The Green Guy from the Dry Land
“Ever since I gained senses, I realized that I had my life imbibed in the plants. It was a mango tree that I saw while accompanying my mother to fetch water from the local tube-well that drew my attention towards the beauty of nature,” remembers the young and spirited man.
His younger brother’s marriage was the first eco-friendly wedding, where each and every guest was asked to plant a tree before feasting; moreover, the plastic cutlery was replaced with mud glasses and leaf-plates. “I asked for two saplings in dowry and the whole wedding took place in day-light with absolutely no electricity being used,” he takes pride in telling.
Vishnu Lamba, popularly known as the ‘Plantman of Rajasthan’, was born with the idea of conserving the environment. He has devoted all his time and energy in the service of those living beings, which we neglect and disobey.
Stealing plants and eventually planting them in the backyard of his house is something he still cherishes as the most important and lovable phase of his life. Interestingly his birthday falls just two days before the ‘Environment Day’ (June 5); Vishnu was born in the year 1987 in the Lamba village of the Tonk District, Rajasthan.
In villages, there is a common practice of people defecating in the open. This leads to the emergence of various plants and trees in those areas. No sooner that Vishnu got aware of this, he started uprooting them and planting at his own place. In no time, many kids from his neighborhood joined him in this process which became more of a competition. “My knowledge and awareness of different plants and trees grew along with my age and so did my passion for these living beings,” exclaims the environmentalist.
Unfortunately, due to his poor academic performances and un-dying habit of stealing saplings and plants, he was shifted to his aunt’s place in Rooppura. “Going by my obsession for plants, my school headmaster there put me in-charge of the school garden. That was something which thrilled me to the t, and to everyone’s surprise I managed to come first in my whole class,” he confesses, followed by a hearty laughter.
Later in the sixth standard, the nature lover moved to Jaipur with his uncle. It was there that he stole around about a hundred plants from the neighborhood collector’s nursery. “That still is one of the best experiences of my life, as I enjoyed every bit of it,” he admits. Definitely, he was not spared for this act of courage, yet immature, but an apology later earned him much praise from the collector himself and this also led his uncle to purchase another set of plants for the garden in his own house.
“However, it was during my two and a half year stay at a saint’s place in a nearby village that I attained discipline in my life. The routine that I followed there is something which is to stay with me all my life,” he acknowledges. Either joining the army or just being an RSS volunteer is what he had thought of becoming into if not going ahead with this idea of planting and conserving trees and saplings.
Ironically, the police department has been a huge helping hand for him in this whole mission. “It was during my early years that I had asked a constable in my locality to plant a tree. This move surprised many but eventually led to a majority of women from the village to start taking care of the plants around the village,” he professes. Till date, more than a hundred IPS officers from Rajasthan have joined him in taking this initiative forward. “This certainly is a really big thing for me,” claims the vigilant Lamba.
“I have always voiced my opinion against atrocities towards plants and animals. Ruining plantation and greenery to replace it with development plans is something I have always fought against,” he adds.
When corruption crept in the government of our country, NGOs were born, but now these organizations are also not trustworthy. He has had his share of mishaps where he has seen money being looted and mismanaged for personal benefits. This led to the foundation of his NGO ‘Shree Kalptaru Sansthan’ in Jaipur, which works for the conservation of the environment, in terms of voicing against cutting of trees for commercial purposes.
“My mother has been my biggest inspiration in life, it is her teachings that have made me what I am today. This love for plants is something I have inherited from her and wish to further spread this message.”
There has never passed a day, when he has not planted a tree in the last fifteen years. Now that’s what this man is made up of.
People, who have not planted at least five trees up till now, have a lot to do in their lives he concluded. “I request the youth to plant enough trees to help create a healthy environment,” is all that the plant man of Rajasthan wants!
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