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The fascinating story of a movement called Dandakaranya.A man at the age 84 initiated a mass forestation movement in the western Maharashtra ,India and planted 10 million seeds on the arid area .
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“Wh
en w
e plan
t trees,
we p
lant th
e seeds o
f p
eace and
the seed
s of h
op
e.”
— P
rof. Wangari M
aathai(2
004 N
obel Peace P
rize Laureate)
Dandakaranya
Th
e S
tory
of a
Gre
en
Mo
vem
en
tby
Aru
na A
ntark
ar
Translated by
Nan
du D
ange
Am
eya
Pra
kash
an
© P
ub
lisher
Pub
lisher
Ulh
as Latkar
Am
eya Prakash
an207, B
usin
ess Guild
,
Law
Co
llege Ro
ad,
Pun
e 411 004.
Tel.: 91-20-2545 7571
ww
w.am
eyapraksh
an.co
m
First E
ditio
n
July 2008
Pro
f. Maath
ai Quo
te: Source: u
nep.o
rg
Prin
ted at
Mudra
Cover d
esign
Aay’s A
dvertisin
g
ISB
N 81-903514-9-4
Price
Rs. 95/
-
“Th
e Dan
dak
aranya m
ovem
ent is to
day o
ne o
f
the m
ost sig
nific
ant m
ov
em
en
ts in p
ost-
ind
epen
den
ce Ind
ia.It is a mo
vem
ent th
at
dem
and
s the rig
ht o
f liv
ing a h
ealthy an
d
mean
ingfu
l life.
Th
e destru
ction
of th
e enviro
nm
ent is p
rimarily
the o
utco
me o
f th
e mo
ral deg
eneratio
n an
d
greed
of m
ankin
d.
A p
eo
ple
s’ mass m
ov
em
en
t such
as th
e
Dan
dak
aranya h
as the p
ow
er to erase th
is social
blo
t.”
— B
hausaheb Thorat
CONTENTS
Th
e Seed
Germ
inates...
9
Th
e Gen
esis of D
andakaranya
16
An
Ap
t Nam
e...20
Th
e Green
Arm
y23
Th
e Begin
nin
g31
A R
epeat P
erform
ance
33
Dandak
aranya Part T
wo ...
35
Why an
d fo
r Wh
om
?37
Th
e Po
wer o
f Wo
rkin
g To
geth
er42
What th
e Particip
ants S
ay ...44
An
d T
he Jo
b W
as Do
ne
48
Th
e New
Daw
n ...
54
The S
eed G
ermin
ates...
lot o
f peo
ple are fo
nd o
f readin
g, even to
day. B
ut th
e questio
n is
ho
w m
any p
eop
le are able to
learn fro
m th
e bo
oks th
ey read?
Alth
ough
a bo
ok is lo
oked
up
on
as friend, p
hilo
sop
her an
d gu
ide,
often
the co
nten
ts of a b
oo
k rem
ain in
the b
oo
k. R
eaders w
ho
go
beyo
nd
entertain
men
t, and read
serious b
oo
ks, b
oo
ks o
f social relevan
ce often
feel
they h
ave do
ne th
eir duty an
d leav
e it at that, b
ut th
ere are exceptio
ns. T
here
are very few p
eop
le wh
o ab
sorb
the teach
ings in
a bo
ok an
d b
ring th
em in
to
practice. T
hese are th
e peo
ple w
ho
matter.
Bh
ausah
eb T
ho
rat is an id
eal mem
ber o
f th
is min
ority. H
e is a livin
g
examp
le of th
e pow
er of b
oo
ks. H
e came acro
ss a bo
ok w
ritten ab
out E
lzéard
Bo
uffier, a n
ative of th
e Alp
s. Bo
uffier w
as a natu
re lover, an
d h
e had
ded
icated
his life to
the p
lantin
g of trees. B
hau
saheb
read th
e bo
ok, an
d in
spired
by it,
even at th
e ripe ag
e of eigh
ty three, set h
imself a target o
f p
lantin
g ten m
illion
trees in o
ne m
on
th. G
etting th
e villag
ers of S
angam
ner T
ehsil o
n h
is side, h
e
exceeded
his o
wn
target b
y four an
d a h
alf times, to
uch
ing th
e figure o
f 45
millio
n.
9
Au
tho
r’s
No
te
After th
e bio
grap
hies o
f S
hah
rukh
Kh
an an
d H
em M
alini, th
is is my th
ird b
oo
k fo
r Am
eya Prak
ashan
. Th
e first
two
were tran
slation
s, wh
ile this o
ne is in
dep
end
ently w
ritten. I h
ad ex
pected
the first in
dep
end
ent b
oo
k to
be
differen
t. Th
e story o
f the D
andak
aranya p
roject h
as fully satisfied
that ex
pectatio
n. T
he su
bject o
f th
e story, its
natu
re, its form
has m
ade th
e writin
g of th
is bo
ok a h
app
y exp
erience. L
oo
kin
g over th
e San
gam
ner area to
get
to k
no
w th
e details o
f th
e pro
ject and
to m
eet Mr. B
hau
sahab
Th
orat w
ere un
forg
ettable ex
perien
ces. After th
at,
I no
w feel th
at just as d
octo
rs are sent fo
r an in
ternsh
ip to
the ru
ral areas as part o
f th
eir curricu
lum
, so sh
ould
journ
alists. It is in ru
ral areas that th
e true ach
ievem
ents o
f m
ankin
d are ex
perien
ced.
I must m
entio
n M
r. Ulh
as Latk
ar of A
meya P
rakash
an w
ith sin
cere than
ks fo
r the faith
he h
as sho
wn
in m
e by
allocatin
g this u
niq
ue w
riting assign
men
t. I ben
efited fro
m m
y exp
erience as a jo
urn
alist with
the M
aharashtra
Tim
es for th
is chro
nicle-typ
e writin
g. Th
is exp
erience w
as exten
ded
wh
en I w
ork
ed fo
r the w
eekly C
hitralekha. I
wo
uld
like to
exp
ress my th
anks to
colleagu
es in b
oth
these p
eriod
icals, Ash
ok P
anw
alkar, D
iwak
ar Desh
pan
de,
San
jeev L
atkar, P
ramo
d B
hag
wat, C
han
drash
akh
ar Josh
i, Prak
ash A
ko
lkar an
d o
thers o
f M
aharashtra Tim
es, and
to D
nyan
eshw
ar Mah
arao o
f C
hitralekha.
On
the o
ccasion
of p
ub
lication
of th
is bo
ok, I am
remin
ded
of th
e veteran
journ
alist and
my g
uru
the late S
hri
Prab
hak
ar Pad
hye, w
ho
con
stantly en
courag
ed m
e to w
rite bo
oks, an
d m
y late father, S
hri A
nan
t An
tarkar,
foun
der-ed
itor o
f Hans, M
ohini and
Naval m
agazin
es. I ded
icate this b
oo
k to
them
, and
to m
y mo
ther S
mt.
Nirm
ala An
tarkar. I am
con
fiden
t she w
ill read th
e bo
ok w
ith th
e same ap
pro
ach as m
y late father. I h
ave to
make
special m
entio
n o
f m
y elder sister an
d sen
ior jo
urn
alist An
urad
ha A
uran
gab
adkar an
d h
er dau
ghter P
rof. A
mrap
ali
wh
o w
ere bo
th o
f great h
elp in
this b
oo
k an
d m
y earlier on
es.
— A
runa Antark
ar
Ab
ou
t the A
uth
or
Aru
na A
ntark
ar has b
een activ
e in th
e prin
t and
electron
ic med
ia for th
e last 25 years. S
he h
as exp
erience in
repo
rting, ed
itorial an
d w
riting w
ork
for H
ans, Mohini, N
aval, Kesari, M
aharashtra Tim
es, Saam
na, Saanj L
oksatta an
d
Chitralek
ha. Her co
lum
ns h
ave ap
peared
in all lead
ing n
ewsp
apers an
d p
eriod
icals in M
aharash
tra. Sh
e has b
een
med
ia execu
tive w
ith th
e Sahara O
ne chan
nel. S
he h
as been
the ex
amin
er of M
aharash
tra State G
overn
men
t Film
Festiv
al on
three o
ccasion
s.
Her g
eneral an
d film
-related w
riting h
as app
eared in
Sarvotk
rushta Marathi K
atha (Vol 1
3), F
lashback, S
hatakache
Thase, th
e bio
grap
hy o
f film
directo
r Raja T
hak
ur, an
d in
Ratnak
shara.
Bh
ausah
eb T
ho
rat is man
y thin
gs in o
ne: a freed
om
fighter; a cap
able
Co
ngress legislato
r after indep
enden
ce; an active p
rom
oter o
f the co
-op
erative
mo
vem
ent, w
ho
is reputed
to act in
keep
ing w
ith h
is talk; a fo
un
der o
f
San
gam
ner C
o-o
perative S
ugar M
ill and M
ilk C
o-o
perative an
d several o
ther
co-o
perative ven
tures; p
ast presid
ent o
f th
e district an
d state co
-op
erative
ban
k; a magician
wh
o tran
sform
ed th
e face of th
e on
ce arid S
angam
ner d
istrict.
At p
resent h
is prim
ary role is th
at of in
spirin
g the D
andakaranya A
bhiyan pro
ject,
wh
ich h
e loo
ks u
po
n as o
f prim
e imp
ortan
ce.
San
gam
ner is ju
st ano
ther p
lace on
the m
ap fo
r mo
st peo
ple, b
ut fo
r
Bh
ausah
eb, it is his w
ho
le life. He w
as bo
rn in
villag
e Jorve in
the S
angam
ner
tehsil an
d g
rew u
p th
ere. Even
after bein
g expo
sed to
places o
f p
rosp
erity
such
as Japan
and S
witzerlan
d, h
e remain
s deep
ly attached
to h
is dry, arid
tehsil, tw
o-th
irds o
f w
hich
is covered
by b
ald h
ills. Rath
er than
go
ing th
e
po
litical route, h
e cho
se to take u
p th
e develo
pm
ent o
f the area th
rough
the
co-o
perative m
ovem
ent. B
esides in
dustrial d
evelop
men
t thro
ugh
the su
gar
mill, m
ilk co
-op
erative and th
e co-o
perativ
e ban
k, h
e has also
con
tributed
to
the d
evelop
men
t of ed
ucatio
n th
rough
the sch
oo
ls, jun
ior an
d sen
ior co
lleges
and en
gineerin
g colleg
e that h
e help
ed to
set up. T
he ed
ucatio
nal an
d in
dustrial
develo
pm
ent o
f San
gamn
er has ch
anged
the face o
f the teh
sil. New
job
s were
created, b
ringin
g abo
ut fin
ancial stab
ility. Now
there are m
etalled ro
ads, b
ridges
wh
ere need
ed an
d m
odern
multi-sto
reyed b
uild
ings.
Bh
ausah
eb h
as the g
oo
d fo
rtun
e of seein
g the resu
lts of h
is efforts d
urin
g
his o
wn
lifetime. A
t eighty-fo
ur, h
e can w
ell afford
to sp
end h
is days relaxin
g
in a larg
e ho
me. T
hat is h
is right, b
ut n
ot h
is temp
eramen
t. That is w
hy h
is
pen
chan
t for w
ork
and h
is love fo
r the en
viro
nm
ent cam
e alive after go
ing
thro
ugh
‘Th
e Plan
ter of T
rees’, a bo
oklet o
f ju
st aroun
d th
irty pages. H
e too
k
up
the D
andakaranya p
roject w
ith g
reat gusto
. Diab
etes and h
eart disease tried
to h
old
him
back, b
ut B
hau
saheb, w
ho h
ad fo
ugh
t the w
hite m
an in
the freed
om
struggle, w
as no
t to b
e dau
nted
. What w
as this b
oo
k th
at awo
ke the lio
n in
this
man
?‘Th
e Man
Wh
o P
lanted
Trees’ is th
e story o
f a po
or sh
eph
erd n
amed
Elzéard
Bo
uffier w
ho
plan
ted o
ne h
un
dred
tho
usan
d trees in
his d
ry, arid
Alp
ine co
un
tryside. F
or th
irty-five years from
1910 to
1945, h
e travelled ab
out,
plan
ting vario
us seed
lings w
herever h
e wen
t, with
out m
akin
g any so
ng-an
d-
dan
ce abo
ut it. T
he arid
village o
f Varan
g was in
time b
lessed w
ith an
eleven
kilo
metre lo
ng g
reen b
elt. Th
e dead
villag
e soo
n cam
e alive, and p
eop
le wen
t
abo
ut th
eir busin
ess with
a new
energ
y.
