Nature's Walk at Kishan Bagh

Being in nature, breathing in the fresh air, soaking up natural light rather than an artificial one, and experiencing soothing flora and fauna is essential for one's mental well-being.

The psychology department of IIS (deemed to be University), organised a Natures walk at Kishan Bagh on February 4th, 2023 in collaboration with Jaipur Virasat Foundation. The aim of this activity was to appreciate nature & have a closer look to it. Dr. Sudha Rathore, assistant professor along with 24 students ventured to Kishan Bagh at Vidhyadhar nagar, Jaipur. There, the students were guided by Mr. Dinkar, the naturalist who imparted the knowledge of botanical and geological occurences in the lawn.

The place is spread over an area of 30 acres, surrounded by beautiful desert trees and shrubs and variety of different stones. It is located at the foot hills of Nahargarh hills and formed from unutilized barren sand dunes which were rich in natural minerals & resources. It also has a broad walk way  made up of different stones which leads to viewing deck at different points.

The major attraction of the place were xerophytes (desert plants) which were available in wide variety, like the Thor plant- also known as king of all the desert plants is a resident of butterflies that resembles the colours of a tiger, Gossypium Thurberi (desert cotton plant), Senna Covessi, Roee, Floating-heart leaves etc.

The students were informed by the guide that Kishan Bagh is not a place of  artificial things, instead all the plants and rocks' occurence are natural. The garden was even adorned with  different kinds of rocks, stones and fossils which dated back billion of years ago, like Granite, Quartzite, Rhyolite, Stromatolites etc. Also, there was a small pond alongside the deck resembling a desert oasis to complete the deserty look of the Bagh.

The students enjoyed a lot  and the place was also maintained well enough with proper facilities. At last, the Nature walk activity reflected upon the students that how human actions are affecting natural diversities, which in turn are affecting humans in a copious manner and how these changing climate, extreme global warming, volatile weather patterns are impacting our mental health.