THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For Ravindran, growing Bonsai is not a hobby, but a passion. Shaping, pruning and curling live trees and plants is an art, Ravindran believes. But beyond that, this pot culture gives him the feel of meditation.
‘’It’s a kind of relaxation to mind and body. It will take you towards the nature. And your love to the nature will increase gradually,’’ says D.Ravindran, 59, a Malayali residing at Ramavarmapuram in Nagercoil. Among the 300 exhibits at the ‘Bonsai 2009’, organised by the Kerala Bonsai Association (KBA) at Jawahar Bal Bhavan here, around 200 belongs to Ravindran, the president of KBA.
Ravindran, basically a lawyer and a business man, has been growing bonsai for the past 39 years. Now, he has a collection of over 500 fully developed Bonsai and around 1,500 specimens being developed.
A visit to the Agricultural College, Vellayani, to meet one of his relatives in 1970 introduced Ravindran to the world of Bonsai. ‘’At that time, there were not much information available on Bonsai. Through trial and error method, I started making it. Ten years later, I managed to get the book ‘The Masterclass of Bonsai’, written by Peter Chan of UK. Later, in the 1990s, the demonstration classes conducted by Japanese Bonsai masters in Mumbai and Delhi helped me gain a thorough knowledge about Bonsai,’’ Ravindran said.
In the ongoing exhibition, Ravindran has introduced a new concept of gardening, ‘Theme Garden’. Using rocks, granites and Bonsai specimens, he has arranged a garden in the auditorium. ‘’It is a unique blend of Chinese Zen garden and Bonsai and is a symbolic garden based on Oriental culture. This can be created on a small courtyard. The gravels represent water and spreading the gravel in a special pattern will create wave-like formation on it,’’ he said.
More than a hobby, Bonsai is now a business for Ravindran. He supplies planting materials to the needy. But, he is reluctant to give fully developed Bonsai specimens, as he shares a deep bond with it. ‘’It is impossible to keep all these specimens because of space constraints. So, I sell certain pieces. There is a demand for fully developed Bonsai from corporate offices and luxury hotels,’’ said Ravindran, who nurtures these Bonsai on the terrace of his auditoriums, which he owns at Nagercoil.
Ravindran’s garden has around 100 species of trees including various types of Ficus, Tamarind, Cherry, Golden Showers. He has also brought certain trees from foreign countries. According to him, saplings of Ficus grown on the branches and on the walls of buildings are perfect for making a Bonsai.
‘’During travelling, I would look for such saplings. Around 25 years ago, on a visit to Chennai, I found a Ficus sapling on the branch of a tree. After that, whenever I went to Chennai, I thought of getting that particular sapling. Interestingly, ten years later, in a cyclone that tree was uprooted. Fortunately, I was there in Chennai and took its sapling,’’ said Ravindran, who has received the Iwasaki Award for one of his Bonsai exhibits during the All-India Bonsai Convention, 2007.
trivandrum@epmltd.com