A journey of a thousand miles...

I must admit that this is going to be a very long blog entry. Also, please read 'What is Project Aanandi Garden' before reading this post, which, by the way, is quite long too. But I urge you to patiently go through it entirely. It will bring you on the same page as us instantly and you will enjoy the journey further too.

On Sunday 31st January 2010, Smita, Ashish, Saurabh and I started work on the garden. Since some of us have jobs and other have college, we have decided that generally we should work on weekends between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. The garden implements that we had purchased the last time were still there and in reasonably good condition.

As we entered, we were greeted by a huge pile of leaves in the Ashok tree passage. As we enter from the gate, right ahead is a passage leading to the back garden, about 5 feet wide and 12-15 feet long, lined with Ashok trees. We call it the Ashok tree passage.

We started by cleaning up the Ashok passage. Between all Ashok trees there is a thick layer of mud covered by a huge pile of dried leaves. We went to the back of the garden, cleared up a small patch. Then we made a pile of dried leaves over there and burnt them. I for one, love to tend to the fire and so does Ashish :). We managed to burn up all the dried leaves in the Ashok passage. We also collected as many dried plants lying about as possible and burnt them as well. Just this simple activity took up all of our time that day :) After a quick coffee and a plan for the next day, we left.

During the week we met up and discussed the further course of action. We found that the height of the Ashok trees needs to be reduced. They have grown to more than 40 feet in height. They sway a lot in the wind and are a potential danger to the bungalow and the adjoining building. Also, we have designated February 2010 as the official cleaning month.

The immediate tasks were identified as:

1) Clean up and burn / dispose off all organic waste

2) All other waste and rubble will be collected and we’ll get labourers with their tempo / truck to take it away.

3) Take an extra set of keys from Mami

4) Find out the procedure to obtain permission from the Pune Municipal Corporation to get Ashok trees trimmed.

5) Get an authority letter from Mama that authorises me to deal with government agencies for anything related to the garden.

6) Smita to prepare a blue-print of the garden as it is right now – marking the existing trees

7) Buy more garden implements if needed

Accordingly the keys and the authority letter and set of keys were sent by Mama and Mami respectively. Smita found out the detailed procedure to getting permission to get the Ashok trees trimmed from the PMC. She made a blue-print too. Amruta and I purchased 3 bamboo baskets. As we go along we’ll buy more implements if needed.

We decided that if we brought in a lot more people and worked one hour extra, then we could finish a huge portion of the work on the 6th and 7th of February. So we made lists of people who could be interested and then each of us decided to call 4 persons. Accordingly we contacted several people and quite a few of them showed interest and said they would come. We planned to work from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on both Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th February. Accordingly on the 6th, I reached Aanandi at 6:15 and other regulars followed shortly thereafter. Out of all the people we had touched base with, that day Sayali turned up.

We worked very hard on the 6th. We cleaned up the Ashok passage (again…a week is a loooong time and thousands of dried leaves took up residence in the passage as soon as we turned our backs on the 31st !). While we were raking the leaves in the Ashok passage, someone called out to me from outside the gate, “That is not how you hold the broom…hold it straight”. I looked up to see some uncle with a similar broom in his hand. I replied that my broom was loose and I couldn’t hold it straight. So he offered me his ! He said he would come by later to fetch it. With his broom it was much easier to rake the leaves. We burnt those leaves (yep, we love burning dried leaves), cleaned up some other parts too and burnt the dried leaves and plants in those areas too. Later that uncle returned just as I finished cleaning the Ashok passage and took back his broom.

This time, since there was a lot of stuff to burn, we abandoned our previous burning area and whose the far left corner at the intersection of the concrete walls since there are no trees or wires overhead. Ashish is the official fire-tender and I am the part-time assistant. Prajakta, Amruta, Vikrant, Sayali and I formed a chain to carry the baskets to and fro the burning area. While passing the baskets, we are all teasing each other and cracking jokes. It is so much fun to work together :)

The last time we worked in the garden we had planted a zaadu plant…when the plant grows, you can dry it to prepare the zaadu that you usually buy from the grocery store. In all these years, the zaadu plant has grown beautifully, but it has also spread a lot horizontally. So we gave it a vertical shape and tied it up on all sides with a thick rope (sutali). We also tied up the jaswand plant and cleaned up under it.

The amount and variety of waste that we are finding in the garden is mind-boggling ! Amruta had made a list the last time itself and is now adding to it. This time, apart from the usual plastic waste and gutka packets, there were chappals, platic and glass bottles, pipes of various diameters and length, broken Venetian blinds, an assortment of cloths and much more.

Halfway through our work I remarked to Smita that the shevaga (drumstick) tree and another tree close to it were completely covered by the ghaneri flower creeper which had now nearly become a tree. Suddenly both of us were charged and together we started freeing the shevaga from the ghaneri. Slowly all others joined us too and we all started tugging at the ghaneri vigourously. Much of the ghaneri was removed, but in the process all of us ended up with bruises on our arms and legs. It was, however, worth the bother, because we managed to clear away almost all of it. By this time we were all very tired and decided to call it a day. We kept all the waste in one corner and left to have breakfast. We had a hearty breakfast, but the real rush of energy was given by the first sip of the strong sweet coffee.

