A walk among the trees

Meet two men who have made it their mission to tell stories we don't know about Bengaluru's trees through their video series.

Arun Pai, founder of Bangalore Walks and Vijay Thiruvady, Tree Storyteller and walks’ presenter are helping Bengalureans discover the many, unknown facets of their city on foot.

The team’s famous guided tours include green heritage walks at Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, colonial history walks on M G Road and multiple other themed walks across the city. Their well-informed and neatly curated information about the city leave walkers oohing and aahing all the way.

Bangalore Walks has been offering heritage walks for over 15 years now and have conducted over 750 weekend walks. “The two years during the pandemic was the only break that we have ever had,” says Arun, who along with Vijay has now started TREEspotting, a brand new “Walk-from-Home’ Video Walk series, that tells the stories of the city’s trees. Well into its sixth episode, the series has unravelled the many wonders of five special trees in Lalbagh, including the Mysore Fig, Palash, Strangler Figs, Ficus Krishnae and the Silk Cotton. “We release one episode per week and plan to continue this for 52 weeks,” explains Arun.

The YouTube channel ‘Bangalore Walks’ has over 68 minutes of engaging content in six episodes, and has garnered 8,000 views with zero promotion. What makes their videos interesting is the presentation. Arun and Vijay chat in detail about a tree that most of us would have seen many a time without knowing its many wonders.“If we want to preserve our green wealth, surely we need to know about it first; to love something too, we need to know it first,” Arun tells DHoS.

Arun met Vijay in 2005 and the former was impressed by the latter’s knowledge about trees.

“I consider Vijay our very own Sir David Attenborough, and I know that people can hear him for hours on end in rapt attention (I do) — such is his storytelling style and sheer depth and breadth of knowledge on a variety of subjects, which he delivers in his inimitable style. Vijay’s knowledge about trees is what is captured in all the videos of TREEspotting,” says Arun.

He adds, “Vijay has also authored two books on trees — including one authoritative book on Lalbagh — with extensive research from sources all over the world. He is that rare breed who can intellectually engage with scholars and experts in the field and yet simplify and demystify the subject for common people like us.”

A walk through history

The videos that are not more than 10 minutes each, take the viewer through the history, origin and speciality of a tree. Arun and Vijay engage in a lively chatter about how the tree reached Bengaluru, the story behind its name and other curious facts. The videos are so engrossing that the next time you pass that tree, you are bound to stop by and observe it.

Arun says that Bengaluru has a fascinating history and green heritage but is poorly documented and even poorly represented to the world outside. “The idea of such videos is to generate an interest to protect and preserve the green spaces,” says Arun.

Vijay Thiruvady is not a trained botanist, but his love for trees has grown into a passion. “I have been walking in Lalbagh for 17 years and I know most of the trees there and their history. We are fortunate to have trees from all over the world flourishing here in Bengaluru. Being in touch with nature has helped me understand and appreciate what we have around us and I would like to pass that on to others,” says Vijay.

How do they prepare before shooting an episode? “There’s no preparation, we just walk to a tree and begin talking about it,” adds Vijay, who knows the facts about most trees like the back of his hand. “I refer to him as the treecyclopaedia!,” says Arun. “Vijay needs no preparation, he delivers his lines with precision — in one take!”

Bengaluru’s tree crusader D T Devare is one of many who have applauded the series. “Outstanding visuals and narration,” he says. “I love this series,” adds Alyia Phelps-Gardiner Krumbiegel, from the UK.

Arun and Vijay don’t intend to stop at the trees. “We will soon start a series on history and other aspects of the city, going beyond its green heritage,” informs Arun. He says the larger aim is to expose children to this series, to generate interest in what we see around us, and nudge them on the path to discovery.