Cities and Canopies

by Harini Nagendra

  Half a litre of hair oil of your choice (coconut or sesame)

  100 gram amla fruits

  One cup tightly packed curry leaves

  A handful of tender banyan roots

  Method:

  Wash the amla, curry leaves and banyan roots. Pat them dry with a towel and spread them out on a newspaper or a clean towel. Dry them indoors for a few hours until no moisture remains on the surface. Roughly chop the roots into small pieces, using sharp scissors. Chop the amla as well and remove the seeds. (You can roughly pound the fruit into small pieces using a mortar and pestle to remove the seeds if that is easier for you than trying to cut the fruit).

  Heat a heavy-bottomed steel or iron pan for two to three minutes. Add the oil to the hot pan. Heat it for a few minutes on a moderate flame (as you would heat oil for deep-frying puris, for example) until it is close to boiling—ensure the oil does not begin to smoke. Test the temperature by adding a single curry leaf—it should sizzle and splutter.

  Once the oil has reached the desired temperature, add the chopped amla, banyan roots and curry leaves. Be sure to stand away from the vessel as you do this, as the oil will splutter and can fall on you. Once these ingredients are added, the oil will come to a boil and bubbles will form on the surface. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the excess moisture is removed and the curry leaves begin to turn brown.

  Turn off the heat and remove the saucepan to a cool and dry location. Leave the vessel uncovered until the oil cools down completely. This can take a few hours. Then cover the vessel with a plate and set aside for three days. Strain the oil using a cheesecloth and discard the solid material. This oil can be stored for several months and used daily or weekly to oil your scalp. It is also excellent for a hot-oil scalp massage, after which it can be left to soak for an hour and then washed off. In south India, it is believed that these ingredients are excellent for stimulating hair growth, preventing premature greying and reducing dandruff.

  TWENTY-TWO

  WHAT

  LIES AHEAD?

  Tall or wide, spreading or stunted, flowering or bare-branched, trees support birds, insects, squirrels and many other varieties of life, both noisy and silent. It is because of trees that we can survive in cities; we may not have enough oxygen to breathe otherwise. They cool the city, clean up polluted air, aid rainfall and provide food for people and animals.

  But trees are much more than just the purposes they serve. They are creatures of our imagination. Trees are a well-known part of our most-loved books. Those who have read Shel Silverstein’s poignant children’s book, The Giving Tree, or Shivaram Karanth’s Mookajjiya Kanasugalu, with its layered conversations between a grandmother and her grandson under the shade of a ficus tree, cannot help but think of the tree as a character with feelings and personalities that are central to the story. When trees are in danger of being cut for a new road or a building, people tie sacred threads around them and hug them. Inspired by the Chipko and Appiko community forest protection movements, they form human chains to protect the trees. Some people even name the trees in their backyards and spend hours talking to them.

  But not all trees are considered benevolent and friendly. Some species are associated with ghosts and evil spirits. In times of war—such as the 1857 revolt in Delhi—sepoys used the trees for protection while firing at the British. Once the mutiny was quashed, all the trees in a 500-yard radius around Delhi were cut down and the buildings razed, to provide a clean (and safe) line of sight. Dense clumps of trees are disliked even today in many parts of the city, but for different reasons. As per surveys conducted in Bengaluru, people tend to prefer parks with some trees, but not too many—walking into a densely wooded park or plantation brings a sense of unease, of being unsafe, especially for women and children. Visibility is the key to safety in our cities, even in public spaces. This contradiction has been pointed out by many planners and researchers. We want trees around us because we feel more natural, intimate and at home with them. Yet we fear trees because of their wildness, unpredictability and lack of control. The darkness seems to hide much. Dense, green patches assume spooky and sinister connotations. Instinctively, many of us tend to avoid such places, especially if we are alone, and even more so if we feel vulnerable (as many women, young children and the elderly tend to).

  Some say our complex association with trees can be linked to our evolutionary history. The earliest humans evolved in a world filled with trees. Forests were places of danger where you couldn’t see what was behind the nearest tree. It was likely to be something dangerous—a snake, a beehive or a tiger. Areas without trees were either too cold or too hot and often too dry for us to be comfortable in, or to provide enough food and water for us. Savanna-like landscapes with some trees—enough to provide food but not too many, so we could have a clear line of sight—were the places that early humans were believed to have spent most time in.

