Yesterday was Sunday, aka Sightseeing Day. And, partly because it is the biggest statue of the Hindi liberator south of Mt Kailash in Tibet and partly because my brother told me about it, we visit Shiva on Airport Road. At 65 foot, he is indeed the most beautiful Hindu statue we have seen, if you ignore the snotty girl gazing down from her crumbling building above.
Thank all the gods that there is something tangible for all these beating souls to hang onto.
And then, because we reckon we could do with a bit of a green lung, we head for Cubbon Park. Cool statue of Queen Vic, tall trees, lots of courting couples – all huddled on dry patches of ground surrounded by litter. OK, so it looks like one small area is being regreened, but it is very small. As we feel, in this vast pollution-spewing wilderness.
It’s hard to refuse the smily boy who invites us to join his family for a picnic lunch, but our conversation is gaining momentum. There must be a solution. It’s a conversation that’s probably been rehashed a million times, but what if every Bangalore-based company outlined a green strategy as part of their social responsibility programme and donated a bit to regreening Cubbon Park? Jobs would be created, the city would breathe, people would feel better.
If post-apartheid Johannesburg, with its masses of unemployed and more apathetic uneducated masses can do it, so can Bangalore.
Besides, synchronicity is real: this morning’s India Times attests to it. Some planet lovers are on the same tack: Green Dream is planting trees all over the city, which has seen a six percent reduction of green cover in the last 15 years, and is appealing to individuals and corporates to donate and get involved.
At just 100 Indian rupees to plant, procure and maintain a sapling for a year, can we afford to refuse? (She says, gazing at the withering old wise tree, put to death in his prime, across the road, and wondering whether the purchase of 8 potplants for under 300 rupees makes any difference at all. Or whether sapling buyers will remember to feed it after its first birthday?)
Fiat arbores!