Environment

Knowing Mangroves: Inter Generation Knowledge Transfer

By Aditya Anurag Nanda

Posted on July 13, 2025

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“Are you quenching their thirst by giving them, simple, plain water?” Carried away by the Dunning-Kruger effect, holding a mixed voice of firm certainty in a high-pitched, raised voice, I threw the question towards my Granny, busy in watering her balcony-bound garden plants.

Without looking at me, still busy with her watering duty to the plants, she said in a derisive tonality, “What do you want me to do, I should be giving them juice or lime soda?”

“No! Certainly not Granny!”, in a whiny, annoying, nasal voice, I replied to her. Simultaneously, asked her, “Have you ever seen any plant taking juice or lime soda?” with a slow pause between words and flat intonation.

This time I looked straight to her with seriousness in my face, trying to communicate that I was hurt by her sarcasm.

I was always good at communicating my feelings to my grandparents. This time, my gesture, low voice, and repetition of her statement with overly formal defensive tonality communicated to Granny that her sense of humor had hurt me.

As I remember, my granny’s utmost priority had always been my comfort. So, when she realized that her statement had created a scar within me, she just abandoned the task she was doing and came forward to pacify me.

Holding both my arms in a cozy and affectionate voice, she said, “Sorry dear, I thought, as you are a small child and like sipping juice, cold milk, etc. during hot days, you want to extend those benefits to these plants. But dear! plants never take anything other than the simple water.”

Her compassionate touch soothed my inner hurt feelings while her innocent arguments pacified my disconcertment. To take control of the situation, I murmured in a low grumbling voice, “Don’t think, I am too small to understand what is edible by plants?”

To substantiate the statement, I need to demonstrate my knowledge about the plant world. Drew a few seconds to catch my breath and change the tonality of my voice, then in a passionate manner said, “You see, I am big enough to understand that the plants don’t need our help in preparing their food, they need only water and sunlight!”

In a theatrical tonality, she said, “Superb, my dear big boy! My apologies for treating you like a child. You know so many things, then what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing much, just wanted to say that shouldn’t we be diluting a small amount of salt, in water before pouring the liquid in the pot?”

She stared at me quietly, yet engaged and active in listening, motivating me to explain my point of view. I was excited to share my thought process, which I was expecting would ultimately benefit the plants.

“You know, salt is very essential for us. It maintains fluid balance in the body and protects us from the potential risk of dehydration during summer! Today in class, our teacher said that even terrestrial animals need salt to stay healthy and for the proper functioning of their cells. Do you know that herbivorous animals satiate their salt requirement by licking the salt licks, and carnivorous animals get their salt amount from the flesh of their prey?”

With a happy nod, she indicated that I should proceed, sharing my knowledge and analytical skills. Motivated by her gesture, I emphatically said, “So, when salt is of such importance to humans and animals, then it should have significance for the plant world as well. Don’t you think we should be adding a pinch of salt to the water for our garden plants?”

I was expecting a cheer and acclamation from Granny. On the contrary, she had a beautiful smile, tightened her grip around my arms to convey positive, warmth-laden feelings, and concomitantly said,“Look, dear, what you are saying is absolutely true for humans and animals, but for the plant world, they don’t need salt.

Rather, they require minerals which are present in the soil, and the roots carry those absorbed minerals to the leaves to prepare food for the tree.

On the other hand, you need to know that salt absorbs water, and in case the soil gets saline in any way, it will pull away the water from the roots and different tissues of the plant and aggravate the dehydration condition for the plants. Salinity not only creates dehydration, it also obstructs the growth and functioning of the plant cell and damages the tree, shrubs, and herbs.”

The nullification of my idea to water the plants with saline content dissuaded me, which was remarkable on my face. To cheer me up and to save my logic, Granny added, “But you see, Mother Nature has created its contradictions by spawning mangrove trees near estuaries, where these plant species thrive and flourish in saline water.

However, these trees have glands in their leaves to excrete saline content from the absorbed water, which they store in their old leaves, barks, etc., which eventually get shredded from the trees.”

Cheerfully, I added, “If our garden plants had an inbuilt mechanism to excrete salt, then we could have poured in saline water, right, Granny!”

“Yes, absolutely right! Since they lack a saline excretion system, we can’t give them salt-diluted water.”
On the occasion of International Mangroves Day, which the world celebrates on 26th July every year since 2016, to commemorate the importance of this unique ecosystem in fighting the war against climate change and reducing coastal vulnerabilities, I am remembering my granny who meticulously introduced me to the world of saline tolerant tree species and their extraordinary qualities.

This vegetation coverage is the first defense mechanism against the deadly cyclonic hazard and protects the society from unmanageable devastation.

We need to rejoice in the presence of these saline-tolerant ecosystems near estuaries, a potential habitat of the marine world.