Putting the ‘phool’ and cool into April Fool

Subhajit Mukherjee leads the way during plantation. Pic/Anurag Ahire

April Fool's Day on Friday was dubbed ‘April Cool' as students, led by the initiative ‘Mission Green Mumbai', participated in an event to green Mandapeshwar Caves at Borivli West.

These caves house a Shiva Temple within. They have an incredible history, woven into the colourful tapestry of this megapolis, where new age concrete towers rub shoulders with cultural landmark buildings.

Though the Mandapeshwar Caves of Borivli are cited as a tourist attraction on Google searches, there is relative ignorance about them being compared to their cave cousins, the Kanheri or Ajanta and Ellora.

This then was the congregation site for many students who participated in April Cool, led by Mission Green founder Subhajit Mukherjee. The caves formed an eye-catching backdrop as youngsters gathered to plant at least 100 saplings with the caves precinct.

The past

Before the plantation began, history aficionado Partho Pratim Chatterjee explained, "We must learn about all the caves of Mumbai. I am originally from Kolkata and arrived 16 years ago in the Maximum City for work. Many caves in and around Mumbai are Buddhist caves. The early Buddhists used these as places to stay, and they preached their faith from here too." Chatterjee pointed to these caves opening eyes to the marvel of the "design and engineering of so many years ago." The rock face of the caves featured an Indian Goddess and a cross, attesting to the conflict of different faiths over this site in earlier times.

Good earth

After a walk among the caves and a climb that showed ruins, picture-postcard or, in these times, Instagram post sights, the plantation drive began. "Today we are planting 100 saplings, but we aim to make that 5,000, one tree at a time," said Mukherjee. Students Vanita Parmar and Khushi Singh claimed, "This is about giving our generation and the next, a better, cleaner, greener future and we should be part of it."

Rohit Singh, a Mumbai student originally from UP, said, "The greenery reminds me of home in Sultanpur, UP. I have a variety of trees in my backyard there. In Mumbai, space constraints mean we cannot have that greenery around our homes, but we can participate in greening public places."

Mona Shah, a participant, had gifted 40 saplings to mark her 40th birthday. Her husband Dipen Shah said, "Today, it is all about celebrating occasions with a big bash. One can do so, but keep a small amount of that cash though, for public good, too."

The message

Vishwas Khetle, supervisor, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), added as Mukherjee was overseeing the planting, "We have a team to maintain these trees. We are also creating a garden in the vicinity, the site is not very well known, but today when pictures go viral on the Internet, it is easier to create awareness, and this will certainly help."

As the morning sun blazed down, turning Friday into fry-day, Vijay Ved, a London tourist at the venue, said, "One has to blink in pleasant surprise at this place amid all the concrete towers around. India has such a rich history and the youth is awakening to that. While they physically planted saplings, I am certain seeds of curiosity about culture have also been planted in young minds."

As diyas flickered inside the Shiva temple in the caves and temple bells rang out, squirrels scurried up a succour-providing Banyan tree in the vicinity, the basalt rock of the caves seemed cool to the touch. ‘April Cool' brought ‘combating climate change' out of the fancy-schmancy idle party chatter it sometimes is, to down-to-earth reality.