With a song on his lips and a sapling in his satchel, Darepalli Ramaiah, a simple Khammam potter, who took his passion for planting trees to the people of the district with the zeal of an evangelist was awardedPadmasri by the BJP Government.
Vanajeevi’ Ramaiah, as he is widely known for his invaluable contribution to expanding tree cover – particularly bio-diesel plants – hails from Reddypally village in Khammam rural mandal of Telangana State. He is estimated to have planted more than one crore saplings, including shady trees such as neem, and biodiesel plants like ganuga ( pongamia ) in Khammam and other parts of the district. Vanajeevi Ramaiah also won a doctorate for his work from the Universal Green Peace international organisation.
There are those who believed the poor potter from Khammam was insane, touched by the sun, off his head. It wasn’t a secret.
Even the potter, once a seller of buffalo milk to keep his family’s head above starvation, knows that. “Many think I am mad,” he says.
But it will take more than a sneer from passers-by, a giggle from onlookers, to stop 50-year-old Darepalli Ramaiah. He’s here to tell whoever is willing to listen – school-children, housewives, coal miners, farmers – that the earth needs replenishing. Love a plant, plant a tree.
For he understands the value of communication; it may mean suddenly breaking into song or presenting saplings to people as wedding presents, but he gets them to listen. And he always starts his act with one line: “Vruksha Koti is like Ram koti.
Says Ramaiah: “My teacher G. Mallesham explained to us how trees give us oxygen, shade and fruit if we give them some water, and then asked whether man can give us all this without expecting anything in return.”
He began with his own backyard, transforming the seven acre semi-arid plot, inherited from his father, into a virtual jungle where trees of every kind and style – eucalyptus, subabul, date, palm, teak, sandalwood, almond, mango – grew in abundance.
It has meant that even if the occasional snide remark is still thrown at his passing cycle, the appreciation of his work is much wider. It is obvious in the very labels the villagers have bestowed on him: Vruksha Pitha (Father of the trees), Vruksha Mitra (Friend of the trees) and Vana Jeevi (Protector of the Trees).
The father, friend, protector may blush mildly but he remains a modest man. “Nature,” he says, “takes care of us only if we take care of it.” The potter has done his bit. Still, he offers you a shloka in parting: Aksharama, Vruksham mana lakshyam (literacy and forestry is our goal). That said, he’s on his cycle and away: just a crore of saplings to plant before he dies.
