The Panwadi Tree Plantation Experience
A journey with and for one another
How can so many people with different backgrounds develop a sense of camaraderie during an activity that they least expect it from? How much joy is kept in reserve in such endeavors to which we give the least credit? These are the questions that I came back with when I returned from a tree plantation activity. True. These are strange questions and have ambiguous answers. I am just glad that they could form in my mind. It means I did something. We did. A few daring HSBC employees.
The leaders of our activity had organised such events before. So, their plan was impeccable. The path the bus needs to take, the time needed to travel, what sort of attires will be necessary, who is boarding from which point on the route to our destination, when and where we will stop for breakfast, where we will have lunch and when we will come back.
It is not an unheard thing. Employees of IT companies doing CSR activities. Such activities include teaching, taking seminars, donating our time as scribes, donating our skills in crafts, etc. Tree plantation is one of those activities. The only difference is, here we deal with earth, labour, and trees instead of the usual electronic signals and ‘providing intellectual knowledge-based service’. This difference, precisely, worked wonders in my mind on January 13th, 2024, and the following days.
The pit was already dug. A mango sapling was already ready to be planted. Maybe waiting even. We were shown the demo of how to spread the soil layer first, then the compost, and then another such dual layer with the plant embedded at its centre. Filtering out relatively bigger stones and keeping only the soil in the pit was a challenge. I ended up separating not just one but two shovels from their handle. Due to my enthusiasm (or, should I say idiocy), of course. ‘I am not Groot’ moments. But yet I was treated kindly. The people of Panwadi village treated us kindly. We were welcomed. They told us how such activities can begin to create income streams other than the income that comes from farming for the villagers. We were joined by students from the school and some villagers along with the Sarpanch himself.
The Seva Sahayog Foundation which was our partner in this activity was not only encouraging but also working with us side by side. The ecologists had picked the spot perfectly for planting the saplings and left no stone unturned in explaining the big change of which this was a tiny part. How the attitude is shifting from credit cards to carbon credits.
I mean we cannot blame ourselves for taking photographs. A side effect of being in the twenty-first century. Memories have fun ways of catching up with us in the future. So, we thought we would create some in our very own digital turf. Our micro-group of a total of five colleagues completed three plantations. We were so engrossed in the work that when we were done, we saw an entire field of plantations done by our entire team, the villagers, and the school students. We were so proud that the water we drank after the work, seemed like life itself. The lunch which was prepared for us included ‘bhakri’ made from the grain ‘bajri’ and curry of brinjal. With ‘khichdi’ as rice and ‘jilebi’ as dessert, we witnessed proper peace that day. Donation of labour is what the villagers called it. The Sarpanch and the lady representative of the village put forward a roadmap of the past two decades through which the village of Panwadi had made its way. The absence of infrastructure was fought with rigour and hope even. It is still there. Even today. The fight.
The self-help group at the village sold us their produce of the sweet ‘pedha’ which melted the moment it my mouth, blessing me with its love and paneer which was fresh and unadulterated. Many of us didn’t even get to buy those products since all of them got sold out within minutes. We got to pass through the village via a tractor. A childhood curiosity completed indeed!
I remember how delicate the roots of the plant were. Like most of us are when we are kids and even during our teens. It is one thing to read about wisdom in books. Believe me. I have. It is completely another to experience it in sweat and blood. It makes us accept our folly and strength as well. Many of us got to know each other. Some of us got to know what a village is. The absence of internet and cellular networks was a temporary boon for us. It was a bane for the village. The villagers were used to it but the kind of madness that would engulf me if I lived there for a long period was seriously worrying. Well, it is great that there is more than one way to live a life. To pass our time. That is allotted to us. That we make our way. Periodic reminders just strengthen our understanding and resolve. To breathe and to flow.
There are many ways in which such activities are criticised. One of which considers whether the expected result is achieved in the coming years or not. Some people go as far as saying that such activities don’t even matter. I disagree. Because it mattered to us. It still does. Whether we did something or did nothing was neither the satisfaction nor the question that we left Panwadi with. Our hearts got to know a few more hearts. We acknowledged one another. We relished the company. Along with the journey and the destination.
How being human liberates our individual and ensnares us into a group that beats as one is an irony but a truth no lesser than our existence.