Mangaluru: From colorful flower markets to street vendors bustling with second hand clothes and other items, Mangaluru has many options for the bargain savvy street shopper. Nothing captures the flavor of a place quite like the local street market. The lively sights, sounds and smells of the city make these shopping destinations one of a kind, including the street vendors. Kudla has seen all kinds of street vendors- those selling bootleg music CDs, footwear, stuffed toys, new/used books, fruits/vegetables, electronic items etc etc-now we have new street vendors selling artificial or silk flowers, whatever you call them.
Passing by Lalbagh near Mangala stadium, you will see Ramesh K from Uttar Pradesh who has set up a street side shop displaying variety of artificial/silk flowers for sale. One of his relatives also sells same kind of flowers on side of the Highway near Kadri Park. The best part of buying these artificial flower/plants is that you don’t have to water them or care them with manure to stay alive. In the busy world that we presently live, we may not have the time to grow flower plants and take care of them. So in such situation if you are a flower/plant lover, these artificial flowers will surely satisfy you.
These artificial flowers are not new to the city-Right from our childhood we have been witnessing people selling artificial flowers and bunches on the streets which were very cheap. These artificial flowers were also available at local fun-fair/ mela’s and our mommies made it a point not to skip any! Since these were very widely sold across India, they became very popular and hence when people think of artificial flowers as: Cheap, Sold at fun-fairs/ streets, Widely available, Bad quality, Not washable, Cheap looking colours (not at all close to their natural counterpart),High maintenance,No minute detailing, Very difficult to shape etc
Not anymore- Now the scenario has completely changed. The present artificial flowers are of good quality, they look real, colorful etc. People have extensively started travelling to exotic locations and they have developed a sense of style and luxury. Most of the people buying artificial flowers understand the difference in quality and know the importance of these in their houses and offices.
Most importantly these high quality artificial flowers adds up to the following benefits, like High quality, Beautiful colors, Extremely natural looking (still artificial), Minimal maintenance (Just an easy wash does all the work), Minute detailing makes them very very close to their natural ones,Easy to shape as most of them are flexible/ mouldable, suitable for any area/ any climate/ low light…..the list can go on and on and on……
Ramesh carries a wide variety includes some of the most popular flowers such as: Oriental Lilies, Carnations, English Rose, Bud Rose, Orchids and many more. He says that his business has been good, since these artificial plants are most sought after by architects and interior designers also. The prices range from Rs 200-over Rs 1000 depending on the size and variety.
So if you are a flowers/plants lover, and in the same time don’t have the time to care for the real flower plants, then your best bet is to buy artificial/silk flowers- and if you happen to patronize Ramesh or his associate, tell them you heard about them in mangalorean.com. There’s a gift coming from them to me if more readers of our website visit them. Guess I will get a cheap variety of flower arrangement from Ramesh or his pal.