Bh
ausah
eb w
as deep
ly imp
ressed b
y the ach
ievemen
t of th
is On
e-Man
Arm
y. His v
illage, even
at its wo
rst times w
as better o
ff than
Varan
g, b
ut
Bh
ausah
eb, a true farm
er at heart co
uld
no
t bear its lack
of g
reenery. H
e had
10
11
already d
on
e much
for h
is villag
e and th
e entire area d
urin
g his lifetim
e. But
his farsigh
ted v
ision
of th
e futu
re sho
wed
him
the trag
edy lo
om
ing u
p n
ot
just b
efore h
is villag
e, but b
efore all o
f m
ankin
d. M
an’s m
aterialism w
as
destro
ying th
e enviro
nm
ent. T
he am
oun
t of rain
fall was co
min
g dow
n. Ju
ngles
were b
eing lo
st. Lak
es were sh
rinkin
g. Wild
life num
bers w
ere dw
indlin
g. In
the fu
ture, m
ankin
d w
ould
do
everythin
g from
his seat th
rough
remo
te con
trol,
but th
e burn
ing q
uestio
n w
as how
he w
ould
surv
ive with
out fresh
air and
water.T
here w
as just o
ne so
lutio
n: p
lant m
ore trees. It w
as urg
ently n
eeded
.
Oth
erwise all th
e develo
pm
ent m
easures taken
thus far w
ould
be w
asted. W
hen
Bo
uffier p
lanted
tho
se trees, he h
ad ach
ieved
an im
po
rtant jo
b. H
e lost h
is
on
ly son
, and so
on
the g
rief also to
ok aw
ay his w
ife. Bo
uffier h
ad n
o lo
nger
any reaso
n to
live. But rath
er than
succu
mb
to th
e cow
ardly tem
ptatio
n o
f
suicid
al death
, Bo
uffier b
ravely too
k u
p th
is activity. H
e had
no
reason
to
thin
k o
f the h
ealth o
f his v
illage. W
hen
he to
ok u
p th
is activity, V
arang h
ad
just h
alf a do
zen h
ouseh
old
s. Th
e lon
ely Bo
uffier fo
un
d h
is family in
his trees.
He h
ad created
it, and w
as nurtu
ring it. H
e started th
is activity at th
e age o
f
fifty-five, and kep
t it up
till he w
as eighty-seven
. On
e advan
tage w
as the sp
arse
po
pulatio
n; th
ere were n
o cru
el hum
ans w
ho
destro
yed trees an
d h
un
ted
anim
als. Natu
re had
blessed
Bo
uffier w
ith excellen
t health
and stren
gth.
Bh
ausah
eb, wh
o w
as insp
ired b
y Bo
uffier w
as no
t so lu
cky. H
is age an
d
health
were ag
ainst h
im; h
e was p
ast eighty, an
d d
iabetes h
ad taken
its toll. H
e
did
no
t have th
e time th
at Bo
uffier h
ad at h
is disp
osal. B
hau
saheb
was fu
lly
aware o
f this, b
ut h
e was n
ot p
repared
to b
ack d
ow
n. B
ouffier h
ad n
o fam
ily,
friends o
r associates to
help
him
. Bh
ausah
eb’s d
etermin
ation
was stren
gthen
ed
by th
e convictio
n th
at all of S
angam
ner w
ould
back
him
. With
tho
usan
ds o
f
pairs o
f han
ds to
aid h
im, h
e could
achieve B
ouffier’s lifetim
e’s wo
rk in
half
that tim
e. He w
asn’t co
mp
eting w
ith B
ou
ffier: to h
im B
ou
ffier was an
insp
iration
. His o
nly ad
versary was tim
e, but B
hau
saheb
imm
ediately b
egan
to
make p
lans. B
y coin
ciden
ce, just sh
ortly b
efore h
e read th
e bo
ok, B
hau
saheb
had
held
talks w
ith th
e ho
use-o
wn
ers in h
is colo
ny. T
he co
lon
y had
lost a lo
t
of its tree co
ver, and it sad
den
ed B
hau
saheb. H
e told
each h
ouse o
wn
er, ‘I
shall give each
of yo
u a sap
ling. Y
ou ju
st have to
water it, n
urtu
re it.’ A few
days later, th
e bo
ok lan
ded
up
at his h
ouse.
Fo
r som
e time B
hau
saheb
igno
red th
e bo
ok. L
ater, his d
augh
ter, Mrs.
Durg
a Tam
be gave it to
him
to read
. Sh
e has in
herited
her fath
er’s love o
f
readin
g, as have several relatives. D
urg
atai is the first lad
y Presid
ent o
f the
San
gam
ner M
un
icipality. S
he h
as kep
t up
her read
ing in
spite o
f the p
ressures
of p
olitics an
d ad
min
istration
. Sh
e also ru
ns a read
ing clu
b fo
r wo
men
. Sh
e
came to
kno
w o
f ‘Th
e Plan
ter of T
rees’ from
her yo
un
g nep
hew
, Rajeev R
ajale.
12
13
He is fo
nd o
f read
ing excellen
t bo
oks an
d en
couragin
g oth
ers to read
them
.
Durg
atai saw th
is bo
ok w
ith th
e un
usu
al nam
e on
his tab
le. Sh
e picked
it up
out o
f cu
riosity, scan
ned
thro
ugh
it, and th
en fo
un
d it im
po
ssible to
put d
ow
n.
Th
e bo
ok h
as been
translated
into
Marath
i by M
adh
uri P
uran
dare.
Durg
atai was in
trigued
with
the b
oo
k. It w
as un
believ
able th
at such
thin
gs
hap
pen
in th
e wo
rld. L
ove g
oes far b
eyon
d lo
gic, and sh
e fell in lo
ve with
the
bo
ok. S
he fo
llow
ed th
e family trad
ition
of en
couragin
g oth
ers to read
, and
gave it to
Dr. S
udh
ir Tam
be to
read. A
fter he h
ad fin
ished
, she g
ave it to
Bhau
saheb. B
hau
saheb
’s table alw
ays has a d
ozen
books lyin
g on it, an
d D
urgatai
placed
this o
ne o
n to
p o
f the p
ile, and k
ept a p
aperw
eight o
n it to
attract her
father’s atten
tion
.
Th
e next d
ay she saw
it had
been
relegated
to th
e bo
ttom
. Sh
e pulled
it
out an
d p
ut it o
n to
p. T
he n
ext day w
as the sam
e story. T
his w
ent o
n far a
week
, and fin
ally Bh
ausah
eb to
ok it u
p fo
r readin
g.
Th
e bo
ok h
ad fo
rmid
able co
mp
etition
on
the tab
le, with
bo
oks b
y Sad
han
a
Am
te, Dn
yanesh
war M
ulay an
d D
han
anjayrao
Gad
gil. Bh
ausah
eb w
as natu
rally
fon
d o
f readin
g, and th
e fon
dn
ess was n
urtu
red b
y his gu
ru, A
nn
asaheb
Sh
inde.
Th
e stint in
jail durin
g the freed
om
struggle w
as a blessin
g in d
isguise, b
ecause
that is w
here h
e came in
to a clo
ser relation
ship
with
An
nasah
eb, and h
is stock
of b
oo
ks. H
e had
abso
rbed
a lot o
f excellen
t literature in
Marath
i and E
nglish
,
and th
e writin
gs of M
arathi sain
ts, from
his ch
ildh
oo
d. T
hro
ugh
An
nasah
eb,
he g
ot to
read b
oo
ks b
y Karl M
arx and S
talin o
n th
e labo
ur m
ovem
ent an
d
Dh
anan
jayrao G
adgil o
n eco
no
mics. A
lso th
rough
An
nasah
eb, Bh
ausah
eb
go
t into
the h
abit o
f u
sing a d
iction
ary. He g
ot to
read ‘D
iscovery o
f India’ b
y
Pt. N
ehru
, and ‘R
ed S
tar Over C
hin
a’ by E
dgar S
now
. An
nasah
eb h
ad set u
p
a study circle in
the jail, w
here m
emb
ers wo
uld
read, take n
otes, an
alyse and
discu
ss amo
ng th
emselv
es, be it a b
oo
k o
r an article in
the n
ewsp
apers. T
he
readin
g of relevan
t bo
oks d
rew B
hau
saheb
tow
ard b
oo
ks o
n so
cioeco
no
mic
matters. H
e had
no
idea th
at ‘Th
e Man
Wh
o P
lanted
Trees’ w
ould
turn
out to
be o
f the sam
e catego
ry. He p
icked
up
the b
oo
k o
ut o
f curio
sity, and th
e bo
ok
bew
itched
him
.
It too
k h
im less th
an h
alf an h
our to
read th
e bo
ok, b
ut th
e tho
ugh
ts it
pro
voked
remain
ed w
ith h
im. H
e regretted
he h
ad read
it at nigh
t. Had
he
read it in
the m
orn
ing, h
e could
hav
e discu
ssed it w
ith several p
eop
le, draw
n
up
action
plan
s. Th
e next m
om
ent h
e picked
up
pen
and p
aper, an
d b
egan
to
put d
ow
n h
is tho
ugh
ts.
�
14
15
The G
enesis o
f Dandak
aranya
efore p
lantin
g could
be started
, peo
ple h
ad to
be b
rough
t togeth
er.
That w
as the b
iggest ch
allenge. In
San
gam
ner, B
hau
saheb
is addressed
as Dad
a. Wh
ether it b
e his co
lleagues, h
is wo
rkers or villag
ers, no
bo
dy
adds a ‘S
aheb
’ after Dad
a. Th
e wh
ole to
wn
respo
nds w
hen
Dad
a sends o
ut a
call. But it w
asn’t en
ough
to g
et peo
ple to
geth
er. It was Ju
ne an
d th
e rains w
ere
just a w
eek aw
ay, and th
ings h
ad to
be o
rgan
ised in
time to
take ad
vantage o
f
them
. Gettin
g peo
ple to
geth
er to act w
itho
ut th
e usu
al chao
s of cro
wds w
as
the n
eed o
f the h
our. P
eop
le were to
be b
rough
t togeth
er and th
e wo
rk h
ad to
be co
mp
leted in
a fortn
ight. D
ada w
as a socialist at h
eart. He w
as a Co
mm
un
ist
party w
ork
er for several years. B
ut h
e had
seen th
e failure o
f com
mun
ism in
the co
un
try. In th
e semi-u
rban
San
gamn
er, com
mun
ism w
ould
no
t wo
rk. C
o-
op
eration
was a m
ore v
iable o
ptio
n as h
e had
realised lo
ng ag
o, so h
e too
k th
e
path
of co
-op
erative movem
ents, an
d su
cceeded
.
Th
is on
e-time co
mm
un
ist and n
ow
co-o
perative lead
er wan
ted to
make
the tree p
lantin
g into
a mass m
ovem
ent. A
movem
ent th
at wo
uld
be ru
n fo
r
the p
eop
le, by th
e peo
ple, th
at is ho
w h
e saw it. S
ince trees w
ould
be p
lanted
on
com
mo
n lan
d, it w
as inev
itable th
at the F
orest D
epartm
ent, th
e So
cial
Fo
restation
dep
artmen
t and th
e Mam
ledar O
ffice wo
uld
com
e into
the p
icture.
Dad
a wan
ted th
eir co-o
peratio
n, b
ut exp
ected n
o fu
nds fro
m th
em o
r from
the state g
overn
men
t. Often
fundin
g from
such
sources gives rise to
corru
ptio
n.
Dad
a did
no
t wan
t the m
ovem
ent to
beco
me a lim
ited co
mp
any an
d create a
bureau
cracy. He exp
ected to
raise a movem
ent o
n th
e efforts o
f selfless peo
ple
com
ing to
geth
er to w
ork
with
out p
erson
al gain
, on
the lin
es of th
e freedo
m
struggle.
If he h
ad an
no
un
ced h
is plan
s thro
ugh
the m
edia, it w
as likely that an
NG
O w
ould
hav
e com
e forw
ard to
ado
pt th
e tehsil. It w
ould
have fu
nded
the
wh
ole ven
ture. A
ny su
ggestio
n o
f this so
rt and D
ada’s vo
ice turn
s hard
. It is
then
that th
is man
wh
o d
resses like a typical p
olitician
stands o
ut as d
ifferent
from
the rest. ‘A
do
ptio
n?’ h
e wo
uld
say angrily. ‘I d
on’t like th
at wo
rd. T
his is
our teh
sil. Why sh
ould
we give it to
anyo
ne else? It is o
ur d
uty to
nurtu
re it.’
