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Sahir Ludhianvi immortalised in bloom: PAU names bright yellow chrysanthemum after Punjab’s iconic poet
The bright, yellow-coloured blooms of the variety were displayed for the first time at the two-day annual Chrysanthemum Show of the varsity, that concluded Wednesday at PAU.
Gul-e-Sahir chrysanthemum flower variety, in full bloom, during the flower show at PAU, Ludhiana. (Express photo: Gurmeet Singh)
Over 45 years after his passing, the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in a tribute to legendary poet and lyricist Abdul Hayee Sahir, who later adopted Sahir Ludhianvi as his pen name, has named a chrysanthemum flower variety after him, called Punjab Gul-e-Sahir.
The bright, yellow-coloured blooms of the variety were displayed for the first time at the two-day annual Chrysanthemum Show of the varsity, that concluded Wednesday at PAU.
Though agriculture and art seldom cross their paths, according to the scientists, the flower variety has been named after Sahir as they found its “buds blooming in a lyrical way”, much like Sahir’s classics such as ‘Main Zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya…’, ‘Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khyaal aata hai’, ‘Abhi na jao chod kar ki dil abhi bhara nahi…‘, among others, that continue to rule the hearts even today.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Dr Parminder Singh, professor and head, department of floriculture, PAU, said that the variety “Punjab Gul-e-Sahir” has been developed by selecting, open pollinated, seedlings of another chrysanthemum variety “Basanti.”
Legendary poet and lyricist Abdul Hayee Sahir, who later adopted Sahir Ludhianvi as his pen name.
“Of all chrysanthemum varieties having yellow blooms we have till now, this one has the brightest and the most beautiful flowers. The idea to name it after Sahir Ludhianvi was that of Dr APS Gill, our former senior scientist, who had started working on this variety decades ago. Dr Gill retired in 1995 and that time the work on the variety was still ongoing. It was completed by Dr Madhu Bala,” he said.
“The way there is rhythm in Sahir’s lyrics, we found the buds of this variety blooming lyrically, like Sahir’s songs and poems. Dr Gill decided to dedicate it to Sahir, who was the pride of Ludhiana and the entire country,” said Dr Parminder Singh.
It is an early flowering variety that requires 102 days for flowering and plants are 38 cm in height with compact growth habit. Flowers are “Korean type” (small flowers) wherein the disc florets are visible. The variety produces 88 flowers per plant with flowering duration of 28 days. This variety is best suitable for pot culture.
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Punjab gul-e-sahir: Flowers are “Korean type” (small flowers) wherein the disc florets are visible (Express Photo: Gurmeet Singh)
“We are spreading the word about the variety by supplying its cuttings to agriculture centres across the country as PAU is the main centre for chrysanthemum propagation. Those who want to buy its plants can do so from the PAU Ludhiana campus, gate number 2,” said Dr Singh.
Sahir’s alma mater SCD Government College, Ludhiana, also has a botanical garden “Gulistan-e-Sahir” dedicated to their illustrious alumnus, who otherwise was “expelled” from the college by then principal, allegedly for sitting in lawns with a girl.
Among his classics that raised voice against the establishment and demanded a society where poor and downtrodden were treated equally, were the lyrics: ‘Ye mehlon, ye takhton, ye taajon ki dunia, ye insaan ke dushman samaajon ki dunia, ye daulat ke bhookhey riwaazon ki dunia, ye dunia agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai…‘
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