Man Of The World

Who is a Man Of The World? I guess it means multiple things to different people. A man who has traveled far and wide, maybe. A man who has made it in his business and personal life. A star. Someone who people look up to.

I'm going to write about none of the above.

Nobody knows of the man I'm going to write about, but for me, he's truly a Man Of The World.

This man lives in a tiny village near Bangalore, India. He lives in a hut, with his wife. They have no children. Somehow, they could not conceive a child. Which, as it turns out, is good for the earth.

Because this couple, these two daily-wage labourers, who dress in rags and eat two small meals a day, are truly of the earth.

They decided that since they could not have their own child, they'd plant trees.

And they did.

Hundreds of trees, along two sides of miles and miles of road. Providing shade to thousands of travelers. This man and his wife planted them, nurtured them when they were saplings, and watered them for years and years.

I met his wife at an award ceremony to honour them. An environmental organisation had finally realised that someone had planted those trees and taken care of them for years. The lady is exceedingly humble, and wondering what the fuss and awards are about. "The trees are our children, we have to take care of them," she says.

It's a simple story about a simple couple. Being childless, they made the trees their children. And benefited the earth. Truly, people of the earth.

And that's my take on a 'Man Of The World'.



Based on
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saalumarada_Thimmakka