This autobiography of Jadav Payeng is really interesting and inspiring, and tells us that nothing is impossible in life.
Jadav Payeng is a 60 year old farmer. He has a family of five and lives in a modest house in North East India. But you will be very surprised to know that he has single-handedly done something, which is inspiring not only for us, but our coming generations can also learn a lot from him.
He shared his whole life story in an interview with a journalist. He told the journalist, “Where we are sitting right now, this place is called Mohgor Khunti (Buffalo Shed). This place is very important historically. In 1826, the Great War (also known as the First Burma War) between the British and Burma was fought here. Between 1965 and 1970, there was a severe flood in the Brahmaputra river and that flood caused terrible destruction here and washed away everything with it. Because of this, there was an erosion of 10 kilometers here and Mohgor Khunti turned into a barren land.”
He continued, “When I was 16 years old, I realized that trees, plants, hundreds of snakes are dying due to drought. Animals are running away due to the loss of the forest. That land is becoming barren.”
Jadav Payeng decided to do something at that young age when he was only 16 years old. He first built a boat. Every day, he used to cut a branch from his trees, walk for 20 minutes, then cross the river in the boat he had built, and then walk for two more hours after that, so that he could go to that vacant land where there was not a single tree, and there he would plant that branch of the tree in the ground.
He started planting trees one by one at that place. First he planted a bamboo tree. Initially people thought that he had gone mad. Everyone started making fun of him but he continued his work regardless of those people. Gradually, he started planting trees of other species. And this was not a process he followed for one or two days, nor one or tow years…But for forty years, he would clip a branch from a tree, then first walk on foot, then cross the river in a boat, and walk again to that barren land and plant trees.
Gradually, all those trees started growing and that barren land turned into a green forest. From the seeds of the trees he had planted, more trees started growing on their own. And after many years, animals started appearing in that forest. Elephants, tigers, rhinoceros, deer and many other wild animals were attracted by that forest and the greenery there.
He further said that, “Due to the trees, the environment there also started changing and it became easier for them to do farming and earn a living.”
It would be surprising to know that that forest is spread over 550 hectares which is bigger than New York’s Central Park.
In 2010, the local media came to know about Jadav Payeng and gradually this news became a sensation for the whole country. He came to be known as the Forest Man of India.
The President of India called him and gave him congratulations and awards. He is now invited to speak on environment and climate change all over the country and abroad. From being a simple farmer, he has now become a role model for millions of people.
40 years later, he still plants trees regularly, but now his next goal is a bit different. Now he wants to write a book on how to plant trees along with his friend. He believes that if we educate children about the importance of nature from a very young age and make them sow seeds and plant saplings from an early age, teaching them to be responsible towards the environment, then we can solve a lot of problems related to the environment right now; and he wants to spread this message as much as possible.
Even today he says, “I will never stop.” And he just wants to share one message with all of us….
“If we do something good and we take little steps every day for a very long time, then some day, we will surely do something big…something that will change the world for the better.”
Users Today : 18
Total views : 591676