Mona Pingle, age 78 and a Ikebana Flower arrangement expert and teacher, passed away recently. She had a first master degree of Ikebana flower arrangement from O'Hara school of Japan and she was one of the founding members and president of "Pushkarini" the only flower arrangers club in Pune, India.
Indutai Tilak and Mona Pingle trained many students in Japanese flower arrangement. Her exhibition of Ikebana was highly appreciated and proved an attraction at the flower show held in Empress Garden.
Mona Pingle was a role model and an inspiration to a lot of women, florists and flower enthusiasts all over India. For her work in the floral world, on the occasion of International Women's Day she was honoured with the "Punyadham Award" recently.
"I was very sad to hear that Pune's first Ikebana master Mona Pingle was no more. I had a great pleasure of meeting her. I attended a workshop and demonstrations conducted by her in Pune. She was very charming and friendly and she spent a lot of time helping and teaching the students. I became a great fan of her style of natural floral displays. She will be always remembered for her lectures on the History of Japanese Flower arrangements, delivered in Pune's very prestigious Vasant Vyakhyanmala. Pune's first Florist shop Pushpan Florist located in the heart of the city was run by her father-in-law, the late Sadashivrao Pingle. Nowadays, so many leading florists including me was trained in their shop (on the job method). In my college days, I used to delivered bouquets for Pushapam Florist to earn my pocket money. Wishing her RIP", says Coordinator of India Florist's Association and floral designer Pandharinath Mhaske.