As I stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the sky, a sight greeted me… A sight that I hadnt taken time out of my otherwise useless days to acknowledge. The sky was cloudy with the imminent possibility of rain, the scattered sunlight from the sun, now close to the horizon, made the silhouette even more beautiful.
I had driven on this road over a million times in the past 25 years, I had walked it a few times but never ran it. Suddenly the overwhelming urge to run once on it overcame me, combined with the fear that I probably had very little time to do it in, almost had me in tears.
The pleasure of driving this stretch is simply unexplainable. Even on the hottest days, the beauty of a green cover made the drive soothing. I remember that on rainy days the trees almost acted like an umbrella and the cool wind left one no choice but to love and admire mother nature.
Back to reality, I was standing on the sidewalk of Nanda Road, with hundreds others and holding up banners that read “Save the trees” and “Metro must go Underground”. There were people chanting slogans, press reporters and even a few cops. Ironically it was the moment I truly started admiring the true beauty of this stretch of trees.
A little distance to my right was a huge tree. It must have been at least a hundred years old. Its branches were spread over a huge area, a major part of which was providing shelter to the road. Its branches were cut at places but nothing could take away the grandeur that was this huge living organism. Then the thought of someone cutting down that tree hit me, how could someone justify that? How can someone justify cutting down 323 such tress?
When I first heard that an over head metro rail would be laid along that road, I was concerned for the trees. I was told that a few of the branches of the trees would be pruned to make space for the metro. It sounded like a decent compromise for progress. This was about a year or so ago…
Recently I read online that almost all trees on Nanda Road will be cut to make way for the Metro. In a brilliant sign of unity, people decided to stand up against this injustice and organized a candle light protest, to save the trees. It was truly an honor to stand on that sidewalk and show my support for the cause.
I guess the old saying is true – Sometimes its only the thought of losing something that can make you understand how important it is to you.
Ps: More details of the “Save Nanda Road,Save Lalbagh Save Bangalore’s future“. You will find links on keeping in touch with developments at the end of the page and here.
I had opted to not carry my camera along but here are photos captured by others at the event.