They say one person can’t change the world. However, the hero of our story decided to prove everyone wrong, as he believes. The main thing is to know exactly what you want from life and pursue your goal with dedication. Then you’ll be bound. Bound to succeed.
Now let me take you to India. Once upon a time, the Indian Island of Mazuli, on the Brahmaputra River was the largest in the world, with an unbelievable area of 1100 km². However, everything changed in 1979. It was the year when a severe flood hit the island, affecting the lives of many residents. The disaster killed a lot of snakes and other animals.
They have simply washed away. Many will say things like that can’t be prevented, that there’s nothing one can do about it. However, a 16-year-old boy, Jadav Baj, from the village of Juhat on the island of Mahali, was so overwhelmed by this disaster that he decided to act and change the situation. Standing among the ruins of his village, the young boy saw piles of dead snakes and animals. Suddenly, it occurred to him that if there had been some trees around, the poor animals could have been saved.
You probably think that those were just thoughts. No, they weren’t. The young man started thinking about how to prevent this from ever happening again. Even despite his young age, Jada developed a successful plan. He wanted to plant trees near the village of Georgia.
I felt sorry for the animals, and I understood that radical measures had to be taken. However, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to implement my ambitions plan alone, and I was naive enough to turn to the local government for help, Jadov once recalled. As you probably understood already, the authorities not only refused to support the boy’s project but rejected it altogether, saying that no plant would grow on the Sandy shore, after which they simply asked the young man to leave the office. I remember feeling so humiliated after that conversation that I decided that I had to just prove them wrong. Oddly enough, Judob wasn’t about to give up on his goal.
He decided to plant the trees on his own. The very next day, Judoff decided to check how plants would behave on the local sand, and he planted the first 20 bamboo seedlings. Even though everyone kept saying that nothing would come of it, the bamboo soon took root and even turned green. That marked the beginning of the young man’s life mission. Thus, more and more seedlings were planted on the Sandy shore every day, which Jada did singlehandedly day after day and even year after year.
Over time, the once Sandy desert territories turned into a green Oasis. A few years later, seeing that the plants had taken root, the authorities changed their minds about the project and offered Jadaf their apologies and their help. Of course, things went much faster with the support of the local administration and they managed to plant over 200 ha of forest during their cooperation. In the meantime, the man built a house in the newly planted forest and started attending to it regularly, planting new trees every day and expanding the forest area. Many years have passed since that time, but the man continues to engage in foresting this once lifeless territory.
Today, the forest covers an area of 10 km². More than 10 species of trees have been planted there, attracting many different animals such as Bengal Tigers, Indian rhinos, deer, rabbits, monkeys, and several species of birds, including vultures. Moreover, elephants from another part of the island come to stay there for half a year, and 13 elephant calves have even been born there since the forest was created. When elephants first strayed into Peyang’s Forest, ecologists came to find out the reason for it. They were pleasantly surprised and even slightly shocked when they saw the beauty and diversity of the local flora and fauna.
Thus, the forest was given the status of a reserve. From that moment, ecologists started paying regular visits to Judob’s forest to learn from the man’s experience. Unfortunately, as it often happens, there’s always someone who doesn’t appreciate other people’s work. At one point, the local farmers wanted to cut down the forest so that elephants could have no reason to go there because the animals allegedly traveled their rice plantations. Jacob got very alarmed, but he stood up for his forest, saying that if they wanted to cut it down, they had to kill its keeper first.
His answer settled the conflict, and Jadov was nicknamed the Forest keeper. The reserve got named after its planter, the Mali Forest. Today, the forest exceeds 560 ha. To get a better idea of how big it is, just compare it to the famous Central Park in New York, which is only 341 ha. Today, Jadov lives in a forest hut together with his wife and three children.
He keeps some cattle and relies on selling cow and Buffalo milk as the only source of income for his family. One night, Tigers attacked the man’s livestock and killed about 100 animals. However, he doesn’t blame them. I think it’s people who are to blame for this. They destroy forests and animals have to search for food elsewhere, Judo said.
Interestingly, almost no one knew about Jada paying and his lifetime project until 2007. Everything changed when a photographer and journalist, Jitsu Khalida, arrived on the island. When he saw the huge and dense forest in the place of the formerly barren land, he couldn’t believe his eyes. When the photographer returned home, he told the whole world about the amazing place he had seen, and from that time, Judov came to be known as the Forest Man of India. Judo has received several environmental awards for his efforts, and in 2015, he was honored with the fourth highest civilian award in India.
It just so happens that an ordinary man has been planting and tending trees on the banks of the Brahmaputra River for several decades, turning a barren area into a forest that got named after him. The man still plants trees every day. He says that the hardest part is over. It was just challenging to tend the seedlings. But now the forest is strong and grows on its own.
You should never give up on your goal, even if no one believes in you. Finding your way and your place in life is what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter where you live, who you are, and how old you are. It’s only important that you know what you want and are willing to work for it. So, friends, did you like the story of a man who’s singlehandedly transformed an entire island?
Be sure to comment on it.