The Green Heroine

In the recent past Bangalore has witnessed the steady trend of trees being sacrificed in the name of infrastructure development. Crying ourselves hoarse in Freedom Park or on the roads where trees are being cut has reduced to a mere symbolic gesture. The numbers may reduce but trees are not spared the axe. As a concerned citizen are you not outraged at the loss of trees and the impact it has on the environment? Does it not frustrate you that your hands are tied in the matter? Are you nodding your head in agreement?

What we usually subscribe to and follow is a protest-driven movement in order to make a difference. We fail to understand that we can contribute in other positive ways which are just as meaningful if not more. A good example of such a positive movement is that of Mrs Suman Balaji (my dear friend Rohini’s mom), a resident of Padmanabhanagar. The word that best describes this mother of two daughters is ‘plant-lover’. Apart from having planted saplings in front of her house she is also responsible for the unique act of planting trees all along her lane! Yes, two years back, upon shifting residence to Padmanabhanagar this awe-inspiring lady planted all the trees in her street in order to have a greener environment. Among the trees she has mothered are the well-known Sampige, Ashoka, Badami, Night Queen and the Neem. Mrs Suman went to each of the houses in her neighbourhood and took permission to plant the trees. It has been two years and she still takes care of them like her own. Initially some neighbours opposed her tree-planting spree citing reasons like lack of parking space and narrow roads but that did not deter her. Her devotion is something to admire, she buys manure from a cowherd close by for the trees, shoos off cows who try to feed on its leaves and picks up saplings from nurseries whenever she finds time. An addition to the tree-diet along with water and manure is the vegetable waste from her kitchen that goes straight to these trees.

Another heart-warming incident involves kids in her neighbourhood. Once she caught a couple of kids plucking leaves of one of her trees, instead of scolding and shoo-ing them away as any other person would, she bought small-sized buckets for each one of them and made them water the plants while teaching them the importance of trees, thus combining entertainment and education. A civic body however was not impressed with her; it wanted to uproot some of the trees for desilting activities but thankfully they saw another way out.

On one hand we all know loss of old trees cannot be immediately balanced out by planting new ones but on the other hand we can’t deny the fact that planting trees is the only option we are left with! This lady has made her neighbourhood a greener place to live; When requested to share her story she initially shied away, thinking it was not important. She wouldn’t even allow me to take her picture! She believes that we must do whatever little possible to give back to nature. Little does she know that her small deed is in fact going to go a long way in helping the future inhabitants of her neighbourhood.  People like her are the true role models of this city; we must take a leaf out of her tree-themed book. She is one unsung heroine we all must look up to and hey! It does involve some dancing around trees!

P.S – That’s her lane and her trees