The green initiative by the Ambaji Temple trust in Gujarat set me thinking of Mysore, my town . Our town is a hub of sort for mutts, which have acquired govt. land and set up ashrams . And their spiritual heads such as JSS swamiji , and Ganapathi Sachidananda , are resourceful. They have the clout with the authorities ; and they can count on a public following. I don’t know if they address environmental concerns when they address their followers .
I would like to see them promoting tree-planting, as Jaggi Vasudev does. In Gujarat the Ambaji Trust, in association with district officials, has launched the ‘Green Katha’ movement. Formatted as ‘harikatha (spiritual discourse) Ambaji’s ‘Green Katha’ draws from epics and the Hindu mythology to highlight the benefits of protecting trees and increasing green cover. The discourse is followed by distribution of saplings by way of ‘prasad‘. The Banaskantha district collector is quoted in the Deccan Herald as saying, “while in other religious gatherings, devotees receive sweets, after the katha, people here get saplings”.
Friends of Roadside Trees, a Mysore group, has been trying to promote with little sucess, tree planting in the city . And my wish list for Mysore draws from the ideas thrown up in their blog .
I wish Sri Raghavendra temple on N S Rd. and Vontikoppal Venkateswara take the lead in introducing ‘vriksharchana’ (click for details).
2) I wish school principals and teachers talk every parent into planting a sapling or two to mark the day his/her child starts going to school. Besides involving children in taking care of plants, parents can watch the sapling grow with their child.
3) I wish those sending birthday/anniversary bouquet to their dear ones start saying it with a sapling, instead ; and I wish saplings are made available at the florists .
4) I wish VIPs invited to ceremonial tape-cutting and lamp- lighting at public functions insist on doing the honours by planting a sapling.
5) I wish the govt. does not renew the licence (that expired in 2006) to the Mysore Race Club ; and, that the huge chunk of land in their possession is developed into a green lung space. I wish the political executives view this issue in a long-term perspective, keeping in mind Mysore’s enviornmental needs . The open space as maintained by the race club does not address these concerns. A well maintained grass-patch is not necessarily enviornment-friendly. It requires much water and sizeable fertiliser input to keep the grass green.
6) I wish hotel owners Sandesh, Giri and a host of others think green ; and persuade their guests to plant saplings at a designated park, to mark their visit to the heritage city. They can take back with them snapshots of the sapling they planted during Mysore visit.
7) I wish tour conductors do the same for high-ticket tourists doing Karnataka in the Golden Chariot. The luxury trains visits Mysore every Tuesday.
8) I wish all Mysore-based companies adopt tree-planting as CSR programme. Some of them plant saplings in the name of every employee they have on the payroll.
9) I wish the retail outlet of organic farmers association – NESERA – sells saplings, along with organic fruits, vegetables and other produce.
10) And I wish the local media and district authorities recognize the work of the likes of the roadside tree-planter K R Gurukar.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Karnataka, Mysore, tree-planting, Wish list |
My Take by GVK 
A very commendable thought GVK… Why not start this somewhere by getting the Mutt heads, the local adim, press and the people.. so that it gets momentum
As GVK knows, suggesting ideas, press giving extensive publicity, muttadhipathis and priests giving sermons, teachers giving lectures etc will not result in any meaningful reform. What we need is direct work initiated by activists like Gurukars or what Parisara and MGP did in early 80s under the dynamic leadership of motivated officials like Dr. Kushalappa.
Can we find such activists or NGOs fired up with the idea of greening Mysore? Who will contact Mattadhipathi and work with them to plant trees?
Who will contact schools and colleges to get them involved in tree planting?
Who will motivate thousands of Mysoreans to plant trees?
These are not trivial issues.
I would completely second Mr Shenoy here. I see a lot of talk especially on the internet about people wanting to do things for Mysore/for the people here. To generate noise is one thing but the execution is what counts.
Sometimes I wish there are fewer ideas but focus more on acting on them and follow what the Mahatma said “You be the change that you want to see in the world”
IF WISHES WERE HORSES, INDIA COULD HAVE BECOME A REPLICA OF VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE.
“Stating the obvious” and “preachings”, “ranting, ranching” etc., must be reduced to zero and practising must become the mantra for all educated arm chair citizens. Get down to grassroots level, work, do your bit without hankering for recognition or rewards. Solutions adopted and tangible results recorded will lead to solving the problems that are plaguing and haunting our society. This is Art Of Living.
I am practising.
GVK is one passionate Mysorean, who beats many of us in his thinking good for the City. His wish list for the city should be read by the Mathadipatis and the schools and of course the government officials concerned. As he has rightly pointed out, they can make as much difference in greening Mysore as they are making in other arenas!
Thank you, Mr Nikam, for the encouraging words.