MyTree Updates | What better than a Green Cover !

As the country recovers from Covid times people came back to support Mother nature and give back responsibly. Volunteers across the country dedicated their effort and time to plant trees. Multiple projects were actioned all over India and abroad. Some large projects have been initiated and are ongoing. We still have some time left this year to plan and plant. And preparing for next planting season has begun. We invite people who would like to be a part of this movement to join hands with Mytree. Connect with us to know more.

A world wide initiative on Guru Purnima where each one of us planted two trees and promised to take care of them, under the spirit of Maitri.

Bengaluru

Bengaluru volunteers have executed phase 2 of tree plantation under the MyTree initiative this year at Sri Ramakrishna Yogashrama. 55 saplings were planted here including Kashi Bilva, Nerale, Amalaki, Halasu, and a few more native varieties.

Under the divine guidance of revered Swami Purushottamanandaji Maharaj of Ramakrishna Math Basavanagudi, Bangalore, Swami Yogeshwarananda established the ashram in Bangalore in 1993. Ramohalli lake’s serene lush green environment serves as an inspiration to seekers engaged in spiritual practices, japa and meditation.

Heavy rains drenched the ‘Seeta Ashoka’, ‘Bilwa’, ‘Nandi’ and several other freshly planted saplings in Bangalore, on 26 June 2021, Saturday evening. Earlier that morning, a bunch of enthusiastic individuals had gathered to plant 100 saplings at one of the BioParks in the Bangalore University campus. The volunteers of The Satsang Foundation joined hands with the Bangalore University to carry out plantation of saplings of some rare, medicinal varieties of trees. These would add to the city’s green cover and to serve the students of the University in the purpose of their botanical studies.

The gardener, Sri Ramachandrappa is a very knowledgeable man, deeply passionate about trees. He has at the tip of his tongue, the Kannada name, botanical name, genus, family, medicinal properties and so on of each and every plant / tree in the University. He has created a special space called, ‘Panchavati’ on the lines of the great forest areas that the Rishis of yore found conducive for meditation. The Panchavati has in circles, five layers of sacred trees of the Indian subcontinent – Peepal (Ficus Religiosa); Bettada Nellikayi or Amla (Phyllanthus emblica); Aala or Banyan (Ficus benghalensis); Seeta Ashoka (Saraca asoca); Bilwa or bael (Aegle marmelos). When Devi Sita was held captive by Ravana, the demon king, she refused to stay in Ravana’s palace and preferred to stay under the Ashoka tree, while chanting Lord Rama’s name all the time. Hence the name, Seeta Ashoka.

As part of the MyTree initiative, the Bangalore volunteers helped in completing the ‘Panchavati’ by planting the missing sacred trees – Seeta Ashoka and Bilwa. Along with these, the other tree varieties planted were, Nandi (Lagerstroemia Lanceolata), Guli Maavu (Machilus macrantha), Honne (pterocarpus marsupium) and Bagini (Caryota urens ).

Seed bombing activity at Chikballapur temple to help in re-forestation so that it becomes the source of the Kalyani rejuvenation project that we are undertaking as part of SJSS Team Bangalore thanks each one of you who came forward to support the cause by volunteering as well as by donating for saplings.

Pune

TSF MyTree volunteers initiated the the plantation in Pune area by planting 10 trees of different of Mango, Tamarind, Indian Black Berry and Jackfruit.
This has been planted in Dehu Road with the help of local citizens (a group of morning walkers). The land is a closed space near to Murugan Temple, Dehu.

The plants will be further watered by local citizens and for better growth manure like Organic fertilizer, Jeev Amrut will also be applied to the plants.

With the theme of “Beating the Covid Blues- A step towards green recovery!!!”
Suvarna Peepal Trees were planted inside the premises of Shankar Maharaj Math, Titwala. The saplings will be watered and nurtured by them. This sacred sapling has been grown from a seed of 800 years old Suvarn Peepal tree situated at Sant Jnaneshwar Samadhi Mandir, Alandi. The mother of Sant Jnaneshwar, Rukhminibai prayed and performed 1.25lakhs of circumambulations (Pradakshina) around this holy tree.

Reference of this sacred tree of Alandi is also mentioned by Sant Tukaram in his Abhanga which says “Jayachiya Dwari Sonyacha Pimpal”.

