SeasonWatch Newsletter

As part of SeasonWatch, we have together looked at trees for their flowering and fruiting periods, and when the new leaves arrive, and so on. As we watch the lives of our fellow beings, we also notice how each one of them is different from those around it.

Trees, the silent observers of nature, withstand rain, snow, heat, the dust and smoke. Standing together in a forest or alone on a pavement, each individual tree merges quietly into the background of its surroundings, but brings out its thriving character when we pay attention. If we were to look close enough, we will notice that one branch that spread out very close to the ground, that cavity that appeared in the trunk as the tree aged, the progressive change in the colour and texture of its leaves as the seasons pass by, the smell of its flowers and the fruits that ripen into sugary delicacies, or burst open their leathery capsules to propel seeds on the wings of silken threads. Each one of us has played under a favourite tree alone or with friends, hanging on its branches, and learning how to climb it. Do you remember such a tree around your home, school, or office, which you seek out as a meeting point or for solitude? Tell us about your tree and your experience by writing to us on sw@seasonwatch.in. We will love to hear your stories and will showcase some of them in our next newsletter.

Regards,

SeasonWatch Team

Featured tree of the month

Banyan Tree

Did you know that the great Banyan (Ficus benghalensis), the national tree of our country, is a type of strangling fig that starts its life on another tree, growing on it, and finally enveloping it? The name comes from the term bania for Indian traders, who often sought out the shade of these majestic trees during their travels. Banyan trees, once a common sight across India, can still be uncommonly seen along road-sides and old parts of cities and in rural areas. Have you seen one someplace? They are easily identifiable by their hanging tassels of aerial prop roots. Did you know that these roots can grow into thick trunks and help the tree continue to spread and grow laterally? Many a times its hard to even tell which one of the many trunks is the original or the first one. There are many more interesting stories about the banyan and we have only begun to scratch the surface. Find out more about them, and you can write to us and share what interested you with us. We leave you with the following poem written by Rabindranath Tagore:

The Banyan Tree

O you shaggy-headed banyan tree standing on the bank of the pond,
have you forgotten the little child, like the birds that have nested
in your branches and left you?

Do you not remember how he sat at the window and wondered
at the tangle of your roots and plunged underground?

The women would come to fill their jars in the pond,
and your huge black shadow would wriggle on the water
like sleep struggling to wake up.

Sunlight danced on the ripples like restless tiny shuttles
weaving golden tapestry.

Two ducks swam by the weedy margin above their shadows,
and the child would sit still and think.

He longed to be the wind and blow through your resting branches,
to be your shadow and lengthen with the day on the water,
to be a bird and perch on your topmost twig, and to float like
those ducks among the weeds and shadows.

SeasonWatch Quiz

I am often seen along roadsides. I provide large shade even when my leaves are tiny. My longish fruits are used in Indian curries to add to their mouth-watering sweet and sour flavour. When do I fruit? Right now, although, you may want to wait some more months for my fruits to sweeten. Which tree am I?

Guess this tree and be the first one to answer by writing to us on sw@seasonwatch.in. We will give the answer and announce the winner in our next newsletter. Don't wait!

Stories from the SW team

Of Chakka-adas and Kuttivanam

By Swati, Nizar, and Arun

On a clear day in August, we gathered under the shade of a large rain tree on the banks of Periyar in Aluva. Mathrubhumi SEED, as part of their initiative has started an arboretum where students from Amrita College of Arts and Sciences had come to spend a morning learning about trees. We were given a warm and sweet welcome with chakka adas, Kerala's mouthwatering sweets prepared with Jackfruit and jaggery. With such a start, the morning was only going to get better! We started the program with a short talk on the importance of trees in urban areas. This was followed up with an interactive skit on the life of trees. In the skit, one of us became a seed, lying on the ground beneath the rain tree, while others played rest of the characters (birds and animals) that influence a tree's life. Through this act we talked about seed germination, ways in which a growing tree protects itself from animals that come to eat it, and how a tree attracts insects and birds to pollinate its flowers, and once it bears fruits, animals to disperse its seeds. The students that had in the beginning appeared shy, participated in the skit with a lot of interest. Some of them even took to explaining what they learnt and how the enjoyed the session to the RJ from Club FM 94.3. After this we ended the session with an introduction to SeasonWatch and how the students can participate.

