Connecting Children with Nature: The Vision Behind the School of Trees
In the heart of Delhi’s Kidwai Nagar, an innovative educational initiative is redefining how children engage with the environment. Spearheaded by IRS officer Rohit Mehra, the School of Trees uses nature itself as a living classroom, fostering curiosity, awareness, and a deep emotional connection with the natural world. This community-driven endeavor encourages young minds to explore ecology and sustainability beyond textbooks, nurturing a greener future.
Nature as a Classroom in Kidwai Nagar
On a quiet weekend afternoon, a small group of children form a half-circle around a tree. Rohit Mehra gently touches its bark, introducing it not just as a tree, but as the origin of life itself. The children pose insightful questions — from the reason behind leaf thickness variations between regions to the vital process of photosynthesis. These discussions offer rare learning moments that transcend conventional education.
From Personal Passion to a Community Space
The School of Trees began as a personal pursuit of sustainable living before blossoming into a community space where nature serves as both teacher and classroom. Without elaborate planning or resources, it grew organically alongside the trees cherished by Rohit and his wife, Geetanjali.
How Family Values Sparked the Idea
Living simply over the past decade, Rohit and Geetanjali integrated sustainability into their daily routine — creating vertical gardens with recycled bottles and embracing green habits. Their commitment extended beyond their home; in 2021, they established India’s first tree hospital in Amritsar to care for ailing trees, reflecting their belief that sustainability is a lifestyle, not just a task.
Early mornings often found Rohit planting saplings or making seed balls with his children, planting seeds both literal and figurative for environmental stewardship.
Addressing the Distance Between Children and Nature
Concerned by urban children’s growing disconnect from nature, Rohit observed that while children eagerly learn about cars and entertainment, their curiosity about the environment was waning. He identified a lack of emotional connection as the core issue, sparking his ambition to make caring for nature as appealing as popular culture influences.
Thus, in 2025, the School of Trees was born — a grassroots endeavor without formal classrooms, registrations, or rigid curricula. Here, trees and soil create a fertile environment for curiosity and discovery.
“When I was a child, I thought actors were cool. I want kids today to think planting trees and caring for nature is cool.” — Rohit Mehra
Learning Lessons from Trees
The School of Trees is founded on the principle that trees teach integral lessons about life and coexistence. Rohit intertwines scientific concepts with Indian cultural traditions, illustrating how trees are honored as ancestors and are vital for oxygen production through photosynthesis.
He simplifies photosynthesis to its core: trees use sunlight to generate oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, a process essential to all life.
Tree leaves symbolize teamwork, growing closely to support one another — a model for human cooperation.
To deepen the connection, Rohit developed a “living” alphabet chart teaching sounds grounded in nature: ‘A’ for afforestation, ‘B’ for bamboo, ‘E’ for Earth, thus transforming language learning into an environmental experience.
Learning Through Play
Each weekend, roughly 45 children aged 7 to 17 engage in “tree parties” where conventional classrooms and rules give way to open-air learning through interactive games.
Activities such as tree observation enhance awareness and self-discipline, with children naming various neighborhood trees within timed intervals, rewarded modestly to reinforce balance.
Planting sessions where children nurture saplings encourage responsibility and ongoing curiosity as they return with growth stories and new questions.
Participants like 16-year-old Sakshi find these experiences more enriching than traditional classrooms, impressed by Rohit’s dedication.
Growing Change Beyond the Sessions
The School’s impact extends into homes and routines. Children adopt sustainable practices like repurposing plastic bottles as planters and taking pride in caring for their plants, inspiring family involvement.
Meenakshi, 12, dreams of planting a mango tree and approaches household plastic waste with a mindset for reuse.
Rohit relates environmental care to ancient Indian principles like Panch Tattva — connecting natural elements to human health and well-being, emphasizing balance within and outside.
Geetanjali highlights that true transformation occurs when children learn to question, reuse, and connect — fostering not just knowledge but purposeful action.
Nearly 200 community members have planted around 250 saplings through the initiative, sparking broader conversations around sustainability.
Despite interest from schools to formalize partnerships, Rohit chooses to maintain the project’s grassroots, passion-driven nature.
A Shared Commitment to a Greener Future
Rohit and Geetanjali embody the School of Trees’ ethos, nurturing both saplings and young minds with unwavering dedication.
Geetanjali emphasizes experiential learning, where children observe real plant growth and internalize concepts beyond memorization.
She envisions the program opening career paths in greenery and agriculture, hoping even one child will pursue environmental entrepreneurship or stewardship.
Rohit aspires for every school to host similar tree schools, and for humanity to leave behind a legacy of trees for future generations.
As the children leave with hands dirty and spirits lifted each weekend, they carry more than plants — they carry a renewed sense of purpose.
In Kidwai Nagar, the quiet growth of this community under trees is fostering a generational shift in environmental consciousness.
Through the School of Trees, Rohit and Geetanjali demonstrate how nurturing care for nature can inspire not just individuals, but entire communities.
All images courtesy Rohit Mehra.
