a bright IIT and IIM graduate working as Manager Business Development with TCS, and yet manages to find time to pursue his hobby.
The Exhibition saw many more foot falls the next day ( Sunday).Almost 80 Bonsais and Penjings ( about 30 of yours truly) were on display.It drew very good response from the club members especially from the ladies and kids. Although the exhibits were not on sale,a small sales counter was also put up in a corner. The sale was disappointing largely because the viewers did not feel sure whether they would be able to take care of the Bonsais.But it was a hugely satisfying event for me and Manoj also felt quite elated.
I am posting a few pictures of the Bonsais which were on display at the Exhibition for your viewing pleasure - one of the 85 year old Ficus Micro Mapa which drew the maximum admiration and two Penjing forest creations of Manoj.There are two other pictures - one of the movers behind the show in a relaxed mood when the show was coming to a close and the other of a 40 year old Bougainvallea ( a proud inheritence from my father), which is still in bloom!
