A green b'day for techies on International Forest Day

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While arriving at the office on Monday, the gift that Ruby Ramanan, a software engineer at PIT Solutions in Technopark, received from colleagues turned out to be the nicest birthday present for her.
Ruby was among the 45 employees who were presented saplings of the Simarouba tree (Lakshmi Taru) on their birthday on Monday, which coincided with the International Forest Day.The saplings were presented in an event organized by Prakruti, a volunteer group of Technopark employees, engaged in sustainable living activities in association with the forest department at the Technopark campus.
According to Ruby, it was a great surprise and it was the first time that she got such a nice gift on a birthday.
Around 60 saplings were provided by the forest department for the event to representatives of Prakruthi. Dr Bransdon S Corrie, principal chief conservator of forests, inaugurated the programme by handing over a tree sapling to one of the Technopark employees who celebrated his birthday on Monday.
Mentioning the theme for this year's forest day observance 'Forest and Water, B S Corrie said that people in India are yet to realize the importance of forests as important sources of water unlike foreign countries. "Forest can purify water in a cost effective manner," he said.
Speaking about the challenge in conducting the event, Biju T Sundaran, president of Prakruthi said, "Finding the employees whose birthdays coincide with the Forest Day was a difficult task. With the help of HR departments of around 60 companies, we were able to spot the 45 employees. A culture can be developed where instead of a birthday cake one can plant a seedling on one's birthday".
The gift presentation ceremony was followed by planting of five saplings of Simarouba tree near the amphitheatre at Technopark. The representatives of Prakruthi also distributed the saplings to other employees in the campus.