Come summer and advertisements will begin in the TV. about Maaza
and the need of saving trees and planting them. Facebook will also not be
spared either. People will become conscious and aware of the need to plant and
save trees for the season and then... Boom! They will shift to other
'issues' once the season is over.
But some people are taking this concept seriously.
Take the example of one retired gentleman in my city, whose
passion is to plant trees on any barren land, whether it is a newly constructed
staff quarters of a hospital or a municipal owned land or a party plot.
Everyday, he and his volunteer team go to a selected destination... plant
saplings and protect them everyday until they are strong enough to grow on
their own.
Another example is in Telangana's Khaman District. This gentleman
known as Daripalli Ramaiah or Chettu Ramaiah is a 70 year young, who has
recently been awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award by the Indian
Government.
His work: He has planted at least 10 million saplings or trees in Telangana. All these with just his passion and his bicycle.
Mr Ramaiah has even made it a point to gift saplings on occasions such as
birthdays or marriage or someone's anniversary. It is certainly refreshing and
an inspiration to know about him.
Then there is another gentleman in Hyderabad ' Ramachandra Appari',
who may not plant trees, but sure knows how to save them or relocate them. Till
date he has relocated 5,000 trees which would have fell down in the name of
development, home building, road making, etc. with scientific techniques in
coordination with the local authorities.
What have I done in this regard? Well, I may not devote as much
time as them, but I make it a point to plant 2 saplings or trees on my birthday
and nurture them.