  This theory is controversial and not all place their faith in it. Also, just like each tree is different from its neighbour, so are we. Some of us may be most at home in isolated, wooded groves, without finding them creepy in the slightest. Others may prefer more landscaped parks. Migrant workers living in tents in a grove may have a very different opinion on what they would like, compared to cattle grazers who bring their cows to forage under the trees. Whatever your needs and preferences, a city should have space for everyone to find a spot with the trees that they like, which provides them with what they need and where they can feel at home. At least, that is the dream.

  The reality is quite different, of course. Rarely are we, the people who live in cities, consulted by planners and developers. They decide on the fate of plants and trees with one eye at checklists and budgets, models and paper sketches, while they should also consider traipsing around on two feet, asking people how they would like to live. When planners or developers do talk to people, they restrict themselves to only some kinds of people. Rarely do they consult the majority of those who live in the city—in shanties, in small homes, walking on hot treeless streets, living on the margins and depending on trees as screens behind which they can bathe or use as a toilet, for food, firewood and medicines that supplement what they cannot afford to buy.

  We often go about our daily lives without giving much thought to the trees we see around us. A number of initiatives, in India and outside, are trying to change this. Tree walks are now held in dozens of cities across India. Experienced naturalists take people on trails in the heart of their city, helping them discover a world of trees, spiders, butterflies, birds and other fascinating creatures that they had never looked at, but suddenly seem to be everywhere. Tree whisperers help us get in touch with trees, thereby enabling us to reconnect with ourselves.

  Interest in citizen science is increasing as well, with people beginning to get involved in science research. The Urban Slender Loris Project in Bengaluru helps train people to look for the endangered, shy animal in the city. The eBird app began to be used by birdwatchers in India to record birds in early 2014. By the end of 2016, there were more than four million observations of over 1200 species across the country. This data can be used to track if waterbirds are deserting Indian cities as the lakes and rivers dry up. It can also be used to study whether the appearance of the pied cuckoo in different parts of India tracks the monsoon, as our oral traditions say they do.

  The nationwide programme SeasonWatch asks people to select a tree, observe it through the year and note when new flowers, fruits and leaves appear. Individually, this is a fun exercise to do that helps you get to know a tree better. Collectively, the programme now has information on close to 25,000 trees (many from Kerala, where a large number of schools participate in it). They can now use this data to answer interesting questions like the effect of global warming on the timing of tree flowering. Individual scientists cannot collect data on such a big scale. But we need to know the answers, if we are to make our cities more resilient to climate change. A usef
ul outcome is that people become much more attached to the trees they monitor, helping treat them if they are diseased and to protect them when they are threatened. A childhood pastime can turn into a life-changing activity.

  Other programmes such as Inside Wood, a website run by North Carolina State University, may not help us get outside, but can certainly satisfy our curiosity about parts of the tree we don’t normally get a chance to see. As the name suggests, this website helps you peer inside trees to see how the wood looks. The website has more than 40,000 photos of slices of wood taken from 200 families of trees, including fossilized trees from the hoary past, as well as the insides of modern-day trees that we see around us today. It is interesting to see the various patterns and shapes that cells inside the wood take. You can guess and see if you are able to identify different types of trees based on these internal patterns, like the specialists do.

  Trees in Indian cities are an infinite topic, endlessly engrossing. There are many more interesting activities and resources that we simply do not have space to cover. This is an idiosyncratic account, featuring some of our favourites. Whether on your phone or with a paper and pencil in hand, we hope these resources help you explore the trees in your city from a different perspective. And we hope that you will share with us stories and histories of trees in the cities that you live in, including smaller towns and parts of India that we are not very familiar with. We look forward to hearing from you. You can write to us at treesofindiancities@gmail.com with recipes, games, stories and pointers that you would like to share and those which can add to our own knowledge.

  Scientific Names of Trees

  Acacia: Acacia sp.

