Day 8, Somreeta

Of The Aarey Road and The Ukshi tree and The Shankasur Rain tree and The Yellow Gulmohar!

In the early seventies, we used to travel at least once every 4 5 months to Chembur, to visit one of our very close family friends. The trip meant first, taking the 261 bus route from Shastri Nagar to Goregaon Bus depot. From there we crossed over to Goregaon East, using the foot over bridge.

All the times we have done this, I distinctly remember a chalk artist, who drew huge figures of Gods, on the road, just besides the landing of the bridge on the eastern side. They used to be very attractive and I remember being enamoured by the sheer size of that canvas. The one figure I remember clearly is of Lord Hanuman. The devout who walked past this, would offer a coin or two. My mother would give me a coin too, while my father gave us disapproving looks.

From here we would move to the Bus Depot on the eastern side and wait for another bus . Bus Route number 341, to take us to Sion Bus Depot.

From Sion we would have to take another bus, or sometimes a taxi which would ferry us to our destination near Diamond Gardens.

This remained a practice till 1980, when that family moved out of Mumbai.

The highlight of this trip would be the journey from Goreagoan East to Sion. Actually, just that patch which was called Aarey Road.

Even if one wasn't really watching the road, one could tell when we entered Aarey Road. There would be a pleasant breeze which would hit you, and then the forest sounds.. The swoosh of the branches of a tree as the bus passed by them, or the sound of the odd branch which had spread so wide that they touched the moving bus.. The sound of the crickets, ..the sound of birds settling in for the night, heard while on our return journey.

I had noticed that the trunk of the trees carried brown and white bands as markings. I remember dad saying that they were state property and hence the marking.. that they cannot be cut. Since then I have heard many other explanations about the same.

Years passed by and after the shaadi, we resided just a little away from the Andheri end of Aarey Road. The parents stayed at Malad. For me, the many years had not taken away the the charm of that patch of 'forest' as we travelled down that road once again. The lush greenery still attracted me. When the children arrived and it was time to go to Malad, I would remember to carry a shawl and then two, so that they could stay warm as the rickshaw passed through Aarey road in the evenings. Yes, it would be cold.

One could see boards sporting directions to the New Zealand Hostel, little roads going off the main Aarey road, all of the streets and the main Aarey road itself, lined with trees on either side.. in some parts of the street they would merge and create a green canopy under which the vehicles would move.

Over the years I have seen the thick green cover, become sparse as it made way for development.

Once the parents moved in with me, there was no reason for me to travel down that road.

Until 4 years ago, when the husband suggested we go out for a drive. The closest place where we could go to and which would truly be the balm for our stressed minds was , yes, Aarey road. Ever since, whenever I felt a little overwhelmed with the goings on in life, a drive through Aarey road would bring some calm to the mind.

And so it was in the pre lock down months of this year.

The main Aarey Road was still beautiful. Branches of trees still met in the centre of the road, creating lush green arches.

But this time we drove off the main street. Lanes, by lanes, driving past some paada or the other, driving past cattle sheds, old buildings...

It was here that I got to see the beautifully bright bougainvillea. and .the Yellow Gulmohar trees ( I do not know any other name for these).. In the light afternoon breeze, The gulmohar would gently and incessantly shower flowers on people walking by. The street would be dotted by these flowers and then the breeze would blow it off the road , on to the sides of the road. And as the late noon sun rays, mellowed further, as they passed through gaps in the trees, they would cast their golden yellow light on the little piles of these yellow flowers, making it a sight to behold.

Another sight which never failed to attract me was of the Shankasur Rain tree (thanks Amey, for identifying it ).. These were old trees. Rooted on one side of the street, the branches would have spread across the street and on to the other side. The trees had lovely feathery pink flowers At one place, we stopped to take in the beauty of the tree and suddenly we saw the tree being taken over by a horde of crows. 30 to 40 of them. On all branches.. cawing away... fluttering..

One more tree caught my attention on one of our drives. The tree looked as if it was made up of little bunches of fresh green saunf/aniseed. The green stalks of saunf that was and probably is still available at the vendors selling kacchi imli, ber or bor, whichever way one pronounces it) .. star fruit, and the kavath (wood apple). ( Kacchi imli and ber/bor sound way better than raw green tamarind and little red berries..no?)

I learnt that this tree was called the Ukshi tree. ( Biplov, thanks)

At another time, I found the street strewn with the dried Ukshi and they too were very beautiful in their woody brown color, actually appearing as if they were crafted finely, out of wood.

Such is the magic of the Aarey Road, which has kept me enthralled through the decades.

The lock down has put a brake on our weekly drives..and I wait in anticipation for a semblance of normalcy to return.