In India, a man named Antaryami Sahu is fondly called 'Gachha' Sir, which means ‘trees’ in Odiya. This is a name he has genuinely earned.
At age 11, he planted a banyan tree sapling at school, and he has never looked back. Now, 30,000 trees later, he is still planting, and has created a legacy we can all admire. Take a moment to think about that. Since he has been a tree planter for nearly 65 years, he has planted an average of 460 trees every year. That is a whole lot of trees!
If you are wondering whether bees like banyan trees, in 2008 there was an article in the Economic Times stating that a single 200-year old banyan tree at Ramagovindapura Village near Nandagudi was home to 600 bee colonies and over a million bees every year between October and March.
This 2:05-minute video by Naxatra News features Gachha Sir but please note it is not in English. We added it so you can see Gachha Sir in action:
Gachha Sir told The Logical Indian that he has no real motivation for planting trees besides that he loves trees, the environment, and the world.
His village is more beautiful because of him. Whenever he has the means to do so, he plants trees in people’s gardens and in public spaces.
After becoming a primary school teacher in 1973, he led big drives to raise consciousness about wildlife and trees. He focused on honeybee conservation because he realized that bees are at the core of our ecosystem.
In India, the economy depends greatly on agriculture, and agriculture depends greatly on bees and other pollinators. He set out to raise awareness in surrounding villages because many people are ignorant about honeybee conservation.
Gachha Sir makes many posters that he uses to tell people important things like, don’t pick the flowers because the honeybees need them for nectar. His posters help him connect with people all over the place, and the illustrations help them to understand the impact of their actions on trees and animals and how these creatures help humans.
We found this story in The Logical Indian, written by Ratika Rana, so click here to read the full story and see the photos of Gachha Sir.
At this blog, we often ask, ‘what can you do to save the bees?’ Gachha Sir is the perfect example of how we can all BEE the change we wish to see.
Perhaps in the west it isn’t as easy to get out there with posters to teach people, but there are places we can do this if we put our minds to finding out where they are.
Just BEE resourceful!