23-05-2025
A horticulturist bids adieu to the magnificent trees of TIFR
MUMBAI: For over three decades, Rajendra Gumaste has tended to the acres of greenery in a pocket at the southern tip of Mumbai set up by scientist extraordinaire Homi Bhabha. Now, as he prepares to move on to other pastures, he leaves to it the distilled essence of his years of work there, sprinkled with archival finds and curiosities, in the form of a coffee table book titled 'Trees of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research'.
'When Dr Bhabha got this piece of land in Colaba in the 1950s to house TIFR, it was mostly barren reclaimed land,' said Gumaste, speaking before the book's launch at the seaside campus on Thursday. 'Even though this was to be a den of scientific inquiry, he gave as much importance to nature in over 20 acres, almost half of the campus.'
When Mumbai was in its teething stages, sacrificing trees to make way for people, Bhabha was making space for the former. 'Around half the trees here are transplanted from other parts of Mumbai, including Banyan trees, baobabs and peepal trees,' said Gumaste. 'He also imported rare species like the Melaleuca leucadendra and Tabebuia rosea.' Today the campus has over 2,000 trees in 110 varieties.
The unmistakable star of this transplanting effort lies in the campus: a gigantic Banyan tree, one of the approximately 20 on campus, whose canopy spreads out over 6,000 square feet. 'This is not the oldest Banyan tree in Mumbai, but it is the only one that has been given this much space to spread its wings to its heart's desire,' said Shyam Palkar, assistant professor of botany at MES' DG Ruparel College.
Gumaste met Palkar, who is part of a group called 'Friends of Trees', back in 2024 on a tree walk he was conducting at TIFR. They became great friends, and Palkar came on board as the book's editor and added botany and taxonomy details to it.
Another feat of transplantation is one of the four baobab trees on campus. 'This baobab was transplanted from Nepeansea Road in 1972, when it was approximately 50 years old,' said Gumaste. 'The archive notes that Bhabha's brother, J J Bhabha, saw the tree being cut and asked the then director if it was possible to transplant it. Despite being an expensive endeavour, they still went ahead with it, with funding by Telco. There is a photo of the night it was being transplanted, with JRD Tata and J J Bhabha, looking up to its branches, a banner about its transplantation hanging between two trees in the background.'
For Gumaste, who began his role as the head of gardens and parks at TIFR—he retired in 2024 but continues as a consultant—the challenges of tending to the trees have increased over the years due to the change in weather, temperature and rainfall patterns. 'Every monsoon, there are a few tree falls, especially those trees that are not native to Bombay like the gulmohar and spathodea, and the newer ones planted to fill the gaps,' he said. 'It is even trickier over here, as this is reclaimed land, and soil does not always allow the roots to bind firmly. During Cyclone Tatukae in 2021, we lost 48 trees.'
Following in the footsteps of Bhabha, Gumaste and his 40-50 gardeners hoisted 32 of the trees right back up. Gumaste has also continued adding trees, preferring to choose the native varieties for a better survival rate.
A few acres ahead, the greenery changes shape and leads to well-manicured French-style lawns with a hedge of Putranjiva trees around it and flowers decorating the borders. In the centre is a flower arrangement. Gumaste explains, 'While the flowers in it change according to the seasons, its shape—an amoeba—stays the same, as that is what Bhabha wanted.'
Step another three acres ahead, and the greenery once again changes form into one mimicking a forest of wispy Casuarina equisetifolia trees, again at Bhabha's behest.
'This is a tree great for the seashore, as it bonds well in the sandy soil, breaks the wind, and prevents soil erosion,' said Gumaste. 'We keep reconstructing small gazebos here, as professors like to take lectures here, but the younger trees often fall during the monsoon and break them.'
Gumaste credits his band of gardeners with keeping Bhabha's dream alive. For the book, he thanks the contributions of Palkar, designer Neil Daptardar and two TIFR photographers Vijay Shinde and Jatin Acharya, as well as Friends of Trees and the TIFR Alumni Association. 'We desperately need to bring back that sense of reverence and exaltation of trees,' he said.
('Trees of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research' is available with the TIFR Alumni Association for ₹1,500)
