Bengaluru: Vedavalli, forest grower in our midst!

BENGALURU: “The Ashoka tree was the first that I planted in my garden,” recollects M.A. Vedavalli (81), fondly called ‘Vedu’ by family and friends, whose knowledge about plants, flowers and trees would make one feel they are in the company of a botanist.

Her love for trees, however, dates back to her childhood days, spent amidst a vast three-acre expanse in Chennai. “I was always up on a tree, in fact, I used to sit on a tree and study,” she laughs. This passion has transformed her Malleswaram home's garden into a habitat to nearly hundreds of different kinds of trees and plants.

A stroll through her garden would make you stumble upon bumble bees and a baby bat tucked itself onto a flowery wreath; both a rare sight in a city grappling with the tortures of urbanisation.

The octogenarian is vivacious, full of energy and exudes a positivity that is infectious. “I was born at a time when women were not educated to go out and earn. It was not something that was necessary or even done at that time. Hence, I was always house bound and proud to call myself a homemaker,” she said.

Some of the names that have made it to her garden are fiddle leaf fig tree, champaka tree, Malaina tree, the sacred bilva tree, cannonball tree, which is a large deciduous tropical tree, a 30-year-old bamboo tree, Nagalinga Pushpa, banyan tree, bodhi tree and many such indigenous trees of which many are more than forty years old.

“I feel so connected to each tree that I talk to them. If I find them droopy or withered I hold them and tell them I will take care and they should not give up,” she said, almost re-instilling one's faith in nature. Regarding her habit she said, “Even trees and plants are sensitive and have life and I believe that this bond is essential.”

Her love for nature is so strong that it has already trickled down to her granddaughter Hamsini, who is studying her MS in conservation biology in Sydney and plans to come back to save our country’s forests.

“I am a great lover of trees and without them, none of us can exist, but it is sad that people think so less about them,” she added. This passion has also helped her recover after she lost her husband to a paralytic stroke. “I am at peace when I am with my trees,” she smiles.

Apart from being a nature enthusiast, she also is a lover of art, paintings, and jewellery and has turned her home into a mini museum with various idols and statues from across the world. Her advice to the homemakers is, “Pick a hobby, find what interests you and make sure you excel at it and give it your whole soul,” she said.