August 2024
For the uninitiated, Tree Appreciation Walks (TAW) was started by Dr Usha Desai along with Renee Vyas in 2010 and they have completed more than 100 Tree Walks to date. Those of us who have attended these walks in Mumbai are fortunate enough to have been in the company of a wise, lively, mindful, attentive, supportive, knowledgeable tree of life. They have also been in touch with all that is simple, pure, and kind in the world.
Dr Usha Desai graduated in medicine from Grant Medical College, Mumbai, in 1964, and later did her post-graduation in Glasgow, UK. Born into a middle-class family of eight siblings in Africa, Dr Usha credits her progressive father for being instrumental in giving her wings to pursue her education and live alone in Bombay in an age where daughters were married off at an early age, with scant regard for their wishes or their dreams to study and work.
Dr Usha Desai is 84 today and is not only as independent and passionate as she was then but is even as soft-spoken and kind. She had a fulfilling first innings as a medical practitioner and a more enjoyable second innings as a naturalist, which she began at the young age of 58, culminating in the start of the Tree Appreciation Walks when she was 71. When we are talking in terms of tree age, 71 is indeed young!
The beginning of curiosity
Dr Desai’s first work experience was in Zimbabwe where she worked as a resident doctor at the Mpilo General Hospital. When she later went to Glasgow, UK, for her post
graduation, she worked in paediatrics as well as medicine. “My father always encouraged me to study further and was a progressive man,” she says.
Dr Desai decided to come to India in 1969 with the idea of working for the poor. “I was a research officer at the Department of Neurology at KEM Hospital and, later, the Worli ESIS hospital, as a consultant physician. In 1971, I joined MGM Hospital, Parel, where I continued till my retirement in 1997.”
Surrounded by trees at the hospital, Dr Desai developed a natural curiosity and affinity for them. “I would ask patients if they knew the names of particular trees. I had always been interested in nature and had a lot of books. Seeing these, my neighbour told me to join the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
“At that time, there were no books except Bole’s WWF-published book—a small book which listed 100 trees meticulously with good detailed drawing and identification. Dr Almeida, who was the father of botany in India, would conduct only two tree walks a year under the to take us to outstation places too for there are thousands of varieties of trees in India. The more you learn, the more there is to learn.”
At the BNHS botany course, in which Dr Desai obtained a certificate, she was the oldest student! A group of them would visit
various gardens on their own and try to pool their learnings. She then did several other courses to increase her knowledge and fuel her
curiosity, among them an entomology course “with the excellent Dr Shubalakshmi at the BNHS” and a herpetology course “conducted
by Varad, whose knowledge was phenomenal,” following which she did a Leadership Course
in Biodiversity Conservation. Post that, she did her volunteer training, where they were taught to lead a group of participants on guided tree walks. “Most of us who had done the courses under the aegis of the BNHS. At these walks, 70 to 80 people would turn up. I would be at the back, and I would hardly be able to hear him. So, I heard ‘Kailas Pati flower’ as ‘Kauravpandav’ !
Whatever he said, I would copy word for word;
there was no referencing, no Google, and it was
hard work. Dr Latoo would also conduct a few walks. So between the two of them, there were only about four walks a year, and if you weren’t in Mumbai, you missed them.
“I had labelled all the trees in my hospital too. The only way to learn was to go for Dr Almeida’s walks or read Dr Bole’s book and study on your own.”
Google makes a difference
Thus began Dr Desai’s second innings at the age of 57, when she retired. “When Google came on the scene, it was easier for us to identify and learn about trees. We would request Dr Almeida
“When Google came on the scene, it was easier for us to identify and learn about trees. We would request Dr Almeida to take us to outstation places too for there are thousands of varieties of trees in India. The more you learn, the more there is to learn.
Tree Appreciation Walks connect people with nature on an intimate level
were well settled, and money was not an issue. I felt I was at a stage where I could give back—do seva. So I requested BNHS to use people like me as volunteers. At the end of the training, you should be able to at least talk about 10 trees on a particular trail. They would give us 75 rupees per trail. We didn’t want any money as we wanted to do it voluntarily, but they said it was for conveyance and to have batata wada!
“You should have honesty to learn. Many times, we would point out each other’s mistakes and accept our flaws. That is the way we learnt and progressed in our study.”
The Tree Appreciation Walks
At this point, as they had built up a reservoir of knowledge and experience, Dr Desai felt that they should share this bounty with others. “I suggested that we should do a tree walk every Sunday, which ultimately transformed into a once-a-month walk by Renee and me. Thus, we started our Tree Appreciation Walks in
2010. These are completely free of charge, for my thinking was, What am I going to do with that money? We basically wanted to spread and share our love for trees. I was 71 at that time.”
