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Christmas ‘blush’, a costly affair
With Christmas bells jingling in every street, the red foliage of Poinsettias has taken centerstage in the neighbourhoods of Mettuguda, Sainikpuri, Secunderabad, A S Rao Nagar and Trimulgherry that comprises of large Christian communities.
Secunderabad: With Christmas bells jingling in every street, the red foliage of Poinsettias has taken centerstage in the neighbourhoods of Mettuguda, Sainikpuri, Secunderabad, A S Rao Nagar and Trimulgherry that comprises of large Christian communities.
Over the years, the tradition of purchasing Poinsettia leaves for Christmas has shown a steady decline in Hyderabad. The plants provide the most important foilage during X-mas
A native of Central America, the Poinsettias traces its way to parts of Northern India where they are grown on a large scale and are exported to other States of the country for the festive season. Widely used for floral decorations in houses and on Christmas trees, the Poinsettia plants are said to be the harbingers of mirth and celebration. Hence, they are also gifted to near and dear ones on Christmas Eve.
Over the years, the tradition of purchasing Poinsettia leaves for Christmas has shown a steady decline in Hyderabad. “Holiday Poinsettia plants are known to be the Christmas plants. Maintaining a Poinsettia needs a lot of effort and care, which is why few people try to procure them.
Moreover, since these ornamental plants are imported from States like Kolkata, Maharashtra etc, they are as expensive as Rs 450 per piece. Thus, people prefer to go in for an artificial one which would cost them less,” shares Roman Ryan, a flower vendor in Mettuguda.
K Parthasarathy, a floral specialist says that the Poinsettia leaves are actually green but during winters, the plant sheds its hue to make way for bright red leaves that appear like flowers.
Eventually the colour fades away to the original shade with the onset of summers, which could be one reason why people don’t want to invest in them. “But one would be surprised to know that, once upon a time the milky white sap of these plants was used to treat fevers,” he says.
Legend has it that Pepita, a poor Mexican girl who had no present to give baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, gathered a handful of weeds from the roadside and turned them into a small bouquet. Embarrassed that she could only give this small present to Jesus, she walked to the altar, knelt and put the bouquet at the bottom of the nativity scene.
To her astonishment, the bouquet of weeds burst into bright red flowers and everyone who saw it was sure they had seen a miracle. From that day on, the bright red Poinsettia leaves were also known as 'Flowers of the Holy Night'.
Till date, many Protestants compare the red flowers to the blood of Jesus, who sacrificed himself to wash away sins of his followers and white foliage as a sign of purity in Jesus’ actions. To sum it all, the Poinsettias add a Christmas glow to the winters!
By Maitreyi Tadepalli
