JOIN USNo one who has lived in Basavanagudi during the 1940s can forget the saga of the magnificent Gulmohar tree, which my father had grown in the sprawling compound of our house on Subbarama chetty road. It was a landmark by itself with its giant trunk measuring nearly 3 metres in diameter and its huge branches spreading gloriously in all directions forming a vast umbrella over the entire free space in the front of our house. Resplendent with bright red flowers laced with yellow streaks against rich velvety green background of its leaves and greenish-red buds, the tree sheltered innumerable species of birds and bees.
As children we played under its soothing shade on the bright red carpet formed by the myriad petals that had fallen detached by the gentle breeze while the young girls of the neighbourhood thronged to collect the freshly fallen flowers. Celebrity littérateurs such as Masti and DVG, who frequently visited father, preferred to carry on their get-togethers and animated literary discussions right under this tree in preference to the comfort of our drawing room sofas.
It was around this time that the tree developed a huge crack at the base threatening to split the giant tree into two halves. It became the talk of the locality. Well-known industrialist Nageswar Rao Maney came on his own and designed a heavily strapped circular steel clamp, which was fastened around the trunk of the tree with massive studs to prevent further enlargement of the crack! It was carried out with the help of more than 50 persons of the locality who volunteered their service to save the tree, which helped in prolonging its life by nearly five years.
That was the psyche of Bangaloreans, reflecting their love and affinity towards greenery, which made Bangalore ‘the garden city’ - thanks to the thoughtful men who shaped it green and the able administrators who subsequently nourished its pristine charm.
Despite several efforts of the present mindless administration of the city who have been slaughtering the green wealth, with no lateral thinking, as a part of so-called ‘developmental projects,’ the hurt citizens are trying to maintain its charm as best as they can, in their own way!
The recent proposal to give ‘Sentosa’ look to Lalbagh gardens by razing down a good number of trees (the idea seems to have been inspired by some genius of the horticultural dept during his visit to Singapore), is indeed the ‘unkindest cut’ of all! What a fall from green to asphalt black! It won’t be long before another nitwit visiting the US will be so impressed by Disneyland that he’ll come out with a proposal to demolish Cubbon park to ape a mini-Disneyland in our city as a part of an equally ingenious ‘developmental’ plan!