Eco-therapy from the eyes of Mr. Sachin Bharadwaj

It was the third Saturday of July and I happened to be at home, the real home, in Bangalore.  My father asked me to accompany him to Charakavana, a herbal garden inside the lush green Bangalore University, with my camera.  I happily agreed since I had heard a lot about the event from him -  Ecotherapy for Special Children, an initiative backed by Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) under the guidance of Dr. A.N. Yellappa Reddy and Dr. Sadananda Hegde.  Children with special ability from various schools are brought to the garden, taken them on a stroll around the garden, make them do basic yoga and pranayama, make them dance, play games with them and bring smile on their faces, in addition to counselling for parents.   

When we reached the spot, few groups had already left for the stroll in the garden.  I could only catch one last group on the way to get some photographs.  Typically it's led by teachers/instructors, many kids need their hands to be held during the stroll.  The whole idea is that the children get to be in the midst of nature and breath clean air, especially the air in Charakavana has healing effects since its brimming with herbs and plants that are used in Ayurveda and also the aroma and sounds of nature kindle in them curiosity.   After that, we were given a short tour of Charakavana plants by Dr. Venkatashamaiah.  The garden is treasure of rare and useful plants, it's being developed by Dr. Renuka Prasad and team, who had given me a tour of another bio-diversity garden initiative that he's undertaking right behind his home inside Jnanabharathi during my previous visit.  I was also informed that they're not receiving any grants from the government for developing these bio-diverse, medicinal, oxygen-hubs.   After the tour, I went to the place where the kids were dancing to the beats that was led by  Mr. Balakrishna, Retired Manager, Vijaya Bank.   He did a great job getting the kids to shake and move their bodies, to the best of their ability.  He sometimes even held the hand of some kids and made them dance, but most times the kids were able to follow his moves.  Later it was time for Mr. Ramachandra (my father) to engage the kids in sports.  He had taken hula-hoops, frisbees and some rings that he himself designed.  This was probably the happiest of the times for the kids, they were super active and smiling while they tried to throw and catch the ring or fail and retry the hula-hoops.   I could see that the kids loved this outdoor experience.

It was poignant moment for me clicking photographs of these lovely kids and I am very proud of my father and rest of the volunteers for having brought joy and good health to these children.  I hope the initiative expands and they get enough funds to hold the sessions more frequently.  

Links: https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/05/medicinal-plants-for-special-children/ Ecotherapy video coverage on youtube https://www.thehindu.com/features/education/campus-capsule/article5693718.ece https://yourstory.com/mystory/305371643c-a-bio-park-for-special-children

If you're interested in taking your kids with special ability or contributing either financially or as a volunteer, please write to:

Dr. T J Renuka Prasad Professor of Geology & Coordinator of Biopark Bangalore University Jnanabharathi campus Bangalore 560056 +91 9845392748 drtjrprasad@gmail.com