Feeling held by the trees of the season

The New Year is not remotely new but the leaves on many trees are! They’re not just new – they’re like lights, casting an aura of the same colour around them. The Pongam trees wear neon green or sometimes lime yellow leaves. Peepal trees can be seen wearing pink leaves, or some – maroon. Those

“Trees signify eternal hope”

The sun had not fully risen when we reached the chosen spot inside Lal Bagh. The Katte was set up in semi-darkness. With the sun came some walkers and regulars who have been hanging out at that spot for the last 10 to 15 years (they said). There was curiosity about the props in the

What happened at the Treevellers’ Katte at Bhoomi Habba

Farmers, dancers, poets, researchers, writers, healers, IT professionals, activists, students, bankers, retired professionals, government employees, musicians, actors – and so many other labels could be applied to the people who stopped by at the Treevellers’ Katte during Bhoomi Habba at Visthar. Irrespective of age, gender and profession – they were clearly treevellers at heart. A

Treevelling with Team Prameya at Lal Bagh

I’d promised an exciting announcement at the end of my previous post and here goes: I will be conducting a Treevellers’ Katte session at Lal Bagh (one of Bangalore’s precious green spaces that I’ve featured previously on the blog) early on Sunday, June 11th, 2023. This Treevellers’ Katte will be a curtain-raiser for Prameya Health’s

Healing through drawing trees

I have written in the past about how painting trees seemed to save my life when I was very ill. I often turn to that experience to affirm how powerful Nature’s influence is on the human psyche. This morning, I woke up with an ominous body ache. I fought myself to rise from bed and

Bhoomi Habba time of the year

It is that time of the year when we will read, hear and be invited to ponder a lot on the environment, climate change, eco-friendly choices and sustainable action. World Environment Day on June 5th is not the only day we need to think about these issues of urgent concern. We know that and yet,

My Tryst with a Tree of Life

Have you ever lost a very dear object and promised yourself you would never replace it? In a poem I wrote for a poetry blog, I tell the story of how I broke that promise when I lost my Tree of Life ring. Here’s the poem for you:My Tryst with a Tree of Life The

On being lost

“What if being lost is just a sign that you’ve finally stopped following someone else’s map or blueprint?” (Unknown source) …or what if you got lost because you followed someone’s map (most likely Google Maps)? “To get lost is to learn the way.” (African Proverb) …but what of when you are still lost? These and

It’s that time of the year…

…when trees stop me in my tracks. I’m usually rushing off to someplace, when I meet the fairy lights a Pongam tree wears. It is the most delicate, most transparent green – every leaf almost a tiny sheet of light against the blue sky. I stand and gawp. I take photos of the tree, as

“Trees have more life than humans”

When the sun reclaimed its place in the sky this morning, a group of curious children (aged 6 to 11) and adults from The Earth School, Bangalore, celebrated. Together – we played, ran, climbed trees and made up word chains describing the trees around us, in one of Bangalore’s precious lung spaces – Lal Bagh.