While the world today is focusing on making the planet greener, Rohit Mehra, an Indian Revenue Service officer found a unique way to spread an eco-friendly message using the path of devotion. Mehra, who is famous in Ludhiana, Punjab for his vertical garden initiative, once again has left the citizens stunned with his seed ball prasad drive.
Seed ball prasad distributed
In a bid to make the city greener, Mehra teamed up with Bhagwan Jagannath Rath Yatra Mahotsav Committee (BJRC) to distribute nearly two lakh seed balls to the rath yatra devotees on December 23. A packet consisting of a manual guide and two seed balls were distributed to over 1.5 lakh people from the 250 stalls that were set up during the Rath-yatra in Ludhiana.
Rath yatra is being organised in Ludhiana for the past 23 years and has become one of ISKCON’s (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) most famous events worldwide. Rohit Mehra while talking to The Logical India said that he has always strived to make the city greener and spread the word about eco-friendliness. Mehra wanted to do something at a mass scale and saw the rath yatra as the perfect opportunity to introduce the concept of seed balls, which are already widely practised in USA and Japan, where seed-bombs are used for mass-plantation.
He said, “Seeds which are native to the locality are covered with clay, moss and coco peat to make small round balls, which when thrown on fertile lands will develop into plants on its own.” During the rath yatra drive, tulsi seeds were mostly distributed along with neem and other native plants. “Tulsi has immense medicinal properties, it has religious significance and can be abundantly grown,” he added.
To direct such a drive on a mass scale was not easy. Mehra and his team visited schools, colleges, corporate offices, prison as well as juvenile correctional facilities to educate people on seed balls. Finally, it took nearly a month and a large team of close to thousand people to make the seed balls. However, making them were not at all expensive. Mehra said that each ball would cost not more than 75 paise but procuring so many seeds was the biggest task.
This was arguably one of the largest drives where seed balls were distributed in such a mass scale. Talking about the process of distribution, Rajesh Dhanda, chairman of BJRC, while talking to The Logical Indian said that this drive will make people aware of the importance of planting trees. “We asked the stall partners to give it to people and each pack had an instruction manual which would help people understand the benefits of the seed ball prasad.” Dubbed as prasad, the tiny packets intrigued the takers as many were interested in making good use of the seed balls, added Dhanda.
Mehra said, “In India, people are really devoted, so why not use the occasion to spread the word about something which would be beneficial for the planet?” He is planning to drop 5 lakh seed-bombs in Punjab in the upcoming month when the weather is more conducive for plants to sprout. While the true results of the drive are yet to be understood, The Logical Indian applauds Rohit Mehra as well as all those involved in the effort for making earth a greener planet.