Saalumarada Thimmakka
Growing up in gubbi village, my childhood was a struggle. At the age of five, I started helping my mother in household chores and later juggled as a coolie, quarry labourer and a farmer. I was the second born of the six children and it used to be a everyday struggle to get a meal. I never went to school. At 20, I got married and moved to Hulikal. Life continued to be struggle from one house to the other. I was heartbroken that i was not able to conceive even after twenty years of marriage. My husband’s relatives wanted him to remarry but he never left me. In 1948, Tired of being called barren, I jumped into the pond. I was forty years old but somehow I survived!
Post that, My husband and I decided to plant trees and take care of it like our kids. We began planting trees on the stretch between our village Hulikal and kudoor. Ten the first year, fifteen the next, twenty the next, and so on. After our regular work, We used to carry water for over four kilometres and water the saplings. We tended to them by fencing and guarding them. We used our own meagre resources for planting these trees. Even after my husband’s death in 1991, I continued doing my work selflessly and taking care of them.
Today, I have planted more than five hundred trees in this village and thousands around the state. At one point, I was dying to hear the word “mother”, today people call me
Vrukhsa Maathe (mother of trees) and prefixed my name with Saalumara (row of trees). Like every parent I am happy and proud seeing the growth of my children. In 2000, I adopted a thirteen year old boy and today he is actively involved in the mission of preserving the environment.
It was only in 1996 that I started getting media attention. Since then I have been given many awards and I have also been listed as one of the Top 100 most influential and inspiring women in 2016. But what is the point of awards and recognition, when I don’t have money?? Today, I live on a pension of Rs. 500 a month and any goodwill that comes my way. What is the point of donations and statues after a person dies if they are struggling to survive when they are alive?
My life continues to be a struggle even at the age of 106…but i am hopeful for a better tomorrow!