Dad
a’s dau
gh
ter Mrs. D
urg
a Tam
be is th
e Presid
ent o
f S
angam
ner
Mun
icipality. H
is son
Balasah
eb T
ho
rat is the S
tate Min
ister for A
gricu
lture,
Govern
men
t of M
aharash
tra. But D
ada d
id n
ot w
ant th
em to
mak
e use o
f
their p
ositio
n. H
e was p
onderin
g on w
hat h
elp h
e could
extend fro
m h
is factory.
But h
e did
no
t wan
t to crip
ple p
eop
le with
aid. H
e wan
ted to
get rid o
f the
gen
eral tenden
cy to th
ink, ‘T
he g
overn
men
t will h
elp …
Dad
a will take care.’
16
17
No
t just o
ur area, th
e wh
ole co
un
try is in th
e grip
of p
ollu
tion
. Th
e on
ly
solu
tion
was to
gro
w m
ore trees. T
hat is th
e prim
ary need
of free In
dia. T
hat
should
be th
e majo
r movem
ent n
ow
. Just as th
e presen
t generatio
n is resp
onsib
le
to p
reserve the freed
om
ob
tained
by th
e prev
ious o
ne, th
e next gen
eration
has to
be resp
on
sible to
nurtu
re the trees p
lanted
by th
e presen
t on
e. Dad
a
wan
ts to p
rom
ote th
e tho
ugh
t that to
day’s g
eneratio
n sh
ould
give the n
ext
on
e a legacy o
f trees. He w
ants th
e movem
ent to
remain
forever in
the h
ands
of th
e peo
ple. M
emb
ers of an
y caste or co
mm
un
ity are welco
me to
the
movem
ent. B
ut D
ada is firm
that n
o p
olitical g
roup
sho
uld
be in
volved
at the
region
al, State o
r Cen
tral level. T
here w
ould
be lead
ers to take th
e movem
ent
forw
ard, b
ut th
ere wo
uld
be n
o o
ffice-bearers. D
ada d
oes n
ot w
ant th
e
auth
oritarian
ism th
at arises out o
f a h
ierarchy. M
en w
ould
com
e and g
o, and
new
men
wo
uld
take th
eir place, keep
ing th
e mo
vemen
t run
nin
g.
That is w
hy p
eop
le wo
rkin
g for th
e movem
ent sh
ould
be self-su
fficient.
What d
oes th
e movem
ent n
eed? Ju
st seeds, lab
our an
d d
edicatio
n. T
here is n
o
need
to raise m
on
ey from
anyo
ne. N
o p
articipan
t in th
e movem
ent w
ill expect
any p
erson
al pro
fit, allow
ances o
r con
cession
s. Each
will carry h
is ow
n fo
od
and w
ater to w
ork
. Wo
rk w
ill be p
lann
ed in
such
a way th
at no
on
e need
s to
sacrifice his o
wn
wo
rk o
r stud
y time. B
ut each
will w
ork
seven to
eight h
ours
as he w
ould
at wo
rk o
r at scho
ol o
r colleg
e.
‘No
bo
dy can
org
anise p
eop
le’s wo
rk th
e way D
ada can
,’ says Ad
v.
Mad
hav
rao K
anaw
ade, C
hairm
an o
f S
angam
ner C
o-o
perativ
e Sugar M
ill.
‘Every year after D
iwali, o
ur B
oard
of D
irectors takes a sm
all trip. D
ada p
lans
it each tim
e. He takes u
s to su
ch sp
ots w
here veh
icles are of n
o u
se. All o
f us
have to
walk
a lot. H
e always fin
ds p
laces wh
ere plen
ty of w
alkin
g is invo
lved.’
Peo
ple are exp
ected to
un
derstan
d th
at what is created
by th
e mo
vemen
t
will n
ot b
elon
g to an
yon
e, but w
ill ben
efit everyo
ne an
d fu
ture gen
eration
.
Th
e mo
vemen
t is no
t mean
t to extract free lab
our. T
his g
reen m
ovem
ent is
mean
t to w
ake u
p th
e sleepers. O
nce a sleep
er awakes, h
e wo
uld
stand u
p,
learn to
walk
and th
en to
run
. He m
ust b
e taugh
t that h
e has to
wo
rk fo
r his
ow
n d
evelop
men
t. He sh
ould
be tau
ght to
take respo
nsib
ility. He m
ust see
that th
e seedlin
g he p
lants sp
routs in
to a sap
ling. H
e must n
urtu
re and p
rotect
the sap
ling till it g
row
s into
a tree. It wo
uld
no
t do
to p
lant ju
st on
ce, the jo
b
must b
e repeated
every m
on
soo
n.
Dad
a decid
ed to
make all th
ese thin
gs clear to an
y perso
n w
ho
respo
nds
to h
is call, befo
re that p
erson
is abso
rbed
into
the m
ovem
ent.
�
18
19
An A
pt N
ame...
ny m
ovem
ent n
eeds a flag to
rally peo
ple. It also
need
s an in
spirin
g
nam
e. Dad
a discard
ed th
e idea o
f a flag. B
ut a g
oo
d n
ame w
as
essential. T
he g
oals h
ad b
een set. D
ada w
as sleepless th
e nigh
t he
read th
e bo
ok. T
hen
, early next m
orn
ing, h
e hit u
po
n a n
ame, D
andakaranya
Abhiyan.
Wh
en asked
wh
y that p
articular n
ame, h
e says, ‘Becau
se the D
andakaranya
was b
lessed b
y the p
resence o
f L
ord
Ram
.’ If so
meo
ne argu
es that th
e
Dan
dak
aranya in
the R
amayan
was p
rimarily p
op
ulated
by danavas (ev
il giants),
Dad
a is no
t bo
thered
. He h
as the an
swer, ‘W
e are no
t con
cerned
with
the
danavas. We give p
rimacy to
the fact th
at Lo
rd R
am w
as here d
urin
g his exile.’
The im
portan
ce of th
e nam
e Dandak
aranya goes d
eeper th
an th
at. Prim
arily,
the D
andak
aranya w
here L
ord
Ram
, Sita an
d L
axman
lived
in exile is sp
read
over th
e presen
t San
gamn
er and A
ko
la tehsils. W
hen
Ram
, Sita an
d L
axman
wen
t there, th
e ascetic Agasti w
as staying th
ere. It was extrem
ely arid an
d
deserted
. Large o
pen
spaces h
ad n
o w
ildlife o
f any so
rt. Wh
en R
am asked
Agasti M
uni the reaso
n fo
r this, A
gasti related
the fo
llow
ing tale:
Durin
g the S
atyayuga, there lived
a kin
g nam
ed Ik
shw
aku. H
e gave h
is son
,
Dan
da, th
e coun
tryside b
etween
two
peaks o
f the V
indhya ran
ge. S
hukrach
arya
had
his ashram
in th
at area. On
ce wh
en D
anda w
as passin
g by, h
is eye fell on
Sh
ukrach
arya’s dau
ghter, A
raja. Th
e kin
g was d
azzled b
y her b
eauty. H
e tried
hard
to p
ersuad
e her to
com
e away w
ith h
im. A
raja suggested
that th
ey wait
till her fath
er, wh
o w
as away th
en, retu
rned
, and th
en g
o w
ith h
is perm
ission
.
But th
e kin
g was im
patien
t. He fo
rced h
imself u
po
n h
er and satisfied
his lu
st.
He th
en left. W
hen
Sh
ukrach
arya return
ed, h
e came to
kn
ow
of th
e incid
ent.
Liv
id w
ith an
ger, h
e cursed
the k
ing, ‘Y
our k
ingd
om
will tu
rn to
dust. Y
ou w
ill
perish
alon
g with
your co
un
try and yo
ur w
ealth.’
It is said th
at with
in a w
eek, a m
assive d
ust sto
rm aro
se, and d
estroyed
everyth
ing in
the k
ingd
om
inclu
din
g k
ing D
and
a. Th
e area was n
amed
Dan
dak
aranya in
mem
ory o
f kin
g Dan
da. In
course o
f time, A
gasti M
un
i
came th
ere to set u
p h
is ashram
. He w
as origin
ally a farmer. H
e vow
ed to
green
the arid
area. On
hearin
g of h
is arrival, his d
isciple, th
e Vin
dhya m
oun
tain
came o
ver, bo
wed
to h
im an
d asked
for h
is blessin
gs. Agasti sh
ow
ered h
im
with
fulso
me b
lessings, b
ut m
ade o
ne req
uest, ‘I sh
all just g
o aw
ay for so
me
wo
rk an
d retu
rn. T
ill then
, stay right h
ere as you are.’
Th
e po
or V
indhya o
beyed
, and co
ntin
ue to
stand th
ere bow
ed o
ver. A
gasti
wen
t to th
e Go
d o
f Rain
, Varu
n to
ask fo
r rain. O
n th
e way h
e also p
icked u
p
20
21
som
e trees that h
e foun
d. H
e had
kept V
indhya b
ow
ed o
ver fo
r a purp
ose: in
tho
se days th
e Vin
dhya w
as taller than
the H
imalaya. A
s a result, rain
, win
d
and ligh
t could
no
t reach th
e Dan
dak
aranya. W
ith th
e Vin
dhya b
ow
ed d
ow
n,
his h
eight cam
e dow
n, an
d th
ese could
now
get in
. Agasti p
lanted
the trees h
e
had
bro
ugh
t alon
g. Th
ey grew
up
with
the co
min
g rains. T
he w
ind also
bro
ugh
t
seeds th
at too
k ro
ot, an
d so
on
the D
andak
aranya w
as replete w
ith trees, fru
it
and flo
wers.
Dad
a inten
ded
to tu
rn S
angam
ner an
d su
rroun
din
g areas green
the w
ay
Agasti d
id to
the D
andak
aranya. T
he area is in
the rain
shad
ow
. Over o
ne th
ird
of th
e villages are o
n th
e plateau
. Th
ere are tho
usan
ds o
f acres of u
nusab
le
land. R
ainfall is u
ncertain
. Th
is area was arid
on
ce, the w
ay the D
andak
aranya
had
beco
me. A
gasti’s effo
rts had
resulted
in its tu
rnin
g green
, and D
ada h
op
ed
to ach
ieve th
e same in
San
gam
ner an
d its n
eighb
ourh
oo
d th
rough
the effo
rts
of its resid
ents. T
hat is w
hy th
e movem
ent w
as nam
ed D
andakaranya A
bhiyan.
Th
e nam
e also ackn
ow
ledges th
e on
e-time p
resence o
f sage A
gasti in
the
Ako
le region
adjo
inin
g San
gamn
er.
�
The G
reen A
rmy
he p
roject n
ame h
ad b
een d
ecided
, its ob
jectives finalised
, and it w
as
then
that D
ada th
ough
t of g
oin
g to sleep. It w
as four in
the m
orn
ing.
Dad
a decid
ed th
at in th
e mo
rnin
g he w
ould
talk th
ings o
ver with
Du
rga and
Su
dh
ir Tam
be, A
dv. M
adh
avrao
Kan
awad
e and
An
il Sh
ind
e,
respectively C
hairm
an an
d M
anagin
g Directo
r, San
gamn
er Co
-op
erative Sugar
Mill, B
ajirao K
hem
nar P
atil, Balasah
eb U
mb
arkar an
d o
ther co
lleagues. H
e
then
wen
t to b
ed.
But th
e tree plan
ting id
ea had
so grip
ped
him
that h
e was u
p in
a coup
le
of h
ours. H
e then
rang u
p all h
is close asso
ciates. Sudh
ir Tam
be, D
ada’s so
n in
law, is a d
octo
r and th
e pro
mo
ter of th
e Jaihin
d M
ovem
ent. H
e and o
fficials
wo
rkin
g w
ith th
e Su
gar M
ill hav
e great ex
perien
ce of o
rgan
ising m
ass
movem
ents. B
ut D
ada h
ad n
ot called
in th
ese peo
ple as relatives an
d co
lleagues;
he w
anted
their co
-op
eration
on
various levels fo
r his p
roject. D
r. Tam
be’s
Jaihin
d M
ovem
ent h
ad a larg
e num
ber o
f yo
un
g mem
bers. U
mb
arkar h
ad
vast experien
ce in w
ater con
servatio
n m
anag
emen
t. Durg
atai wo
uld
be ab
le
to m
uster w
om
en vo
lunteers. S
he w
as in ch
arge o
f the w
om
en’s w
ing o
f Jaihin
d.
22
23
Sh
e had
also o
rgan
ised w
om
en’s self-h
elp g
roup
s.
Dad
a ann
oun
ced h
is goal o
f hav
ing ten
millio
n seed
s plan
ted in
the arid
land
s of th
e tehsil. T
he T
amb
es, Ad
v. Kan
awad
e, An
il Sh
ind
e and
oth
ers
imm
ediately b
acked
up
Dad
a’s pro
ject. Th
ey liked th
e idea o
f th
e movem
ent.
