India, May 6 -- Across the road from India Gate, just before the domed entrance of Bikaner House, an extraordinary Pilkhan (Ficus virens) stands guard like a silent giant. Unlike the ornamental trees planted in careful rows across Lutyens' Delhi, this one seems to have chosen its own ground, growing out of the very wall that encases the building. Its roots plunge deep into the dome's roof, curling like thick serpents through cracks in the structure. The wall is splintering. The tree, meanwhile, is thriving-its roots spilling over bricks, slowly claiming the building like a lover unwilling to let go. Bikaner House itself is a palatial structure built in 1929, once the Delhi base for the Maharaja of Bikaner, now a cultural hub that hosts ever...