an inspiration....

[Guest guest]

Pranam. An inspiring news from another group....

 

Blind man turns barren land into forest

http://www.ians.in/categorynewspreview.php?topicid=10&topicname=Environment/%20W\

ildlife

 

By Jatindra Dash, Bhubaneswar : A blind man has turned

a five-kilometre stretch of barren land near his home

in Orissa into lush greenery during the last 12 years.

Sounds amazing but it's true.

 

Srinibas Jena of Bhagipur village in the coastal

district of Cuttack, in eastern India, did not use any

magical prowess to achieve the feat.

 

Jena lost his eyesight when he was only five years of

age. One day, he heard on radio a programme on the

importance of forests and healthy environment.

 

"The programme spoke of how one could be self-reliant

by planting trees. That is how the mission started,"

said Jena.

 

"Initially, I planted a few cashew nut trees but now

there are mango, guava and other fruit bearing trees

as well," Jena told IANS.

 

The man, who walks with the help of a stick, rarely

makes a mistake while identifying the trees.

 

Bhagipur is home to about 1,500 people of different

castes. Jena has become a celebrity among villagers

with his tree plantation and conservation drive.

 

His 'forest territory' begins from the backyard of his

home and ends at a hill in government land.

 

"When Jena lost his vision due to illness, we thought

he would be a burden on us and would have to survive

by begging. But he proved us wrong. He is better than

many people with eyesight," said Jena's farmer-uncle

Bagirathi.

 

Jena watered the saplings and protected the trees from

marauding elephants with the help of his wife Kuni,

who married him to help in his mission.

 

"He has the amazing power to predict elephants

approaching our plantations," Kuni said.

 

"Each year, we earn our livelihood selling fruits from

these trees. Sometimes we earn Rs.20,000 and sometimes

it even goes up to Rs.30,000. Whatever we get we are

happy," she said.

 

Remarked Suresh Mishra, an officer of the wildlife

department: "It's great work, something which will

inspire people to follow in Jena's footsteps

 

 

 

Let my every word be a prayer to Thee,

Every movement of my hands a ritual gesture to Thee,

Every step I take a circumambulation of Thy image,

Every morsel I eat a rite of sacrifice to Thee,

Every time I lay down a prostration at Thy feet;

Every act of personal pleasure and all else that I do,

Let it all be a form of worshiping Thee."

>From Verse 27 of Shri Aadi Shankara's Saundaryalahari

 

 

 

 

To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new

Security Centre.