I had been hearing about Baldha Garden for a while. I kept telling my friend Shahidul Islam Shamim that we should go, but somehow it never happened. Then one day I saw that the Udbhid Chottor group was planning a visit there. They had taken people to the Mirpur Botanical Garden the time before, but by the time I saw that post the final list was already made and there was nothing I could do. This time, by Allah’s grace, I got lucky. Shamim and I agreed straight away and I commented on the post saying we wanted to go. A little later our names showed up on the selected list. I was really happy. I wanted to bring a few more friends along, but the group had already got as many people as they wanted and closed the post. A bit sad, but it was out of my hands. Anyway, now there was nothing left but to wait for the day.
At the gate
Friday finally came and we set off for Baldha Garden. We had been told 9 a.m. and we got there at 8:30. As soon as we reached the gate I caught the smell of Buddha coconut (Pterygota alata) and looked up over the wall of Cybele. Sure enough, a huge Buddha coconut tree stood there, and the scent of its flowers hung over the whole street. Baldha Garden actually has two parts. One is Cybele, which is open to everyone. Anyone can buy a ticket and walk in. The smaller part is Psyche, and that one is protected. Before going I had read a post by Asma Annesha ma’am that explained all of this really well, and it helped a lot. Looking toward the main gate of Cybele I spotted a raj ashok (Amherstia nobilis), a tree I had wanted to see for a long time. Over the wall of Psyche my eyes landed on another huge tree whose fruits looked like big pointed gourds. It was a Burma shimul, also called white silk cotton (Ceiba pentandra).
We had time to kill, so Shamim and I walked once around the outside of Psyche. You can’t see much from outside, but one tree caught my eye. At first I called it an ashok, though I was fairly sure it was some kind of ashok and not the ashok itself. Later, inside Psyche, I learned its name: swarna ashok (Saraca thaipingensis). After walking all the way around I realised Psyche isn’t a very big place. Then we came back and stood at the gate again. It still wasn’t nine.
Then came the first shock. We stood there and stood there. Nobody. Not one familiar face. Every time someone walked up I thought, this must be someone from Udbhid Chottor. But no…
Around nine a few older people gathered at the gate and I thought they might be with us. Then they walked in as well. Now we were in real trouble. We didn’t even have a phone number to call. Shamim said we should have taken the number the day before, that was our mistake. We went back and forth about what to do. I opened the Udbhid Chottor group and looked at the photos of the event managers, Asma Annesha ma’am, Zayed Farid sir and Aloka Haldar ma’am, again and again so I would recognise them. It didn’t help. There was one man standing outside who looked a bit like Zayed sir. I told Shamim to be brave and ask if he was with us. Shamim went up to him. “Bhai, are you from Udbhid Chottor?” He said, “Udbhid Chottor? What’s that? I’m waiting for a friend.” Great. Now what?
Questions started going round in my head. Had we really come this close to Baldha Garden only to go home again? I kept saying to Shamim, “Bhai, do something.” Every time he gave me the same answer. “What can I do?” After a while another man came out through the gate, and I started pushing Shamim to ask again. This time he was annoyed with me. “What’s all this? Go and ask him yourself.” In the end it was still Shamim who went. “Bhai, have you come with Udbhid Chottor?” When he said yes I could finally breathe. Alhamdulillah, we had found someone! So we were going into Baldha Garden after all. Riaz Roni bhai was the first person we talked to.
Inside Psyche
They opened the gate of Psyche for us. What a place. Right inside I saw behesht-er bulbul, the peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii). Then, the more I looked around, the more amazed I was. I loved the water lilies most of all. White water lily (Nymphaea pubescens), blue water lily (Nymphaea nouchali), Cape blue water lily (Nymphaea capensis) and red water lily (Nymphaea rubra), all in one place. Just looking at them made me happy.
As we went further in, every new plant made me more excited. There was a cage with a collection of orchids, and I managed to get a photo of one whose name I still don’t know.
Psyche really surprised me. Most of the plants were new to me, and even the familiar ones were there in several varieties. I had no idea a basak, the Malabar nut (Adhatoda vasica), could grow into such a big tree. The cycad collection was great too. I kept writing down the names of new plants and the list just kept growing. When we had gone around the whole area, we all headed to Cybele.
In Cybele
Walking into Cybele was a relief in a way, because at least some of the plants were familiar. I saw quite a few basket badam trees (Sterculia foetida) in both Cybele and Psyche. I didn’t expect to find padauk (Pterocarpus indicus) here either. At the far end of Cybele there was a camellia (Camellia japonica) and an African tulip tree, rudra palash (Spathodea campanulata), growing side by side.
On the way back we were walking past the old room where poets once sat and wrote, and suddenly someone opened it up for us. I couldn’t believe it. If I had come on my own that would never have happened. We all went up, took photos and talked for a long time.
Goodbye, but not the last one
Then it was time to leave. Everyone gathered at the gate. Just as we were about to say goodbye, someone said there was a light lunch arranged and we should all come to Fakruddin. So we went and had a good meal. After that it really was time to go. I don’t know why, but after all the shocks of that morning I half wished for one more, something that would let me stay with them a little longer. People who had been strangers a few hours earlier felt like friends. I said goodbye to everyone and left, but in my mind it wasn’t the last goodbye. We’ll meet again on the next trip, insha’Allah.
Plants I saw that day
- Buddha coconut (Pterygota alata)
- White silk cotton or Burma shimul (Ceiba pentandra)
- Peace lily, behesht-er bulbul (Spathiphyllum wallisii)
- White water lily (Nymphaea pubescens)
- Blue water lily (Nymphaea nouchali)
- Cape blue water lily (Nymphaea capensis)
- Red water lily (Nymphaea rubra)
- Raj ashok, pride of Burma (Amherstia nobilis)
- Swarna ashok (Saraca thaipingensis)
- Basak, Malabar nut (Adhatoda vasica)
- Basket badam (Sterculia foetida)
- Padauk (Pterocarpus indicus)
- Camellia (Camellia japonica)
- African tulip tree, rudra palash (Spathodea campanulata)
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