For my final day in Kolkata, I decided to escape the noise, pollution and crowds. I went to Kokata’s botanic garden. This was lovely and peaceful.
On arriving, I went straight to the Giant Banyan Tree. This 270-year old tree looks more like a forest than a single tree. It was extraordinary. The placard said:
It is more than 270 years old, being one of the largest canopy covering plants in the world. Due to its massive canopy it has occupied the position in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1985. To some extent, it has experienced damages by three great cyclones in the years 1864, 1867 and 2020. The main trunk of the tree was removed in 1925 due to a fungal attack when the circumference was 16.5m at 1.7m height above the ground. At present, spreading over an area of 18,918 sq m, it has a crown circumference of 486m. with 4208 aerial prop roots. The tallest recorded prop root is of the length of 24.5m. The plant alone stands as an individual ecosystem, supporting different life forms. This is the living legend and landmark of the historic garden Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden (AJCBIBG), West Bengal, India. 1st January 2022
Prop roots are branches that descend from other branches. They eventually root in the ground to provide support for their parent branches. They look as if they’ve grown from the ground up, instead of from a branch down. In the photos below, the supporting trunks are the prop roots. They haven’t been placed afterwards!
Here’s a video of the tree:
This looks like a forest but is the Giant Banyan Tree:
When I got to the Large Palm House, I expected to a see a large greenhouse similar to the one in Kew Gardens in London. Of course, India doesn’t need a green house to grow palm trees. It’s hot enough already!
The climate had changed for the palm trees. There were two researchers who were documenting the Palm House, which was over a hundred years old. I spoke to one of them.
Normally, when I speak to someone who’s not obviously British, I try to guess which country they’re from. With this person, I couldn’t put my finger on it. At first, I thought he was German. But then I heard some Irish and maybe some Scottish! Eventually, I asked him. He was Swiss but had been living in Scotland for many years! We had a long chat about beautiful Scotland (especially the West Highlands). We also spoke about accents. He said, at one point he tried to sound more Scottish but decided this was not sincere. He has, however, unconsciously adopted some Scottish expressions.
I used to have a thick London (Cockney) accent. It was like everyone else’s in my Inner London Comprehensive School. Gradually, at university, I lost the accent. It was not conscious. It got to the point where people thought that my remaining Cockney was put on whereas it was my original accent!
We both found it fascinating how our accents and grammar can sometimes change depending on who we’re talking to. Also, when abroad, you can end up speaking a condensed English where “inessential” words are removed!
Whilst talking, I was reminded of the time, many years ago, I heard a Black person from Glasgow. He had, quite naturally, a Glaswegian accent. It was unusual. Then, only white Scottish people spoke with Scottish accents. My researcher friend said he knows a couple who are of Scottish and Chinese origin. Their daughter looks Chinese and speaks with a strong Scottish accent, which surprises some people.
I’d never come across cycads before. They are ancient seed plants that look like palms or ferns but are not related to either. They have thick trunks, stiff, evergreen leaves, and produce cones instead of flowers.
Cycads appeared over 280 million years ago (during the Permian period), even before dinosaurs. They reached their peak during the Mesozoic Era (around 250–65 million years ago). This peak was especially evident in the Jurassic period. That is why they’re often called “living fossils”. After the dinosaurs went extinct, cycad numbers declined, and today they survive in much smaller, scattered populations. There are about 300 living species, many of which are endangered due to habitat loss and over-collection.
Cycads are valuable for studying plant evolution, especially the transition from ancient seed plants to modern flowering plants. They form symbiotic relationships with bacteria, helping them survive in poor soils. Cycads are living links to the prehistoric world — sturdy survivors from the age of dinosaurs.
I continued walking around the gardens.
After exiting the gardens, I was going to call a taxi. I checked Google Maps. It said a bus was due. The bus was going to a cafe someone at my homestay (Steve from the US) had recommended. I asked a woman standing by the bus stop. She said my bus was the one behind the one in front of us. I decided to get the bus. Since it has fairly empty, I got on. Earlier buses I’d considered boarding had been packed.
I sat down and soon someone sat next to me. He had come to the gardens too. However, he came too late. He’d come from Basirhat, which was the bus’s final stop. I thought I’d misheard when he said it was a three-hour journey back! Fortunately, my journey was much shorter.
We spoke about various things. He asked, “Do you like my country?”. He then went on to praise Prime Minister Modi. Modi was a strong man, he stressed. “Everyone” liked him. Before this line of thought could develop, my stop appeared. I jumped off the bus and headed for the Artsy cafe.