Gaya’s Green Man

Name: Sikander
Place: Brahmyoni hill,Gaya, India
Record title: Gaya’s Green Man

Brahmyoni hill of Gaya, Bihar is lush green thanks to one man’s mission. Sikander is an electrician by profession and he assists at a shop and does odd jobs to earn a living, but his heart has for the last 30 years been in planting and nurturing fruit and other trees. Today, over 10,000 trees that he has planted have turned the hillock and other areas of Gaya green. Whether it is hot, cold or raining, Sikander cycles to Brahmyoni hill every morning and starts planting trees or tending to the ones already planted. Sikander’s interest in growing trees began as a child when he would accompany his family on a picnic to the hill and would search for a shady spot to settle down. What started as pastime has become an obsession. In addition to the greening of the hill, he also develops parks to beautify. Sikander refuses to be bogged down by a full-time job or take a job outside Gaya. “I have three children at home and thousands on the Gaya hills to protect and care for,” he says. Among the trees grown are medicinal plants, fruit and shade giving trees — guava, mango, cashew, pomegranate, tamarind, amla, lemon, ashoka and neem. In addition to planting trees, Sikander has dug pits around the hill to harvest rainwater and improve availability of water. Sikander’s work has been widely appreciated but he gets no financial support for his work.