In Delhi-NCR’s bustling urban landscape, IRS officer Rohit Mehra and his wife Geetanjali have ignited a green revolution with the School of Trees a free, weekend nature-immersion programme held right in their residential society’s garden, where children from Class 2 to 10 dive hands-on into the wonders of trees through touching bark, tracing leaves, crafting seed balls, and witnessing sunlight dance on foliage in a 75% practical, 25% theory split. Born from a stark observation during family walks that city kids recite global brands faster than naming neem or peepal, the inaugural session drew 40 eager participants, with numbers swelling via word-of-mouth as families from neighbouring areas join the fold.
Rohit Mehra shares his bold vision: “My dream is for the whole of India,” aligning with growing calls for schools to allocate two hours weekly to tree education; while no official endorsements surface yet, the community’s fervour underscores its role in raising planet-savvy stewards amid climate urgency.
Experiential Lessons Amid Greenery
Picture a sun-dappled garden alive with wonder: no blackboards, no textbooks just wide-eyed children kneeling in soil, fingers exploring the rough texture of bark, eyes widening as they trace the intricate veins of leaves, and hands moulding seed balls to hurl into barren patches, promising new life.
These two-hour Saturday and Sunday sessions dissect nature’s secrets how leaves pivot towards sunlight in phototropism, how roots anchor and nourish like silent heroes, how moringa (sahjan) pods burst with potential, and how a humble seed sprouts in a recycled plastic cup brimming with earth.
Kids debate the shared breaths of humans and trees, plant their personal saplings to tend at home, and return beaming with “discoveries” like foraged moringa leaves, as Geetanjali Mehra recounts with delight: “They felt like true explorers, not pupils.”
For pro-planet advocates, this is pure alchemy transforming passive learners into active guardians who grasp biodiversity’s fragility, one tactile moment at a time, countering urban disconnection that fuels deforestation and ecological loss.
From Family Walks to National Dream
The seed of this initiative sprouted from poignant family strolls, where Rohit and Geetanjali confronted a troubling truth: in a world of flashing ads, children mastered logos yet blanked on the peepal’s sacred shade or neem’s healing whispers, a disconnect exacerbating India’s urban greening crisis.
Piloted in 2023 with just a handful, it blossomed organically through whispers in parent groups, no funding required just passion and a verdant patch. Rohit, dubbed the “Green Man of India” for pioneering over 450 mini forests, tree ambulances, and guerrilla greening amid his IRS rigours, now eyes scaling it nationwide, inviting environmentalists for guest sessions on soil health and climate resilience.
This grassroots gem dovetails seamlessly with India’s National Education Policy’s experiential thrust and global pleas like the UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, offering a blueprint for cities worldwide where concrete eclipses canopies.
In an era of scorching heatwaves and vanishing green lungs Delhi’s air quality index often choking at hazardous levels such efforts remind us that reclaiming nature starts in backyards, fostering resilience against biodiversity collapse.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The Logical Indian hails the School of Trees as a luminous manifesto for planetary kinship, weaving empathy, harmony, and coexistence into the fabric of young minds adrift in a consumerist haze, where brands eclipse the biosphere’s quiet pleas.
By democratising nature’s embrace free, inclusive, unscripted this haven combats environmental apathy, empowering children as earth’s custodians through joy-sparking discovery rather than drudgery, and igniting a ripple of positive metamorphosis from Delhi-NCR gardens to the subcontinent’s soul.
It embodies our creed: kindness to the wild begets peace for all, urging dialogue on sustainability amid climate peril. For pro-planet souls, it’s a clarion call proof that one couple’s vision can rewild hearts and habitats.
