A Knot To Protect Trees
By Anitha S
25 February, 2014
Countercurrents.org
I am Advaith. I am 10 years old and live in the city of Thiruvananathapuram with my parents. I love this city because there is something happening here all the time- dance, music, sports, exhibitions and so on. A few months back my father took me for a dance program by Samudra where the dancers planted a jackfruit tree in the venue. I really liked the idea. That day I made friends with 2 girls- Amshuda and Vishrutha.
This Sunday my father and me went to one of the largest schools in the city- the Attakulangara Central High School. It is large not by the number of students studying there, but by the area. More than 3 acres tucked away like an oasis in the middle of one of the most crowded and noisy part of the city. I liked the atmosphere there with tall, old trees and a vast playground and lots of boys playing. I badly wanted to join the cricket team there. But I spotted my dear friends – Amshuta and Visrutha. They were busy tying a green ribbon around a tree marked with yellow and numbered 24. I ran to them and helped the tying.
Amshuta said she was quite lazy to join in the Rakshabandhan program this morning.But the whole idea of tying a Rakhi or a knot around a tree excited her. This traditional ritual conducted in many parts of India usually falls on a particular day in August every year. The concept is to tie a thread of protection around a person’s wrist as a sign of your love and concern for him . Normally it is a mark of brother sister relationship. Here we proclaimed the tree our own brother or sister by tying the green ribbon. Some trees were so huge that we needed more than 2 meters of ribbon to go around it. Some were so slim and young that it saddened us to think it might be cut. The rain tree marked 13 was planted under the direction of the Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal many years back, The school itself is 125 years old. We were joined by the cheerful and energetic 6 year old Niranjan. We all stood around the tree and it felt like being near a grand old grandmother.
The poster The Value of a Tree stuck on each tree was very thought provoking. Recently the Thiuvananthapuram Development Authority had taken over 2 acres from the school to make a bus parking zone and a shopping complex. The trees were then evaluated by them before seeking permission to cut them. This was when Tree Walk decided to speak about the real value of a tree. A tree is usually valued for its timber only. But this poster stated clearly that there are other essential services that a tree does which goes unnoticed by humans. But they are so much needed for our health and well being. They are actually priceless and cannot be equated with money. But it seems, scientists have done such valuation and the data is just amazing. The poster was based on one such data. The services that a tree does for our life to be better are Production of life giving oxygen, Reduction of soil erosion, Reducing Pollution and Providing habitats for many organisms. I wondered why they had not mentioned the value of the variety of fruits and flowers that trees give to us. I thought of this as we were near the Pasakka maram with its sticky fruits marked 18! It shocked us that when a tree that is 50 years old is cut, we lose Rs 32 lakh worth of all the above benefits. So how little we value a tree when it is auctioned for a few lakhs.
As we walked the whole campus and looked and touched each tree and felt its silent coolness my father remarked how they will select the 10 which TRIDA now says will be cut. Even I was wondering who and how this decision will be taken. For us, each tree looked so special and precious having grown unfettered for so many years. As the summer heat was building up that morning we felt so cool and peaceful under the closed green canopy. The sun rays that filtered through the fresh leaves of the raintrees and the mango and jack increased the beauty of the whole place. We heard koels and tree pies, saw 2 woodpeckers climbing the bark of the Grandmother tree feasting on some bug or beetle and also saw the green barbet in the Clammy Cherry. A Tree walk Uncle commented that the koel is singing in gratitude to the humans who are tying the raksha. An aunt there told us about the poem about Rakhi that the famous poet Tagore has written.
The love in my body and heart
For the earth's shadow and light
Has stayed over years.
With its cares and its hope it has thrown
A language of its own
Into blue skies.
It lives in my joys and glooms
In the spring night's buds and blooms
Like a Rakhi-band
On the Future's hand.
It felt good to think that the green ribbons on the trees were actually tied on Future’s hands so that the green brothers and sisters will spread shade for many more years to come. We felt that more trees and flowering plants should be planted in this magnificient school campus so that many more children can come here, learn and play absorbing the real life skills in the lap of Nature.
Anitha.S in conversation with Adwait, Adityan, Amshuta, Visruta, Niranjan on 23.02.2014 at Attakulangara Central High School.
Photo by V.Balachandran
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