at a time when green covers are shrinking and tree planting has become a mere ritual kerala is lucky enough to have a handful of green crusaders who dont follow the crowd while most people view land solely as a means of making money these green messiahs have given away their plots to nature itself and also do their bit to nurture it further on world environmental day kochi times takes a walk through these green stretches along with themat a time when green covers are shrinking and tree planting has become only an annual ritual kerala is lucky enough to have a handful of green crusaders who dont follow the crowd while many are keen to cash in on their land these green messiahs have given away their plots to nature itself and do their bit to nurture it further while also turning the land into little forests on world environmental day kochi times takes a walk through these green stretches along with thema haven of medicinal herbsmany years ago a v purushothama kammath an avid environmental enthusiast from kochi decided to try planting something different in his garden the herb ashwagandha or indian rennet which is commonly used in ayurvedic medicine is not suitable for the climate of kerala but kammath tried his luck to his surprise the seedling took root in his garden and inspired by the same the former banker decided to plant more such herbsnow 45 years later his entire 15 acres of land in thammanam has turned a haven of rare and even almost extinct medicinal plants altogether there are about 1800 varieties of medicinal plants in my garden these include rare plants like aarogya pacha and samudra pacha there are also quite a few that were collected from outside kerala and abroad he sayswell thats not all the land also has about 2000 varieties of fruitbearing plants that include rare ones like miracle fruit and the renowned brazilian fruit jaboticaba there is a variety of mango on my land called tholikaippan maavu the speciality of this variety is that its unbelievably sour before it ripens its skin is extremely bitter to taste however the pulp is absolutely delicious once ripe it was a variety that was there in many households decades ago but not found anywhere much now he sayskammath who belongs to a family of traditional agriculturists is someone who sacrificed his plush job for his obsession with nature i was a banker till 1984 but preserving greenery has always been my priority once i realised that this is where my heart lies i quit my job and decided to concentrate fully on my land yes i heard the usual set of is he mad to do this comments but paid no heed to those right now the same people appreciate my decision and understand its importance kammath explainswhat is with the affinity towards medicinal plants they help preserve life all plants do it by supplying oxygen but medicinal plants do something