The Tall Trees at the Cultural Club
Recently, one of my friends who lives in a place where I had worked, several years ago, regretfully informed me that the trees I had helped plant, around the cultural club there, were cut and sold off by some unscrupulous persons. It was like the loss of dear ones.
Back then, I was working in a factory located in rural India. The factory employed about 2000 workmen and executives. It was surrounded by agricultural fields and a walk in the evening around them was a pleasure and a treat for the eyes. The pleasant winds, the gentle swaying of tree branches and unannounced tweet of a bird followed by the resonance of its friends made me forget the cacophony of the crazy mad rush of cities.
It was a day, I still remember, when the secretary of the cultural club met me to seek suggestions about attracting people to the activities of the club which had lacked patronage of late due to a plethora of reasons including lack of funds, attraction of movies, lack of artists etc. After lengthy discussions, we hit upon a plan.
The plan was to organize a gathering of about fifty socially conscious colleagues who would either not need any pursuasion to attend or those who would simply attend if there was a party! After confirming that a viable bank balance existed with the club, a select group of fifty employees was invited to lunch on a Sunday. It so happened that that day coincided with a festival.
In India, every year, for a week in the month of July, we celebrate "Vanamahotsav" which means the festival of forest . The concept originated on 14th July 1947 from the late Dr. K. M. Munshi, an erudite scholar, a Minister in the Central Government when India attained independence and a patron of Sanskrit literature and Indian culture. While the original concept was to plant trees, gradually people started mistaking it to be the week when they have to go out and eat in the forests and have fun!
When the day of the 'party' had arrived, as expected only about thirty members were present. After the factory manager had come, all expected the lunch to be called soon. But when the secretary took centre stage to address, mischievous yawns were let out by a few hungry mouths because the secretary was well-known for his rhetoric which usually lasted no less than an hour non-stop. Sensing the mood, he announced that lunch would be served as soon as the factory manager had planted a sapling.
The secretary, out of over-enthusiasm, had procured free of charge about 200 saplings from the forest department who were on an afforestation drive. A few pits were only dug by the labour the previous day. The factory manager, being a sensible man, soon evaluated the situation and declared, "I wish to dig ten pits and plant the saplings. Let me see if anybody catches up with my speed!"
Those words had the members running helter-skelter searching for tools to dig pits. And, lo! We had all the 200 saplings planted in an hour or so. Everybody felt they had earned a lunch. Just before the factory manager was to leave, he ordained, "Just don't think it was a tree you planted. They are your babies. Now, you have to take care of them."
In course of a few months, the eucalyptus trees started growing taller than us. The factory manager arranged for the renovation of the cultural club and the activities of the cultural club had a new life.
Acknowledgement:
I wish to thank APSense for including the category of "Environment" under Articles.
3 people like it
Comments (6)
Cheryl Baumgartner
12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
A great story to share with us Mohann. As a Girl I was involved with the 4H Club. When I was in Jr high school we got involved with a project sponsored by Owens Corning who had a plant near the town I grew up in. The plant occupied several acres and Owens decided that it would be great to plant trees on deforested land they owned around the plant. I think we must have planted 1000 pine saplings that day.
Owens Corning thought the idea was great, but they weren't too excited about the actu
Philippe Moisan
16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
I invite you to send a PM to Wincer, he will be able to explain the idea much better than myself. Regardless of what some people think, remember he's the owner of a site that has an alexa ranking of 3,649. To me, it means he knows what he's doing more than anyone I know at APSense. No offense meant.
Don't forget, APSense is also about building relationships and branding ourselves. It's not just about getting on the 1st page of SEs.
Mohann Krish
6
For that we have the haves and wants.
Philippe Moisan
16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
The tags are for branding ourselves, Mohann. If you want to be known for something specific, in my case my articles and videos, than you the tags when they are relevant, of course. I believe Wincer will explain the concept soon, when he's finished ironing out the bugs.
Mohann Krish
6
Due to the very fine print, I had accidentally added the suggested tag "enlargement" instead of "environment"! I have since noticed that and corrected. For the life of me I am unable to understand whether we will be liking the articles or the tags. I give up thinking about the strange logic.
Philippe Moisan
16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
I wish I could click on all the tags, Mohann. You are such a good article writer, and the acknowledgment is a very nice way of reminding us that APSense keeps improving. :)