Cherry blossoms in aamchi Mumbai?

Not many of us would know that Shillong in Meghalaya, every November, hosts the India International Cherry Blossom Festival

Driving along the Vikhroli stretch of the Eastern Highway in Mumbai last week, I was thrilled to see the road lined with gorgeous pink-laden flowering trees. I thought they were cherry blossoms. My wife corrected me. They are “pink trumpets”, not cherry blossoms, she said.  Every year, from December to April, the portion of the highway between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli, opposite Godrej, turns pink as the flowers are in full bloom during this period, she explained. Tabebuia rosea, commonly called pink trumpet or pink poui, is an evergreen tree with a long, smooth trunk topped by a rounded spreading crown.