Opting for an early Sunday morning, when there’s less traffic noise, Sananda Mukhopadhyaya often leads a small group along street corners introducing them to the trees we share our urban spaces with. This Sunday, she sets out as early as seven thirty in the morning from Bandra Reclamation bus depot, making her way down to St John Baptist Road — a good time, and ideal route to catch birdsong, look up at trees without March’s strong sun leaving you squinting, and also before the suburb’s brunchers and shoppers claim the streets. Intentionally picking busy streets like Lower Parel, Byculla and Kala Ghoda over gardens or a national park, Mukhopadhyaya structures her tree walks to highlight nature in urban spaces. “The focus of these walks is to observe commonly seen trees, their behaviour, leaf flush and flowering patterns; and to open the mind to this space and make it a part of our lives and imagination, so that we are reminded that we equally share space with the wild,” says the arts-based educator and theatre maker.

Sananda Mukhopadhyaya