Aradi: “Lucky are those who can follow their passion in their professional life. I feel truly blessed as I can follow my passion of loving trees with my teaching profession. Tree is my first love and I have decided to spend the rest of my life among the trees”, said ‘tree man’ Anil Kumar Das.
Das, a resident of Chandbali block in Bhadrak district, is the headmaster of Doharapatna UP School in their area.
In 2010, he had started following his profession by planting various kinds of trees including medicinal plants on the premises of his school. Since then, there has been no looking back for Das.
His nine years of experience gives him the identity of tree man in his area.
“Deforestation is not an alien concept to us. We all have grown up learning about it and witnessing it before our eyes, as more and more buildings replace trees and we rarely do anything about it,” Das says.
He has created a mini forest on the premises of the school singlehandedly. There he is growing saplings of over 30 varieties including rose, marigold, temple tree, Indian blackberry, jackfruit, wood apple, mango, guava, cashew, lemon etc.
“It is his effort for which the barren lands of the school have transformed into a mini jungle. He has made us understand the value of trees in making the earth a liveable place. He has always been advising elders and younger generation not to fell trees and plant at least one sapling in their lifetime. Following his advice, now we are also planting trees,” some students and parents said.
For Das, his trees are his family and he plans to plant more tress across the block, creating many forests in the area.
His love towards trees and devotion towards the school, gives the best school tag to Doharapatna UP School in the block.