Trees... and Us Indians!

Forest, 70x70cm Oil on Linen 2020

 

 

Plant a tree... Plant a forest... and land will slowly transform into beautiful and fruitful paradise... We in India have stripped off most of the green cover in pursuit of development. Ours is a unplanned urbanization in India. There is no concept of urban forest in India yet nor are trees 'planted' in order to grow man-made jungles like in EU etc... Yes we have age old concept of parks thrown around urban slums... where grass hardly grows and the few mangled trees planted are ornamental high breeds, not suitable or hardy in accordance to the local climate. These are fancy trees and expensive ! You wont find a park or urban jungle in India where the government department will plant our great Indian Baniyun or the Pepal tree... nor do we plant our native fruits trees like luxuriously green and thick leafed jack-fruit, mango, tamarind in public places... In Iran streets have lines of lemon trees... Which actually fruits and one can collect them...

Edwin Lutyens got Neem and Jamun planted around New Delhi a hundred years ago... and I have read numerous critical articles on his decision of choosing jamun! We can only find faults. What have we panted so far?!!

Edwin Lutyens got Neem and Jamun planted around New Delhi a hundred years ago... and i have read numerous critical articles on his decision of choosing jamun!! We can only find faults.. What have we panted so far.. ?!!

Most city people are against trees... They will loved to get the tree growing in front of their house cut or trimmed brutally at the first chance they get!! I have been accused of bringing in snakes, blocking sun light, blocking space for parking heirs cars or bikes, transforming it in Africa and what not for planting tree around y apartment block in many Indian cities that I have lived...

Trees are rare now... there is shortage of wood, because we don't yet 'grow' trees in a systematic way!! We have an old archaic system of having few patches of “reserved forests” for our wild life and are more like tourists attractions, decorative and not enough for such a large country...

If you travel across India and have traveled a bit around the world you can easily see the start difference.. don't really have woods/jungles patches for miles and miles... unkempt wood wherein native local trees and shrubs and wild flower and fruits growing... Most of the land you will encounter are either agricultural, or a mishmash of urban slums with industrialization and habitation in tight compact areas without a single bade of grass let alone a tree!!

Tuscany, Arcylic on Linen, 2011

 

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