I have lived in gated and ungated colonies for most of my life. I use colony in a very loose sense and use it synonymously with neigbourhoods here. In these colonies, walking was as everyday affair as water shortages were (are). Unlike water shortages though, walking did not register to me as a community activity or a mega event until I started thinking more deeply about lives lived in various places. Conversations around water and air were arising from a space of lack, insecurity, privilege, and anxiety. We were always worried about water tankers not coming in, electricity available between particular slots, thick air smog in the mornings. But walking was never uttered as a concern which was endangered. It was in fact uttered as a medicine: "High BP?" "Walk!"
These colonies see their usual walking everyday. In the evenings, you would find someone or the other walking. There would also be morning people who'd go for a walk after dropping their kids at the bus stop. Some of these walks would become a catching up activity where updates related to family, office, friends, politics would be exchanged. Sometimes pavements would be involved. Many of these walks would be on a path around trees.
I began purposeful tree walks after meeting a couple of women from my colony last year. The women kindly agreed to share their knowledge with me. After that with the help of books like Trees of Delhi and Birds of our Neighbourhood, I have been learning about trees. But mostly it has been through libraries, tree walkers and walking in this city that I have come to gather some curiosities about trees.
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In today's post I am sharing the first snippets from one such purposeful tree walk. It is also a collection of what my random mind chose to click a snap of that day. There are only 10 pictures. But as you can see that there are many more trees. I don't remember the first tree we encountered on our tree walk that day. It was only after listening to fellow walkers and attending other walks in Delhi that I realised I never considered trees as colony members, forget active or passive members. They were always trees. Something that stood upright and green. Something that provided shade when we wait for the bus.
The walks made me think of how each tree had a personality, a voice, an action, a breath, a song, a rhythm, and even a walk! But all these things are also very human centric. Why am I seeing human associations in trees? May be writing about it will help me figure some of those questions out. It is certainly making me ask more questions, even as I try to share reflections about walks.
After nine months of pondering over these photographs, I re-read this pictures in light of some distance and fractured memories:
Light sifting though the leaves of a tree I don't remember now. That hollow in the air. The red mark on the bark of the tree is a common appearance. It might be something related to the local horticulture department. I can't make out which tree it is. But just near this tree is a Peepal tree that is growing on a Neem tree.
Black grills are bounding a small triangular park. Inside this compound, stands the epiphyte along with some Siris trees.
This is the fruit of Arjun tree. Until that day I had never actively spotted an Arjun tree. Even now I would not be able to remember its leaves like I do of Jamun or Mango. My fellow walker that day spotted the tree in a manner that is common to regular tree walkers - prompt catching of a gaze but without a rush like there are many Arjun trees in the world. She pointed at it but in the same stride also held out this fruit for me to photograph. Earlier, I had tried reaching out to her via the Whatsapp group of my colony to seek some advice about trees. Few members responded. Supriya is one fellow tree lover who responded. In the subsequent walks, she offered her knowledge, memories and experience about the trees on her regular walks of the walk. I miss how she used to point out to the trees, tell me their names, their characters, their scents, and the various places that the tree talking would take us. I hope I get to go on a walk with her when I am back:)
Sometime during April a sweet fragrance takes over this part of the lane. In summer, this dark green fence gets covered with orange flowers (no fragrance). I had tucked the mystery about the fragrance somewhere at the back. But it was on this walk that Supriya pointed towards the Moulsari tree growing nearby. It was then that I remembered small white flowers dotting the road in my walks at night. The tree that would make the street refreshing in the next few days.
There is a pomegranate tree near this stretch.
I was clicking colours in this moment. There is probably some play of light green, yellow and white here. These trees are probably ronjh. On the ground, there are a few yellow leaves or flowers. But I don't remember now if they are that of Kaner. What I remember is cars being parked in the afternoons and a red wall.
This is probably from a Siala tree
This is a part of the colony where I have seen so many people taking a long sigh and then take a longer breath in October. The heat is still very much intense that it keeps us sweating. Autumn is confusing. There is not much falling of leaves from the trees. In fact it is the Spring, that light and rushed period between February and March, when Delhi roads are brown and cracking with crunching leaves, that sees leaves falling. But under this tree, in this place, you can feel that season is changing. There is that almost cool sift breeze at 9 pm here. It carries a swift and sharp lovely smell of Shiuli, that flower which only flowers in this season. Supriya also remarked about the characteristic sweet smell that this tree offers that time, just before Diwali season begins.
I admire the shade that this canopy offers in the middle of peak hot season. Many times, I have walked for my work in the temperature of 45-48 degrees. On this lane, a jeep once stopped and offered to drop a walker to the nearest metro station.
Many native trees of Delhi offer shade during the peak hot summers and shed their leaves during winters as temperature drops to 4 degree. When designing New Delhi, one of the main criticisms that has come is that the planners forgot that the city does not need to be evergreen through out all seasons. This becomes especially pertinent when summer brings water scarcity and these much admired and loved trees of Delhi also thirst for water just like many residents who call this place home. The trees need water. All people need water.
The straight road at this end curves and I feel scared while driving here. Suddenly you have children walking, running, cycles and cars all coming or going or zig zagging. Sometimes it is also empty. This C curve bringing into focus a beautiful tree, who I have still not been able to identify. In the time period of November - March when daylight is decreasing, we have spotted a few peacocks and peahens roosting on this tree. The tree is almost bare and so you can see the nest at the heights these birds have made their home in. But this particular evening of April, we were hearing blaring horns from passing vehicles but also calls of koels, jungle babbles (also called as seven sisters or Sat Bhai/Behen). Leaves are strewn on ground. It's the season of shedding. Load shedding. New leaves are coming up side by side but its the crispy crunch of brown yellow leaves that draws the colour of the roads in Delhi.
And yes,
There were loads of insects. Such that we could see an enormous swarm over each other's head. We quickly hurried over to our houses after saying goodbye. The bites were getting intense.
This is probably from a Siala tree
