Pune Bonsai Master Prajakta Kale creates World Record

PUNE : NP NEWS 24 ONLINE-  Pune based Bonsai Master Prajakta Giridhari Kale, has established a new Guinness World Record with the world’s largest display of Bonsai Trees. With the collection of about 3333 Bonsai trees, she has become the first woman in the world in the field of Bonsai Art to achieve this feat at the global level. She was bestowed with this honour at an official function in Pune.

Sudhir Mungantiwar, Minister of Finance and Forests Department, Government of Maharashtra, Vikas Kharge, Secretary, Forests and Land Acquisition, Government of Maharashtra, Sanjay Ingale, Asst. Secretary, Department of Industry, Government of Maharashtra, Rushi Nath, Adjudicator of Guinness Book of World record, Dr. K. H Sancheti, Head of Sancheti Hospital and Philanthropist, Vitthal Maniyar, Industrialist and Pratap Pawar, Industrialist were present on the dais along with Prajakta Kale and her husband and industrialist Giridhari Kale. The programme also witnessed the presence of Bonsai Masters from various countries including veteran Indonesian Bonsai Master Rudy Najao. Many officials from the Forest Department also attended this event.

Swami Ganapathy Sachchidananda from Mysore had established the world record of Bonsai trees on December 21, 2016 with the collection of 2649 trees. This record was broken by Bonsai Master Prajakta Kale with her display in Pune by large margin. She has been consistently working on creating and maintaining Bonsai trees from the last 35 years. In February this year, Kale with her organization Bonsai Namaste had organized the World’s Largest Bonsai Convention and Exhibition in Pune that displayed 1000 Bonsai plants of around 150 species and had delegates from 20 countries. Currently, all the trees have been displayed at their Parandavadi centre near Pune.

Prajakta Kale in her acceptance speech mentioned that it was her dream to bring back the glory of Bonsai art back to India. She said, “I want to start a course that teaches Bonsai art as skill. I believe that women from rural areas and youngsters would be empowered to earn a living with dignity through Bonsai. It is now my mission to make this happen.” She further said that Bonsai art has taught her patience, creativity and made her a better human being. She believes that it can spread positivity among all.

Mungantiwar while congratulating Prajakta Kale said that Bonsai Art has a potential of becoming one of the most lucrative occupations in India. He said, “As a nation, we are on the mission of zero percent import and 100 per cent export, I believe that Bonsai can make contribution in this regard and Prajakta Kale’s work has showed us that. We are working towards creating opportunities by bringing Bonsai art under the Skill India Programme,” he said. He further added that Bonsai trees can be useful in improving the green footprint in the urban areas.

Forest and Land Acquisition Secretary Vikas Kharge while extending support from the Forest Department said, “It’s a proud moment for the entire state of Maharashtra. Prajakta Kale has been responsible in reinstating Bonsai Art as an Indian Art known as Vaman Vriksha Kala. As representative of Forest department, I assure her that we would work with her to generate employment among rural and tribal women through Bonsai Art.”

While speaking about the achievement of Prajakta Kale, Dr Sancheti said that medical practitioners have a lot to learn from her. He said, “Bonsai is beneficial for everyone, especially for the preservation and accessibility of ayurvedic medicine. Also, this art has a potential to keep our mind positive which will lead to better health. As a doctor I have learned this from Prajakta Kale and her dedication towards Bonsai Art,” he said.

Industrialist Vitthal Maniyar mentioned that he has personally witnessed the Prajakta Kale’s journey of becoming a world-renowned Bonsai artist. He said, “With this recognition, Prajakta Kale has become an artist at the global level. She deserves to be recognized by state and central government in India as well. I believe that she should considered for Padma awards.”

Industrialist Giridhari Kale who is also Prajakta Kale’s husband highlighted the importance of Bonsai Art as an employable profession. “Prajakta’s intention was to bring India back on the Bonsai world map and that is why she was on the course of creating a world record. Now we wish to spread the knowledge of Bonsai as a skill amongst youth and women in India. Every month China exports 1 lakh bonsai material to Europe. We in India have 15,000 species of plants and a nurturing environment for the Bonsai plants. We could be a global leader in providing Bonsai material across the globe. This is the first step towards that,” he concluded.