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Greening bonds of friendship, humanity

Arbor Ardour
Last Updated 03 November 2014, 14:06 IST

Deepak Ramesh Gaur truly justifies his name. As the name suggests, he spreads the light of knowledge wherever he goes – knowledge about the importance of plants and maintaining the ecological balance by preserving our greenery.

There are people who are passionate about environment, but not many who plant trees for a cause. But Gaur’s concept is quite novel. He not only plants saplings but also gifts them. So far he has gifted more than 3,200 tree saplings to people and planted more than 30,200.

To carry forward his unique mission, Gaur organises events at schools, colleges and puts up stalls at various exhibitions to create awareness about safeguarding our green heritage. He has delighted people by gifting saplings on festivals like Diwali and Christmas and also motivates them to do the same.

But his life has not been a smooth one. For Gaur, who was a PR professional, gifting a plant is like gifting a life. And there is a history to this. Speaking to Metrolife about his life’s purpose, Gaur said, “I discovered my purpose in life in 2011, a year after I damaged my optic nerve in a road mishap. I was in coma for nearly nine months. That incident made me realise that even if I die, I can still continue to live in the form of trees I plant and saplings that I gift to others. And so, I gifted my first sapling to former President APJ Abdul Kalam in March 2012.”

To carry on this noble enterprise, he has also set up an NGO called Gift A Tree Network. “We gifted Dr Kalam a mango sapling which he planted in his premises. I also requested him to gift us a mango sapling too so that we can use it as a guiding light for others and spread our objective  in life,” added Gaur.

He says, “I am against gifting bouquets as they die after some days. So, why gift things which will die? Gifting a sapling means you are gifting a life. And what can be better than a plant when it comes to gifting.”

“I am still not 100 per cent fit. I used to play guitar but after the accident I can’t even press the strings or even run now . It is very easy for a person to disbalance me. I am also unable to read properly. But now my only wish is to educate people on the importance of trees. I plan to take this movement not only across our country but abroad as well,” says Gaur.

The ‘Tree Man’ only gifts mango saplings, because it was a mango sapling that was first given to him by Dr Kalam.

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(Published 03 November 2014, 14:06 IST)

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