the ₹600 bouquet that costs ₹3,000 a year

A decent bouquet from a good florist in Delhi NCR runs ₹600 to ₹1,200. Say ₹600, to be kind to the argument. Buy one five times a year — an anniversary, a birthday, two apologies and one Tuesday when it seemed like a good idea — and that is ₹3,000 a year, every year, on objects with a six-day service life.

Nobody adds this up. Each individual bouquet is small enough not to notice, which is exactly how a subscription works. The difference is that this one was never signed up for and never ends.

The arithmetic, done properly

• Fresh bouquet, mid-range: ₹600. Lasts four to six days in Indian summer, less if the AC is off.
• Five a year: ₹3,000.
• Over five years: ₹15,000, and nothing to show for it.
• The large handmade bouquet: ₹2,999, once.

This is not an argument that fresh flowers are a waste of money. They are not — the wilting is part of what they mean. A thing that dies in a week is a way of saying this moment, not forever, and sometimes that is exactly right.

It is an argument about which of those two things you are buying on an anniversary, because an anniversary is the one occasion where forever is the entire point and the traditional gift for it dies on Sunday.

What ₹2,999 is

Twelve or more stems, mixed, about 40cm across, wrapped and tied. Colours made to your brief — if her flat is all white and brass, it is made in whites and creams, and you say so in the order notes.

It takes two to three days to make, because it is being twisted by hand, one stem at a time, after you order it. It is not sitting in a warehouse.

The part nobody says out loud

You are not only buying an object. You are buying being the person who gave that. A fresh bouquet says I remembered, and then it is in the bin by Sunday and the remembering goes with it. This one is on the sideboard in March, when nothing is happening and nobody is celebrating anything, still saying it.

That is the whole difference and it is worth being honest about: the flowers are the same argument either way. Only the duration changes.

If the date is fixed

Count backwards. Two to three days to make. Then 1–2 days to arrive in Delhi NCR, 3–5 anywhere else in India. Order eight days out if the anniversary is the plan and not a surprise you can move.

Shipping is a flat ₹49. Made to order in Gurgaon.