DHARMAPURI: The fields at Pooganahalli village lay barren. The chirping of birds was on the wane. The crops were wilting under the ferocious sun with each passing day. The then 19-year-old M Govindasamy could sense something was amiss. But it was not until his college friends joined him that he could pinpoint what was missing.
“When we started out 10 years ago, it was merely 12 kids wanting to make a difference. We started planting trees around the village. I began learning about the intricacies of the climate crisis,” he recollects.
However, the movement that Govindasamy wanted to kickstart was nipped in the bud. “As we got busy with work and education, our team was forced to part ways. This made me think. All our efforts would prove useless if there was no one else to carry forward what we have left behind,” says the 29-year-old. Refusing to give up, he launched a club with the name ‘Phoenix’, a mythical bird that rises from its own ashes, to give new wings to his movement. “What we are trying to do is similar: Revive the lush forest which was here decades ago,” he explains.
In the club, children are taught about the environment. With the elders, they collect plastic bottles from the garden alongside planting vegetables and trees. In the past four years, over 5,000 saplings have grown root in Padi government school and the Primary Health Centre Complex with the collective effort of school students. During the summer season, Govindasamy also leads a group of schoolchildren to provide food and water for the birds. Govindasamy said engaging children in such works helps develop their creativity. Some of the ideas which we adopt here are from the children, he adds.
Throwing light on the ways in which Govindasamy gives back to nature, a Class 7 student, R Siva from the village, says, “This year we had made a bird feeding station, where we cut plastic bottles and filled them with water. Apart from this, we bring a handful of grains from our home to ensure that birds are well fed. Usually, during the summer, most of the trees and plants wither in drought. To avoid this, we water the trees regularly and prune them,” he says.
A Class 9 student R Krishnan echoed the same. “For the last month, I collected water bottles, which were cut and hung on trees. I am happy to see the birds chirping in numbers and moving from one tree to another,” he says. What started out as a small group has now spread its branches to over 60 children. The fields are now filled with lush grass. The tree, which was planted long ago, has finally borne fruit.