S Adhil stirs gently in the cradle. The four-month-old sleeps enveloped by the fragrance of yellow and orange marigolds his mother Haseena Banu is stringing. Seated next to him, her fingers churn out ...

It’s 5.30 in the morning, the night’s darkness is still putting up a fight with the rising sun, he’s there. Busy. From his huge bag of flowers, he is separating mallige (jasmine) from sevantige ...

Street blooms: The Dadar flower market in Mumbai, on a recent winter morning. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint I am at a flower market in New Delhi en route to dinner at a colleague’s home. I want to ...