Vrukshebhyo Namah........Vanaspathaye Namah

Vrukshebhyo Namah........Vanaspathaye Namah (What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.)-MKG Dear Young Minds, My 'fauji' postings to far-flung areas of Rajasthan gave me some unforgettable periods of experience and opportunities to mingle with the locals. Like every other non-urbanite of our great nation, Rajasthan too has its fair share of wonderful people who live close to nature; do not manage nature but let 'nature manage them'. A village in southern Rajasthan's Rajsamand district is quietly practising its own, homegrown brand of Eco-feminism and achieving spectacular results. For the last several years, Piplantri village panchayat has been saving girl children and increasing the green cover in and around it at the same time. Here, villagers plant 111 trees every time a girl is born and the community ensures these trees survive, attaining fruition as the girls grow up. Over the last six years, people here have managed to plant over a quarter million trees on the village's grazing commons. The village's former leader, Shyam Sundar Paliwal was instrumental in starting this initiative in the memory of his daughter Kiran. Read a report titled "For every girl child born, they plant 111 trees" by MAHIM PRATAP SINGH in Hindu paper dated 13th April 13, by a visit to: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/for-every-girl-child-born-they-plant-111-trees/article4612837.ece This article shares more details about this remarkable hidden corner of the world; In an atmosphere where every morning newspapers greet us with stories of girls being tormented, raped, killed or treated like a doormat in one way or the other, some of our “village republics” seem to bring in some good news from time to time like the welcome showers on a parched land! But then we have always been sim(B)le people and like that (vo)nly no? Our scriptures are abound with paying respects to Nature; but then in the name of progress we lost out the 'helicopter view'. We recite, :namasthe vrukshebhya harikesebhya (The lore looks upon the trees as the flying curls of Hari:). In fact, Rudradhyaaya abounds in hymns to praise and worship the trees and all sources of water as the incarnations of Lord Rudra: dyo saanthi; anthariiksham saanthi; aapa saanthi; oushadhaye saanthi; vanaspathaye saanthi; sarvam saanthi.etc etc. (Let tranquility be to the sky, atmosphere, earth, water, and the entire flora and for everything.) Interestingly 'Kaamandakiiya Niithisaaram' has many pithy statements; (one such on a short-cut to heaven is given below. How I wish our Netas read this "Element of Polity"..Kaamandaka niithisaara. whose tenets hold good to a Tee even today) asvadhmekam pichumandamekam nyagrodhamekam dasathinthrinischa kapithhavilvamalakathrayancha panchamranali narakam nayathi. (One who plants one pipal tree, one neem tree, one banyan tree, ten tamarind trees, three jackfruit trees, and five coconut trees would never go to hell.) So? Planting trees was considered sacred which would help one attain heaven, since they were reckoned as the expressions of the ultimate knowledge about the divine, the Veda. It is interesting to note Jaambavaan’s briefing to Hanumaan on the eve of his 'flying' trip to fetch mruthasanjiivani. He described the medicinal plants as the icons of the highest knowledge, vedasvarupa. But who cares? Why waste time on the 'Chipko- movement' and the like? Let's continue to ravage our mother earth and leave nothing for our children!(sic)! Jai hind! Warm rgds V~v~R 11-05-13 “What is beautiful is not always good, but what is good is always beautiful.” - Unknown".