After a biryani lunch with our friends from Amrita college, we went to Government Higher Secondary School, Kuttamassery. We were given another very warm welcome by an enthusiastic bunch of students and their teacher. We were informed that this small school is exceptionally keen on environmental education and has been very active in Mathrubhumi's SEED programs for several years. We soon found it ourselves. After a classroom session on an introduction to SeasonWatch and how to upload data on the website, we went to monitor a fig tree in the school compound. While students listened carefully, they also burst explosively with energy and laughter every now and then, climbing and running around the tree. After our session was over, a small group of students came to each one of us to invite us for a walk to their kuttivanam – a small forest that the students are planting and tending in their school backyard. Here, the students pointed to the different trees and proudly told us their Malayalam names. As we were leaving, with big warm smiles on their faces, they invited us to visit their school again. We thank the students and teachers for their enthusiasm and support, and look forward to revisiting their kuttivanam.

A day spent walking on trees

By Jegan

On 11th August 2016, I joined Anand, a teacher with Isha Yoga Foundation for an interactive session with Isha Home School students. About 20 students (of 5th,6th and 7th grade) participated along with Ganga Akka (teacher) and Maa Pratapi (teacher). The session started with a talk on ecological benefits of trees and in general about trees, followed by an introduction to various local tress, their flowering and fruiting seasons and also to SeasonWatch. I also showed them the documentary on the SW website. After the classroom session, we went for a tree walk around the campus and students selected 5 trees for monitoring (4 Gulmohar and 1 Jarul).

I quite enjoyed doing this session with these enthusiastic students. They selected the Gulmohar trees as they are their favourites since they come under these trees almost everyday to play and climb them! I particularly enjoyed the interest they showed in giving nick names to their trees. After much brainstorming they came up with some very interesting names. One of the trees is named "The Walk" because it has a branch which is almost horizontal, and the students often walk on it. This is just the second workshop that I have conducted in Tamil Nadu but I notice the students really enjoy finding nicknames for their trees.

News and Events

SeasonWatch App is here! Download and install our Android App from this link on Google Play Store. Now, submitting observations becomes super easy and fun! Try it out and send us your feedback.

SeasonWatch database has crossed 100,000 observations! We congratulate all our participants for arriving at this milestone!

Recap

Individuals: Muhammed Nizar K, KS Lyla, Rohan Saini, Monotosh Thomas Kanji, Tashi Lepcha, Sumith Mohanan, Ridonhok Khongsar, Sunil Kumar CK,Neeraj Sagar, Sarang PV, Anitha Andrew, Harish MK, Athul MV, Sourav M, Sarayu Ramakrishnan, Aditya Niranjan Vinod, Kannan AS, Arun AR, Kidu Davs of Gaddi, Ahamed Saleem KM, Mandar Kulkarni, Anuja, Umar Minzab

Schools: Kadankuni UP School, Aniyaram; Siva Vilasom VHSS, Thamarakkudy, Kottarakkara; Hemambika Nagar Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1; Government HSS, Puthenthode; MES International School, Pattambi; Isha Home School, Coimbatore; MGM Model School; Mahatama Gandhi Memorial Model School; Sri Sarada Girls HSS; Government LPS, Alamcode; Government DVHSS, Charamangalam; GVHSS, Thiruvilwamala; Bhavan's Adarsh Vidyalaya, Kakkanad; Model Central School; GHSS, Kozhippara; GTHS, Chittor; Padashala HS; Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Kolazahy; MGM Model School; Bhavan's Vidya Mandir, Eroor; Trinity lyceum School, Fatima Road; Repake Primary School; PTM UPS, Chenjerikonam

Top tree species observed: Rain Tree (Samanea saman), Mango (Mangifera indica), Mast Tree (Polyalthia longifolia), Indian rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo), and Tamarind tree (Tamrindus indicus)

Total trees observed: 686

Total observations: 2876

Total observations in SW database: 107142