To get to know a city with trees
A few days earlier, I penned a letter to my niece, and found myself talking and writing about trees. Of the trees, I see as I sit by the window at home. It wasn’t how each had a different shade of green, rather, it was about the rustling sound leaves create which is unique to each tree. For a moment I was surprised to have noticed such a subtlety. It is usually the flowering trees and flower-carpeted lanes which awake a sense of wonder and beauty for me. It was only a few moments and thoughts later that I realised having been mesmerised by trees for quite some time now.
It was Ruskin Bond who with his tales quietly introduced tress to me and to many others. It was the Deodars, the Pines, the Oaks, the Cherry, the Mango, the Peepul and many more. He described them not merely with the bloom of flowers and fruits, but also talked of the birds, animals, insects for whom these trees were and are home. He talked long and in full awe of them as seasons changed. He talked of the trunk, the leaves, the greenness, the canopy; he animated their resilience, their generosity, their ingenuity, thus, turning them into one of the many characters in his fables. Someone as me though needed a further push - a not so subtle one to appreciate them from the pages of a book to the ones which I lived, breathed and was surrounded with.
Tree Appreciation Walks - an assorted group of people who love flora and fauna, though more keen on the former, was, therefore, therefore a discovery. And it was one discovery after another as I was introduced to the city I’d been living in for over thirty years’ through trees, shrubs, plants, moss, mangroves and so sixth. With several trees, I discovered the island city’s past: people who newly moved to the city planted many trees which reminded them of their neighbourhood back home; with some plants the onset of a season; through mangroves a glimpse of the future and the rich coastal life it nurtures; and with a few as baobab, lemon myrtle similarities of climate shared with faraway countries of Madagascar, a handful from South America and the continent country of Australia. I had to sit down (literally) to take-in the fascinating realm moss lives, flourishes and has created for itself. While it was the natives – the indigenous grass which is shunned as weeds, allowed me a peek into our collective thinking of how our imagination of nature and wild lean towards outward beauty.
It wasn’t to be acquainted with the island city that I originally joined these Walks. For I, it was to find a few moments of stillness from a city which operates on an always-on mode, and the other being, to get to know a few species of trees and shrubs, so that when I’m travelling alone, to come across a familiar tree or a plant would feel as stumbling upon a chum from back home - a wide smile of familiarity followed by the feeling of warmth even if I’m unable to recollect its name.
While all of the above very much exist, they now cohabit with the fresh intention of discovering the known corners of the city differently. See them, listen to them through trees - to get to know the island city newly. For the children who I accompany, it is the beginning of their foliage journey. For the curious elderly who I follow, it appears as they are being introduced to a friend again – a friend who looks different, its surroundings transformed. I like to think, a sense of how life – the city, the neighbourhood, has changed for the trees and as well for them which they find relatable. For the to-be botanists’, it is about function and knowledge. And for the naturalists and enthusiasts, these walks rouse the wonder and beauty of the living.
Now as I think back on the moment to have penned that letter, it wasn’t an accidental wandering off to the talk about trees, rather it has been a subtle love affair that has announced itself.
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Tree Appreciation Walks is the passion project of Dr Usha Deasi and Renee Vyas. These two tree chroniclers have yet hosted 109 walks in various parts of the city. It is their slice-of-life narration which invites more and diverse people for each Walk.
