On a tre(e)asure hunt in Chandigarh

While researching for a book on the avenue trees of Chandigarh, we were searching for a particular species of trees in the inner labyrinths of Sector 22, somewhere near the government houses. The hunt didn’t seem to lead anywhere. After trying futilely for about half an hour, we reached a cul-de-sac. We were about to ask a man ironing clothes under two huge canopies of trees and lo! there they stood like two ageing grandparents grinning their toothless smiles at us. The two magnificent trees were old but profusely laden with flowers. The blooms resembled that of hibiscus flowers but with a little difference – yellow overlapping petals had a violet velvety centre.

Our sole guide for this project was an older directory of the city’s trees. We had never witnessed such splendour before. Called Paras peepal or Portia tree, its blooms remind one of a Christian bride with her delicate veil. My husband clicked pictures of the trees, their trunks, canopies, leaves and above all their attractive blooms. These picture eventually formed the cover of the book. Those two trees, initially part of the Chandigarh beautification plan, are the last of the few original surviving trees of Chandigarh.

Our research led to numerous trips in the city over a span of more than a year. The rarer the trees, more exciting was the discovery. Another exciting discovery was Mahua trees in Sector 32. Luckily a chaiwala from Bihar who had his tapri under one of these trees put our doubts to rest.

I can safely say that every tree in the city now knows our love for them.

Navdeep Kahol, Mohali