The morning walk - Part One
This has really been a fantastic weekend. A great morning followed the divine evening. Vijay Thiruvady (Bangalore Walks) has been a fitting reply to all my skepticism about paying up for a morning walk. For all the financial sensibility that I have managed to accumulate over the past one year, I’d say this one was a steal! And, my initial impression of Lal Bagh has had a complete makeover (and they say first impressions last!)
The walk begins from the base of a rock (which unlike most rocks is actually a hillock) whose formation dates back to some three billion years, almost half the age of earth’s creation. It was on this hillock that a local chieftain Kempe Gowda constructed one of the four military watch towers (southern) which marked the boundary of what was to become Bangalore.
Hyder Ali after assuming the throne of Mysore planted cypress and rose gardens around this spot and this eventually went on to become a Royal Pleasure Garden. His son Tipu Sultan went quite a few steps ahead and added exotic tress from across the globe; in fact such was his love for the garden that all of his letters to his emissaries ended with the line, almost a veiled threat, “your sultan shall not be displeased if you send him saplings and seeds of the wonderful creations”. During this period the diversity increased manifold and the amazing thing was that almost all species from across the world not only survive but thrived in these gardens. A large part of the father and son duo’s love for nurturing nature is attributed to the Islamic concept of gardens being a worldly replica of paradise.
Moving on from the history and jumping dead bang into the botany of the walk, the lesson for the day was ficus & India. The fig or ficus is the most common genus of trees found in India. The glory of the Peepal among other Vedic texts is found in the Gita where Lord Krishna when asked to exhibit his glory by Arjun, among other similes states “…and among trees, I am the Aswatha…” The Banyan another prominent fig got its name from the trading community, the Banias who conducted their business under its glorious shade. The Bombay stock exchange started out under one such tree opposite the Town Hall of Bombay around the mid 1850’s, a group of 22 stockbrokers, each putting at stake a princely amount of one Rupiyah, from where it was pushed out. The traders then found another ‘roof’ at the Mira Road intersection, from where they were finally stocked out to Dalal Street.
The basic thread which unites these otherwise distinct Figs is the absence of any visible flowers. Such a drawback would definitely have had an impact on its ability to progenerate were it not for the savior wasps, the male of whose species actually die in the process of pollinating. So the fig that you and I eat is not exactly vegetarian, a million dead male larvae ensure that you get your proteins in full measure! In fact that’s also true for chocolates, which are glazed by the lacquer of the Palaash (with a few thousand larvae once again) to ensure that the otherwise matted finish doesn’t discount its appeal. And now that the Palaash has somehow manage to creep in, it would be apt to let the reader know that the flower of this specie is of a color which Amir Khusruo describes as the paw of a lion who has just tasted blood!
The walk begins from the base of a rock (which unlike most rocks is actually a hillock) whose formation dates back to some three billion years, almost half the age of earth’s creation. It was on this hillock that a local chieftain Kempe Gowda constructed one of the four military watch towers (southern) which marked the boundary of what was to become Bangalore.
Hyder Ali after assuming the throne of Mysore planted cypress and rose gardens around this spot and this eventually went on to become a Royal Pleasure Garden. His son Tipu Sultan went quite a few steps ahead and added exotic tress from across the globe; in fact such was his love for the garden that all of his letters to his emissaries ended with the line, almost a veiled threat, “your sultan shall not be displeased if you send him saplings and seeds of the wonderful creations”. During this period the diversity increased manifold and the amazing thing was that almost all species from across the world not only survive but thrived in these gardens. A large part of the father and son duo’s love for nurturing nature is attributed to the Islamic concept of gardens being a worldly replica of paradise.
Moving on from the history and jumping dead bang into the botany of the walk, the lesson for the day was ficus & India. The fig or ficus is the most common genus of trees found in India. The glory of the Peepal among other Vedic texts is found in the Gita where Lord Krishna when asked to exhibit his glory by Arjun, among other similes states “…and among trees, I am the Aswatha…” The Banyan another prominent fig got its name from the trading community, the Banias who conducted their business under its glorious shade. The Bombay stock exchange started out under one such tree opposite the Town Hall of Bombay around the mid 1850’s, a group of 22 stockbrokers, each putting at stake a princely amount of one Rupiyah, from where it was pushed out. The traders then found another ‘roof’ at the Mira Road intersection, from where they were finally stocked out to Dalal Street.
The basic thread which unites these otherwise distinct Figs is the absence of any visible flowers. Such a drawback would definitely have had an impact on its ability to progenerate were it not for the savior wasps, the male of whose species actually die in the process of pollinating. So the fig that you and I eat is not exactly vegetarian, a million dead male larvae ensure that you get your proteins in full measure! In fact that’s also true for chocolates, which are glazed by the lacquer of the Palaash (with a few thousand larvae once again) to ensure that the otherwise matted finish doesn’t discount its appeal. And now that the Palaash has somehow manage to creep in, it would be apt to let the reader know that the flower of this specie is of a color which Amir Khusruo describes as the paw of a lion who has just tasted blood!
Like other branches of science, botany too has its share of miracles, and none else but the good old fig to lead the pack. The Ficus Krishna is in all other respects nothing but the Banyan, however its leaf is joined to the end of the stem in a fashion that makes it resemble a scoop. A scoop for the Little Lord Krishna to steal butter with. But this is just the start, the real miracle is in the fact that the seed of the Ficus Krishna when planted gives rise to a ‘normal’ Banyan, but the stem when planted results in the scoop!
End of part one.
Next:
Bamboo Palm Pine Juniper Berries Kashkul
posted by Zafar @ 10:34 PM
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