But so
me w
ere do
ub
tful if ten
millio
n seed
s could
be p
lanted
with
the rain
s
just ro
un
d th
e corn
er. Th
eir faces clearly show
ed th
e feeling th
at the id
ea was
no
t practicab
le. But n
ob
od
y was w
illing to
say this to
Dad
a. Th
ey were fam
iliar
with
his ro
ck-h
ard d
etermin
ation
, and h
is reputatio
n fo
r com
pletin
g anyth
ing
he to
ok u
p. E
ven th
ough
sceptical in
itially, they all ag
reed to
the p
roject.
It cann
ot b
e kn
ow
n w
heth
er Dad
a in h
is enth
usiasm
had
sensed
the
scepticism
. He p
resented
his p
lans. In
the first p
hase fro
m 1
4th to
20th Ju
ne
2006, p
eop
le wo
uld
be m
ade aw
are of th
e pro
ject. In th
e secon
d p
hase, 2
3rd
Jun
e to 2nd Ju
ly, actual w
ork
wo
uld
be taken
up. T
he n
ext even
ing, a m
eeting
was called
at the A
mritesh
war tem
ple in
the v
icinity o
f the S
ugar M
ill. All
officials fro
m th
e tehsil’s co
-op
erative, educatio
nal an
d so
cial org
anisatio
ns,
govern
men
t officials, h
eads o
f educatio
nal in
stitutio
ns, p
rincip
als, teachers
and p
rofesso
rs, office-b
earers of w
om
en’s self-h
elp g
roup
s, and p
eop
le wo
rking
in d
ifferent field
s were in
vited
. Balasah
eb T
ho
rat was also
to b
e presen
t. He
and D
ada w
ere in co
nstan
t teleph
on
ic discu
ssion
s on
the p
roject.
With
less than
twen
ty four h
ours o
f no
tice, all tho
se called cam
e for th
e
meetin
g with
out excep
tion
. Dad
a was ru
nn
ing tem
peratu
re on
that d
ay, and
had
a swellin
g on
his feet. B
ut h
e came fo
r the m
eeting in
spite o
f the d
octo
r’s
strict ord
ers to take rest. H
is enth
usiasm
was clearly sh
ow
ing in
his b
od
y
langu
age. H
e add
ressed th
e meetin
g, explain
ing th
e need
for p
lantin
g of trees.
He an
no
un
ced h
is inten
tion
of p
lantin
g seeds in
fallow
areas up
to th
e hillto
ps.
He em
ph
asised th
e need
for each
residen
t of th
e villag
e to b
e rop
ed in
for th
e
pro
ject. He exp
lained
the o
rigin o
f the n
ame D
andak
aranya. H
e men
tion
ed a
quo
te from
the D
nyan
eshw
ari as the slo
gan
of th
e mo
vem
ent: N
agarechi
Rachaw
i| Jalashaye N
irmaw
i | M
ahawane L
avawi|
Nanavidhe (‘P
lan th
e cities, create
water b
odies, p
lant a v
ariety of fo
rests.’) He m
ade it clear th
at everyon
e sho
uld
collect seed
s with
out an
y help
from
Go
vernm
ent o
r the p
rivate sector. E
ach
activist w
as expected
to co
ntrib
ute at least five k
ilogram
s of seed
s.
He exp
lained
a simp
le meth
od o
f collectin
g these. ‘T
oday o
nw
ards, w
e
shall p
reserve the seed
s of every fru
it we eat. A
ny fru
it will d
o. I u
nderstan
d
that n
ot all w
ill be ab
le to leave th
eir ho
mes an
d p
lant seed
s. Ho
usew
ives, the
old
and in
firm, th
e sick w
ould
no
t be ab
le to w
ork
outsid
e. Such
peo
ple sh
ould
plan
t in th
eir ow
n b
ackyard
s. Th
ey could
plan
t vegetab
le creepers. T
hey w
ould
enjo
y the b
enefits o
f fresh
veg
etables ev
ery day. T
hey w
ou
ld h
ave th
e
satisfaction
of availin
g of p
roduce o
f their o
wn
efforts. It is n
ot im
po
rtant
wh
o d
oes h
ow
much
of p
lantin
g; it is necessary th
at each o
ne p
lants at least
24
25
on
e seed. P
lant w
herev
er you fin
d sp
ace aroun
d yo
ur h
ouse. D
o th
e wo
rk
wh
erever you are. In
this p
roject, th
ere are no
masters an
d n
o servan
ts. If on
e
is to save o
ne’s v
illage from
famin
e, now
is the tim
e to act. A
ny d
elay wo
uld
lead to
regrets afterw
ards.’
Everyo
ne w
as imp
ressed b
y Dad
a’s zeal. All p
rom
ised co
-op
eration
. Seed
s
beg
an to
com
e in fro
m ev
erywh
ere to th
e sugar m
ill. Vario
us typ
es of seed
s
came in
from
villag
es, social an
d ed
ucatio
nal o
rgan
isation
s, the F
orest,
Agricu
lture, S
ocial F
orestatio
n an
d o
ther g
overn
men
t dep
artmen
ts. Th
e Mill
was en
trusted
with
the jo
b o
f collectin
g and sto
ring th
e seeds, sin
ce it was
fully eq
uip
ped
to h
andle th
e activity.
Sh
ortly, a co
rpus o
f 110 q
uin
tals of seed
s was co
llected. T
he targ
et was
of p
lantin
g ten m
illion
seeds, w
hile th
e seeds n
ow
available w
ere eno
ugh
to
plan
t aroun
d five m
illion
trees. So
the p
rob
lem o
f seeds w
as solved
, the n
ext
hurd
le to b
e crossed
was th
e plan
nin
g of th
e camp
aign. T
here w
as plen
ty of
seed, b
ut very little tim
e.
But D
ada w
as un
fazed. H
e had
tho
ugh
t it out w
ell in ad
vance. H
e had
at
han
d h
is experien
ce of th
e freedo
m stru
ggle an
d th
e setting u
p o
f th
e co-
op
erative m
ovem
ent. H
e had
covered
the en
tire San
gam
ner teh
sil wh
ile
un
derg
roun
d d
urin
g the freed
om
struggle. H
e kn
ew each
villag
e, ham
let, hill
and d
ale. He h
ad a d
etailed m
ental m
ap o
f each ro
ad, river an
d riv
ulet. H
e
div
ided
the v
illages in
to eigh
t div
ision
s and d
ecided
to sen
d h
is volu
nteers
there. B
ut th
ey were n
ot ju
st go
ing to
mak
e speech
es. Dad
a had
seen in
the
freedo
m stru
ggle th
at music an
d so
ng w
ere mo
st effective in reach
ing o
ut to
the m
asses, wh
ether ed
ucated
, semi-ed
ucated
or u
ned
ucated
. He h
ad seen
the
insp
iration
that th
e com
mo
n m
an to
ok d
urin
g the reb
ellion
from
the fo
lk
son
gs of S
hah
ir Am
ar Sh
eikh
and A
nn
abh
au S
athe.
Dad
a establish
ed eigh
t music sq
uad
s. Th
ey were jo
ined
spo
ntan
eously b
y
such
artistes as Pro
f. Bab
a Kh
arat, Din
kar S
awan
t, Sh
ahir S
hivaji K
amb
le,
Pro
f. Tulsh
iram Jad
hav, th
e Bid
we b
roth
ers, Ekn
ath B
hagw
at and
Vik
as
Bh
alerao. T
hey w
rote o
ut so
ngs em
ph
asising th
e imp
ortan
ce of tree-p
lantin
g
in sim
ple, easily u
ndersto
od lan
guag
e. Th
eir tun
es were b
ased o
n existin
g folk
songs th
at were alread
y familiar to
the p
eople, an
d o
n w
ell-kno
wn film
melo
dies.
A p
ub
licity van b
elon
ging to
the S
ocial F
orestatio
n d
ivisio
n w
as rop
ed in
for a
coup
le of w
eeks to
go
aroun
d th
e villag
es, and th
e movem
ent really to
ok o
ff.
Th
e freshly co
mp
osed
son
gs mad
e the D
andakaran
ya movem
ent w
idely kn
ow
n
and talk
ed ab
out.
Th
e pattern
of co
mm
un
ication
was d
ifferent fro
m th
at used
at the S
ugar
Mill p
remises. T
here w
ere fewer sp
eeches an
d m
ore o
f son
gs. At th
e begin
nin
g
there w
ould
be esp
ecially com
po
sed so
ngs. T
hen
the sp
eaker wo
uld
thro
w a
questio
n to
the au
dien
ce, ‘My frien
ds, d
o yo
u w
ant yo
u d
escendan
ts to h
ave
26
27
clean d
rinkin
g water? D
o yo
u w
ant yo
ur cattle to
hav
e plen
ty of feed
?’ Wh
en
the au
dien
ce roared
, ‘YE
S,’ the sp
eaker wo
uld
give them
the so
lutio
n to
these
pro
blem
s: ‘Th
en p
lant trees! T
hey w
ill be yo
ur salvatio
n!’ E
ach sq
uad
covered
at least five villag
es a day. In
the tim
e given, 1
32 v
illages an
d 2
00 h
amlets w
ere
covered
by th
ese eight sq
uad
s.
Dad
a mad
e use o
f the m
ost effectiv
e speakers at each
meetin
g. Ad
v.
Kan
awad
e has a v
ast stock
of scrip
tural an
d fo
lk tales. H
e effectively conveyed
the m
essage o
f tree-plan
ting th
rough
these, as D
ada h
ad alread
y realised earlier.
Wh
ile the p
rop
agan
da exercise w
as on
, plan
nin
g for th
e actual actio
n w
as
on
. Th
e Fo
rest and S
ocial F
orestatio
n d
epartm
ents sp
ecified th
e places w
here
trees could
be p
lanted
. Th
ey had
in-d
epth
kn
ow
ledge o
f wh
ich sp
ecies wo
uld
thrive w
here. S
eeds w
ere selected acco
rdin
g to th
e soil typ
e in each
villag
e, and
the d
epartm
ents m
arked
out b
elts in th
e fallow
lands an
d o
n h
illtop
s for th
e
plan
ting.
Dad
a had
tho
ugh
t of th
e men
tal state of p
eop
le wh
o cam
e plan
ting. T
hey
sho
uld
no
t feel com
pu
lsion
; they sh
ou
ld p
articipate in
the p
rog
ramm
e
spo
ntan
eously. T
he righ
t atmo
sph
ere was th
erefore essen
tial. Dad
a ann
oun
ced
a dress co
de fo
r the w
ork
. Men
were to
wear yello
w T
-shirts, m
oss-g
reen
trousers, a yello
w slin
g-bag to
carry seeds an
d a yello
w clo
th fo
r wip
ing th
e
face and h
ands. W
om
en w
ere instru
cted to
wear yello
w saris.
Th
e colo
ur sch
eme w
as plan
ned
to g
el with
natu
re and w
ith th
e wo
rk at
han
d. T
he u
nifo
rmity led
to p
eop
le feeling a b
on
d w
ith each
oth
er. Th
e spirit
of u
nity led
to p
eop
le wo
rkin
g with
greater zeal. T
he p
erform
ing sq
uad
s were
also p
resent to
entertain
the p
eop
le as they w
orked
, furth
er enco
uragin
g the
wo
rkin
g han
ds an
d allev
iating th
eir fatigue.
Dad
a had
also p
lann
ed fo
r mealtim
es. On
e to tw
o in
the aftern
oo
ns w
as
set aside fo
r lun
ch an
d so
me rest. L
ocal v
illagers w
ere enco
urag
ed to
arrange
for trad
ition
al entertain
men
t. Dad
a had
taken care to
attend to
all the n
eeds
of w
ork
ing p
eop
le.
Th
e gro
up
that w
as wo
rkin
g was given
an ap
pro
priate n
ame, th
e Green
Arm
y. On
ce it was clear th
at the g
roup
were g
oin
g to n
um
ber aro
un
d five
tho
usan
d, th
e term A
rmy w
as app
rop
riate. Th
en th
e army w
as bro
ken u
p in
to
div
ision
s, each n
amed
after a famo
us w
arrior su
ch as C
hh
atrapati an
d R
ana
Pratap. E
ach d
ivisio
n w
as assigned
an area. T
he d
uties to
o w
ere assigned
: on
e
wo
uld
dig a p
it, ano
ther w
ould
put in
the seed
and th
e third
wo
uld
cover it u
p
with
earth. It w
as un
fair to assu
me th
at everyon
e was fam
iliar with
farm-w
ork
,
and d
uties w
ere plan
ned
so th
at no
-on
e sho
uld
stay away d
ue to
a feeling o
f
inad
equacy. S
om
e peo
ple, p
articularly w
om
en, w
ould
be u
nab
le to h
andle h
eavy
spad
es and sh
ovels, so
the S
angam
ner C
o-o
perative S
ugar M
ill pro
duced
lighter
imp
lemen
ts that co
uld
easily be h
andled
.
