On Nature Conservation Day, schoolchildren in Telangana tie rakhee to beloved tree
From the campus of Government Girls’ High School in Nagarkurnool comes the tale of an extraordinary tree and a schoolteacher who saved it from the brink of death
Students of Government Girls High School in Nagarkurnool celebrating the rejuvenation of the tree on the campus.
July 28, the World Nature Conservation Day, is not all about slogans, posters and plantation drives for the students of Government Girls High School in Nagarkurnool. This day comes alive for them in the form of a ‘Seema Chintha’ (Manila tamarind) tree they worship and thank every year without fail.
They, together with the school management, celebrate the ‘birthday’ of the tree, to mark the day it was given a new lease of life, thanks to the efforts of an environmentally conscious teacher.
The tree was uprooted during a furious thunderstorm on May 10, 2017, a calamity in which people died and houses collapsed. The tree clung on to life till the school was reopened the next month.
“I was coming to take special classes for high school students when the tree collapsed. I felt bad, as the children loved its fruit, but there was little I could do,” said the teacher, Gudibanda Yashoda Reddy, who is retired now after teaching social studies in the Zilla Parishath school for years.
She was amazed to find the tree alive and growing new shoots when schools were reopened on June 13 that year. The headmistress, however, found the fallen tree a hindrance for organising prayer meetings.
“I could convince the headmistress to give me a week’s time to revive the tree. I felt as if the tree was seeking my help,” recalled Ms. Yashoda Reddy.
She approached Vata Foundation, a Hyderabad-based NGO engaged in tree translocation services, and requested them to help the fallen tree.
P. Uday Krishna from Vata Foundation recalls how they were told that the tree was running out of time. “We, a group of volunteers, hurried to the spot the very next day. Upon inspection, we found that the tree was surviving on a single root, which remained attached to the trunk. Our task was to lift the tree without damaging that root,” he said.
He agreed to bear all the costs involved, but had only one condition for the endeavour — all the schoolchildren should watch the tree being revived.
After much effort, the tree survived, and is now growing branches in the opposite direction in an attempt to regain balance.
To remember the day their favourite tree got a second chance at life, the schoolchildren tie raksha bandhan to the tree, made of flowers and inserted with messages for tree protection.
Ms. Yashoda Reddy visits her favourite tree every year on July 28, even after her retirement, performs a puja to inculcate a love for trees among the children. Seven batches of students have left the school since that day, yet the tradition thrives. The current headmaster K. Bhaskar Reddy, too, joins the celebrations.
“I came to know of this custom the day I assumed the charge last year, and decided to continue it. This year, July 28 happens to be a Sunday, yet here we are,” he said.
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