It was an emotional day for gardener Budh Ram, who was the special guest of honour at the Rose Festival. As Mayor Arun Sood opened the car door, tears rolled down Ram’s face when he stepped out from the official car and found officials waiting with a bouquet to welcome him. “Those two hours as special guest of honour at the Rose Festival have become best part of my memories,” said Budh Ram. In the morning, Mayor Arun Sood went to Ram’s residence in Sector 23 to pick him up and had a cup of tea with his family. “I can’t explain it. A person who is part of the crowd and whom nobody knows is all of sudden surrounded by the media; officers give him a bouquet and the Mayor sir opens the car door. Isn’t it a miracle?” Budh Ram told Chandigarh Newsline. His work at the Rose Garden is what made Budh Ram as the special guest of honour for this edition of the festival. He gave away prizes along with the Mayor. “My kids couldn’t sleep last night. They were waiting for this moment. The honour has changed my life. Even when I go to the market, shopkeepers ask me if I was the one who was going to be the guest with the Mayor,” added Budh Ram. With five to six copies of invitation cards with Ram’s name printed as the guest of honour, his kids have been going around to show them to neighbours. “We have kept these cards safe with us,” said Kiron, his daughter. His wife, daughter and grandson Armaan were also brought to the venue in the official vehicle of the Municipal Corporation. Speaking on the stage, Budh Ram said his hard work had paid off and that this honour had given him encouragement to work harder. Mayor Arun Sood said, “Honouring Budh Ram this way is an acknowledgement of all gardeners who have put in hard work in maintaining the Rose garden. In fact it is their festival”. The Rose Festival, which took off on February 19, concluded here on Sunday.
