By D N Singh
Neither it was a joy ride nor travelogue but a visit to a religious place called Kantilo in Odisha famous for the temple of Lord Nilamadhav along with a local scribe of that area.
While we were passing through an area flanked by barren fields our scribe friend wanted to get down seeing a frail old man who was pushing a bi-cycle loaded with two baskets full with some seedlings and saplings.
He rushed and touched the feet of the old man and then gestured at us to go there. There we were introduced to the septuagenarian man Antaryami Sahoo, a school teacher busy in his mission of planting trees for decades.
Sahoo has literally dedicated his life for the plantation of trees, conservation of wildlife and stoking the sentiments of millions creating awareness for biodiversity.
Planting 30,000 trees within the span of his career as a teacher in a primary school in Kantilo village and still, he goes on doing that even at 75 years of age.
We were introduced to Antaryami Sahoo,a man with unkempt hair and bit overgrown beards but a smile of exuberance writ on his face.
Planting trees has remained his passion since he was barely 12 years when he had planted a few trees on the roadside.
That was the beginning of a mission pioneered by young Antaryami , and his passion for trees grew more and more.
When he joined the Upper Primary school he instilled the same ideal among his students and colleagues making them understand the value of even a single tree for the environment we live in.
His mission knew no bounds. He started planting trees during his tenure; thousands of trees right from the open space behind the school to other suitable spaces
Since then, every year, he has planted some trees in public spaces around his village. His love for trees grew with age, and when he joined as a teacher in Siletpada UP school, he began encouraging children there to follow suit.
Sahoo’s mission touched the peak when he kept on planting trees in thousands in any available space around the village in Boudh district , even in public places thus sending a message to other villages, mostly on barren lands.
When a festering sore gets to smile through green and tall trees that became a huge source of solace for Sahoo and anyone who enjoyed the nectar of cool shadow and branches swaying to the winds thanked Sahoo.
Even long after retirement Antaryami Sahoo is usually seen in and around the new grown forest and the smaller ones that had their roots firm on the ground.
Not that alone, Sahoo also undertook the mission for conservation of the wildlife who slowly became friendly with the environment and their conservation became a priority for Sahoo.
Antaryami is now 75 years old, but works with the same passion to conserve the environment.
When he joined the school as a primary teacher in 1973 and had since carried massive plantation drives across six schools, he was transferred one after the other as part of the administrative process. He used to source a few saplings from the forest department and create a nursery from the seedlings as well,” Sahoo recalls.
His work continued till 2004 when he individually planted 10,000 trees, as well as 20,000 more with students. He emphasised planting saplings such as sal, teak, banyan, mango, Indian beal, fig and other native species.
Age could not deter his zeal and the now the 75 plus retired teacher has been able to plant more than 30,000 trees and he emphacised that whenever he was transferred (to more six schools) he always had his plantation kits with and there also started all over with renewed enthusiasm and plantations continued without any break in which he got the help of the Forest department in providing with seedlings.
Sahoo also realised that in summer frequent forest fires lit by animal poachers to hunt animals remained a menace and to arrest them became an additional task for Sahoo.
He then started creating awareness through hand-made posters and banners and never ceased to instill into the minds of people how to protect the animals.
Antaryami made posters of about 40 local species such as honey bees, pangolin, owl, deer, elephant, butterflies, lizards, bats, grasshoppers, dragonfly, ladybug and birds.
The handmade posters served two purposes – they were interactive and helped sensitise the population.
Witnessing large-scale deforestation, Antaryami said he planted trees such as date, palm and others that serve as a safe habitat for birds and insects. Normally, we mainly focus on big and exotic animals, and there are very few that care about insects, birds and wildlife; those are no less an integral part of the conservation.
If we have some more Antaryami Sahoos then the earth tomorrow we can wake up to a better morning.
He stresses that every species, including humans, depends on each other for survival. “It is significant to protect their habitat and ensure their existence to enable their ecological role in the environment,” Antaryami adds.
Antaryami says his efforts helped in a significant reduction of forest fires between 2001 and 2008. “I also accompanied forest department officials when they carried out awareness campaigns and helped identify hot spots to prevent the fires,” he added.
Even today, the septuagenarian makes these informative posters, which are prominently visible on the premises of Kantilo’s Nilamadhab temple and its surrounding areas. “Many posters stay in the villages with people as a constant reminder to protect wildlife. I also carry them during public events and social meetings to share my views,” he says, adding that he has recently joined Facebook to share the posters and receive appreciation.
“The posters and pictures are liked and shared, which indicates that the message is spreading. I am learning to be more active on the platform,” he adds.
In recent years, Antaryami has created four biodiversity parks across the district with the support of the government as well as the forest department. “The first one was Lumbini Udyan, which has about 300 varieties of fruit trees. It became a model, and three others Biswabasu Udyam, Lalitadebi Udyan and Madhab Udyan were created later,” he says.
In the past five decades, he says his work has influenced 30,000 people, including villagers from neighbouring districts such as Puranakatak, Sarabhanga and Harabhanga.
Bishnu Panda from Bhubaneswar says, “I visited the Kantilo Nilamadhab temple and found many handwritten plates with catchy words related to environment conservation. I was curious and asked some of the friends in the area about Antaryami.”
Bishnu says his friends were well aware of Gachha sir and explained his work to him. “They also told me how his efforts had earned appreciation in local media. I saw a few other plantation sites and was impressed by the dedication of one man,” he adds.
Antaryami has been conferred with the Prakruti Bandhu Puraskar by Nayagarh, Boudh and Phulbani districts. Additionally, he also received the Ashok Smruti Award and Prakruti Mitra Puraskar, among other state-level appreciations.
He believes that increasing green cover is crucial to saving the rapidly deteriorating environment. “Planting saplings is a service for a social cause that will benefit the masses. It is an act of humanity,”Antaryami adds.
