Bonsai: Natural Stress Busters

For high-stressed techies sequestered in air-conditioned glass offices, here is nature’s stress buster.
India’s software hub now has companies placing Bonsai trees at points near cubicles of code writers to soothe their frayed nerves.
A living art, bonsai creation can be traced to China. Bonsai is fast gaining popularity among IT professionals because of “their aesthetic appeal, therapeutic effect and longevity,” says Bonsai Srinivas, renowned Bonsai expert who has 500 bonsai tree species to his credit.
Since bonsai trees can be kept indoors for two to three days at a stretch, these artistic plants in
enclosed spaces give “out as much oxygen as a fully grown tree, purifying the air while satisfying your creative urges,” he said.
“Owning a bonsai has also become a matter of prestige among IT professionals as each creation is a work of art,” he adds.
For someone who loves greenery notwithstanding the constraints of space in his choc-a-block apartment, bonsai is the answer, says Vallish Herur and Bhargava of “Trees”, the only Bonsai outlet of its kind in Bangalore.
“It was our passion for Bonsai that led to the start of this venture,” say the duo who literally grew up with bonsai, pottering around with HS Nagaraja, Herur’s father and a bonsai expert.
The experts, who also specialise in bonsai landscapes, plan to make presentations in IT companies after the enthusiastic response to bonsai by IT professionals.
“The fact that you take a plant, visualise it in its big tree form, help it grow into a miniature tree form and also see the changes every
day even as it retains its genetic characteristics is what makes Bonsai so innovative and unique,” Herur adds.