Inspirational Story form Uttar Assam Prant
“I love the azure skies and the green Earth and therefore, I will live and work on the soil “, says Biren Das, from Assam’s Nalbari, a man known for his enduring love for mother nature.
While we think about what a man can do alone, our thoughts are not always true. Sometimes people are born into a society whose actions make them shine in everyone’s eyes. Sometimes only one person becomes an example of society and tells the society why can’t you if I can. Many of us may always hold back thinking that poverty is an obstacle. Thousands of questions arise in our minds, who will listen to me, who will understand me etc. In one word he will not be extended even if he is called Yadav Panging of lower Assam. This is an extraordinary story of Biren Das, a resident of Majdia village in Nalbari district. That Biren Das today mandela koka.
His affable down-to-Earth personality and pleasant visage have earned him the nickname ‘Mandela Koka’. Perhaps flattered by the comparison, he carries old pictures of the anti-apartheid hero around and shows them to anybody who is interested. His wallet carries snapshots of the times that have gone by, of the past populated with tall figures such as Mandela. Das, who is a big fan of Nelson Mandela, says he is “flattered” by the comparisons to the icon. The 70-year-old, who has planted around 70,000 trees in his village by some estimates, owns a small shop in his native village where he sells ‘paan’, chips, and some trinkets and oddities. Most of the money he makes from his small business, he uses to plant more and more trees!
He has been planting and rearing trees every day for the last seventy years. He said he would not have to rear trees like his own children. In the midst of the conversation he told me, whether you believe it or not, I have not even killed a mosquito fly to date. I feel pain. He looked like a simple person though he was an extraordinary figure hiding in this simple fact. Neither for any reward, appreciation nor government benefits, he is very happy to plant and rear trees.
Das suggests that all the youths should make valuable contributions to nature by planting trees on their birthdays. “Just like children need to be nurtured while they are growing up, so too must trees be taken care of to ensure their blooming to their full potential,”he opines. “Of course, that is something that every young person should do. You should definitely do that if you care about mother nature. Maybe Mandela koka will die tomorrow but don’t we have to move on to nature’s work by realizing him? Nature is the first and the main thing he wants to do by doing things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAEK8nP3zAE&t=90s
