Tree Saplings As Prasadam

16 July 2001, 03:13am IST
By GULSHAN LUTHRA.

Politics, violence, religious bigotry, terrorism, fundamentalism, calamity. looking away from these ingredients of the routine news favourites, i ventured recently into the sikh holy town of anandpur sahib and spent a day with the jathedar (high priest) there, prof manjit singh. not once during the day-long audience did he mention the necessity of a faith or otherwise, or eulogise any religion. what he did say was that unless a religion can relate to the welfare and well-being of mankind, it is meaningless. and that all religions essentially teach human beings to be good. i was looking for something nice, something soothing, something that was feel-good. i heard and witnessed plain good news in happening. prof manjit singh doesn't just preach. he distributes tree saplings as holy `prasad' on various occasions. people virtually grab these saplings, and as they are considered holy, take every possible care to nurture them in or around their homes and farms. "care of the mother earth is essential to religion , and if we cannot do our bit in this regard," says prof manjit singh, "how can we survive?" his silent revolution in greening has been going on for more than a year. the saplings are provided by the punjab government and the campaign is managed by prof manjit singh himself at the gurdwara anandpur sahib, where the 300th anniversary of the sikh panth was celebrated with fanfare last year. so far, he has distributed nearly three lakh saplings, one of which is growing outside this writer's house in gurgaon. prof manjit singh said that he was in fact tying up with other gurdwaras to expand this activity, and that he has been assured of full cooperation by his colleagues and a steady supply of saplings by punjab chief minister parkash singh badal for the growth of this movement. how did he think of this idea? the head priest, a soft-spoken person, says the idea is very much there in the sikh religion. the mother earth supports life, and human beings also have to bear their part of the responsibility. we have always known that trees are the only environment-cleaning factories. neem,peepal, and many other trees, for instance, are known to clean the air on the one hand and offer medicinal qualities on the other. i had first met prof manjit singh a few months back briefly in dubai, where he was visiting at the invitation of the local sikhs. dubai, the commercial capital of the united arab emirates (uae), was my home for about 14 years, and is a place i still have my heart in, thanks to its excellent all-round development, lovely roads, and a beautiful, clean sea-side. every time i go there, after a gap of three or four months, i see something new: new roads, greening projects, shopping festival, business promotions, press club, and now even an internet city. but what strikes me most is the fascination of the uae president shaikh zayed to plant as much greenery as possible in this desert country, roughly the size of indian punjab. in the last 30 years, some 250 million trees have been planted. even the indian langra mango was successfully grown in the capital city of abu dhabi in 1998 after a 10-year effort. prof manjit singh is aware of this, and says that leaders like shaikh zayed deserve support and praise for their efforts. "it is just not his own country, but the entire mother earth which is going to benefit." and it is sad that in our own india, despite the advantage of lower costs of planting and maintaining trees, our record is dismal. people, politicians included, are virtually unconcerned at the dwindling number of trees. at anandpur sahib, it is a treat to see how eagerly and lovingly devotees visiting the holy complex accept the plants given to them. a woman who was able to take four plants, handed them over to her two children, and was then back in the queue begging for more. i saw two uniformed soldiers, some local officials, and even my visiting swedish friend, maria flodin, accept the saplings with respect and reverence. s s dhillon, the local sub divisional magistrate (sdm), who has been involved with the campaign since its inception, says the mortality rate in the saplings given away as prasadam is virtually zero. a tree taken as a holy gift is considered a blessing, and people want to make sure that the trees given to them grow, and the blessings are multiplied. thank you, prof manjit singh. we need your movement all over india.