  African tulip: Spathodea campanulata

  Amaltas: Cassia fistula

  Amla: Phyllanthus emblica

  Ashoka: Saraca asoca

  Australian black wattle: Acacia mearnsii

  Bael: Aegle marmelos

  Balsam fir: Abies balsamea

  Banyan: Ficus benghalensis

  Baobab: Adansonia digitata

  Ber: Ziziphus mauritiana

  Betel nut palm: Areca catechu

  Bidi leaf tree: Bauhinia racemosa

  Big-leaved mahogany: Swietenia macrophylla

  Bilwa: see bael

  Blue gum: Eucalyptus tereticornis

  Breadfruit: Artocarpus altilis

  Brown top: Eucalyptus obliqua

  Buddha coconut: Pterygota alata

  Cannonball tree: Couroupita guianensis

  Cashew: Anacardium occidentale

  Casuarina: Casuarina equisetifolia

  Ceibo: see kapok

  Cinchona: Cinchona officinalis

  Champaka: Magnolia champaca

  Cherry blossom: Prunus sp.

  Chinar: Platanus orientalis

  Cluster fig: Ficus racemosa

  Coconut: Cocos nucifera

  Copper pod: Peltophorum pterocarpum

  Date palm: Phoenix sylvestris

  Douglas fir: Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca

  Drumstick: Moringa oleifera

  False hemp tree: Tetrameles nudiflora

  Fig: Ficus sp.

  Fir: Abies sp.

  Fishtail palm: Caryota urens

  Frangipani: Plumeria sp.

  Guava: Psidium guajava

  Gulmohar: Delonix regia

  Hog plum: Spondias mombin

  Indian beech: Pongamia pinnata (syn. Milletia pinnata)

  Indian mast tree: Polyalthia longifolia

  Ironwood: Senna siamea

  Jacaranda: Jacaranda mimosifolia

  Jackfruit: Artocarpus heterophyllus

  Jamun: Syzygium cumini

  Kapok: Ceiba pentandra

  Khirni: Manilkara hexandra

  Lemon-scented gum: Eucalyptus citriodora (now called Corymbia citriodora)

  Mahua: Madhuca longifolia

  Mango: Mangifera indica

  Mesquite: Prosopis juliflora

  Mulberry: Morus serrata

  Mysore fig: Ficus drupacea

  Neem: Azadirachta indica

  Oaks: Quercus sp.

  Olive: Olea europaea

  Orchid tree: Bauhinia variegata

  Palash: Butea monosperma

  Palmyra: Borassus flabellifer

  Paper birch: Betula papyrifera

  Peepul: Ficus religiosa

  Pine: Pinus sp.

  Pink cassia: Cassia javanica

  Plum: Prunus sp.

  Plumeria: see Frangipani

  Pomelo: Citrus grandis

  Ponderosa pine: Pinus ponderosa

  Poplar: Populus sp.

  Rain tree: Samanea saman

  Red sandalwood tree: Adenanthera pavonina

  Red silk cotton: Bombax ceiba

  River red gum: Eucalyptus camaldulensis

  Rose gum: Eucalyptus grandis

  Royal palm: Roystonea regia

  Rudraksh: Elaeocarpus ganitrus

  Sausage tree: Kigelia africana

  Sea island cotton: Gossypium barbadense

  Shisham: Dalbergia sissoo

  Silver oak: Grevillea robusta

  Shirish: Albizia lebbeck

  Sitka willow tree: Salix sitchensis

  Soapnut: Sapindus emarginatus/Sapindus mukorossi

  South Indian kanak champa: Pterospermum reticulatum

  Star gooseberry: Phyllanthus acidus

  Subabul: Leucaena leucocephala

  Sugar maple: Acer saccharum

  Swamp mahogany: Eucalyptus robusta

  Sycamore fig: Ficus sycomorus

  Talipot palm: Corypha umbraculifera

  Tamarind: Tamarindus indica

  Tamarisk: Tamarisk sp.

  Tasmanian blue gum: Eucalyptus globulus

  Wild badam: Sterculia foetida

  Wood apple: see bael

  Sources

  We have avoided citing sources in the text to make the reading experience more enjoyable. Below is a list of sources, including research papers and books. To keep this list manageable, we have avoided listing newspaper and Internet articles from which we may have taken well-known information such as locations of specific trees or descriptions of events.

  1. A Khichri of Trees

  Johnston E.H. (translator) (1936), Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha (Part II), Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, pp: 51.

