Vanaspathi-Lord of Forests

Hindus prostrate seven holy forests, seven holy cities and seven oceans whenever they do mahasankalpam.Lord Siva is hailed as 'Vanaspathi( Lord of the forests)Shiva himself is described as a forest and his hair as green.Rudram and Chamakam of Yajurveda speaks highly of vrikshas( trees).

Varahamihira in his Brihat samhita elaborates on trees used for making images of gods.

The slokas recited while cutting the tree for making 'icons' reads as under:

" o tree,you have been selected for the worship,( through an image)of a particular deity.Salutations to you!This worship offered by me in accordance to the scriptures may kindly be accepted by you.May all the living beings that dwell in this tree accept the offering of worship and depart to another tree for residing.May they pardon us now.We bow to them!"

Now a days every one talks about 'environment care' and 'the slogan 'of'grow more trees'.

Is it possible in this urbanisation to grow trees in our houses?Of course small shrubs can be grown.

We have been living in our house for nearly 45 years. All the houses in our street have three coconut trees, one or two mango trees, sappota ,papaya and some flowering plants.30 years were very smooth and comfortable. We had plenty of coconuts, mangoes, raw and ripe, and flowers for pooja.

The trouble started when individual houses got converted into flats or 2 or 3 floors were constructed in the same house.The coconut tree which started growing curved towards sunlight occupying the neighbour's territory, which was never been considered an impediment all these years,was felt as a nuisance.Coconuts and heavy leaf sheaths falling into the neighbour's water tank caused heavy damages as the tank started leaking and the water pipes broke down.Complaints to the nearby police stations resulted in cutting down branches or the entire tree to avoid conflicts between neighbours.

Now the trees have become old,yield is poor and have attained the same status of uncared for senior citizens.

Tree climbers are very few in number and they charge Rs250/-to climb a tree and the yield will be around 30 coconuts .With cholesterol consciousness, many have stopped using coconuts for cooking.It is very difficult for the householders either to sell the coconuts or preserve the coconuts or to take efforts to extract oil from the same.

In March, April urchins hit at mangoes and simply run away sometimes breaking the glass doors of windows.

Pests and worms are very common in mango trees . For the past three years some strange insects and worms enter the house causing allergy and itching.All the children suffered with high fever. The remedy suggested by Govt depts yielded no positive results. Irrespective of our understanding ,and the shady cool atmosphere,my neighbour, aged 80, decided to cut down all the trees which he had grown with much love and affection all these 40 years.. on the auspicious Mahashivarathri day. The cutters also showed some Karpoora Aarthi to the trees.They used electrical saw to cut the trees.Within 10 hrs all the trees were totally uprooted.The owner paid around Rs 20000/- to cut, transport the logs and dispose of the green leaves.A big log of wood fell on his motor room and the entire pumpset was damaged beyond repair.The parapet wall in our terrace was damaged beyond repairs.

Now the house is bright, sunny and bereft of all natural beauty without the sounds of birds nesting on them.'Everything is going away from me;children have settled elsewhere;now the plants which I nourished for 50 years have left me."he said chokingly.

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Every asset becomes a liability in some point of time.

It is 10 days since our neighbour cut off all the trees. I saw a small bird sitting on my window .The bird perhaps was occupying the neighbour's mango tree so long.Having lost the accommodation it was looking up where to go. There are a few trees in our house and that of adjacent neighbour.When driven out it flew, perched on our coconut tree and another mango tree, but came back to the same window again.It would have easily flown and started residing on other trees..Perhaps it was thinking about future plans.

While even a small bird does not want to change the tree in which it has been living, we can very well imagine how human beings feel when they are forced to move to another house or Old Age home.

While we begin growing trees with great enthusiasm,many cannot cope up with nurturing, manuring, use pest control methods and even to simply water the trees during water scarcity

Mounts of coconut leaves and mango leaves are strewn throughout giving cool shade for any reptile to creep in.

Some flower, fruit vendors or even fish vendors use the shady road for marketing their product, sometimes set up a small table etc and unauthorisedly occupy the frontage of the house leading to unwanted elements crowding before the house- a challenge to the security of the house.

After cutting down all the trees one can shout at top most voice

" A person inhales oxygen equivalent to three cylinders of oxygen, each cylinder costing rs 700/- For a year @ rs 2100 per day, it may work out Rs 766500/ and a conservative estimate of Rs 5 crores in an average life of 65 years.This is the monetary of value of 'FREE OXYGEN'that plants bestow on us.'Let us respect, appreciate and protect plants for the welfare of the humanity'.

Jayasala 42

Vanaspathi-Lord of Forests