Ahmedabad days.

• Author: David, Esther
• Position: Ahmedabad, India - Personal account

Jlament for trees I have lost during my many migrations in the city and today, I am very possessive about my handkerchief-size garden. Having lived in different parts of Ahmedabad, I have seen different attitudes towards trees. Like, a vegetable vendor has grown tulsi and lili chai next to his shop for business and beauty, and holy trees like banyan and peepal are always looked after well for religious reasons. Then, there was this autoricksha-wallah who insisted on receiving a free sapling from the officer in charge at Parimal garden nursery as he wanted to plant it in the courtyard of his house. I have seen some architects design houses around trees, while some high rise apartments have special parks of their own, while others cut down trees and flatten out areas to construct high rise buildings. Then there are those huge estates on the highway where they grow everything exotic from kad-amb, geraniums to basil. Actually, I envy all those who live on the lush green landscape of the Indian Institute of Management, the place is a green island in the city, what with its lawns, gardens and trees, a virtual bird watcher's paradise. Similar luxuriant green zones exist at the Centre of Environment Planning and Technology, better known as CEPT University, and the National Institute of Design.

At the moment, I live on the ground floor of a low rise housing society in the centre of the city, amidst bungalows and private properties with gardens. When I came to live here, I felt comforted to see a public garden nearby and a triangular island jam-packed with magenta bougainvillea, a chikoo tree on my left, a jamun tree on my right, a neem tree next to the wall...