  Nagendra H., Sudhira H.S., Katti M., Schewenius M. (2013), ‘Sub-regional Assessment of India: Effects of Urbanization on Land Use, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’, Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities (eds. Elmqvist T., Fragkias M., Goodness J., et al.) New York, London: Springer; pp. 65–74.

  Singh R.K. (1976), ‘Cities and Parks in Ancient India’, Ekistics 42(253): pp. 272‒76.

  2. Jamun: The Tree at the Centre of the World

  Araga R., Soni S., Sharma C.S. (2017), ‘Fluoride Adsorption from Aqueous Solution Using Activated Carbon Obtained from KOH-treated Jamun (Syzygium cumini) Seed’, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 5: pp. 5608‒616.

  Ayyanar M., Subash-Babu P. (2012), ‘Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels: A Review of Its Phytochemical Constituents and Traditional Uses’, Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2(3): pp. 240‒46.

  Baber, M.Z. (1826), Memoirs of Zehir-ed-Din Muhammed Baber: Emperor of Hindustan, written by himself in the Jaghatai Turki and translated partly by late John Leyden and partly by William Erskine with notes and a geographical and historical introduction, Edinburgh: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green Paternaster Row, and Cadell and Co.

  Meister M.W. (2009), ‘Exploring Kāfirkot: When Is a Rose Apple Not a Rose’, Pakistan Heritage 1: pp. 109‒28.

  Sawhney N., Satapathi S. (2016), ‘Utilization of Naturally Occurring Dyes As Sensitizers in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells’, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics 7(2) : pp. 539‒44.

  Wujastyx D. (2004), ‘Jambudvipa: Apples or Plums’, Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree (eds. Burnett, et al), Lieden, Boston: Brill.

&n
bsp; 3. All Creatures Great and Small

  ‘Eha’ Aitken E.H. (1904), The Tribes on My Frontier: Indian Naturalists’ Foreign Policy, London: W. Thacker & Co.

  Agoramoorthy G. (2005), ‘Disallow Caste Discrimination in Biological and Social Contexts’, Current Science 89(5): pp. 727.

  Das A., Sarkar S., Banerjee K., et al. (2014), ‘A Study on the Occurrence of Asia Open Bill Stork, Anastomus oscitans in Particular Tree Species at Nature Park, Kolkata, India’, International Letters of Natural Sciences 22: pp. 19‒31.

  eBird, https://ebird.org/home.

  India Bird Races, http://indiabirdraces.in/.

  Krishnan M. (2012), Of Birds and Birdsong (eds Chandola S., Chandola A), New Delhi: Aleph Book Company.

  Lal R. (2002), Birds from My Window, Chennai: Tulika.

  MigrantWatch, www.migrantwatch.in.

  Narendar A., Kumar S. (2006), On a Trail with Ants: A Handbook of the Ants of Peninsular India, self-published.

  Rajesh T.P., Ballullaya U.P., Surendran P., Sinu P.A. (2017), ‘Ants Indicate Urbanization Pressure in Sacred Groves of Southwest India’, Current Science 113(2): pp. 317‒22.

  Roshnath R., Sinu P.A. (2017), ‘Nesting Tree Characteristics of Heronry Birds of Urban Ecosystems in Peninsular India: Implications for Habitat Management’, Current Zoology 63(6): pp. 599‒605.

  Turaga J. (2015), ‘Birds and Trees in an Urban Context: An Ecosystem Paradigm for Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, India’, Indian Birds 10(3 and 4): pp. 85‒93.

  Urban Slender Loris Project, www.urbanslenderlorisproject.org.

  Varghese T. (2006), ‘A New Species of the Ant Genus Dilobocondyla (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from India, with Notes on Its Nesting Behaviour’, Oriental Insects 40: pp. 23‒32.

  Wilson E.O. (1984), Biophilia, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

  4. The Shaggy-Headed Banyan Tree

  Athreya V.R. (1997), ‘Trees with a Difference: Strangler Figs’, Resonance, July 1997: pp. 67‒74.

  Janzen D.H. (1979), ‘How to Be a Fig’, Annual Review of Ecological Systems 10: pp. 13‒51.

  Milton J. (1667), Paradise Lost: A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Peter Parker.