<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/may/Trees-of-Aarey-04.jpg" alt="" />
As the city's green cover faces the axe to make way for infrastructure, we as citizens can at most times only watch and share our despair. Or can we do more?
It is this question that compelled author and illustrator Cyrus Daruwala to start Trees of Aarey. The short comic series, started a month back, gives voice to the victims of this deforestation, the trees. "I kept reading articles in the newspapers about the felling of thousands of trees in Aarey for a Metro car shed. The one thing we can do is voice our concern directly. The comic is my way of representing this issue," says Daruwala, who works in the advertising industry.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/may/Trees-of-Aarey-06.jpg" alt="" />
The four panel comics, thus, are his attempt to 'speak up for those silent guardians of the air that we breathe'. So, there's Bodhi, Shanti, Van, Woodie and even Forest Gump - all residents of Aarey - asking us questions about their fate. 'I've heard that I've to make way for a faster mode of transport. Humans sure are in a hurry to destroy their last defence against air pollution', says Woodie. Meanwhile, Van talks about how sustainable energy is set to expand in India: 'I run on 100 per cent organic, renewable energy. No charges apply'. And 25-year-old Shanti questions why she is being uprooted when even squatters get rights.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/may/Trees-of-Aarey-02.jpg" alt="" />
"Rather than show any human interaction with the tree, I thought it would be best to focus on the tree. Here, the tree is speaking to as a living, breathing being. The truth is that most people with common sense will want trees around, they just don't know what to do to prevent them from getting felled," he adds.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/may/Trees-of-Aarey-03.jpg" alt="" />
Another reason for the series was Daruwala's personal connection to Aarey colony. "I grew up in Marol and our weekends were spent roaming around in the neighbourhood. Back then, there was barely a road that ran through it and you would rarely see any cars, except for the occasional milk van. Over the years, I've seen it get more and more organised, but it has remained untouched for the most part," he says.
<img title="Cyrus Daruwala" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/may/cyrus.jpg" alt="Cyrus Daruwala" /> Cyrus Daruwala
The author of two books, I Take This Train Too, and Painful People, Daruwala has no plans of turning this series into a profitable venture. "However, I do hope to turn it into a book and hand it out to officials and decision makers in the government to raise awareness," he says. Log on to instagram.com/cyrusdaruwala

A comic series is a citizen's way of voicing concern for the proposed felling of trees in the Mumbai's green lung

Speaking up for Aarey Colony's trees

Calling all witty poets

A comic series is a citizen's way of voicing concern for the proposed felling of trees in the Mumbai's green lung

Speaking up for Aarey Colony's trees

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Speaking up for Aarey Colony's trees

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