Plantation, Vansda

Date: 18/7/2015

Place: Vansda, Gujarat

Time: 7:30 am to 8:00 pm

This was our first CAS trip planned by school. We went to Janki Van – a new botanical garden which is being developed by Ministry of Forest (Gujarat) under the guidance of Head of Forest Department in Vansda, which is about 90 Kms from Surat. The garden has periphery of about 4000 meters and contains beautiful and variety of plants, flowers and trees.

We fulfilled our service and activity component by planting saplings of “mehendi”. It was a new experience for me as I learnt the skill of neatly planting delicate seedlings in their designated area. It was simple yet tiring, I out in my best efforts because it was something of my interest.

Our work was to get the plants from a place where they were assembled and then plant them. I even watered the plants. When we were quite satisfied with our work we went to the other group and planted some more. We leveled the ground, clicked photos and had fun. Digging up was a lot of labor and the sun was hard on us. We cleaned up when it was time for lunch, and during that I broke my footwear. So I had to walk barefoot all the way to the bus where I had an extra pair – however, on the way we found a tractor and climbed on it. It was the most fun riding the tractor on it’s back while standing, the road had so many bumps and that’s what made it more adventurous and fun. Few of my friends who didn’t get the opportunity to get in the tractor watched me and were jealous to be at my place.

Janki Van garden has numerous species of plants and shrubs. As per different constellations it has formation of certain plants and flowers. The vibrant colors of the flowers and leaves gives the place a beautiful and scenic view.

After the tiring day, we had lunch in a nearby restaurant – we all ate till we were completely full because we were all so hungry and tired.

We went to Check-Dam of Padamdungri, where some of us got refreshed by getting into the water, but I didn’t want to get wet so I had fun by clicking their pictures.

On the way back to Surat, I reflected on all the activities done and concluded that gardening is something I enjoy, so would make it my hobby for example, there are plants in my house just because on my request, and now everybody is glad because at night entire house is filled with the aroma of the flower that blossoms, and I water them regularly.

I realized I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty for a while.