28
29
Th
e movem
ent w
as plan
ned
to b
e inau
gurated
on
19th Ju
ne o
n a h
illtop
near v
illage S
ayakh
indi. A
sort o
f dress reh
earsal was carried
out o
n 1
1th Ju
ne
in th
e villag
e. Th
e div
ision
s, squad
s, meth
odo
logy, d
ress code an
d im
plem
ents
were ag
ain d
iscussed
and fin
alised. T
he reh
earsal had
full atten
dan
ce, indicatin
g
that th
e 19th Ju
ne p
rogram
me w
ould
be a su
ccess.
�
The B
eginnin
g
ayakh
indi is fiv
e kilo
metres fro
m th
e San
gam
ner C
o-o
perative M
ill.
Seed
s were to
be p
lanted
on th
e hill-slo
pes o
f Khan
eshw
ar Tam
bkad
a,
Waryach
i Mal, T
alyache R
an an
d R
amgad
. Th
e huge S
ayakh
indi h
ill
was literally co
vered w
ith th
ousan
ds o
f volu
nteers an
d v
illagers. O
ver five
tho
usan
d p
eop
le had
assemb
led th
ere. Th
e pro
ject was lau
nch
ed to
the tu
ne
of a ligh
t rainfall, b
risk b
reeze and th
e soun
d o
f tem
ple b
ells.
Dad
a inau
gurated
the p
roject b
y plan
ting th
e first seed. B
alasaheb
Th
orat,
Dr. T
amb
e and M
rs. Tam
be to
o p
articipated
by p
lantin
g seeds. Y
oun
g peo
ple,
wo
men
and stu
den
ts, all of th
e Jaihin
d Y
uva M
anch
were also
particip
ating.
Even
the o
ld, in
firm an
d th
e sick w
ho
could
no
t actually w
ork
were p
resent to
lend th
eir sup
po
rt. Wo
rk w
ent o
n th
rough
out th
e day. A
ll had
bro
ugh
t their
ow
n im
plem
ents an
d lu
nch
boxes. M
any w
ere strangers to
each o
ther, b
ut at
lun
ch tim
e, peo
ple freely exch
anged
foo
d fro
m th
eir lun
ch b
oxes. M
ahatm
a
Gan
dh
i’s maxim
, ‘Ch
ange o
f wo
rk is rest,’ w
as bein
g amp
ly dem
on
strated
here. P
eop
le wh
o w
ere oth
erwise stran
gers freely ch
atted an
d exch
anged
foo
d.
Th
ey chatted
away w
itho
ut b
oth
ering ab
out each
oth
ers’ nam
es or v
illages.
30
31
Th
e Sayak
hin
di p
rogram
me w
ent th
rough
with
out a h
itch.
At th
e end o
f the d
ay there w
as a sho
rt pro
gram
me o
f th
anksgiv
ing.
Dad
a and B
alasaheb
Thorat vo
iced fu
lsom
e congratu
lations to
the G
reen A
rmy.
Durg
atai and D
r. Sudh
ir, wh
o h
ad b
een m
ovin
g thro
ugh
out th
e day fro
m
squad
to sq
uad
, seeing to
their n
eeds, also
than
ked th
e Green
Arm
y. Th
e
Dan
dak
aranya A
bh
iyan h
ad tru
ly begu
n.
�
A R
epeat P
erform
ance
he S
ayakh
ind
i respo
nse w
as echo
ed ev
erywh
ere. Seed
plan
ting
camp
aigns to
ok p
lace in vario
us h
ill-top
s and slo
pes an
d w
herever
po
ssible all o
ver th
e tehsil b
etween
23rd Ju
ne an
d 2nd Ju
ly 2006.
Everyw
here th
e particip
ants n
um
bered
over fiv
e tho
usan
d. T
here w
ere
volu
nteers, citizen
s, wo
men
and ch
ildren
and even
Anganw
adi wo
rkers. In all,
fifty to sixty th
ousan
d p
eop
le particip
ated o
ver the ten
day p
eriod. A
gricu
lture
and F
orest D
epartm
ent o
fficials wo
uld
be p
resent all d
ay. Th
e enth
usiasm
of
peo
ple fo
r tree-plan
ting w
as so g
reat that even
crematio
n g
roun
ds w
ere covered
by b
old
youth
s wh
o vo
lun
teered fo
r it. Ch
ristian an
d M
uslim
graveyard
s are
traditio
nally co
vered in
green
ery, so it w
as felt that crem
ation
gro
un
ds, to
o
sho
uld
be g
reened
so th
at the d
ear on
es of th
e dep
arted w
ould
feel a mo
men
t’s
solace.
Th
e initial year’s p
rogram
me cam
e to a fo
rmal en
d at a gran
d valed
ictory
ceremo
ny at th
e Nizarn
eshw
ar hill at K
on
kan
gao
n o
n 2nd Ju
ly. A g
eneral get-
togeth
er was h
eld to
com
mem
orate th
e successfu
l laun
ch o
f the p
rogram
me.
Th
e Dan
dakaran
ya Ab
hiyan
had
by n
ow
crossed
the teh
sil bo
rders. T
he p
roject
32
33
was v
isited an
d p
raised b
y no
ted jo
urn
alists and g
overn
men
t officials fro
m
Nasik
and
Ah
med
nag
ar districts. In
the v
iew o
f Dad
a, there w
as an ev
en
greater d
evelopm
ent: A
dv. R
aosah
eb S
hin
de, yo
unger b
roth
er of D
ada’s revered
Guru
An
nasah
eb S
hin
de, v
isited th
e pro
ject. He p
raised th
e efforts o
f the
Green
Arm
y.
The cam
paign
came to
an en
d. T
he G
reen A
rmy so
ldiers retired
to b
arracks
after hav
ing p
lanted
seeds o
ver 2
8,0
00 acres in
the co
urse o
f 30 d
ays, with
the
resolve to
do
even b
etter the fo
llow
ing year. T
he targ
et of p
lantin
g of 1
0
millio
n seed
s for th
is year was n
ot o
nly m
et, but exceed
ed, reach
ing th
e figure
of 4
5 m
illion
. Th
is is a classic examp
le of h
ow
org
anised
peo
ple p
ow
er, wh
en
pro
perly gu
ided
, can p
erform
miracles. If D
ada’s ach
ievemen
t is to b
e com
pared
with
anyo
ne, it sh
ould
be w
ith th
at of P
rof. W
angari M
aathai o
f K
enya. P
rof.
Maath
ai has ch
anged
the face o
f Ken
ya thro
ugh
her ‘G
reen B
elt’ movem
ent.
Sh
e was aw
arded
the 2
004 N
ob
el Peace P
rize for h
er con
tributio
n.
�
Dandak
aranya Part T
wo ...
he in
augu
ral pro
gram
me o
f th
e Dan
dak
aranya A
bh
iyan h
ad
succeed
ed b
eyon
d exp
ectation
s. Yet th
ere were a few
lapses. T
he
2007 p
rogram
me h
ad to
be fau
ltless. Dad
a and
all officials an
d
volu
nteers w
ere vigilan
t abo
ut th
at.In 2
006, ev
eryon
e had
been
in a h
urry to
get ah
ead o
f the im
pen
din
g mo
nso
on
. If plan
ting w
as no
t do
ne in
time, seed
s
to th
e tun
e of elev
en to
nn
es wo
uld
have g
on
e waste. S
eeds co
llection
had
been
in excess o
f the n
eed. F
or 2
007, th
e requisite q
uan
tity of seed
s was
collected
, aroun
d ten
ton
nes. F
or a first attem
pt, w
aste of o
ne to
nn
e of seed
s
was n
oth
ing m
uch
, but o
ne is sad
den
ed b
y the th
ough
t that seed
s are, after all,
livin
g bein
gs. So
this w
as carefully av
oid
ed in
2007.
Peo
ple h
ad b
ecom
e high
ly enth
usiastic after th
e success o
f th
e prev
ious
year, and th
ey beg
an to
energ
etically gath
er seed. T
he req
uisite q
uo
ta was m
et
by M
arch-A
pril 2007. M
ore tim
e was th
us availab
le for p
lannin
g. Dad
a organ
ised
a meetin
g of vo
lun
teers, go
vernm
ent o
fficials and o
ffice-bearers fro
m so
cial
and ed
ucatio
nal o
rgan
isation
s at the A
mritesh
war tem
ple o
n 5th Ju
ne, W
orld
En
viro
nm
ent D
ay. Like in
the p
revio
us year, in
form
ation
of th
e pro
ject was
34
35
con
veyed to
the resid
ents o
f various v
illages, and vo
lun
teers were called
for
durin
g the p
eriod fro
m 16
th to 20
th Jun
e. Artistes an
d p
ub
lic relation
s un
its of
the S
ocial F
orestatio
n d
epartm
ent d
id th
ere job
s well. O
n 19
th, a dress reh
earsal
was co
nducted
with
a dem
on
stration
of seed
plan
ting o
n th
e Kap
areshw
ar
hill at K
han
dgao
n. T
housan
ds o
f peo
ple p
articipated
with
enth
usiasm
. Betw
een
23rd an
d 3
0th Ju
ne, seed
ing p
rogram
s were carried
out o
n h
ill-slop
es and o
pen
lands in
several surro
un
din
g villag
es. Nin
e ton
nes o
f seed
s were p
lanted
on
21,7
00 acres o
f land co
verin
g 170 v
illages an
d h
amlets. S
tuden
ts from
126
scho
ols an
d co
lleges p
articipated
in th
e pro
ject. Over 4
0 m
illion
seeds w
ere
sow
n. T
his year th
e pro
ject was to
run
in th
ree stages. In
stage I, seed
s were to
be so
wn
. In stag
e II and III, sap
lings an
d b
ranch
es were to
be p
lanted
. Th
e
San
gam
ner C
o-o
perativ
e Mill h
ad set u
p a n
ursery earlier, an
d 2
50,0
00 sap
lings
were d
istributed
free of co
st.
At th
e valed
ictory g
et-togeth
er of 2
007, h
eld at M
aldad
villag
e in
San
gam
ner teh
sil, a collective vo
w w
as vo
iced to
nurtu
re the sap
lings th
at had
been
plan
ted. In
the first year, it w
as eno
ugh
to so
w seed
s. But n
ow
that th
ey
had
gro
wn
into
saplin
gs, there w
as the ad
ded
respo
nsib
ility of n
urtu
ring th
em.
Th
is invo
lved m
ore effo
rt and tim
e.
�
Why an
d fo
r Whom
?
o p
rogram
me can
be ju
dged
by ju
st two
years’ pro
gress, certain
ly no
t
the first tw
o years. B
ut th
e Dan
dak
aranya p
roject is an
exceptio
n.
On
e can safely say th
at it has b
een a su
ccess from
the p
rogress o
f its
first two
years. Just as it is u
niq
ue, it is also
very difficu
lt to m
ake it a success.
At h
is age of 8
4, it w
as imp
ossib
le for D
ada to
execute it sin
gle-han
ded
. On
e
gen
eration
alon
e cann
ot co
mp
lete the task
. It has to
be co
ntin
ued
gen
eration
after gen
eration
.
The key lies in
gettin
g peo
ple to
particip
ate. This p
roject can
not b
e executed
by p
uttin
g govern
men
t staff to w
ork
, or th
rough
hired
labo
ur. It h
as to b
e
do
ne b
y the p
op
ulace in
gen
eral, thro
ugh
insp
ired an
d sp
on
taneo
us
particip
ation
. It is a tough
task to
convin
ce peo
ple th
at this is th
eir ow
n w
ork
,
to b
e done b
y them
selves, with
out aid
from
the go
vernm
ent o
r any o
rganisatio
n.
Dad
a achieved
this m
amm
oth
task in
a mo
nth
purely b
ecause h
e was ab
le
to aro
use th
e con
structive en
ergies of th
e po
pulace. S
angam
ner teh
sil was
familiar w
ith th
e years of w
ork
Dad
a had
already p
ut in
. Th
ey were aw
are of
his d
edicatio
n, h
is con
tributio
n to
the so
cial go
od. It w
as this b
ackgro
un
d th
at
36
37
36
37
insp
ired th
e peo
ple to
com
plete th
e given task
in a sh
ort tim
e. An
y movem
ent
for co
nstru
ctive wo
rk d
epen
ds o
n th
e image o
f the lead
er, his reliab
ility, and
that is th
e true stren
gth o
f the m
ovem
ent. P
eop
le rallied aro
un
d D
ada at h
is
call, becau
se he is w
idely tru
sted an
d rev
ered. P
eop
le agree w
ith h
im b
ecause
they k
now
that h
e acts the w
ay he sp
eaks.