The next project was Let’s make this world better by planting more trees
On a misty morning with a light spray of rain all day, 10 TSF MyTree Pune volunteers got together to plant trees at Ananta, Kelad nearly 80 KMs from Pune. This plantation was conducted on 2 Acres of fenced land . The area has a steep slope and also receives a very high rainfall. 22 saplings of indegenous origin were planted today.

(also called Bilwa, Mango, Lucky Bean Tree, Banyan, Indian Black Berry, Indian Gooseberry, Malabar Nut, Cluster Fig etc).
Along with this, a Suvarna Peepal sapling was also planted.
The plants will be further nurtured and cared for by the owners.
60 more trees will be planted here this season.

Plant in Plenty, Plant in Joy !

6 My Tree volunteers in Pune joined together to plant 21 Indian Gooseberry plants, in the premises of Sumati Balwan – a school cum girls orphanage. The students welcomed us heartily and an informal interactive session was conducted in which the children shared some insights on their connection with trees, importance of positive affirmation and positive thinking.

Pre preparatory works such as digging of pits was done by the school. The area is in a hilly slope and the pits were dug in such a way that excess rain cannot damage the plants and can prevent soil erosion. The pits were partially filled with fertile black soil and the remaining half was filled with soil removed from the pits.

Irrigation & Manure – The school has a drip irrigation system in place to regularly plant the trees. Ecological manure such Panchgavya, Jeevamrut are already being prepared in the school and will be utilized for the growth of the plants on a monthly basis.

Further plans – The school has a solar drying unit and preparation of food items such as Amla candy will be further explored.

It was satisfying to end the day on a meaningful note with a hope in the eyes that some day we will all put to action such thoughts and build a greener future!

As a note of gratitude, the school gifted the volunteers 2 Bilva, 2 Adulsa saplings and 11 litres of Jeev Amrut for Madanapallee and Chowdepalle campuses of The Satsang Foundation.

Mumbai

TSF Mumbai Kendra Mytree Project

26th June

On the periphery of de-silted pond (done by TSF MK) at village Mal, Taluka Murbad, 120 kms from Mumbai. 25+ volunteers participated.

Planted total 109 saplings of Neem, Peepal, Banyaan, Umbar, Bel patra, Aamla, Mango, Sitafal, Namun, Kanchan & many native medicinal trees. Sarpanch helped to arrange all saplings from forest department & local nursery.

A local farmer Shankar is appointed to water & take care of them all & will be paid by TSF MK. Sarpanch Mr. Viraj will supervise him & will update us.

Total budget is less than 8,000/- which TSF-MK will utilise from balance fund of sponsorship received for de-silting work.

We learnt & loved the way villagers arranged Pooja of saplings before plantation and also self made buckets. And finally we could visit to a nearby ancient Nath Math & Jeev Samadhi & Samadhi of Shringi Rishi, meditated & sang bhajans. This was Gurudev’s gift to us through villagers.

Chennai

Team MyTree Chennai is working with Rotary Midtown in a proposal to plant 50,000 trees in this plantation drive. 10,000 trees are being planted in the Miyawaki Forest Model at the Indian Maritime University, ECR Road Chennai. Work in progress with phase 1 planting. Close to 4000 trees have been planted to-date. All are welcome to join and contact the Chennai team.

Hyderabad

A Sunday morning dawned with heavy rain, which slowly turned, into a light drizzle, pouring relief into the hearts of the volunteers of the Satsang Seva Mission team at Hyderabad. A great relief, indeed, it was, since it meant that the team could go ahead with its plans to plant 36 saplings of Temple Trees, in the land embracing two sides of an open well abutting a main road.

The well, whose walls seemed dilapidated, is located in the Kokapet area of West Hyderabad — a neigbourhood that has sadly witnessed a huge spurt in the construction of concrete, housing projects that tower over the natural rock formations and verdant greenery that still assert their presence. A goshala attached to a Krishna Temple overlooks this well and provides gainful employment to many immigrants from North India. The employees of this goshala are presently implicated in watering and maintaining the plants beside the well.

The Water Warrior who led the team to this destination is Kalpana Ramesh, founder of The Rainwater Project and spearhead of several projects for the restoration and conservation of water bodies in Hyderabad. She had just completed the restoration of the well and wanted to create a sustainable landscape in the land surrounding it. 

