Jan 12 2025 to Jan 12 2025 11:30 a.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

The lecture will explore efforts to engage the public in conserving India’s extraordinary plant diversity. This diversity forms the foundation of our diverse ecosystems, nourishes us, sustains our health, mitigates climate change, and offers spiritual, recreational, and other invaluable benefits. Vijay Thiruvady utilized botanical gardens like Lalbagh to showcase India’s plant wealth and inspire the public to contribute to safeguarding our natural heritage. Professor Bawa will highlight  ATREE’s recent, innovative initiatives aimed at connecting scientists, students, and the general public to the world of plants. These efforts could promote deeper interactions with nature and continue Vijay Thiruvady’s enduring legacy.

With this programme, the Bangalore International Centre remembers the contributions of our member Vijay Thiruvady in three landmark lectures that he gave at the BIC, on the “Greening of Bangalore” with Girish Karnad and Capt. Prabhala (2015), on “Botanical Illustrations” with Nirupa Rao (2019), and on “Why Lalbagh Matters” (2021).

Among the accounts of our city, Vijay Thiruvady’s book, Lalbagh – Sultans’ Garden to Public Park, published by the Bangalore Environment Trust, presents the most comprehensive history of Lalbagh written to date. Ranging across five centuries, it presents a panoramic view from Kempegowda’s flower garden in 1537, through Haider and Tipu (1760 to 1799), to the East India Company years — Scottish army men and surgeons — and over a century by six Kew trained gardeners. The book is based on research from several archives, including Kew Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and of course on Vijay Thiruvady’s intimate knowledge of Lalbagh having conducted inspiring nature walks for over 18 years that were attended by over 15,000 walkers.

Vijay Thiruvady was always interested in various aspects of nature and more specifically horticulture. In addition to the Green Heritage Walks in Lalbagh, he conducted Imperial Colonial Walks in Cubbon Park and Military Heritage Walks at the MEG&C, and participated in the various activities of Bangalore Environment Trust as a Trustee. These have included the publishing of notable books on Heritage Trees in and around Bangalore and on Devarakadus and Gundutopus in the vicinity of Bangalore.

Thiruvady spent his early years in Delhi.  His academic interests were pursued at
St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and School of Architecture, Ahmedabad.  When in Delhi, he had exposure to the world of nature and environment through association with a number of distinguished people in the field and institutions.

He gave talks on Bangalore, its environment and history at many institutions, including the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Raman Research Institute, BIC, Bangalore Club, National Gallery of Modern Art, and Azim Premji University. A gifted raconteur, his encyclopedic knowledge of trees and of Bangalore’s history were conveyed through stories that kindled a love of nature and made his walks, lectures and books memorable, connecting with young and old from around the world, from experts in the field to school children. His passing in August 2023 is a profound loss to the city.

Vijay Thiruvady’s talk on Lalbagh at the BIC, which has been widely viewed as an introduction to the botanical garden and to Bangalore and its history, is available here.

Tea will be served at 11 am.

Speaker
Kamal Bawa
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology, UMass, Boston, and Founder-President, ATREE

Kamal Bawa (www.kbawa.com) is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and Founder-President of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), one of India’s top-ranked environmental think tanks, based in Bangalore. During the last five decades, he has done extensive work in the Himalaya and the Western Ghats on a wide range of issues from biodiversity conservation to climate change, publishing more than 230 papers and 10 books.

Among the many awards he has received are: Bullard Fellowship at Harvard University (1972, 2009), Guggenheim Fellowship (1987), Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment (1992), Giorgio Ruffolo Fellowship at Harvard University (2009), the Gunnerus Prize in Sustainability Science from the Royal Norwegian Society of Letters and Sciences (2012), the International MIDORI Prize in Biodiversity (2014) from the Aeon Foundation in Japan, the Linnean Medal (2018), and honorary doctorates from the University of Alberta (2014) and Concordia University in Montreal (2019). He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012), the Royal Norwegian Society of Letters and Sciences (2012), the Royal Society (2015), the American Philosophical Society (2019) and the National Academy of Sciences (USA, 2022).

Kamal Bawa is founding Editor-in-Chief of two interdisciplinary journals: Conservation and Society (https://www.conservationandsociety.org.in) and Ecology, Economy and Society (http://ecoinsee.org/journal/eb_editors). His latest coffee table book Himalaya: The Mountains of Life, a companion volume to Sahyadri: India’s Western Ghats, was published in 2013.