On the 7th the new addition to the group was Sanyogita. That day we removed the remaining ghaneri and then attacked the square patch immediately adjoining the back wall of the bungalow. There was so much to burn ! We just created a gap between the back wall of the bungalow and the mountain of dried stuff and simply set fire to the whole suare patch that is enclosed by small cement pathways. After a long session of cutting dried plants, sweeping patches, collecting dried leaves, we were looking forward to a good session of seeing all waste turn to ashes :) Much of this burning time was spent feeding the fire, chatting about random stuff (Sanyogita can actually get her PhD writing her thesis on Marathi TV serials), swapping funny stories and generally being silly. When it was time to pack up, we took some kadipatta and a lot of ray-awale. While picking the ray-awale off the ground after nudging them off the tree with the bamboo with a hook at the end, we all (due to the tiredness, I’m guessing) were cracking really silly jokes and laughing rather hysterically :)

Then we picked up all eight bags of waste, which included, by the way, as additions of the day, some thermocol and a tyre, and dropped it off at the nearby PMC waste bin. The hysteria continued at the restaurant while having breakfast. I’m sure the waiter is never going to forget us even if we never go there again !

During the week, while taking a review, Smita suggested that we invite Dhadphale kaku to visit the garden and give us tips and suggestions about how to carry out our mission and she can also identify some trees that we can’t. Dhadphale kaku is an old acquaintance of Smita’s. She is extremely knowledgeable about gardening and organic farming. Smita and Amruta requested Dhadphale kaku and she was overjoyed to know that a bunch of youngsters was actually interested in gardening. She readily agreed to help us out.

On 13th morning Amruta, Smita, Ashish and I had a great time appreciating the 2 phawda and 1 machete that Smita and Ashish had bought. Then we had a rollicking time trying to open the hatch to the terrace. From the house there is a bamboo ladder that leads up to an opening in the roof that is barred by iron doors that open up like flaps and can be fixed by latches to the side walls. Then you climb on to a narrow ledge where an iron-barred glass window has this huge lock. No key was able to open this lock. In addition to this, Ashish was giving some really weird suggestions and Smita and I were freaking out. One by one each of us climbed up and tried, but to no avail. Finally we stopped and went to the garden. We cleaned up and sorted waste from half of the mango trees section. This time there was a ‘wealth’ of waste – liquor bottles, chappals, batteries, CDs, thermocol, tiles, plastic, glass, wires, playing cards ! There were some pipes lying outside that we wound up and kept inside to sell it later to a “bhangarwala” ! Vikrant had come for a short while and he clicked photographs of the garden.

On 13th evening, Dhadphale kaku visited Aanandi baag. On the one hand she was very happy to see what my grand-parents had done…the trees that they had planted, the size of the garden and on the other had she lamented its present state. She had many valuable suggestions to make. Right from the moment she stepped into the garden, she began instructing us rapidly and Smita had a tough time taking it down in her notebook :) She identified all the trees for us. There are many that are very rare and valuable. Once we were done, she sat down and charted out a priority-wise action plan for us. She also advised us to call labourers to clean up the garden. She remarked, there are certain things that ought to be done by the appropriate persons :)

The priority-wise action plan is:

1) Clean the jackfruit tree and put medicinal powder on it. Do the same for the mango trees

2) Clear up the bakul tree of the parasite creeper, pull it back and tie it with a rope to the kadunimba tree near the back wall

3) Cut down the two banana plants that have been infected and other dried up hollow trees and plants

4) Remove the branch of putranjeevi tree that is covering the pomegranate tree and not allowing it to grow

5) Water the banana plants each time we visit

6) Generally water all the plants and make the ground soft

7) Clear up the base of the prajakt plant and pull it back and tie it up to the angles of the fence

8) Prune the jaswand plant

That evening Amruta and I visited the agro-exposition in Sambhaji garden and had a great time visiting the various satlls and finding out about different garden implements and various plants. We bought medicinal powder and an instrument that resembles our palm with fingers spread out. Ashish and Smita spoke to a labour contractor who agreed to visit Aanandi the next morning to survey the work required to be done.

On the 14th morning, Amruta sat with her back to mine on my motorcycle since she couldn't bear the smell of the sack of the medicinal powder which was now between her back and mine. It was hilarious and she received funny looks from others in the traffic :) That day Saurabh was excited when saw the machete. Like a man possessed, he took charge of cutting up all the dried plants and trees and branches of the Ashok trees, the banana plants and swiftly got to work and chopped away merrily :). Prajakta and I cleared up and tied back the prajakt plant. Then Smita, Saurabh, Vikrant and I cleared up the bakul tree and tied it back. Prajakta and Amruta tagged all the saplings (of the Indian Cork tree or the booch tree and the Ashok tree) that we will be developing and giving away to the PMC’s garden department. We cleared up the dongri-awala (large amla) from a parasitical creeper. Rahul cleared up the dried ghaneri in front of the coconut tree and the dried up wild plant that was blocking the shevaga.

Before that Saurabh fetched a labour contractor named Anil to survey the garden and give us an estimate of time and cost to clean it up. Accordingly we finalised that all the cleaning work will be done on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st for the whole day. We will take turns to go to Aanandi to supervise the work. We have to talk to Arunkaka, one of our relatives who is into the construction business, about putting up a fence along the back wall and the side wall since people walking past still throw waste into it and also sit on the wall and drop stuff inside the garden.

As we left that day, we were so pleased to see so much sunlight and air in the garden for the first time :)