In the Tryambak Range of the Western Ghats, merely 25 kms away from Nashik, a young brigade of tribal kids is being made aware of the ways of the forest.
Every weekend, from September to May, batches after batches of kids from the surrounding villages are brought to Borgad Conservation Reserve for a day picnic, nay, an open classroom.
We had spent the previous night in the cozy comfort of the igloo-like tent pitched in the complex of the Nature Conservation Society of Nashik near Borgad. So we discovered the intensity of the winter only in the morning when we saw that the overnight dew had made the lawns look as if it was heavily watered by a nocturnal gardener.
The yellow school bus loaded with bubbly kids came at the appointed hour. We were given the option of going to the reserve by ourselves. But we chose the option of going with the kids. Because we were curious to find out how the seeds of conservation are being sown in these young minds.
The breakfast we shared with the kids was absolutely delicious. It was the humble batata pohe, but it was perfect. Just as the cold winter sun was thawing in the mist, the piping hot pohe melted in the mouth, sending a tingling sensation down the alimentary canal. After a second generous helping, we followed the yellow bus to Borgad Reserve.
Borgad is the first conservation effort of its kind in the state, and it was started in 2007. It has three stakeholders: the villagers, the Forest Department and the Nature Conservation Society of Nashik. When Bishwarup Raha of NCSN first discovered it, Borgad was a forest denuded by the villagers for firewood, and for the commercial use of timber.
Taking a pledge to restore this once-beautiful forest, Raha and his like-minded friends started talking to the villagers. Over time, their innate sense of conservation got sparked off. And soon it began spreading like a wild, green fire across the nearby villages.
First they planted a modest 5,000 saplings. And then over the next three years, they planted another 75,000. The figure for the next couple of years is an ambitious 1,00,000. Care was taken not to introduce any 'foreign' trees. When indigenous forest trees like mahua, beheda, saag, seesam, amla and jambhul started reappearing in the forest, the fauna too reappeared. For birds, butterflies, reptiles and mammals, it was their second coming.
The bus halted at the foothills of Borgad. On the right was a flat grassland, with bare hillocks looming in the distance. And on the left was a beautiful mountain with terraced tracks, grassy slopes and wooded patches decked in its greenest finery.
The moment we stepped into the forest, Raha's team of experts took over. Using the simplest of terms in Marathi, they introduced the tribal kids to the treasure trove of Borgad.
First, they were introduced to some truly amazing botanical specimens. Salai, the only forest tree that does not get burnt in a forest-fire. Tantani, the juice of which is consumed by circus artistes to heal the internal wounds caused by the broken glass pieces they routinely swallow as part of their performance. Safed Kuda, the seeds of which when crushed and put in milk converts milk into edible curd. Plumbago, a plant that eats insects.
When a curious kid asked why a pot filled with water is kept next to a sapling, Raha explained how the water slowly seeps into the soil and quenches the thirst of the newborn. He also explained to them how all living things are born from the same mother: Mother Earth. And that this mother is now old, millions of years old, and urgently needs to be taken care of.
For the tribal kids, it was the joy of learning about the mysteries of Nature. For the tribal elders, it was the practical benefit of afforestation that increases the water levels in their village wells dramatically.
As we gazed at the gloomy sun setting behind a heavy cloud, we discovered that every dark cloud in Nature has the proverbial silver lining. In this case, the emergence of a Young, Green Brigade.