How
do
es Bh
ausah
eb T
ho
rat evalu
ate the su
ccess of th
e pro
ject? He
says, ‘I shall n
ot g
auge th
e success o
f this p
roject b
y the n
um
ber o
f seed
s and
sap
lings p
lanted
. Acco
rdin
g to
me w
hat is im
po
rtant is th
at peo
ple
spo
ntan
eously jo
ined
the m
ovem
ent in
large num
bers. I h
ave always b
een
insisten
t that p
eop
le sho
uld
join
in vo
lun
tarily, with
a convictio
n th
at it was
the righ
t thin
g. Dan
dakaran
ya is no
t just a p
roject, o
r a revolu
tion
: it is a peo
ple’s
mo
vem
ent. It is n
ot tied
to an
y po
litical party. N
o o
ne p
erson
leads th
e
movem
ent. D
andakaran
ya is a perm
anen
t movem
ent. It h
as to go
on g
eneratio
n
after gen
eration
. That is w
hy I h
ave kept caste-creed
-religion
out o
f its amb
it.
Th
is wo
rk can
on
ly be tak
en fo
rward
by th
e com
mo
n m
an.’
Dad
a do
esn’t th
ink it is im
po
rtant th
at som
e of th
e efforts w
ent w
aste,
several sap
lings d
ied in
the first year. H
e says, ‘I had
anticip
ated ev
en m
ore
losses. I am
a farmer, an
d su
ch lo
sses are no
thin
g new
. On
ce saplin
gs gro
w,
they w
ill be d
ug u
p b
y dogs, g
razed u
po
n b
y cattle; peo
ple w
ill forg
et to w
ater
them
. Even
after they g
row
into
trees, peo
ple w
ill cut th
em fo
r firewo
od. A
ll
that is in
evitab
le. That sh
ould
n’t sto
p u
s from
plan
ting trees. R
oad
acciden
ts
take place, b
ut facto
ries still make cars. If m
an d
ecides, h
e can p
reven
t acciden
ts.
Sim
ilarly, if man
decid
es, he can
plan
t trees and p
rotect th
em. P
lantin
g, gro
win
g
and b
earing o
f fruit is n
ot an
overn
ight p
rocess. M
an h
as to w
ait a lon
g time.
But th
e waitin
g sho
uld
no
t be w
asted id
ly. Sap
lings n
eed to
be p
rotected
. If
som
e saplin
gs die, o
r are tramp
led u
po
n, n
ew o
nes n
eed to
be p
lanted
. Th
ey
need
to b
e watch
ed an
d p
rotected
.
‘Men
sho
uld
be p
repared
for all th
is. Th
e ben
efits of tree p
lantin
g will n
ot
be im
med
iately available. M
aybe th
e on
e wh
o p
lants w
ould
no
t ben
efit at all.
What is th
e harm
? In an
y case you leave b
ehin
d yo
ur estate in
legacy. S
o can
you leave th
e plan
ts, their fru
it, as legacy. If th
e trees gro
w, it w
ill give shad
e, it
will create rain
, it will p
rovid
e oxygen
. If you w
ant yo
ur ch
ildren
to b
enefit
tom
orro
w, yo
u w
ill hav
e to w
ork
today. Y
ou w
ill have to
sow
the seed
today
and n
urtu
re the sap
ling. D
o n
ot exp
ect anyth
ing in
return
. Do
n’t w
ait to feel
thirsty to
begin
dig
ging yo
ur w
ell, keep yo
ur w
ell ready b
efore yo
u are th
irsty.
Why w
ait for th
e ill effects of glo
bal w
armin
g? We can
preven
t it by p
lantin
g
trees. So
let us start righ
t now
.
‘Th
at is the p
rimary th
ing I w
ant to
imp
ress on
peo
ple. P
eop
le agreed
with
my id
eas, and p
ut th
em in
to p
ractice. That is w
hat I call tru
e success.
What rem
ains n
ext is to p
reserve th
e enth
usiasm
of th
e peo
ple. I h
ave mad
e
38
39
ready th
e pro
ject plan
for th
e next ten
years. Peo
ple w
ork
ing to
day w
ill wo
rk
for th
e next ten
years. By th
en, fresh
peo
ple w
ill be in
ducted
wh
o are read
y
and w
illing to
wo
rk. T
his w
ork
is for th
e ben
efit of m
an. T
he n
um
ber o
f trees
is no
t a measu
re of p
roject su
ccess. Th
e num
ber o
f particip
ants h
as to g
row
.
Th
is movem
ent h
as no
leaders. T
he v
olu
nteers th
emselves are th
e leaders.
Th
e youth
and stu
den
ts wo
rkin
g here to
day are th
e leaders o
f tom
orro
w.’
Dad
a pau
ses for a m
om
ent, an
d th
en co
ntin
ues, in
keep
ing w
ith h
is
straightfo
rward
style of talk
ing. ‘I can
no
t foretell th
e futu
re. I hav
e no
interest
in castin
g a ho
rosco
pe o
f the D
andak
aranya p
roject. I o
nly k
no
w to
finish
a
job
that I take u
p. W
hen
I first put th
e idea to
the p
eop
le, I had
no
t expected
it to b
e finish
ed so
soo
n. I h
ad n
ot exp
ected to
fail, either. T
hat w
as the righ
t
time to
begin
, and it w
as do
ne. W
hat m
ore d
o w
e wan
t? Just after th
e Sayakh
indi
sow
ing p
rogram
me, I fell ill. I h
ad to
move to
ho
spital in
Mum
bai. B
ut th
e
wo
rk d
id n
ot sto
p; th
e peo
ple carried
it forw
ard. T
hey ach
ieved th
e set target,
and it gives m
e great satisfactio
n. It is ju
st what I w
anted
. Th
is wo
rk m
ust n
ot
rely on
any o
ne p
erson
. Wh
oever w
ould
like to jo
in in
, sho
uld
wo
rk as lo
ng as
po
ssible. T
he w
ork
must n
ot sto
p b
ecause an
y on
e perso
n is n
ot p
resent. T
his
job
has n
ot b
een d
on
e in a m
on
th b
y on
e man
. It is the co
llective achievem
ent
of a large n
um
ber o
f peo
ple. P
eople cam
e forw
ard b
ecause th
ey were co
nvin
ced
of th
e efficacy of th
e pro
ject. Th
ey wo
rked
hard
, and th
at is why th
e pro
ject
was co
mp
leted. W
e man
aged fo
rty five millio
n seed
s in p
lace of th
e ten m
illion
targeted
. That is th
e strength
of n
um
bers. P
eop
le com
ing to
geth
er can w
ork
miracles.’
�
40
41
The P
ow
er of W
orkin
g Togeth
er
rojects like th
e Dan
dak
aranya A
bh
iyan su
cceed d
ue to
the effo
rts of
peo
ple w
ho
wo
rk o
n th
e soil. B
ut th
ey are no
t the o
nly o
nes in
volved
.
Th
ose w
ho
man
age fro
m b
ehin
d th
e scenes are n
ot v
isible. B
ut th
ey
are equally im
po
rtant fo
r the p
roject m
ovin
g forw
ard. W
hen
peo
ple w
ork
for
a day, an
d su
cceed, b
ehin
d th
at success is ten
days’ w
orth
of b
ackgro
un
d
wo
rk. D
ada h
imself, D
r. Sudh
ir Tam
be, D
urg
a Tam
be, M
adh
avrao
Kan
awad
e,
An
il Sh
inde, Jag
ann
ath G
hugark
ar, Balasah
eb U
mb
arkar and K
eshav
rao Jad
hav
wo
rked
roun
d th
e clock
to p
lan th
e pro
ject. Th
ey mad
e a plan
of actio
n an
d
after every detail w
as check
ed, th
e plan
too
k co
ncrete sh
ape. It w
as this p
lan
wh
ich en
abled
the w
ork
to g
o as p
er sched
ule.
Neith
er Dad
a no
r Dr. T
amb
e have stu
died
busin
ess man
agem
ent. B
ut
bo
th are ex
perts at m
anagin
g peo
ple an
d w
ork
flow
s. Dad
a wo
rks to
the
prin
ciple ‘P
lan to
day an
d execu
te today.’ B
ut h
e meticu
lously reco
rds d
etails
of each
job. T
he p
lann
ing fo
r the p
ub
licity rallies for th
e pro
ject was as
imp
ortan
t as plan
nin
g th
e wo
rk o
f seed
-sow
ing. T
hey w
ere aware th
at
app
rop
riate man
po
wer co
uld
on
ly be assem
bled
thro
ugh
effective pub
licity.
Every d
ay, Dad
a wo
uld
draw
up
the p
lan fo
r the fo
llow
ing d
ay. His tru
sted
assistant K
eshavrao
Jadh
av wo
uld
collect th
em, rew
rite them
in straigh
tforw
ard
langu
age, typ
e them
out an
d d
espatch
them
to th
e peo
ple co
ncern
ed. T
his
inclu
ded
han
do
uts fo
r new
spap
ers and o
ther m
edia.
Th
is was D
ada’s d
aily routin
e. Wh
en h
e had
to b
e adm
itted to
ho
spital
due to
ill-health
he co
ntin
ued
to in
struct h
is colleagu
es on
his cell p
ho
ne. H
is
heart co
nditio
n ren
dered
it un
desirab
le to talk
much
. But w
hen
Dad
a refused
to see reaso
n, th
e do
ctor co
nfiscated
his cell p
ho
ne. D
ada th
en p
roceed
ed to
write o
ut in
structio
ns o
n p
aper, an
d th
e do
ctor h
ad to
con
fiscate pen
and
pap
er too. B
ut D
ada d
id n
ot give u
p. H
e called K
eshav
rao Jad
hav
over an
d
beg
an to
dictate. K
eshav
rao w
as imp
ressed at D
ada’s d
etermin
ation
of d
ictating
from
the sick
-bed
.
�
42
43
What th
e Particip
ants say
he tw
o-year p
eriod o
f the p
roject is o
ver. What are th
e op
inio
ns o
f
the p
eop
le wh
o to
ok p
art in it? W
hat d
o th
e active su
pp
orters o
f the
pro
ject feel abo
ut th
e pro
ject? What d
id th
e pro
ject achiev
e, and
wh
at lies ahead
?
Balasah
eb T
ho
rat takes time o
ut fo
r the p
roject fro
m th
e hurly-b
urly o
f
po
litics. Ex-C
hairm
an an
d D
irector o
f the S
angam
ner C
o-o
perative S
ugar
Mill sin
ce 1992, h
e is carrying fo
rward
his fath
er’s social w
ork
. He takes p
ride
in th
e Dan
dak
aranya m
ovem
ent.
Acco
rdin
g to h
im, ‘T
his p
roject h
as pro
ved th
e un
iquen
ess of S
angam
ner
tehsil. T
his p
roject w
ill stand as an
examp
le for th
e wh
ole co
un
try. Tree p
lantin
g
is the o
nly so
lutio
n to
famin
e, ill-health
and risin
g temp
eratures. T
here is n
o
alternativ
e. Trees w
ill pro
tect man
kin
d fro
m th
ese calamities an
d m
ake it self-
supportin
g and p
rosp
erous. Ju
ngle p
roduce is alw
ays a resource. T
oday’s sap
lings
will b
e tom
orro
w’s trees. T
hat is w
hy tree p
lantin
g sho
uld
be p
art of so
cial life.
Th
e Dan
dak
aranya m
ovem
ent sh
ould
be p
rop
agated
all over th
e coun
try. It is
a no
vel movem
ent, w
hich
will keep
movin
g forw
ard, b
ecause tree p
lantin
g is
the n
eed o
f the h
our.’
Ad
vocate R
aosah
eb S
hin
de, w
ho
has b
acked th
e pro
ject from
the start,
and w
ho
has w
orked
with
Dad
a in th
e freedo
m stru
ggle an
d in
various so
cial
movem
ents after in
dep
enden
ce, says that th
e Dan
dakaran
ya Ab
hiyan
will p
rove
to b
e histo
ric. It has th
e capacity to
awake an
d u
nite th
e entire co
un
try. Trees
are essential fo
r hum
an h
ealth. T
ree plan
ting is th
erefore a n
ation
al duty. T
his
movem
ent co
uld
be ap
pro
priately n
amed
the ‘V
ande M
ataram A
bh
iyan.’ D
ada
has d
edicated
him
self to m
akin
g our co
un
try green
and p
roductiv
e on
ce again
.
