The above mid-day view of a wooded area around three buildings in a campus obliterated the view of the buildings. The lung space created around the buildings, where people live or work brought some thoughts to mind.
There are old trees of many years of heritage. There are young trees, shrubs, recently planted saplings and lawns in the spaces around the buildings.
The process of filling the open space with trees is an on going process. One gardener told me that the approach is to cover the soil, lest the soil in the sunshine gets depleted of its moisture and reducing the ground water source.
He was mindful of the soil.
This attitude of mindfulness has increased the green coverage of the campus with better plans for harvesting the rain water to increase the ground water reserve. The recycled water is what is used for watering the garden. A bird watcher mentioned to me that there might be over hundred species of birds resident in the woods around the campus and hundreds more who use the space as flight stations. The waste management in this campus is so efficient that the compost produced is in excess of what can be used, hence available for people to buy for their private gardens.
This place is usually dry for about nine months of the year with day temperature soaring to 40 degree celsius during summer months. The trees did not bear the marks of the dry spell as the ground water feeds them well to grow. The gardener told me that they observe how tall a tree grows each year to decide if they are well nourished. A stunted tree gets additional attention and care.
What delighted me even more is a recent campaign in this institution with posters at strategic places to promote gardening, and planting more saplings. I heard someone say that gardening has become a favourite hobby of some families living in the different campuses of this institution.
What impressed me was that there was no bare space around buildings. Most of the buildings are hidden in the foliage of trees. Another way to reduce the heat effect inside the buildings! The buildings have no air conditioning except in the laboratories or in some areas where temperature regulation is essential. That brought to mind the saving of energy and reducing the air pollution from the emission from the air conditioners.
After that hour long walk, when I returned to the guest house, what occupied me was a sense of gratefulness to one curator of the garden who changed the mind set of the residents of the campus to become environment friendly.
How much one person can do to bring about changes! This friendly and communicative officer during her walk in the garden stops to have conversations with the residents. The residents refer to her as their friend whom they consult for opinion on all matters of gardening!
I returned from this visit with a message: a motivated person is a change maker! This is well documented in the story of the greening of this campus in the recent years.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment