Close to Nature, Badshahs work wonder

Planting tree is his passion. Badshah is his given name. He deserves the name without any reservation because his heart is as large as any benevolent and legendary badshah ever possessed for showering kindness. Contrary to the grandeur of the name, this Badshah is a day labourer. But the unwavering mission he has embarked on for the past 20 years is a testament to the richness and resourcefulness of a human being extra ordinaire. The focus a leading Bangla contemporary has directed on him is no doubt a tribute to the man's noble mission. But he deserves even more for his passion, dedication, sacrifice and commitment to the cause without expecting any reward. 

Local people have rightly added the epithet, 'gacher bandhu' (friend of trees) before his name. Once derided or laughed at, even physically assaulted, Badshah Mian is credited to planting about 30,000 trees---all of which are fruit-bearing local trees. This man from a remote village of Peerganj, Rangpur had his inspiration from a moving incident involving his two children. Way back in 2004, a mango and jackfruit trader was passing by on way to the market right at the moment he, his son and daughter happened to be on the roadside in front of his house. The kids asked their father to buy some fruits for them but he had no money to fulfil their demand. 

This set Badshah Mian to thinking. If he cannot buy fruits for his children, poor neighbours like him also cannot afford such a treat. He came up with a solution to the problem. The day labourer decided to plant fruit trees on unused roadside or fallow lands near schools, mosques and other public places. It was in 2005, that he faced the greatest test when some owners of land adjacent to the road uprooted saplings he planted. Frustrated, he gave up and thought that was the end of his dream. But a man with a mission, he got enough inspiration the next year and has continued ever since.   

How passionate he is about his mission is highlighted by his decision he arrived at on consultation with his wife. One fourth of his income from working as a day-labourer, would be spent on tree plantation. No, he does not appeal to others for money, instead gifts saplings to others requesting them to plant those and take care. The nobility of his heart that beats now in the bosom of 72 years announced its amazing capacity for loving trees when in 2005, he had no money to fence the 150 tender plants of mango and jackfruits he planted. Finding no other alternative, he sold the earrings of his daughter to make fences around the saplings. 

What Badshah Mian has done few can do in one's lifetime. A man considered illiterate in the conventional term, he is wiser than the run-of-the-mill educated people. How can a person convince himself and even his wife to set aside one-fourth of the meagre income for the cause of greening the 15 villages in his area! He claims no credit for this but he is highly gratified when villagers eat the fruits of trees he plants and take rest under their shade. He seems to be intuitively wise because he chose to plant only the indigenous saplings of fruit trees instead of the trees valued for their timbers. His motivation comes from within.

Let the man be celebrated for his extraordinary performance. He is an unsung hero who has been carrying his mission without caring for publicity. The yearly official ritual of tree plantation weeks or month starts with a bang and mostly ends in a whimper. Those events are marked by photo sessions producing hardly any tangible results. People like Badshah Mian quietly carry on their lone campaign and become successful because they believe in themselves, respect Nature, its ecosystem and the inborn mental broadness to share the fruits of their success with millions of their fellow human beings.

nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com