Green crusaders

Thanks to the supervisor of the section Gautam Mukherjee who took the initiative of turning his office into a green zone where working has become fun because of the soothing presence of green plants and saplings.

“I love my work place which is like a temple for me. I also like trees and plants. When I was transferred here in 2008,I saw this to be a sprawling office room with lot of space for nurturing green. So I bought these tubs and also bought a couple of artificial plants. I got full co-operation from my colleagues mainly Ashish Mondal,Rupali Haldar,Anirban Das and others who take all the pains in nurturing the plants by watering them,bringing clay and compost from outside. In fact without their active support I could not have carried on my green mission,’’ Mukherjee,a resident of Chinsurah of Hooghly district,said.

Mukherjee says he has inherited the passion for plants from his father who tenders a huge garden on the terrace of their house every day. “My father has a huge garden on the terrace of our house and everyday he takes care of the garden. It provides him the elixir of life,’’ he says.

In the office Mukherjee’s colleagues say green encourages them to work with energy. “If you are surrounded by plants and not stacks of files,you get lots of encouragement. You feel like working more,’’ says Anirban Das,a resident of Rishra in Hooghly district.

Employees of other departments also come here and encourage the staff to pursue their passion. “Often employees of other departments come here and watch us taking care of the plants. If we have any problem they come forward to solve it,’’ says Somnath Roy,one of the employees.

There is also a record player in the office that plays Rabindrasangeet and other songs.

Moreover,it is employees who pay from their own pockets to pursue their green passion. “The cost of those two tubs with artificial plants – Rs 5000 – has been borne by Gautamda. He also paid for green table covers. If anybody smokes here,he will be after him. He is an embodiment of neatness,cleanliness and is green crusader,’’ says Das.

How does he manage to get time to look after the plants? “In a government office if you work seriously you can finish the work in 3-4 hours. And you can utilise the remaining time in some other pursuits,’’ says Mukherjee.