Caravansarai : Short Stories from the GT Road (03 - A)

Day 01

Date: 31^st May 2012,Location: Aam Khas Bagh, Fatehgarh Sahib

What is the Maulsari in Maulsari Hotel? (Gyan ki Prapti)

Photos: Author, Eucalyptus trees alongside the Approach road

It started rather slow, with the Bharat Bandh making it difficult to navigate to the station. Nevertheless we made it to the fastest train in India- Shatabdi (theee fastest train that got delayed by an hour due to constant stoppages because of the Bandh). 

It was frustratingly slow. But we didn’t realize that we should have enjoyed that while we could because the moment we stepped out the heat slapped us flat across our faces.

We entered the car that awaited us outside and by jove no one could feel a whiff of air inside, although the air conditioner was blowing away to glory. We unconsciously napped in the car till about 1:00 pm in the afternoon we reached Mauslari Hotel, Aam Khas Bagh. 

The heat and the sun were getting to me, this being the first day. When I reached the to-be-Maulsari-hotel and was roaming around the structure, I hadn’t anticipated the disorientation the heat would cause. 

But then I started taking data down, from my file, my camera to the pencil, the dupatta and the disto: it slowly started driving me crazy. Soon the gardener of the complex, Ramkaran Ji joined me. The old man was gracious enough to offer me help seeing how hassled I look. He carried my stuff as I took down data and checked the drawings.

Bakul ke paed trees at a distance

He also talked me through the history of the place. He said this used be much more jovial than the battered junk it looked like now. It was like a family evening outdoors or a picnic spot with a restaurant to facilitate the locals on weekends and leisure time. I could only imagine what must have happened. 

Maulsari : I learnt today the meaning of the word ‘Maulsari’ – it was the name of the most widely planted trees in the complex. It helped to have Priyaleen ma’am join us the next day, since she answered my question on what was Maulsari.

According the Pradip Krishen, in his book Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide (pg 49) :-

Saptaparni 

The Maulsari/ The Maulshree/ The Bakul tree is a middle sized- tree branching low and forming a dense, dark, glossy head. Reputed evergreen it goes through a somewhat lean patch in Delhi in the month of March. A quintessential tree of the Mughal Gardens where it is pruned and shaped to look like a toy tree. Common in Delhi’s Parks and gardens but not often used in avenues. 

Cheeku ka Paed

Where to see it: The Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Buddha Jayanti Park, planted along Saint Martin Marg – Chanakyapuri; at the western end of Rajpath, abutting Vijay Chowk. Most large parks have specimens. There are some large trees in the Humayun’s Tomb complex and in the Red Fort. He further mentions that “(it is) Widely cultivated in Inda and Pakistan but not much further North than Lahore and Delhi,” thus implying that the Mughal Gardens along the GT Road such as the Aam Khas Bagh/ Bagh-i-Hafiz Rakhna must have had large plantations of the maulsari. In its uses, he mentions “A traditional Ittar (perfume from the essential oil) is distilled from maulsari flowers.” Also many parts of the tree are used to cure various ailments ad have a range of medicinal and functional purposes.

We drank “Bael ka juice”, manufactured within the complex by the Horticulture Department. Sorry to say but the “Fruit Processing Lab” as they called the approx. 3m x 4m room was nowhere nearly as technical or fancy as it sounded. But for the primitive processing methods being used, the nectar of the fruit really eased out our irritated tummies… 

While we were exploring the exteriors- more like the outback of the hotel- we came across peacocks, peahens, weird (weird as in ones that I don't know of) birds, huge eagle feathers and snake skins.