Author: Archana

Once a Physiotherapist now a Wordsmith. Field Botanist. Bonsai. Proud Indian. Fauji Wife. Doting Mother and Mother-in-law. Devoted Grandmother. Reluctant Cook. Happiest on a road less travelled. 60s are the new 40s ;-)
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See, Touch, Smell…

I have made it a point to visit gardens in every place that I travel to but never bothered to visit those in my own city. No reason really.. The past few days have been a conscientious effort to correct this. The Udan Biodiversity Park is located near Pune’s airport and I usually go to this locality only when travelling. Obviously visiting a park is out of question at that point in time. 


Thus I grabbed the opportunity to visit Udan during the Virasat Pune Heritage Festival 2015 as we would have someone from the ‘makers’ of the park to share information with us. Besides the biodiversity element, this park has a sensory garden. That was a major attraction for me. Several years ago, I remember using different textures as part of therapy for special kids. With my new interest in botany, I was fascinated by the idea of using plants to stimulate the sense organs. I must say the creators of this park have succeeded to a large extent and I was quite impressed. 

I have seen a sensory garden in the Chicago Botanic Garden but that was at the start of  the spring so most of the plants were still dormant. I have heard and read about the Garden of Five Senses in Delhi and I am quite proud that my city too has a sensory garden. This one is is geared for differently-abled kids but everyone can enjoy and learn here. 


Biodiversity, Pune, Park, garden
Leaf imprints at the entrance

This park is spread over 2 acres and uses different plant species and their properties to explore the sense of touch, smell, taste, hearing and vision. Children are bound to find this very interesting as one goes beyond four walls to feel and experience strange wonderful phenomenon.  The entrance itself is dramatic with leaf imprints in the cemented pathway. The sign posts are in English and Marathi and in Braille. Visitors are encouraged to pluck a leaf to experience its specific properties. There is the ‘Toothache plant’ whose leaves cause a tingling sensation in the mouth, the ‘Pandanus sp’ which has a distinctive fragrance, the ‘Touch me not’ whose leaves droop at the slightest touch…


Fun with plants

sensory garden, visually impaired
Sign posts in Marathi, English and Braille
Udan, biodiversity
Camphor Basil
Pune, sensory garden, spices
Cardamom flower

The park has a fountain in the centre and most of the time there was a gentle breeze blowing. They have retained some of the rocks that were found in the original plot of land to create a wonderful waterfall. In my humble opinion there exists scope to create a spot to explore/demonstrate sound of water and the feeling of air movement as well. 


five senses, Pune, parks



I do hope more people especially kids go out and enjoy what this park has to offer. This is a Pune Municipal Corporation Park that has been developed and maintained by the Zensar Foundation. They do give away saplings of their collection if you desire and at no cost! What more can one ask?? 


Pune, spices, garden, parks

Entry to the park is free. There is space for parking. 
Tips: Carry a cap/umbrella as there is not much shade. Insect repellent is advisable. 

As the name suggests, Udan Park has a biodiversity element too. However I shall talk about it in another post. 
Till then, Go on… Enjoy!

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Spring is here!

This morning I chose a different route for my morning walk. And lo behold! Spring was evident at everywhere! Vasantrutu (वसंत ऋतु ) is there to be seen and the plants and trees are putting on a flamboyant display. Dont miss this once a year celebration! Here are some images though they do no justice to the real thing. 
(Follow the links to learn more about the trees)

Vallaris creeper

A carpet of  fragrant Vallaris flowers on the road

The golden Tabebuia makes an appearance
Petrea
The Flame of the Forest

 As they say, be humble, look down and the fallen leaves, flowers, fruit, twigs from the trees will tell you something! Look! Listen! Enjoy!

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Batting for bats

Bats
are something that usually inspire fear or create revulsion among all (or
most)of us. I did not really spare them much thought except on our long walks
on a disused taxi track where we used to see huge bats (recognisable due to
their typical wings) flying across the runway. More recently a group of bats
relocated to a tree outside my balcony which is when I took a keen interest.
Would they be dangerous? Will they accidentally enter my home? And so on…
Luckily they flew away before I hit the panic button.
Thus, I could not miss on a ‘bat spotting walk’ organised by Virasat Pune conducted
by Dr Vishakha Korade who has done her PhD in Bats! Here is what I
learnt. 
Trees, bat, bats, vampire
A colony of bats seen handing from Kinhai trees

Fruit
bats (aka Flying fox) are vegetarian and this was the species that was near my
home. (This is what I inferred from some of her answers to my queries). They
roost on tall trees with sparse foliage (we saw them hanging upside down on
Eucalyptus and Kinhai trees) and fly out at dusk and return at about 5AM. They
feed on fruits (specially of the Ficus genus) and other plant parts as well except roots and stem. The
digestion process in bats increases the chances of germination of the seeds in
the fruit they eat. These seeds are disbursed in their excreta hence the bats
are an important part of the ecosystem. They also help pollinate some plants
species (about 400 e.g. Kigelia africana, Adansonia
digitata). According to Dr Korade, while many urban people fear bats,
people in villages refer to them as Laxmi (as in the goddess)! I guess they
understand the position of bats in the ecosystem more than us city folk! Fruit
bats have fair vision and find their food etc using their eyesight and
olfaction.Contrary to belief, fruit bats do not use eco-location.
Smaller
insectivorous Evening bats (called पाकोळया
in Marathi) produce twins about thrice a year but they are lost to predation
and the total number often does not increase. These bats look like swifts and
can be seen about 15 minutes after sunset. They may share a shelter with swifts
too. Evening bats use eco-location to find their food.
There is a species called Vampire bats that feed on blood (usually of cattle). They secrete an anticoagulant when they bite the animals and then feed on it. These can also regurgitate the ingested material to feed young ones left behind or those unable to fly out. There is a type of ‘false vampire bat’ that is found in Asia.
 
Bats
have a weak pelvic girdle and lower limb muscles and do not ‘stand’ on legs like
humans. Being mammals, they give birth to live young ones. Fruit bats produce
one offspring every year (after about a two month gestation). The young ones may be carried on the bellies for some time. Bats are a
reservoir of many types of virus and may be carriers of Rabies, Ebola. They usually
are not dangerous to humans but may spread disease if people consume plant
produce contaminate with bat fluids (e.g. toddy collected from trees). Their
bodies are geared for an upside down life. Here is a link to some info about the bodies of bats.
In
recent times, bats may have gained some popularity due to the popular book
series by Stephenie Meyer. However I was pleasantly surprised at this session to
see kids ask several intelligent questions. I guess India does have a bright
future, provided they stay and work here of course not fly off to foreign
lands… 
The number of fruit bats in the colony we saw is dwindling which can be a cause for alarm as an important member of the ecosystem will be lost. Loss of their habitat could be a reason. Indiscrimiate cutting of trees has to be stopped.
 
Its important to keep learning something new as its a big wide world and we would only have skimmed the surface!

What have you learned recently?
🙂
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Hope

gy holds sticks
Photo prompt for #15to50 Fiction Challenge at The Moving Quill
Hope

The city had become a grey, white concrete
glass jungle. Green was now an artificial colour in books and paints. He looked
hopefully at the assortment of seeds in the magician’s hands. Maybe he could do
the impossible. Get the seeds to germinate. Bring green back to life.



Word count: 48


Linking up with the Fiction Challenge ‘From15 to 50’



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