This is the most beautiful time to be in a bamboo forest. Across 9 million hectares in the country, over the next 10 years, bamboo trees will flower--a phenomenon that happens once in 30-40 years. But there are no happy faces in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, where officials are desperately trying to generate awareness and funds to save the dying plant. Bamboo cultivation is a difficult process, and experts worry India may not be doing enough for it. After every flowering season, a bamboo plant dies. But the dying clump leaves behind seeds for the next crop.