When you lose someone, life looks unfair and difficult. And when you lose your life partner, you try to find any possible way to stay connected with them.
Such is the story of Janet Yegneswaran who lost her husband 13 years ago.
As a remembrance for her husband, Janet planted a Honga tree near the house. Little did anyone know this was just the start of a movement that is changing the face of Bengaluru today.
In 2005, there was a large scale tree-felling being done in Bengaluru to make space for all the IT companies.
Given her love for trees, Janet was very disturbed and her friends suggested going on a protest against it. But Janet had bigger plans.
While talking to Bangalore Mirror, Janet explained.
“Since I felt very passionately for the loss of tree cover in Bengaluru, my friends suggested I do a dharna. But I felt I wanted to do something a little more productive.
I formed the Rajanet Yegneswaran Charitable Trust in memory of my husband and decided to take up the planting of saplings in the neighborhood”
But Janet knew that her in order to make a difference, she will need to have scale. She started by recruiting a few volunteers and planting trees in other neighborhoods.
While doing so she sought help from local residents to help water the plants, but she did not get a good response. Janet said:
“The response was lukewarm. While some agreed, others did not support me. But I did not give up”
Janet had earlier worked as a landscape designer at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium for a few years. Her experience has helped her in picking the right kind of saplings depending on the land where it was to be planted. Janet kept planting more saplings across several parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
