'It's like raising a child'

ORCHID PRESERVATION

At a time when trees are being felled to make way for attractive high-rise structures, here is a group of people working towards preserving and promoting orchids. It’s not as easy as it sounds for cultivating orchids is fraught with imponderables.

 The group has been active for as long as each of the group members can remember. What started as an individual interest grew and soon they formed a society —The Orchid Society of Karnataka, which boasts of as many as 400-odd members. 

Metrolife caught up with some of the oldest members of the group and asked them how it is to collect and grow some of the rarest orchids from across the world. Most members of the Society are well-versed about the process of growing orchids, which they concede is no easy task. “It’s like raising a child and watching it grow. Waiting for it to flower is inexplicable experience.

I spend a lot of time watering my orchids and in some ways, it has therapeutic value as well,” explains Sandhya Mahesh, an avid orchid grower, who says that she wasn’t interested in orchids until she saw her father-in -law spend considerable time and effort. “I was inspired simply by watching him tend to the orchids. That’s how I picked it up and now, it’s nothing short of an addiction,” confesses Sandhya. 

Srinivas B Garudachar took to orchid growing and cultivation only eight years ago but he’s already on a mission to collect, rehabilitate and preserve some of the rarest species which he has collected from a few South East Asian countries, the Central American region and a few places in India as well. “Some of the orchids from the wild belong to the endangered category. My efforts are towards creating and preserving them. I have created a habitat for them so that they can multiply, regenerate and be rehabilitated into the wild someday,” he says. 

   His garden resembles a mini forest where Srinivas carefully preserves and grows his collection of orchids. “There’s no particular area where I let them grow. You’d see orchids growing on barks of trees, in pots and on tree tops as well. The idea is to create a natural environment,” he adds.   

SG Ramakumar says that while he is fond of growing orchids, his children haven’t taken to it as earnestly as he has. “You have to be patient. It takes years for an orchid to grow to its fullest,” he says. 

Dr KS Shashidhar served as a forest officer, so his association with the wild and with orchids is the oldest among the group. Shashidhar has even written a book on the same and hopes to inspire young people to join the group. “There are a lot of young people who have taken to orchid cultivation in a big way. They are committed to the art of growing orchids and preserving them for posterity,” he says.   

Talk about ways of de-stressing and growing orchids tops the list for Sriram, a young professional. He says that after a demanding work schedule, he definitely turns to his orchids to de-stress. “It not only engages you in the most creative way but it helps you discover a new side of yourself and unravels the potential in you,” he sums up.