Man
has ru
ined
our rich
earth b
y his carelessn
ess. Such
movem
ents are th
erefore
op
po
rtun
ities to ato
ne fo
r his sin
s and rem
edy th
e situatio
n.
Dr. T
amb
e, familiar w
ith en
viro
nm
ental stu
dies, says, ‘F
rom
the co
mm
on
man
’s po
int o
f v
iew, th
is pro
ject has b
een a g
reat help
in m
akin
g villag
es self-
sup
po
rting an
d self-su
fficient. W
e have p
lanted
grass o
n p
lenty o
f wastelan
d.
So
far, anim
al feed h
ad to
be b
ough
t from
outsid
e. On
ce grass starts g
row
ing
on
a regular b
asis, the lo
cals will get an
imal feed
at low
er prices. In
absen
ce of
grazin
g gro
un
ds, an
imals u
sed to
break
into
fields an
d d
estroy th
em. T
ho
se
losses w
ill stop. E
arlier som
e parts o
f the teh
sil grew
prem
ium
quality cu
stard
app
les. With
reduced
rainfall, th
is fruit sto
pp
ed g
row
ing h
ere. Now
with
the
renew
ed g
reen co
ver, w
hen
rainfall in
creases, custard
app
les can b
e gro
wn
again
. Th
ey can b
e sold
outsid
e and th
e pro
ceeds u
sed fo
r dev
elop
men
t wo
rk
44
45
in th
e village. W
e are go
ing to
con
sult exp
erts for selectin
g fruit, flo
wers an
d
cereals that g
row
on
less water. W
e also p
lan th
e beau
tification
of S
angam
ner
by settin
g up
thirteen
parks. D
ada asp
ires to h
ave San
gam
ner b
eing called
a
Gard
en C
ity, and th
e Dan
dakaran
ya Abhiyan
will go
a long w
ay tow
ards fu
lfilling
this asp
iration
.’
Th
e officers, staff an
d w
ork
men
of th
e Am
rut In
dustrial G
roup
are
particip
ants in
the D
andak
aranya m
ovem
ent. E
ach co
nsid
ers the p
roject w
ork
to b
e his o
wn
. Co
llecting seed
s, sortin
g them
and fillin
g up
bags are d
ifficult
tasks. B
ut th
ese peo
ple d
o th
em efficien
tly. Th
ey also carry o
ut th
e difficu
lt
wo
rk o
f distrib
utin
g the p
rop
er seeds to
the vario
us g
roup
s. On
e is puzzled
by
the statem
ent, ‘T
he D
andak
aranya m
ovem
ent h
as imp
roved
the eth
ics of th
e
villag
e.’ An
il Sh
inde, M
D o
f San
gam
ner C
o-o
perative M
ills clarifies, ‘Earlier,
peo
ple w
ould
cut d
ow
n trees fo
r firewo
od. T
his h
as no
w co
me d
ow
n. P
eop
le
are reluctan
t to axe trees th
at they th
emselv
es hav
e plan
ted. T
he F
orest
Dep
artmen
t thus h
as much
less of a h
eadach
e. As th
e grass an
d tree co
ver
increases, m
ost n
eeds w
ill be satisfied
locally, an
d w
anto
n fo
rest destru
ction
will sto
p.’
Pro
f. Bab
a Kh
arat, wh
o h
as a rather sen
timen
tal natu
re and a rich
singin
g
vo
ice says, ‘Th
e pro
ject has in
creased D
ada’s lo
ngev
ity. His co
un
tenan
ce has
regain
ed its h
app
iness. D
ada is as co
nten
ted as a sm
all child
at the th
ough
t of
this p
roject. H
e talks ab
out w
ork
all the tim
e. He co
nstan
tly has n
ew id
eas.
Our stage art h
as go
t a new
directio
n b
ecause o
f th
is pro
ject. We n
ever kn
ew
that o
ur sin
ging an
d m
usic co
uld
be u
sed fo
r social g
oo
d. It is a h
app
y feeling
that o
ne is b
eing u
seful to
on
e’s villag
e and o
ne’s p
eop
le. I get in
spired
in m
y
singin
g with
the id
ea that a d
eep su
bject like th
e enviro
nm
ent can
be co
nveyed
to th
e pub
lic thro
ugh
singin
g and m
usic. W
e feel prid
e that o
ur art h
as bro
ken
out o
f the b
oun
ds o
f entertain
men
t and g
ot asso
ciated w
ith an
un
forg
ettable
occu
rrence.
�
46
47
... and th
e Job W
as Done
n o
rder to
get a first han
d v
iew o
f the D
andak
aranya p
roject, w
e
visit V
illage Ko
lawad
e, sixteen k
ilom
etres from
the S
angam
ner M
ill.
Th
e row
of h
ills near th
e Jaihin
d A
divasi A
shram
shala is co
vered
with
a carpet o
f green
saplin
gs, than
ks to th
e materials d
on
ated b
y the villag
ers.
At a sign
al from
Pro
f. Kh
arat, hun
dred
s of yo
un
g voices sin
g the sign
ature
son
g of th
e movem
ent. C
hild
ren fro
m C
lass I to C
lass X are assem
bled
on
the
gro
un
d. T
hey k
now
all the so
ngs o
f the m
ovem
ent b
y heart.
Th
e special sch
oo
l for trib
als was started
by D
ada, an
d is ru
n b
y the M
rs.
Math
urab
ai Bh
ausah
eb T
ho
rat Sev
abh
avi T
rust. D
ada h
ad received
a collective
gift of h
alf a millio
n R
upees o
n h
is sixty-first birth
day. D
ada ad
ded
two h
undred
tho
usan
d o
f his o
wn
, and b
uilt th
is spacio
us sch
oo
l. It ho
uses fo
ur h
un
dred
tribal ch
ildren
. Th
e Tru
st bears th
e cost o
f th
eir educatio
n, b
oard
ing an
d
cloth
ing. T
he stu
den
ts’ foo
d an
d w
orkers salaries are p
aid fo
r by th
e State
govern
men
t. Th
e scho
ol h
as a mo
dern
labo
ratory, a co
mp
uter ro
om
and a
library. E
ach h
all is nam
ed after a n
ation
al hero
like B
hag
at Sin
gh. R
ight at th
e
entran
ce, on
e sees a map
indicatin
g the v
illages co
vered in
the D
andak
aranya
pro
ject.
How
can th
ese child
ren m
uscle w
ork
on
the h
ill-top
s? Prin
cipal D
. V.
Varp
e explain
s, ‘Th
ese hills an
d d
ales are these ch
ildren
’s enviro
nm
ent. T
hey
are bo
rn o
n th
e hills o
r the p
lateaus, an
d g
row
n u
p th
ere. Th
ey are imm
un
e to
the lash
ing o
f rain o
r sun
. Deep
po
verty has m
ade th
em u
sed to
hard
labo
ur.
Th
ey are extremely ten
acious an
d b
old
. Clim
bin
g the h
ills and p
lantin
g of
saplin
gs do
es no
t feel like wo
rk to
them
at all. Th
ey loo
k u
po
n it as a p
icnic.
Th
ese child
ren p
lanted
that h
ill in fro
nt o
f us in
a very sho
rt time.’
As h
e talks, M
r. Varp
e loo
ks at th
e sky. T
he sk
y is ob
scured
by th
e
surro
un
din
g hills, w
ith ju
st win
do
ws sh
ow
ing th
rough
wh
ere there are gap
s.
Th
e vegetatio
n is d
ense en
ough
to b
lock
out m
ost o
f th
e sky.
‘It is true th
at all studen
ts in th
e tehsil co
ntrib
uted
to th
e tree-plan
ting
drive,’ M
r. Um
bark
ar tells us. ‘B
ut all d
id n
ot h
ave to
do
man
ual w
ork
. We g
ave
such
wo
rk o
nly to
child
ren ag
ed tw
elve and ab
ove. S
maller ch
ildren
were sen
t
roun
d to
sing so
ngs in
the m
orn
ing p
rocessio
ns, w
ith th
e perm
ission
of th
eir
paren
ts. Our w
ork
was n
ot co
mp
ulso
ry even
for ad
ults, so
with
the ch
ildren
there w
as no
questio
n. E
ach w
as free to take u
p w
ork
he is cap
able o
f, and th
at
is his co
ntrib
utio
n.’
Kesh
av Jad
hav
adds, ‘A
ll child
ren w
ere no
t sent to
hillto
ps fo
r plan
ting.
Mo
st were sen
t to v
illage b
un
ds an
d flat g
roun
ds fo
r plan
ting sap
lings. S
om
e
48
49
particip
ated in
the p
rop
agan
da p
rocessio
ns in
the m
orn
ings. S
om
e too
k p
art
in essay co
ntests o
n th
e sub
ject, wh
ich is also
particip
ation
in th
e pro
ject. It is
the o
lder ch
ildren
that w
ent to
the h
illtop
s. But in
gen
eral, the ch
ildren
enjo
yed
the trip
as a picn
ic. Dad
a always tries to
keep a p
erson’s in
terest alive, mak
e
him
thin
k b
y any m
eans. T
hat w
as follo
wed
in th
e Dan
dak
aranya p
roject also
.
So
me p
eop
le con
tributed
labo
ur, so
me co
ntrib
uted
intellectu
ally.’
Was th
ere no
op
po
sition
to th
e pro
ject? Can
the p
roject g
o th
rough
un
anim
ously? Is it p
ossib
le that th
ere was n
o o
pp
ositio
n? P
rof. K
harat rep
lies:
‘No
bo
dy sh
ow
ed o
pen
op
po
sition
. Man
y pro
bab
ly tho
ugh
t the ten
millio
n
seeds targ
et was lau
ghab
le. But after tw
o years o
f successfu
l run
nin
g, even
the
sceptics h
ave b
een silen
ced. M
any even
do
nated
seeds fo
r plan
ting o
n th
eir
ow
n. V
arieties they d
id n
ot h
ave, th
ey collected
from
us an
d p
lanted
them
.’
Mr. U
mb
arkar an
swered
a lon
g-standin
g questio
n: ‘B
y the g
race of G
od
and o
ur g
oo
d fo
rtun
e, there w
as no
t a single m
ishap
thro
ugh
out th
e perio
d o
f
wo
rk o
n th
e hillto
ps. O
nce a ro
ck g
ot d
islodged
and cam
e rollin
g dow
n th
e
hillsid
e, but it ro
lled d
ow
n at a d
istance w
itho
ut h
urtin
g anyo
ne. O
n an
oth
er
hill, a sn
ake w
as enco
un
tered. T
he p
eop
le kept calm
and m
ade w
ay for it. T
he
snake to
o w
ent aw
ay with
out h
armin
g anyo
ne. D
ada h
ad given
strict written
instru
ction
s that th
e wild
life on
the h
ills must n
ot b
e distu
rbed
.’
‘No
bo
dy h
ere fears gho
sts and gh
ouls, sn
akes or sco
rpio
ns. O
ur vo
lun
teers
coo
lly plan
ted trees in
the crem
ation
gro
un
ds. W
hile th
e pro
ject was o
n, in
bo
th years th
e mo
nso
on
favo
ured
us. R
ain fell even
in p
laces wh
ere it did
n’t
earlier, and h
elped
in g
arnerin
g sup
po
rt for th
e pro
ject. Th
e experien
ce that
on
ce tree-plan
ting starts, th
e rains co
me, h
as increased
the faith
of th
e public
in th
e pro
ject, and th
e num
ber o
f p
articipan
ts has g
on
e up. T
hey are n
ow
mo
re enth
usiastic,’ said
Adv. K
anaw
ade.
En
thu
siasm is all very w
ell, bu
t how
can o
ne ascertain
wh
ether th
e
movem
ent h
as taken firm
roo
t? What gu
arantee is th
ere that th
e mo
vemen
t
will b
e sustain
ed an
d w
ill move fo
rward
?
‘Peo
ple h
ave jo
ined
the m
ovem
ent w
ith fu
ll un
derstan
din
g. We are
convin
ced th
at they fu
lly understan
d th
eir responsib
ility,’ says Dr. S
udhir T
ambe.
‘Each
team is resp
on
sible fo
r the care o
f the trees th
ey have p
lanted
. Our
volu
nteers w
ill keep in
touch
with
them
roun
d th
e year. No
on
e is barred
from
the m
ovem
ent, o
r com
pelled
to jo
in in
. Sim
ilarly no
on
e is barred
from
leavin
g.
But th
e pro
ject plan
is such
that it is n
ot easy fo
r on
e wh
o jo
ins to
leave. We
haven
’t paid
anyo
ne an
ythin
g for th
is wo
rk, o
r held
out an
y temp
tation
. Th
is
wo
rk is th
at of ev
eryon
e in th
e tehsil, th
e respo
nsib
ility of each
on
e. Everyo
ne
is feeling th
e ill-effects of th
e distu
rbed
balan
ce of th
e weath
er. Th
is cann
ot
be co
mb
ated o
n an
indiv
idual lev
el; it has to
be a co
llective effort. T
hat is w
hy
this m
ovem
ent is b
oun
d to
sustain
.’
50
51
Mrs. D
urg
a Tam
be says, ‘L
eaves, flo
wers an
d p
lants are d
eeply ro
oted
in
Indian
traditio
ns, fro
m religio
us ritu
als to fu
nerals, fro
m fo
od to
med
icines.
Peo
ple w
ho
use leaves fro
m b
etel to b
anyan
in poojas n
eed n
ot b
e told
separately
of th
e imp
ortan
ce of trees. T
he m
ovem
ent w
ill defin
itely sustain
.’ On
bein
g
asked ab
out th
e particip
ation
of w
om
en in
the m
ovem
ent, sh
e says, ‘We h
ave
had
abo
ut th
irty-five per cen
t particip
ation
of w
om
en in
these tw
o years. S
ince
this teh
sil is semi-u
rban
, we feel th
at this p
ercentag
e sho
uld
go
up. W
om
en are
natu
rally restricted in
terms o
f puttin
g in field
wo
rk. B
ut in
oth
er ways, w
om
en
have co
ntrib
uted
a lot to
the m
ovem
ent. O
ur w
om
en’s self-h
elp g
roup
s help
ed
by co
llecting seed
s. Man
y wo
men
hav
e plan
ted k
itchen
gard
ens in
their
com
po
un
ds an
d b
ackyard
s. Th
is was in
spired
by th
e movem
ent.’
Dad
a him
self says, ‘Th
e Dan
dak
aranya m
ovem
ent started
here, an
d so
the teh
sil will g
et talked ab
out. W
e have n
o excep
tion
al cultu
ral activity o
r
gam
e that b
inds o
ur p
eop
le togeth
er, so th
e movem
ent w
ill act as a bin
din
g
force. H
avin
g a com
mo
n th
read in
society is o
ne o
f man
’s emo
tion
al need
s. If
this n
eed is satisfied
by th
e mo
vemen
t, and it b
rings fam
e to th
e tehsil, I am
satisfied. S
om
e hav
e told
me th
at this is th
e first movem
ent o
f its kin
d in
India. I am
no
t sure o
f that, an
d I d
on’t feel th
e need
. I feel that it is an
imp
ortan
t movem
ent in
free Ind
ia. All In
dian
s had
entered
the freed
om
mo
vem
ent w
ith a co
mm
on
go
al, with
natio
nal p
ride an
d n
o p
erson
al
exp
ectation
s. No
bo
dy ex
pected
pu
blicity, aw
ards o
r anyth
ing else. T
he
Dan
dak
aranya m
ovem
ent is o
ne th
at is askin
g for th
e right to
a health
y life.
Th
e enviro
nm
ent h
as been
po
lluted
no
t by th
e bo
mb
s in th
e Wo
rld W
ar I or
the in
dustrialisatio
n after W
orld
War II. It is b
ecause o
f the m
oral d
ow
nfall,
the g
reed o
f m
ankin
d. T
he D
andak
aranya m
ovem
ent is a m
eans to
aton
e for
this so
cial sin.
�
52
53
The N
ew D
awn ...
ell begu
n is h
alf do
ne. A
nyo
ne w
ho
has seen
the p
rogress o
f the
Dan
dak
aranya p
roject in
the first tw
o years w
ould
be tem
pted
to say
this. B
ut th
e seed-p
lantin
g task th
at has b
een u
nd
ertaken
is of
Hercu
lean p
roportio
ns. V
ery often
a good b
eginnin
g could
lead to
com
placen
cy.
Th
e volu
nteers o
f the m
ovem
ent h
ave to
remain
vigilan
t to p
rotect it fro
m
this p
itfall. It is no
t just th
at public m
emo
ry is sho
rt, but p
ub
lic enth
usiasm
is
also sh
ort-lived
. Man
y peo
ple w
ho
have taken
part in
the m
ovem
ent m
ay have
join
ed b
ecause o
f its no
velty. It did
no
t cost an
y mo
ney, an
d req
uired
little
time, ju
st a day.
Dad
a’s po
pularity in
San
gam
ner is u
np
aralleled. It is b
ecause o
f faith in
him
that m
any v
olu
nteers m
ay be w
ork
ing at th
is pro
ject. But th
e susten
ance
of th
e movem
ent d
epen
ds o
n th
e com
bin
ed p
eop
le pow
er. It cann
ot su
stain
purely o
n th
e initiative o
f any o
ne g
roup
of p
eop
le. It will m
ove fo
rward
on
ly
with
con
tinuo
us in
crease in p
articipan
ts. That is w
hy D
ada an
d B
alasaheb
have ro
ped
in several o
rgan
isation
s in th
e movem
ent. T
hey en
courag
e scho
ols
and co
lleges to h
old
saplin
g plan
ting p
rogram
mes so
that righ
t from
child
ho
od
the im
po
rtance o
f nurtu
ring seed
s is incu
lcated. S
pecial d
rives are held
to
distrib
ute sap
lings to
tribal farm
ers. Vario
us m
eans are u
sed to
spread
social
awaren
ess of th
e mo
vemen
t. In so
me v
illages sap
ling p
lantin
g drives are h
eld
durin
g local festivals. T
he im
po
rtance o
f tree plan
ting an
d m
ainten
ance is
con
veyed to
the p
op
ulace d
urin
g the religio
us d
iscourses. In
oth
ers, the cred
it
societies d
istribute free sap
lings to
their m
embers. In
still oth
ers, ban
yan sap
lings
are distrib
uted
to w
om
en o
n th
e occasio
n o
f Vatasavitri. T
he w
om
en are to
ld
that th
e ban
yan tree gives p
lenty o
f oxyg
en. If yo
u can
’t particip
ate in p
lantin
g
in th
e field, th
en p
lant sap
lings in
your o
wn
garden
. Th
ey are told
the ad
vantag
e
of w
orkin
g for an
ho
ur o
r so in
the g
arden
as a mean
s of keep
ing su
ch ailm
ents
as diab
etes and b
loo
d p
ressure at b
ay, and b
ody w
eight u
nder co
ntro
l.
Lad
ies club
s and o
ther so
cial org
anisatio
ns p
rop
agate th
e advice o
f gifting
saplin
gs in b
irthdays, h
ouse-w
armin
g ceremo
nies an
d th
e like. Several sch
oo
ls
run
the sch
eme o
f ‘o
ne ch
ild, o
ne tree,’ u
nder w
hich
each ch
ild is giv
en a
saplin
g on
its birth
day w
ith th
e respo
nsib
ility of p
lantin
g and n
urtu
ring it.
Essay co
mp
etition
s, elocu
tion
com
petitio
ns an
d d
rawin
g com
petitio
ns are h
eld
on
the th
eme o
f th
e imp
ortan
ce of trees in
vario
us sch
oo
ls un
der th
e
Dan
dak
aranya p
roject. In
dustrial g
roup
s such
as the M
alpan
i Gro
up
org
anise
tree-plan
ting d
rives to
con
tribute to
the p
roject. In
ano
ther village, th
e mem
bers
of th
e local vid
eo an
d p
ho
tograp
hers asso
ciation
org
anise a tree-p
lantin
g drive.
54
55
In sh
ort, n
ow
tree-plan
ting in
San
gam
ner teh
sil is no
t restricted to
Jun
e
and Ju
ly. Th
e org
anisers h
ave spread
the aw
areness th
at the p
rogram
me m
ust
be ru
n all th
e year roun
d, every year, even
in ab
sence o
f rain. D
ada, w
ith h
is
farsighted
view
has given
a significan
t messag
e to th
ese peo
ple, ‘I sh
all be w
ith
this m
ovem
ent as lo
ng as m
y health
allow
s me to.’ W
hen
on
e sees his ag
e of
84, su
ch a d
etermin
ation
is welco
me as it is p
raisewo
rthy an
d d
eserves
emulatio
n. It is in
spirin
g for th
e org
anisers an
d vo
lun
teers in th
e movem
ent.
It is also a cau
tion
that D
ada m
ay have to
with
draw
from
the m
ovem
ent at an
y
time d
ue to
health
reasons. T
he o
thers sh
ould
be p
repared
to take th
e movem
ent
forw
ard in
his ab
sence. In
ord
er to keep
the m
ovem
ent g
oin
g, Dad
a has kep
t
it out o
f the am
bit o
f po
litical or so
cial org
anisatio
ns. H
e has d
eliberately k
ept
it a peo
ple’s m
ovem
ent, an
d h
e repeats th
is regularly.
Dad
a has giv
en th
e movem
ent a d
irection
. No
w it is u
p to
the co
min
g
gen
eration
s to keep
up
its mo
men
tum
. An
d th
is sho
uld
no
t be restricted
to
San
gam
ner teh
sil. It sho
uld
be p
rop
agated
to th
e rest of M
aharash
tra and th
e
rest of th
e coun
try. Th
e Un
iversity of P
un
e has reco
gnised
its imp
ortan
ce and
tied u
p w
ith th
e Dan
dak
aranya p
roject to
org
anise tree-p
lantin
g camp
aigns
thro
ugh
studen
ts in vario
us v
illages.
Grad
ually th
is mo
vemen
t sho
uld
spread
to o
ther states o
f the co
un
try,
for w
hich
a plan
of actio
n sh
ould
be m
app
ed o
ut so
that in
can b
e imp
lemen
ted
in a sh
ort tim
e, the w
ay Dad
a bro
ugh
t his p
lan to
success w
ithin
a mo
nth
of
its con
ceptio
n. It is th
e need
of th
e coun
try, the n
eed o
f the h
our.
It sho
uld
no
t be d
ifficult to
spread
this p
rogram
me th
rough
out th
e coun
try.
In o
ur co
un
try, peo
ple are fam
iliar with
trees right fro
m ch
ildh
oo
d. O
ur cu
lture
gives an
imp
ortan
t place to
trees, plan
ts and flo
wers in
festivals an
d poojas. F
or
satyanarayan, ban
ana p
lant stem
s are tied to
the pooja stan
d. F
or D
assehera, apta
leaves are exch
anged
as symb
olic o
f go
ld. In
festivals, garlan
ds o
f marig
old
flow
ers are hun
g out. E
ven
flow
ers that h
ave n
o sm
ell or b
eauty h
ave a p
lace
in festivals.
Our sain
ts hav
e said th
at there is n
o salvatio
n w
itho
ut trees. T
rees and
plan
ts are con
sidered
to b
e the relatives o
f m
ankin
d. T
rees are an in
tegral p
art
of h
um
an life. T
hey p
rovid
e shad
e from
the su
n, fo
od in
the fo
rm o
f fruit,
fragran
ce in th
e form
of flo
wers. T
hey p
rovid
e material fo
r ho
usin
g and fu
el
for co
okin
g. Th
ey also h
ave med
icinal p
rop
erties. Trees are sh
ow
ering m
ankin
d
with
great fav
ours. B
ut m
an h
as repaid
tho
se favours b
y harm
ing th
e trees.
Th
e earth is n
ow
in th
e state of th
e on
ce barren
Dan
dak
aranya. A
nd m
an is
sufferin
g from
his m
isdeed
s. Dad
a has ch
anged
the face o
f the o
nce d
rough
t
ravag
ed S
angam
ner teh
sil. No
w th
e movem
ent h
e started can
engen
der g
reat
chan
ge. It wo
uld
turn
out to
be th
e mo
st essential d
rive in free In
dia. It is
sign
ificant th
at this cam
paig
n h
as been
started fro
m a sm
all place lik
e
56
57
San
gam
ner. T
his u
niq
ue cam
paign
dem
on
strates how
small an
d sem
i-urb
an
areas can p
lay a significan
t role in
natio
n-b
uild
ing.
Th
rough
the D
and
akaran
ya mo
vem
ent, D
ada h
as app
ealed to
man
’s
con
science. M
an w
ill get an o
pp
ortu
nity to
aton
e for h
is sins th
rough
this
movem
ent. In
oth
er places th
e movem
ent m
ay no
t be n
amed
Dan
dak
aranya
Ab
hiyan
, but so
meth
ing else. B
ut th
at is imm
aterial. Dan
dak
aranya is n
ot ju
st
a movem
ent: it is a p
rom
ise taken to
plan
t trees and n
urtu
re them
. If this is
taken
forw
ard w
itho
ut lazin
ess or p
rocrastin
ation
, it will m
ake m
an’s life tru
ly
fulfillin
g.
�
58
