Wooing people to conserve nature through poetry, Uttarakhand shows the way

Famous lines about nature by poets, ranging from Rabindranath Tagore to Robert Frost, greet visitors as they step into the parks and gardens developed by Uttarakhand Forest Department at 18 locations in the hill state.

The visitors are overwhelmed not just by the beauty of the trees and flowers at these sites, but also the poetry in well made steel frames often standing next to the trees they describe.

Tagore's "The Banyan Tree" framed in steel stands next to a big banyan tree at a site in Lalkuan, while celebrated Hindi poet Sumitranandan Pant's rare composition in Kumaoni language ''Buransh", in praise of rhododendron, makes an appearance at the rhododendron centre in Munsyari.

"The idea is to blend poetry with nature to help people develop an emotional bonding with nature and conservation," Chief Conservator of Forests (Research) Sanjiv Chaturvedi, the man behind the initiative, told PTI.

Besides Tagore's songs in praise of banyan and palm trees, works of Hindi poets like Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala and Atal Bihari Vajpayee; English poets like Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, Ruskin Bond and Thoreau; and in Urdu, Ghalib, Akhtar Sheerani, Adam Gondvi and Gulzar, have found a place at these sites.

Visitors are treated to famous lines like, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep", Shakespeare's "Earth has music for those who listen", Tagore's "O you shaggy-headed banyan tree and "Palm tree: single-legged giant, topping other trees, peering at the firmament" and Bond's "There is money to be made in the marketplace but under the cherry tree there is rest".

Gulzar's haunting line "Main jungle se guzarta hoon to lagta hai mere purkhe khade hain" also appears at one of the sites.

Quotes of famous thinkers and conservationists like Mahatma Gandhi and former US president Franklin D Roosevelt also make an appearance.

Short-crisp four liners contributed by school students and common men have also been included to kindle love for nature and conservation among people, Chaturvedi said.

The unique initiative is spread over 18 sites including Orchid Conservation Areas of Mandal and Lumti, Moss Garden at Nainital, Ficus Garden of Lalkuan, Palm garden at Haldwani, Fern Conservation Centre at Ranikhet, Pinetum Centre at Ranikhet, Cactus Centre at Haldwani, Bamboosetum at Lalkuan and the Biodiversity Park at Haldwani among others, the official added.

Image credit: PTI