Bengaluru: Ever wondered if trees could talk what would they say? Perhaps remind us how important they are to us and how rapidly their numbers are dwindling. The importance of trees, though known, is not realised, said Ms Poornima Kanan, a core team volunteer of Neralu Festival 2017, which is a celebration of trees in the city.
“Neralu in Kannada means shade. This festival is an opportunity for the Bengaluru population to appreciate nature, whatever little that we have and be able to feel at home in it. It is only when you love it do you ever conserve it,” she said.
“It is designed to engage people. We expect people from different walks of life and age groups. We have audio walks that have been recorded by theatre artists, crosswords and games that can be participated in by parents and children together, storytelling under the trees, tree walks, you name it. Even if you don’t want to participate, you could just come and enjoy the energy of the greenery,” she remarked.
There will also be nature-related quizzes, street play by Kaleido, which will touch upon how the environment of the garden city was affected by development, art installations in collaboration with Srishti Institute will be installed at Metro stations, hug-a-tree stalls and a performance by Vipul Rikhi exploring Bhakti poetry.
The two-day citizen-led urban tree festival kicks off on Saturday at the Cubbon Park Metro Station and the nearby corner. Being the lung space of the city, Cubbon Park was the way to go, she said.
“Completely crowd funded and bound by a common love for trees, we have naturalists, ecologists, artists, technologists and storytellers among others. It is a festival of the people made possible only by the efforts of the people. This is the third edition of the festival. The last one was in 2015. It took us three months to get everything right and we are very excited as it is going to be much bigger and better this time. We saw a footfall of about 14,000 people in the last edition,” she said.
The festival has collaborated with the National Gallery of Modern Art for the second time, while it is the first tie-up with Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology. With the uproar for saving the city’s trees from being felled, the festival is a welcome change and the support is pouring in, she said.
Some of the artists who will be present at the festival are Harini Nagendra and Pranay Lal, Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy, Prachi Jariwala and Vasu Dixit.
Their Valentine? Trees!
Bengalureans will show their love for trees this Valentine’s Day in protest against the proposed “massacre of 112 trees' to make way for widening of Jayamahal Road. On Tuesday, volunteers from Greenpeace India and Jhataka Foundation will paint love message on the trees that are marked with red paint to be chopped for the widening. The BBMP has invited objections from citizens to the project till February 17.
