A drenched Saturday morning at the Indian Botanic Garden, Shibpur, looks very much like a dense forest. And there I was, all geared for a “treasure hunt” amid the unknown green expanse. I was among a small bunch of adventure-seekers who had turned up at the botanic garden around 11am on September 21 to sniff out goodies scattered on the premises by Bloomsbury India for a unique promotional venture to launch Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert’s sixth book, The Signature of All Things. Our treasure? Brand new copies of the book that hadn’t even hit the shelves yet!

As we warmed-up for the hunt, three enthusiastic visitors joined in. Our host, Anurima Roy, senior manager, marketing, and head of publicity at Bloomsbury India, started us off with the first clue — that the path to the right of the enclosed great banyan tree was rich in “treasures”.

Just five minutes into the hunt, we heard cries of victory from Anangsha Pathak, a Class XII student of Loreto House, who was the first to locate a copy of The Signature of All Things behind a protracted root of the great banyan.

The visitors who had joined us weren’t far behind. IBM professional Amit Prabhakar was the second one to locate two copies hidden in shrubs diagonal to the banyan enclosure. As we approached the lake, other contestants — me included — started getting worried. Where were those darn books? How come others kept finding them?

Patha Bhavan student Roddur Mitra was the third successful treasure hunter, managing to locate not one but two books in the lake area.

Adventurous spirit soaring and adrenaline pumping, I continued to search through shrubs, bushes and tree trunks. But to no avail.

All was not lost, though. Rewarding our “spirit of participation” (and all that perspiration, I’m sure) all of us were given a copy of the new book, along with a Bloomsbury bag, coasters and a copy of Gilbert’s 2006 blockbuster novel Eat Pray Love. The two fastest treasure hunters also received a copy each of Gilbert’s Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage.

I came back eager to dive into Gilbert’s big new book for the many treasures it’s sure to hold.

The treasure: In The Signature of All Things (Rs 599), Elizabeth Gilbert takes her readers to the then-unknown world of botany and mysterious world of evolution. Born in 1800, Alma Whittaker’s father is a botanical explorer and a deck hand on HMS Resolution. Her mother is proficient in five living languages and two dead ones. Growing up with an independent mind, her quest for knowledge introduces Alma to the world of botany and leads her into its evolutionary mysteries, particularly moss. But her love for a man draws her in the opposite direction of spirituality and divinity. The book was released worldwide on October 1.

“We don’t really get a chance to come to the botanic garden often. The treasure hunt was amazing since we had to look through trees and shrubs, so coming first was so special!” —Anangsha Pathak, Class XII, Loreto House

“I had just come to visit the botanic garden on a Saturday morning, so getting pulled into the treasure hunt was a surprise. And being the second one to find a book after all the running around was just awesome
— Amit Prabhakar, IBM professional

t2 joins a ‘signature’ literary treasure hunt at the indian botanic garden