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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