A hot afternoon but the lure and nostalgia of the Botanical Gardens had 16 of us traipsing there.
Well maintained, lush green and interesting flora apart from the Banyan tree. The mad tree with all the leaves of different sizes and shapes had us comparing the leaves lying around. The kalpa vriksh or the Baobab tree stood majestically despite having been struck by lightning. The curious Krishna tree with a pocket ostensibly for Krishna to hide the “makhan” from his mother.
The first stop was the Banyan tree with a tombstone erected where the mother tree stood before it was pulled down in 1925. Covering 5 football fields it was a goosebumps moment thinking of the witness to time and history spanning 300 years.
We went to Roxburgh a beautiful building, the residence of the Curator till 1977 overlooking the river opposite the Garden Reach shipbuilding yard. Behind the house a quaint iron structure was beside Roxburgh’s dhobi ghat and the iron shed was where the dhobi would press the clothes.
At the Herbarium Ashish presented the history of the facility. Did you know that Janaki Amman was the first woman PHd in Botany and the Director of BSI 1952 Onwards and structured the premises post independence. A fan girl moment.
Mr. Rohan Maity, who showed us around the herbarium and explained their work in detail. We saw the rich collection of plant specimens, various aspects of the specimens and their collection process,
collected by British botanists associated with the institution over two centuries. The specimens are pasted with thread or glue on blotting sheets and held in large cover files in these almirahs. The shelves are called pigeon holes.
The botanical drawings made by anonymous Indian artists under the East India Company’s patronage. These are part of the massive body of artwork broadly known as Company paintings which are in principle eighteenth-century natural history drawings.
A lush green wooded nature trail was unmissable but covering 2 Kms it will have to be done anon.
The BSI garden staff were gracious and helpful. Golf carts took us around, hot snack packets with tea awaited us at Roxburgh House. A shout out for Devendra Sir and Kanad Sir who are helming this place with such aplomb.