Flower
Power
Can you imagine a
world without flowers, on of nature's most precious
gifts to world. It would be a world . Flowers
light up lives and are here to stay.
With the mere
exchange of gorgeous garlands, two people are tied
down for the rest of their lives. Flowers also are a
great help in keeping up friendships, business
contacts, romance and a variety of other
relationships. Moreover, people have developed an
aesthetic sense for flowers and no longer insist on
the usual roses. Some of them are very particular
about the types of flowers and settle for nothing
other than the very rare and best, though they might
cost a precious dime!
For this very reason,
florists have also acquired an importance of their own
in our time. As Major Khadri of Shangrila Flowers puts
it, We are emotion carriers. The desires, feelings and
emotions which one wishes for others can be easily
conveyed through by flowers. " His statement
carries a lot of weight, for Mrs. Khadri's (the
Major's wife) first assignment of flowers was that of
decorating the banquet hall where Queen Elizabeth the
II was entertained while on her visit to Hyderabad in
1983.
After all, who does
not cheer up after receiving a bouquet of red roses or
a bunch of carnations. An so, right from the occasion
of birth upto that of death, flowers are used to ----
one's feeling. They can be from a paltry Rs 5 ti Rs.....
The upper limit cannot be ---- ascertained. People
have now become so familiar with flowers that names
such as Birds of Paradise, Carnations, Chrysanthemum
and others have become household words. But by far the
most popular flowers are still roses be they red,
yellow, while or any other colour.
With the advent
of modern forms of communications, the world has
really become a small place and this is true in the
case of flowers too. An hence it is not surprising to
note the fact that florists such as Shangrila place
order for the flowers from all parts of India and the
world too.
Mrs. Rajwani of New
Pushpam Florists say "There are seldom any
flowers left unsold in our shop, as we have ready
customers for all different types of flowers". So
flowers are now supplied for marriages, to decorate
the bride and groom and also the reception hall! to
hotels, companies of course to liven up houses.
After being
accustomed to the service of the florist, there are
many customers who only specify the occasion and the
florist is expected to provide the flowers that suit
the occasion. With the passage of time, a sort of
mutual trust develops between the florist and the
customer who remains contended to only pay up the bill
and leaves the selection of flowers and their
arrangement to the florists.
The peak season for
flowers sale is usually festivals and the New Year
time. Of late, there is a great demand on Valentines
Day too. Saying 'I Love You' with flowers seems to be
the in thing. The florists go out of their way to keep
the sender's name confidential. Relating one such
incident, Mrs. Khadri said, "Once when some
flowers were sent to a girl's house by an
anonymous sender, the furious father threw out the
flowers and demanded me to reveal the identity of the
sender. He began questioning me as to how i would feel
if he were in his position. Only after a lot of
cajoling and persuasion, did the father understand
that it would be a unethical practice for florists to
reveal the identity of the sender." this incident
reveals how florists too have their embarrassing
moments.
Behind a beautiful is
the immense labour involved which starts from the
grower, involves the middleman, the wholesaler and
other agents. This holds good for those florists who
have an organised infrastructure and for whom the
procurement of flowers is through a chain of agents.
Thus, naturally all these overheads will hike up the
price of the flowers. For the pavement florists, all
these factors are not taken into consideration and
hence he is able to supply flowers at a much lower
cost. But then
there has to be compromise on quality and style.
Despite this, the
footpath flower vendors are also doing brisk business.
as there are many people who do not know much about
flowers, but have a great liking for them. The
clientele of these lower class and the middle class.
As Naresh, a flower vendor says, There are many people
who buy flowers from me because they live close by.
Once they avail of our services, they are hesitant to
approach other florists because they know what we can
deliver",
Another florist who
sells his flowers on the footpath says that the most
important fact which people keep in mind while buying
flowers is freshness. They are not very particular
about the types of flowers. For many only roses spell
flowers.
In the backdrop of
all this, there is a new development in the world of
flowers. Visu Consultant has recently introduced Visu
is setting its sights on capturing the market by
making a bouquet, just a phone call away. anyone who
would like to gift flowers can just make a phone call
to Visu and specify the occasion and the budget
comprising of about15 roses to a friend in Bombay, a
sender would have to cough up a sum of Rs. 200 which
going by the present day standards is not a bad deal.
With its branches in
more than 20 cities in India and some world wide. Visu
has an inherent advantage. The moment an order is
received, it is entered into the computer system and
then transferred to the computer links in other cities
and thus, within 24 hours one can expect flowers. |
