Yesterday morning, I participated in a campaign to plant 500 trees in Maharashtra Nature Park, one of the few green spaces left in Mumbai, which was organised by the NGO (charity) United Way. United Way arranges events to bring volunteers together to clean up the city (for example after big, messy festivals) and generally tries to preserve what little nature remains in Mumbai. One of my work colleagues heard about the work of this NGO and put our names forward for the event.
The Maharashtra Nature Park used to be a dumping ground although today is feels green, tranquil and a world away from the chaos elsewhere in the city. Evidence of its past remains and we found all sorts of rubbish when digging the holes for the trees, but it is fantastic that this land has been reclaimed for good use for the people of Mumbai. It is located only a 15 minute drive from where we live, and sits between the large Dharavi slum area, and the river which separates Bandra and the northern suburbs from the southern city area.
We arrived on schedule at 830am to find a throng of volunteers, over 100 in total from various companies and colleges, who were geared up for some serious planting. As is traditional at these events, we didn't start planting until nearly 10am as every man, women and dog who was involved with the NGO or the park itself made a speech (mainly with the aim of thanking or showing respect to someone else), and we were given our planting instructions. There was also a short speech from the "celebrity" who had turned up to support the event. This was a very well preened young Bollywood star, who none of us had heard of, but was introduced as "being voted one of the 50 sexiest men in Bollywood". Wow. This accolade seemed to give him the credentials to talk about how much he loves the environment for five minutes, and with that over with, we were allowed to proceed to the planting area.
Before we could start planting trees, we were carefully split into 10 different groups, each of which had an NGO and Nature Park leader. That process completed, everyone went and did what they wanted with no regard for the group structure whatsoever. The basic idea was that we had 500 trees and 500 mud pits, which first need filling with fresh soil before the trees could be planted and watered. So before we even got to the trees, there was a lot of mud carrying to be done.
The mud carrying was fun, and very hot and sweaty given the monsoon conditions, although we were lucky that the rain held off for the planting session. I was soon dripping and muddy, but enjoying myself and meeting other volunteers working together outdoors, not something you do every day in Mumbai.
Once we had carried lots of mud about, we got stuck into some serious planting, which was rather more strenuous than the planting I've done in the past. My previous planting experience involved 100 12-inch tall trees being planted in Ashleworth in December. These trees were 9 feet tall and a lot heavier! With a bit of team work, we got a few in the ground (under the eagle-eyed supervision of the Nature Park Manager) and were pleased that our job was done.
The Maharashtra Nature Park used to be a dumping ground although today is feels green, tranquil and a world away from the chaos elsewhere in the city. Evidence of its past remains and we found all sorts of rubbish when digging the holes for the trees, but it is fantastic that this land has been reclaimed for good use for the people of Mumbai. It is located only a 15 minute drive from where we live, and sits between the large Dharavi slum area, and the river which separates Bandra and the northern suburbs from the southern city area.
We arrived on schedule at 830am to find a throng of volunteers, over 100 in total from various companies and colleges, who were geared up for some serious planting. As is traditional at these events, we didn't start planting until nearly 10am as every man, women and dog who was involved with the NGO or the park itself made a speech (mainly with the aim of thanking or showing respect to someone else), and we were given our planting instructions. There was also a short speech from the "celebrity" who had turned up to support the event. This was a very well preened young Bollywood star, who none of us had heard of, but was introduced as "being voted one of the 50 sexiest men in Bollywood". Wow. This accolade seemed to give him the credentials to talk about how much he loves the environment for five minutes, and with that over with, we were allowed to proceed to the planting area.
Before we could start planting trees, we were carefully split into 10 different groups, each of which had an NGO and Nature Park leader. That process completed, everyone went and did what they wanted with no regard for the group structure whatsoever. The basic idea was that we had 500 trees and 500 mud pits, which first need filling with fresh soil before the trees could be planted and watered. So before we even got to the trees, there was a lot of mud carrying to be done.
The mud carrying was fun, and very hot and sweaty given the monsoon conditions, although we were lucky that the rain held off for the planting session. I was soon dripping and muddy, but enjoying myself and meeting other volunteers working together outdoors, not something you do every day in Mumbai.
Once we had carried lots of mud about, we got stuck into some serious planting, which was rather more strenuous than the planting I've done in the past. My previous planting experience involved 100 12-inch tall trees being planted in Ashleworth in December. These trees were 9 feet tall and a lot heavier! With a bit of team work, we got a few in the ground (under the eagle-eyed supervision of the Nature Park Manager) and were pleased that our job was done.
Carrying mud. I am proud to say that I carried the bowls of mud on my own, but was a bit too nervous to do this on my head, Indian style.
My colleague Banashree enjoying the morning
Me modelling the tracksuit bottoms, bright shirt and rubber gloves look
My colleague Abhimanyu stamping - an important part of the planting process
Abhimanyu, Megha's Mum, Banashree and me. Job done.
Despite my comments about the "celebrity" earlier, there was actually a real Bollywood celebrity there (definition - someone I have heard of) although she just kept her head down and wanted to be treated like any other volunteer. This in mind, I didn't take a photograph, but these events do seem to attract the great and good of the city.
Overall, I had a great morning and will definitely do this again. Our next challenge is cleaning up the beaches after the Ganpati festival in August. I'll be there.
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