Ashok Kochhar – 
“Somewhere beyond right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there”
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, Persian Poet (1207-1273)
There are stories and legends made around enchanted gardens across all cultures.
They talk of plants with healing and magical qualities.
But when you look closely, aren’t all gardens enchanted?
They touch a part of your soul and provide a strange kind of calm, as if engulfing you in their peaceful surroundings.
Hamilton is known for its award-winning Hamilton Gardens.
I love the way they are laid out and taken care by the passionate people and their relentless efforts to keep it world’s best.
Living bliss
For an artist, visiting these gardens is living in bliss. The pristine presence of wonderful plants and trees takes you into a state of meditation.
You do not even realise how time passes.
I love visiting such lush green landscapes during raining hours and witness plants dancing with the raindrops as if they were awaiting a true moment of stillness of eternal dance and Divine nectar in rain drops.
I will end with a story of my recent experience.
Dampening Day
During the first week of this month, it was raining heavily as usual.
It was a dull day for photography; perhaps a day of rest for photographers.
I was repeatedly reminded of Chinese Scholars Gardens, as if some energy wanted me to be there to take pictures.
As an artist, you are sensitive to these indications.
I rushed and took these pictures of the Chinese Scholars Gardens and some other areas.
It was really worth a trip of dancing together with pure nature.
If the beauty is not within us how can we recognize it …
