Queens of Greens

Amidst the unrelenting torrent of redevelopment and construction projects across Mumbai, five women well into their retirement years have been toiling over the preservation of a botanical garden in Byculla.

- SNEHA MEHTA.

You don’t expect a city as rigorously researched and thoroughly documented as Mumbai to turn up new surprises. And yet, the city never fails to shock and awe. Most born-and-bred Mumbaikars have likely gone their entire lives without realising that the city houses a botanical garden that has been hiding in plain sight. Turns out that the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo, lovingly known by most as Rani Bagh, is a 160-year-old botanical garden. Who knew?

A group of five women, ranging in age from 65 to 82, have spent the past 15 years not only ensuring that people learn about its existence but also preventing its complete eradication. These women—Hutokshi Rustomfram, Shubhada Nikharge, Hutoxi Arethna, Dr Sheila Tanna, and Katie Bagli of the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Foundation—have fought hard to establish the open secret: Mumbai’s largest and most visited public green space, with 4,131 trees of 256 species, is much more than just a verdant escape.