June 21, 2017

My way of giving back!!!!

Trees are the kindest things I know
They do no harm they simply grow
They spread a shade for cows
And gather birds into their boughs.

When I was a child I used to wonder how we live, what keeps us alive. Then a great man told me – son, for living we need 3 basic things - air, water & food. But why is air kept on top priority? I asked. He replied - it is because without air a normal human being cannot live for more than 3 minutes, without water 3 days and without food 3 weeks. Where do we get this air from - was my next question. He replied - from trees. That was the time I fell in love with trees.

After this incident I thought I should plant some trees. I waited for that "Shubh" day to come. On a hot summer day of June 2012 day  when I was enjoying a mango , a thought crossed my mind "can I plant a mango tree with the seed of mango I'm just eating"? But how, and where should I put this seed. Hey, why not in back of my house, in that piece of land. So I just went there, dug a small pit, put that seed into it, covered it with mud again and poured some water over it. I repeated this activity for few more days every time I ate a mango i.e. digging a pit and burying the seed of mango in it.I was very sure that in 3-4 days a plant would germinate from them. I waited curiously for some days, but even after 2 weeks there was no sign of any sprout. Then rain came. It give me a hope that maybe now a plant would sprout . I again went to the place where I had put the seeds but no result. I was disappointed not because there was no plant but because somewhere I had read that planting a tree is like giving birth to a child and I was not married. July also passed. Soon monsoon was over. I  gave up all hopes until, one fine morning when I woke up and came out of my room rubbing my eyes I was elated. I rubbed my eyes again just to confirm that I was not sleeping.What I saw was INCREDIBLE. 3 plants with reddish light brown colour leaves had sprouted from those seeds. I was extremely happy. Next day 2 more sprouted and this continued for next few days.  I now had 27 tiny little beautiful mango saplings at my place. I watered them twice a day and the Plants grew. I gifted one sapling to each friend, neighbor or relative who visited my house. It gave me immense satisfaction to think that I was able to contribute, even though in a small way,to replenish the mother nature and the air that I had consumed.


This also showed me that no extra effort was required to plant trees. All we need, is to have a noble intention to do so.  When more than 5 billion trees are cut down every year, is it not the time that we should do our part.? A wonderful way to start is by planting a seed or a sapling on any important occasion - it may be your birthday, it may be your anniversary, new year, festival, new job, salary increment, promotion, patch up or even break up, as it is rightly said "He Who Plants a Tree, Plants a Hope.


Ravi Kant Sharma
9461257111

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