MUMBAI, Oct. 21 -- On Sunday morning, a group of around 50 people gathered in a garden, their hearts aflutter, drawn here by one of nature's delicate wonders. After a round of hellos, they got to hunting and, within an hour, watched three caterpillars blossom into butterflies and counted 26 species of these colourful beauties. It was the launch of the Mumbai Butterfly Club, comprising a rag-tag bunch of butterfly experts and enthusiasts, in the Ovalekar Wadi Butterfly Garden in Thane. Started by Raju Kasambe, an ornithologist and butterfly expert, it's the only club of its kind in the MMR. "Mumbai needed a club like this," said Sangeeta Jain, a butterfly watcher who notes that there are clubs like this in other cities such as Pune and Bangalore. Jain shares some of the credit for the club taking flight, as she encouraged Kasambe to take the plunge. "It's only the second time I've witnessed a butterfly break out of its pupa," smiled Jain, who said she had reconnected with Kasambe, her teacher at a course on butterflies she had attended at the BNHS in 2016. "When a butterfly breaks out, it hangs upside-down to allow blood to rush into its wings which are wet. Then it waits for them to dry before it can fly," explained Kasambe, who believes there is plenty of scope for butterfly enthusiasts to explore in Mumbai. "We have a number of butterfly hotspots. The Ovalekar Wadi garden is one, as is the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Aarey Colony, Maharashtra Nature Park and Saat Pul in Dombivali." The Ovalekar Wadi garden was an obvious choice for the club's first meet and trail. The garden was founded by Rajendra Ovalekar, 61, a butterfly enthusiast also present at the meet. He designed the park to be rough and overwrought, ideal for the insects, with at least 138 species recorded here. "Where the garden is now used to be my family's paddy field adjoining the SGNP. Since 1996, we've made it a butterfly garden by growing varieties of nectarine plants on the two-acre area to attract butterflies. They have taken a liking to it. I am very happy to be a part of this butterfly club," said Ovalekar. Kasambe offered another nugget. "Not all butterflies are interested in flowers. Some feed on natural chemicals produced by plants, some on rotten fruits." Added Jain, "Butterflies are an indication of the biodiversity of a place. A lot of Mumbai's gardens, the well-manicured ones, have insecticides in them and hence have no butterflies." Asked if butterfly numbers have dipped in recent years in Mumbai, Kasambe said it is impossible to tell. "Documentation of butterflies on citizen science platforms has grown, so regardless of whether their numbers are increasing, the number of people observing them certainly is." What does the club hope to achieve? Butterfly trails, camps, talks, documentation and perhaps even a butterfly race, like the bird race, which attempts to spot the widest array of bird species in a day from all across Mumbai. With over 50 people turning up for its first meet, despite the Diwali festivities, you could say the club has already taken wing. The club's activities can be tracked through its Instagram handle: @mumbaibutterflyclub...