The journalist who spreads fragrance at Wankhede

By K.R. Nayar
From Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai 

Journalists are meant to share news, but during IPL 2025, I met a fellow journalist who also spreads fragrance in the press box. As soon as I sat down to report on the Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad match at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, an elderly gentleman came up to me with a yellow flower. It had such a lovely aroma that I kept sniffing at it repeatedly. What surprised me about him was that he was walking around, offering flowers to every journalist in the press box!

 

Subhash Harchekar ... spreading the fragrance of love and affection. Photos by K.R. Nayar 

While he was moving from one desk to another, I asked the journalist next to me why he was doing this. He said that he does this during every IPL match at Wankhede as well as all international matches he reports on. This piqued my curiosity to know more about his gesture.

On enquiring, I learned this journalist was Subhash Harchekar. He is 79 years old and reports for the Marathi newspaper Navarashtra.

 

Subhash's champa flowers find a place on the lap top of journalists 

As a writer, I have read about interesting or strange habits of many famous authors. Murder mystery legend Agatha Christie envisioned the plots of her books while chewing on apples in a warm bath. French novelist Honoré de Balzac drank up to 50 cups of coffee a day while writing. Another French author, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, would pick fleas from her beloved bulldogs' backs until she was ready to write. These writers cultivated habits for themselves, but Subhash Harchekar — popularly known as Subhash — has cultivated a habit meant for others.

 

A selfie with Subhash during the IPL match. 

So how did Subhash get into this fragrance spreading habit? Offering me a flower petal from his bag, he explained, "Every morning, I perform pooja with flowers. I also visit Shree Siddhivinayak Temple and offer flowers. One day, I was coming to report an evening match. Since the flower shops would be closed by the time the match ended, I bought some flowers on my way, and carried them to the press box. When I opened my bag, a few journalists remarked that they were enjoying the fragrance from the flowers. When I offered a few flowers to those sitting close-by, they were very happy that they took them home. From that day onwards, I decided to distribute flowers to everyone in the press box so that everyone would feel happy.”

 

Subhash's flowers on the scorer's table 

It’s not just journalists that he offers flowers — he also shares them with the scorers, who prominently place these flowers next to their score sheets and computers. Subhash has been in the profession for decades, and since there are many journalists named Subhash, he is fondly known as "the man with the flower." Right now he is a bloom among reporters and is IPL’s messenger of fragrance.

 

Subhash ... a bloom among reporters

As the Japanese scholar and art critic Okakura Kakuzō once said: "In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends." What Subhash does is make friends through flowers, spreading the fragrance of love and affection.