1878 was the year. In the Bavarian region of what we now know as Germany ruled King Ludwig II. During his reign, in Holzkirchen, a teacher called Johann Nepomuk Steindl decided to take up an unusual experiment.
With the help of his students, he planted summer lime trees. What was unusual was the fact that these were planted closely together. Sixteen years later, the project was completed. Thence this Lindenstrasse, the lime tree road, a narrow trail mystically zigzagging around these wondrous trees, now almost 145 years old, is one of the most beautiful sights on our earth. Named Steindl Avenue, it was declared the 'natural monument' in 1964.
That is what forests are excellent at. They form a canopy that is beautiful beyond words, and at the same time this natural awning propagates the very cycle of nature. The forests provide shelter to unusual flora, fauna, birds, insects, all of whom are necessary for the human survival. The tangled roots of the ancient trees prohibit soil erosion. Hugely useful in multiple ways, forests are literally the divine heaven because they are protective havens for all, the smallest insect to mankind.
We need to guard such natural ecosystems buzzing with life. These oxygen pockets of the earth are the legacy that we have to hand over to our future generations as it is their birthright. Human beings must stop the suicidal cutting down of forests. The so-called 'progress' must become enviornment wise sensitive development.
In India, earlier there used to be 'devrais', forests dedicated to local deities. Not even a leaf from there was to be touched. Such practices, sanctioned by religion, helped the natural balance. The 'tapobhumi', too, where the seers and sages meditated, was beyond worldly pleasures and mundane interference. Remember the poetic beginning of Kalidasa's "Shakuntal"?
Sure the hands of the clock can now never be reversed. Yet we must realise that human beings cannot any longer make forests count their last few breaths before a certain death. Thus would we invite our own extinction. Let us not miss neither the trees nor the woods that nourish our very selves, physical and spiritual.
Time to stop the massacre of jungles. Only then can a new jungle book of-n-about companionship of man and nature bloom and flourish. Long live forests fostering us!
Pratima@ The woods are lovely, dark and deep/And to them we must promises keep/before the entire eternity due to our mad meddling goes to a forever sleep!
🌴🌴🌲🌳🌅✨🌜✨🌄💨🌈💦🌳🌲🌴🌴
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