Over the past 35 years Jaswant's home forest has 350+ of India's rarest plants, "We should not chop trees, because we get oxygen, medicine and everything from trees. We should not take it for granted as it helps us in living a healthy life... In my garden, there are as many as 380 herbal plants, 27 star sign plants, 12 zodiac plants. Also, there are many sandalwood trees. Apart from this there are vegetables and fruiting plants. You can also find the Tamil Nadu state flower: Gloriosa Superba and Sweet Tulsi (Stevia) in the garden. We all know that white sugar is poisonous so sweet tulsi can be used as an alternative in your coffee or tea etc. "
He also gives tours of his garden to educate college students on the importance of plantation and conservation and encourages them to plant greenery themslves, "To prevent such a hazardous situation (as the extreme pollution found in New Delhi) all we need to do is plant small saplings in whatever spece we have - terrace, backyard etc. Together, if we do it, we can live a healthy life that will help in economic growth and also reduce expenditure on hospitals for treatments. The best was is to not harm our environment, as nature is our doctor, nature is our everything."
58-year-old Jaswant Singh, a civil engineer by profession and a gardener by passion has been nurturing a mini forest at his residence in Mogappair, Chennai, for over three decades.
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