You see, prop roots are the pillars that descend from the banyan's branches to anchor it, and the strangler habit is its start in life, growing from a seed dropped by a bird on another tree. The Great Banyan at the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah is not one trunk but a colony, a living cathedral spanning nearly four acres. I tell visitors it looks less like a tree and more like a forest that decided to gather itself into one ancient, breathing mind.
I know this because every Sunday for ten years, I have taken my notebook and sat beneath it, sketching the same root-arch I can never quite capture—it reminds me of teaching, how one sturdy idea can send down so many supports for young minds to climb.
#isl#kolkata
Jump in to reply — no account needed.