I was watching and reading the below news about Thimmakka and needed to share this here. Amazing lady! Thimmakka: The tree lady Some news about her and why she did it. Thimmakka, aged 101*, is a native of Hulikal village in the Magadi taluk of Bangalore Rural district in Karnataka. She has an unsurpassed credit to her name—some 1000 plus sturdy banyan trees, which she has lovingly tended against all odds, from mere saplings to a sweeping canopy. Saalumarada Thimmakka (“saalumarada”—“row of trees” in Kannada—is an honorific people have added to her name) and her landless labourer husband Chikkannah could not have children. So one day more than 60 years ago, they started planting trees. The road to the next village Kudur (Kudoor) was a dry hot one. Ficus (banyan) trees were aplenty near Thimmakka's village. Thimmakka and her husband started grafting saplings from these trees. Ten saplings were grafted in the first year and they were planted along a distance of 20 kilometres near the neighbouring village of Kudur. Fifteen saplings were planted in the second year and 20 in the third year and so on. She used her own meager resources for planting these trees. The couple used to carry pots of water for a distance of four kilometres to water the saplings. They were also protected from grazing cattle by fencing them with thorny shrubs. The saplings were planted mostly during monsoon season so that sufficient rain water would be available for them to grow. By the onset of the next monsoons, the saplings had invariably taken root. They covered the whole stretch. The saplings grew to become trees, the trees grew tall, and the couple rejoiced in their children. Chikkanna died in 1990, but Thimmakka continued her life’s work. Thanks to her unusual labour of love, this illiterate woman is the idol of every environmentalist. A "living monument of our times" is how the citation of National Citizen's Award describes Thimmakka.
Aspire, Good that you brought this here. A great contribution to the environment and a selfless act by her and her husband. It needs to be followed by us atleast in small measures.
Thanks Saraswathipv. I know what I shared might have been old news, but when I heard about her, what struck me was that the children she has raised..the trees...they will provide shelter for many through the years... Amazing person she is.
