Rare presence.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The cold evening is unfolding smoothly in an “exclusive” gathering at the Italian ambassador’s residence in central Delhi’s Chandragupta Marg. Imported wine is being circulated among the privileged set. The highlight is a dinner buffet curated by a Michelin starred chef visiting from Sardinia. Indeed, the society people are greedily queuing up at the risotto counter. Meanwhile, a tree stands outside in the residence’s large garden, looking a tad smudgy in Delhi’s winter-time smog. The tree is short, its disproportionately vaster foliage hanging upon the stumpy trunk like a halo. See photo.

It is an olive tree.

The all-knowing Wikipedia says that the natural home of olives is the Mediterranean region. But Delhi is 4000 kilometers away from the nearest Mediterranean island.

The Italian ambassador’s residence in fact has 13 olive trees. These were planted in the 1990s under the directions of the then Italian ambassador. The seeds were brought all the way from Italy. While these olives make for an extraordinary Delhi sight, most Delhiwale will never be able to view these trees. One cannot uninhibitedly enter an ambassador’s house.

But one can always go to the nearby Nehru Park. A grassy open space in the central portion of the sprawling tree-filled garden is lined by scores of young trees, each protected by an enclosure. These trees were planted some years ago by representatives of foreign nations to mark the G20 Summit in the capital. Each tree is identified by a signage. The first tree in the row is a red frangipani presented by the African Union. The second is a (non-red) frangipani presented by Mauritius. The third is a silver oak presented by European Union. The fourth is a queen’s crepe presented by the US. The fifth is a northern black wattle presented by Australia. The sixth is a cockspur coral presented by Argentina. The seventh is a yellow flame presented by Singapore. The eighth is a chir pine presented by Russia. The ninth is a camphor laurel presented by China. The 10th is an… olive! From Turkey. The 11th tree too is an olive, from Spain. And the 12th too is an olive, from Italy.

Sadly, these olives of Nehru Park are currently too young—each almost a sapling. A viewer is thus denied the thrill of seeing a full-fledged olive tree. There’s also a regrettable aspect to the Italian ambassador’s olive trees. They don’t yield fruit.

But fret not. Delhi has a herbalist living in tony Gulmohur Park. Prithu Nath’s private garden happens to have four olive trees, and one of them does yield fruit.