The Tree Appreciation Walks in Mumbai have reached legendary status among tree and nature lovers. As soon as a TAW is announced, the spots get filled in record time. To date, the TAW has completed 122 editions and counting! “Renee would do an initial recce and shortlist the gardens. Then we would go and choose the trees for the walk. If a participant asks about a tree, and we don’t know, we say we don’t know.
After all, there are more than 2000 species of trees, and we can always try to find out together. We always encourage inputs from participants; that enhances our learning too. But no cheating or bluffing. Otherwise, it becomes a habit,” Dr Desai emphasises.
The centenary TAW in 2019 was a surprise celebration by the regular participants. “So many people turned up. Even those who hadn’t registered came through others who had registered. It was a surprising and joyous occasion.
Dr Desai says of her long and lovely association with her partner: “What kept Renee and me going for more than 100 walks over 10 years is that our passions matched. Passion and curiosity to know for ourselves and then to share it with others.
“The main aim was to instil a love for trees in people and, thereby, care for them. If you tell people “Save the trees,” no one is going to listen to these mottos, but if you love trees, you will hug the tree before you let anyone harm it. When you have observed the tree for so many years, it becomes like your friend.”
Through the TAW, they have been able to change the way people look at trees, “and that itself is very gratifying and rewarding.”
Tree walks change lives
What does Dr Desai value most in the tree walks? “The joy I see on the faces of the participants. Being in the company of trees makes me feel alive. Even if there are four or five people, I don’t mind. But now in the eighth decade of my life, I cannot handle more than 20 people.
“One young woman wrote to me that the walk completely changed her life: As she was going home, she could recognise some of the trees; she could appreciate that there are so many different types of trees. Her life would not be the same again, and she was determined to learn more. Another student wished that her botany teacher had taught her how to look at the trees. She said that the way she looked at them after the walk made her feel she could have opted for botany as her main subject.
“The joy that you give to people cannot be measured in money, and it’s by God’s grace that I feel I can give this joy to people.” Simple joys shared make life worthwhile and beautiful.
“My theory is that if you love something, do it till the end. If you can’t, don’t feel sad. But if you can do it, and people want you to do it, then you do it. Someone has to hold my hand these days during the walk. I don’t feel shy or embarrassed about it,” says the octogenarian, twinkle-eyed.
Love is all we need
“I have tried to follow Buddha’s philosophy. In the end, these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you learn to let go?
“The poet Kalidas says: ‘Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a vision, but today, well-lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
’
“Become love. Give love to every living being. When you understand the other, you start loving the other; you develop compassion, be it insect, snail, or human being.”
Learning to let go has been the hardest for me, but I am not doing too badly. Earlier, when I couldn’t let go or forgive, I would be hard on myself. Now I light my lamp (diya) and talk to God and say, “This is me; I can’t let go, accept me as I am,’ and calm settles over me.”
Dr Desai concludes with the guiding philosophy of her life: “In the end, we are all humans, so we do slip on our principles. But if we are aware of it, half the battle is won.”
Renee Vyas, the other half of TAW, on Dr Usha
“Some people inspire you for life, and one such person for me is Dr Usha. I met her during a field botany course at the BNHS in 2008, about 15 years ago. What stood out in her was her enthusiasm to learn and understand new things and her eagerness to share her knowledge with others.
I admire her for her mindfulness and courage to live and enjoy the present moment. Our passion for learning about trees and our collective goal to create awareness and inculcate a love for trees among people formed a beautiful and joyous bond between Dr Usha and me.”
Dr Usha Desai often pens poems as paeans to plants. Here is one on the Parijat. Parijat Parijat, when I pass by you in the morning,
I am enchanted by your carpet of delicate white and orange flowers with a mild but heady fragrance. You are a legend of so many stories.
The one I love is your romance with Sun God. You were a princess and fell in love with Sun God. He too was in love with you.
After a few days, he got bored and rejected you. The pain of rejection was severe.
You pined for him, you grieved for him and you passed away and resurrected yourself in a new avatar as a tree! You told Sun God “I don’t want to see your face. I shall bloom before you rise and shall fall down before you rise!”
One young boy, Mangirish, who attended my walk said, “No ma’am, I don’t want to see you. For now, I am in love with Moon God and I want to bloom only for him.”
The story has been told since ancient times. Even Carl Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy, used it to name you Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (night-blooming sad tree).
Sharmila Bhosale is a writer with deep interest in photography, travel, music,nature, psychology and spirituality. She is also the former editor of Life Positive Jr.
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