Lalbagh designer Krumbiegel's descendant goes down memory lane

Alyia Phelps-Gardiner has been repeatedly surprised by the works of her great grandfather, horticulturist Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel, who designed the green cover of the city as well as Mysuru. On Sunday, Alyia was on a emotional journey as she walked on the paths of Lalbagh more than a century after her great grandfather first set foot in the botanical garden, as its superintendent in 1908.

She took part in a programme to commemorate the memory of Krumbiegel and the floral bicycle ride that he introduced in 1912. Along with the students from Shanthinikethana School and volunteers of NGOs CRISP and Go Green, she took a ride from Lalbagh to Jayanagar. Earlier, there was an outpouring of sentiment when children read out poems of gratitude to G H Krumbiegel. Alyia said she will bring her grandchildren next time to connect them with their roots.

For Alyia, the journey to India has been nothing less than time travel as a series of programmes in the last few days has helped her overcome the gap of four generations. She said she has been surprised by the Indians’ high regard for Krumbiegel.

“Recently, she has been exposed to his work and she wants to contribute her bit to commemorate his work,” Shanthinikethana vice chairman Sumanth Narayan said. “The floral ride was an effort to highlight the importance of lung spaces like Lalbagh. It is not just an ornamental garden. It is the result of hard work of centuries that we need to preserve,” said Kumar Jahgirdar of CRISP.