Morning Flower Market

Morning Flower Market is an original illustration set in North Indian Plains. It lies in the subtropics, where the climate is monsoon-influenced humid subtropical — dry winters.

Stalls are piled high with orange marigold garlands, in heaps and hanging strings. A cycle rickshaw stands loaded with flower baskets, its rider seen from behind. Tea steam rises from a small stall, and a cow rests undisturbed against a wall in cool winter light.

Why are the marigolds threaded into garlands rather than bunched?

Marigolds in this volume are not decoration for sale but ritual supply, and the garland form — threaded, not bunched — is specific to that use. A cycle rickshaw as a freight vehicle marks dense streets, cheap labour and short distances. Cool enough for steam to show, in a city where a cow lies unbothered in the street, places the season and the region together.

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