KOLKATA: How about sitting in a garden that moves? Well a city driver who plies a taxi fitted with a mini garden has been the centre of attraction here for a while now!
With a bed of real grass on the rooftop and a cluster of eight potted plants inside, the yellow-colored ambassador car, which operates as a taxi resembles a moving garden and outshines other vehicles on the city’s streets.
40-year-old driver Dhananjay Charkaborty who operates the ‘plant fitted’ car calls it his ‘Sobuj Rath’ or Green Chariot.
A self-confessed plant lover, Chakraborty says his rented house was filled with potted plants and lack of his own space prevented him from maintaining a full-fledged garden.
His love for greenery, however reached a different level after he discovered an empty bottle of alcohol left behind in the backseat by a passenger. After a lot of pondering Chakraborty placed a money-plant in the bottle and kept it in his car. That he says began the ‘greening drive’ of the taxi.
“I love planting trees. Since I live in a rented house I could not have maintained a garden. But I made sure to keep potted plants and plant saplings wherever possible. Once I found a bottle of alcohol in which I planted a money plant.
“Initially, people made fun of me but gradually they began appreciating my work. When I saw the plant growing, I thought of creating an entire garden in my taxi,” Dhananjay told PTI.
The ‘Green Lawn’ or the ‘Green Tray’ another name coined by Chakraborty for the car, which he says took around six months to complete, was inaugurated this May 8.
A ceiling of artificial grass enhances the green feel of the car. The cost of creating the lawn came up to Rs 22,000, which says Chakraborty, excludes the cost of decorating the ceiling and planting saplings inside the taxi.
“I have set up an artificial grass bed on the ceiling of the taxi which gives a sense of real grass. I have also put potted bonsai plants near the driver’s seat. On the left side I have another tray of grass and drawings have been made on it. The art has been made keeping pollution in mind. The pots have short poems and captions written on them,” says Chakraborty.
The taxi which plies from Karunamoyee to Tollygunge and vice-versa does not charge customers additional for the decoration and the extra comfort provided by the planting of trees and grass.
“I don’t charge a single penny extra for the decoration in the car, but when they praise me I tell them to plant two saplings. People applaud me for my initiative and give me extra money along with the fare.
People are impressed seeing my taxi and take pictures with it,” says Chakraborty.
Aiming to spread awareness, Chakraborty tends to educate people about the fast felling of trees and informs them about the hazards of the same urging them to take care of the trees.
“If people do not like trees, they would not plant it. Also many saplings might be planted to mark the World Environment Day, but they are hardly taken care of. So I thought of creating awareness among the people to plant more trees,” he says.
The green tray in the car has been prepared using various layers of fiber, stonechips, net, sand before adding a final layer of fresh green grass.
Chakroborty was cautioned by passengers about possibility of grass withering and rotting. But no such thing happened, he says.
“The tray has been made of various layers. I put water in it at night which filters and drips from the sides through the panels of the taxi. Because of the various layers, the grass does not go bad as people had suggested,” explains the driver.
In a sparkling change, as the driver claims, the temperature of the car has come down drastically with passengers giving their feedback about the drive being much cooler when compared to other taxis and non-air-conditioned vehicles.
“The temperature of the vehicle has come down in the scorching heat of the city. This helps me to work even in the afternoons when other taxi drivers make efforts to save their taxis from getting overheated and resulting in breakdown,” says Chakraborty.
The driver says he often skips lunch to keep from missing out on fares. This, he says is necessary because of the various debts he has incurred over time.
“Since my income is not more than Rs 12000 per month, I had to borrow money from people. Now I have a lot of debt on me, so I skip my lunch sometimes to repay it, he says.
To add to the ambiance of a garden the taxi seats have been given a yellow color and have painted messages that urge passengers to quit smoking and consumption of alcohol.
One such caption reads “Thaake jodi Cancer er bhoy, Dhumrapaan aar noy!” (If you have the fear of cancer, then no more smoking).
The cab also houses a ‘khurki’ or a Nepalese knife which has short poems written on its body urging people to follow the path of non-violence. Alongside there is water from the Ganges and picture of a pigeon, considered as a sign of peace.
“I want people to be aware of the hazards of not planting trees and its effect on the environment. If we as responsible citizens do not take initiative for better surrounding, even the government won’t be able to do anything,” says Chakraborty.
Chakraborty says he has not been taking any financial aid from the government or any other body. Neither, he says, is he interested in joining any association or union.
A Facebook page named ‘Bapi Green Taxi’ helps people to connect with him. “People call me ‘Gecho Bapi’ adding Gecho to my nickname which means a person who lives on tree,” says Chakraborty.
Chakraborty says he is grateful to Amlesh Singh, who owns the taxi, for his unending support and also to Ridhwik Dutta, the man who manages the social media account including Facebook and Gmail for him.
Dutta says he finds it difficult to manage the account because of the huge popularity and fan following.
“It is getting difficult for me to manage the accounts because of the increasing popularity of Bapi Da.
I have accepted around 120 friend requests after I logged in 2 days later. Also there are many people curious to know about his initiative,” Dutta says. -PTI
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