Her special invitees for the planting activity comprised a group of sprightly children of the goshala employees. These precious custodians of Mother Earth worked with great enthusiasm to place the saplings and fill the pits with a mixture of red soil and compost. They then lovingly watered them with their tiny hands, eager to plant all the saplings rapidly. It was indeed a sheer delight to have worked hand in hand with these remarkable children!

The team also had the support of a couple of volunteers from the Blue Hyderabad Initiative which aims at water conservation.

The blue of the well water and the green of the saplings thus blended beautifully as the intentions of the Satsang Jal Seva Sangathan and My Tree coincided harmoniously through this multifaceted collaboration.

Delhi

As monsoon approached, Delhi-NCR’s MyTree programme decided to get some of the finest young minds in the National Capital Region involved in MyTree’s mission to plant and nourish native trees for a sustainable future for our planet. With this objective in mind, a team of volunteers approached the Principals of three prestigious institutions linked to the Delhi University:

1. The Janki Devi Memorial College (JDMC) set up in 1959 to promote the education of women.
2. Miranda House, established in 1948 and ranked consistently for the past four years as the top college in the country. It is also a college exclusively for women.
3. The Delhi School of Social Work (DSSW), a post graduate institution that forms part of Delhi University.

Tree plantation drives were planned and executed in JDMC on the 22nd of July and in Miranda House and DSSW on the 23rdof July to coincide closely with Guru Purnima as a tribute to our Guru and to the Gurus in the institutions as well. Through these institutions, the team was able to touch base with students who formed part of the National Cadet Corps, the National Service Scheme and the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan run by the Government and hopes to collaborate with them in future plantation drives across the NCR.

Starting small, the project procured and planted 10 trees at JDMC, two more than were initially planned, 17 at Miranda House and 12 at DSSW, again two more than planned. The trees were sourced by the MyTree team and provided for by contributions from Satsangis. The lists of trees planted at each institution are given below and will be maintained by the institutions themselves. Plaques are being provided by TSF to commemorate the event and cement the collaboration. These are also provided for by contributions from Satsangis. Banners and other publicity material were obtained from Arti.

Janki Devi Memorial College

A team of Volunteers from MyTree Delhi spent a fruitful morning at Janaki Devi Memorial College (JDMC) on the 22nd of July 2021.Various species of Native Trees were procured by TSF Team and ably planted by the JDMC Team, which consisted of their dynamic Principal, Dr. Swati Pal, their staff, students and NSS and NCC volunteers, as well as the TSF volunteers.

The 10 trees that were planted included Amaltas, Jamun, Harsinghar, Guava, Mango and Mulberry. It was a deeply nourishing experience, connecting hands and hearts with Mother Earth.The college team has promised to continue to nurture these trees and stated that they would like to do similiar events annually with the TSF Delhi MyTree team.

Miranda House

After the Tree Plantation in JDMC on 22nd July, the MyTree NCR volunteers carried the process forward in Miranda House & Delhi School of Social Work in the Delhi University’s North Campus on 23rd July.

In Miranda House, the staff, students and volunteers guided by their Principal Dr Bijaylakshmi Nanda & their Botany Professors planted a total of 17 Trees including Amaltas, Jacaranda, Araucaria, Pink Spray, Jamun, Morpankhi, Moringa and Chir Pines. The college got these planted in such a way that the Botany students will be able to study them closely as a part of their curriculum. They have asked for an ongoing collaboration with TSF Delhi Kendra on various Social & Environmental Projects and look forward to a meaningful association.

The Delhi School of Social Work

The Department of Social Work, Delhi University was one of the stops during the Walk of Hope in 2016 where Sri M had addressed the Staff and Students. It was a delight to go back and plant a dozen Trees alongwith an enthusiastic team of staff and students led by the Head of their Department, Dr. Pamela Singla.

After the Plantation of trees which was blessed by some gentle showers, Prof. Neena Pandey read out a beautiful poem.

Earlier the DSSW Team had also printed paper banners which everyone held in a semi circle formation spelling out : MYTREE OUR LIVES

The dozen trees planted here included Amaltas, Imli, Harsinghar, Sita Ashok, Jamun and Mulberry. DSSW has various Environmental and Social programmes for which they will be in touch with the TSF Delhi Kendra seeking an ongoing association & partnership, particularly with the Government’s Unnat Bharat Abhiyan scheme through which they work at the community level in Delhi-NCR.