A NOBLE LADY

THE MOTHER OF BANYAN TREES

6p.m

5.6.2009

dear friends,

today,when it's raining heavily,i was recollecting about the importace of the day!morning when i was reading the news paper sitting outside,clearly i could listen to the talk on Enviornment day-5th june,delivered by a student of the near by school.last time when i came down for my holidays,i was thrilled about the slogan,''maram oru varam''.students were given the rare medicinal saplings and projects were planned for one the whole year.i just don't know what happened to those saplings.were they taken care of?are they still growing?last year shri shri has also distributed the famous 'kalpa tharu'saplings and nanda has planted one in the compound.it's grown tall now.looking at that ,i gratefully appreciate the noble deed that has spread to the nook and corner of our country!i love our environment.and i strongly believe it's my duty to let you know ,there's an unpopular personality among us who lives for a noble cause.last year,i reached her unexpectedly and i was very much interested in this great personality.often people those who leave an imprint need not be popular.

let me introduce Sala marada thikkamma to you.

she is not famous;hardly she attracts media attention.but,hundreds of banyan trees growing on the road sides of Banglore-Nelamangala route and the thousands of different birds which have shelters in these trees know her very well.thikkamma has planted all these trees.it's just because of the kind hearted lady,the travellers are enjoying the shade.

thikkamma is from hoolikkal village in magadi district in bangalooru.her husband is chikkayya.they had a small piece of land and they earned thier livelihood by farming and keeping the cattle.they didn't have offsprings.

fortyfive years before,one day chikkayya told thikkamma''let's plant the saplings.we will be blessed with kids''.and they longed for a child desperately.she wanted to sing the lullabies.thus the noble deed was begun.three kilometres away from hoolikkal village,on both the sides of NH17,the couple started planting the saplings of banyan trees.to protect these plants they took care by fencing them.there was scarcity of water.and can you believe,the couple struggled fetching water from distant rivers .watering these plants soon became a part of their routine.

just give it a second thought,my dear friends,for the last forty five years they continued living themselves with nature.they had to struggle to meet both the ends;even then they didn't forget about the plants on the roadside.the plants grew to trees,they were full of leaves and thousnads of birds built their nests on the branches.the walkers by took rest under the shade and two minds were filled with ecstacy and enthusiasm.they must have planted five hundred saplings.[and please have an introspection tonight''-have i planted even a single sapling''?]

life was not pleasant for thikkamma.her mother and brother fell ill.she was running around arranging money for their treatment.still she fondly remembered her trees.one after another tragedy followed her.first she lost her mother and brother.later her husband also left her for ever.adversity never comes alone.her relatives snatched the piece of land from her.the mother who enabled thousands of birds to build their nests,lost her own shelter.she had to leave her house andto wander seeking a shelter with a torn sac!

n.v.negaloor, the reporter of kannada daily,'prajavani'first wrote about her.thus the world came to know about the remarkable selfless deeds of ahumble lady.

thikkamma wa honoured by these awards-national citizen awardin 1995,indira priya darshini vrikshamitra award in 1997,sagar prashthi award.the government and n.g.os joined hand stogether to build ahouse for her.she was discussed in the legislative assembly.now,things are different.thikkamma is very active in discussions on environmental protection,different socities,and her suggestions are always accepted wholeheartedly.

thikkamma has only one request to the government.she wants afree bus pass to reach everywhere being an active participant of protecting our enviornment.

thikkamma dreams of the second life -not as ahuman biing but as aTREE.

i bow before you amma,for your blessed life!

it's anu signing off.............

Fiends,it takes,

''a minute to find a special person,

an hour to appreciate them,

a day to love them,

but then an entire life to forget them''.

please take time to live.

i'm sure you will say a prayer for thikkamma's long life......................

good night.....happy week end to all!

sasneham,

anu

courtesy;Mathrubhumi daily[05.06.09]

6p.m