A winter morning. Even at ten o'clock the fog still hangs all around, though there is sweet winter sunshine. Students are entering the campus. Past the college gate, a flower garden comes into view on the way to the field, with flowers of every colour. Students chat in the middle of the flower-ringed field, and some are taking photographs of the flowers on their mobile phones. At first glance anyone might think they had wandered into a flower garden, though the illusion passes in a moment. No other educational institution in Chandpur district has such a flower-decked, attractive campus.

This is the campus of Puranbazar Degree College, which stands on the bank of the Dakatia river. Students said the garden was created on the initiative and under the supervision of the college principal, Ratan Kumar Majumder, who tends it every morning and afternoon. Teachers said the flower garden has greatly increased the college's beauty and enhanced the learning environment. Jahangir Akhand Selim, a founding member of the college, and other members of the managing committee have expressed satisfaction with the improved campus.

Students Md Al Amin, Abu Sufian and Kamrul Hasan said: "Our campus has become many times more beautiful than before. Coming to campus soothes the mind, and we have a very good time at college. We thank our principal sir for giving us a beautiful campus."

On the field we met Md Habibur Rahman Patwari, head of the college's accounting department. "Everyone loves flowers, but making a flower garden is hard work, and making one on a college campus is harder still. The garden was possible thanks to our principal's interest and devoted labour. Teachers and students are delighted with it and are helping to protect it," he said.

Principal Ratan Kumar Majumder said the plants were collected from Chandpur and other parts of the country. The garden has several hundred flower plants, including dahlia, chrysanthemum, snowball, zinnia, verbena, salvia, hollyhock, dendan, gazania, American Inca (marigold), cosmos, aster, beli, coloured karabi, aromatic jui, dopati, periwinkle, bougainvillea, rose, hibiscus and madhabilata. Among them are 20 kinds of rose and seven kinds of hibiscus. There are also some fruit trees.

"I have loved gardening since childhood. When I became principal, I thought I would decorate the campus and make it more attractive, so I planned a flower garden. Another aim was to draw students to the campus and ensure teaching in a pleasant environment," he said.

He said his aim had been achieved. Not only teachers and students but local people have thanked him for the beautiful campus. Students used to go outside between classes, but now they stay on campus because the flowers keep them there. "I come to college early every morning to tend the garden, and after college closes I look after the plants in the afternoon. We have also hired a gardener to care for it."

Asked whether anyone picks the flowers, he smiled and said he had been worried when he began the garden. Keeping a garden going among hundreds of students is difficult, and he thought the boys and girls would pick the flowers once they bloomed. "But that did not happen. To my surprise, they helped me make the garden. Of the hundreds of flowers now in bloom, not one of my students picks even a single flower. I feel very good about it, and I thank the teachers and students."

On future plans, Ratan Kumar Majumder said he is bringing in new flower plants every month and trying to obtain seedlings of rare flowers. He plans to enlarge the garden further and hopes for everyone's cooperation.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.