Updated On: 19 January, 2026 09:08 AM IST | Mumbai | Rumani Gabhare
Explore how trees shaped Mumbai’s natural harbour, and its colonial economy on an upcoming walk this weekend

White silk cotton tree. pics courtesy/wikimedia commons
Ever thought about the relationship between trees and ships? Led by researcher and curator Abhishek Khan, the Botany of Ships is a walk that aims to examine how trees enabled shipbuilding, oceanic travel, and global trade, and how these material choices reshaped geopolitics. The walk that will start at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan, uses opium trade and trees as a central case study to trace erstwhile Mumbai’s (then Bombay) trading history.

A small Hodi boat on display. Pic courtesy/Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum