By: D. Sankaraiah
When we attended a Sai Devotees Convention in Assam in 2010, we learned about the magnificent work of Jadav Mulai Payeng who has accomplished single-handedly is extraordinary, even unbelievable. Sai Brother Dwarika Mohan Misra organized a small trip to meet Payeng in interior Assam. He has created a 550-acre forest from scratch — now home to wild elephants, tigers, rhinos, deer, butterflies, and other birds and animals – on a sandbank by the Brahmaputra at Aruna Chapori. The lush forest was discovered accidentally by a local journalist, Jitu Kalita, in 2008 – thirty years after Payeng began planting trees.
Sai Maharaj brought saplings from Rahata, Neemgaon, etc., and personally nurtured them to bring out Lendi Baug at Shirdi. We also met Payeng’s spouse Binita who belongs to the Mising tribe, and the couple and their three children continue the extraordinary work. Payeng says he married late as he was already in love with Nature but when he met Binita, “Phir se, love ho gaya!” The family worships Sai Baba in their house with ‘Shraddha’ and ‘Saburi.’ Following media coverage of Mulai Kathoni – the forest he created bears his name — two documentary films on Mulai Kathoni went on to win several awards. He is popularly known as ‘Forest Hero.’
We told him that he deserves many national awards. “Awards are not important; greening of the country is what is important,” says this humble devotee of Sai Maharaj as the ‘Forest Man’ whose parents raised livestock and sold milk at Aruna Chapori. Payeng continues the family tradition in Jorhat district, Assam. Once the milk is sold and the day’s business is done, he sets off to another sandbank across the river to continue recreating lost habitats for species rendered homeless by human exploitation. And he returns to his modest home on stilts at dusk as he has been doing for over three decades.
What was his inspiration? It all began when he witnessed mass deaths of animals, birds, and reptiles. Their dead bodies were washed ashore by the Brahmaputra during the 1979 floods. The traumatized 16-year-old learned it was due to habitat destruction. The only way to save these species was to restore lost forest cover. It was an inspiration due to the shock that propelled him to a mission to grow a forest so animals could have a safe home.
“I learned a lot about trees from Jadunath Bezbaruah, a scientist in the agriculture department, and more from the Deoris, an ethnic tribal community, who advised me to plant bamboo and other tall grass and gave me seeds and saplings, teaching me how to plant and nurture them. They assured me that snakes, animals, and birds would come, and they would not die”.
Raj Phukan of Green Guard, an Assam-based NGO, nominated Payeng for the Maharana Mewar Foundation’s environment award which was given to Payeng recently by Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar in Udaipur. “The 550-acre forest that Payeng created is now history; what he is not even talking about is that he has been quietly creating another forest on Mekahi Island, his newest reforestation mission and perhaps the world’s largest manmade forest — that now measures nearly 2,000 acres,” reveals Phukan. Payeng smiled shyly nodding his head reluctantly, perhaps in the forest’s best interest. He is doing what he does simply because he is full of compassion for all species and earnestly wishes to give habitats back to them.
Does faith in Sai Baba and God keep him going? He says in the affirmative. “The only Bhagwan I have seen is in the trees and my parents,” he says. “They left me with Prakriti (Nature) so Prakriti is my God and I hope to die in the lap of Nature… How did we learn to clothe ourselves for protection? The trees taught us,” he says, referring to their protective bark. “The birds taught us to fly. Everywhere, we learn from Nature.”
Payeng’s message: “Please teach primary school children environment science. Let them plant two trees each and nurture them throughout their school days. That will take care of India’s afforestation!
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