Baba Fakhruddin
Suharwardy was the king of an Iranian province, before renouncing his kingdom
and becoming a Sufi saint. After several years spent serving his spiritual
guru, he sought a place to settle in. According to an old tale, his guru gave him a dry twig and directed him to travel till he found a
place where the twig would bloom into a big plant. Baba Fakhruddin travelled
far and one day, he planted the twig and slept under a tree, only to awake and
see that it had become a beautiful plant. That place was Penukonda.
Like the dry twig of the
legend, the once dry hills of Penukonda have been transformed into a sea of
green through the re-forestation efforts of SEDS. Planting and helping plant
over 2 million Tamarind, Neem, Pongamia, and Jatropha trees, SEDS has
effectively converted barren land into a veritable forest. Supporting the
planting activity, SEDS's watershed management techniques ensure that the water
stores remain even during seasons of drought. SEDS pioneered the restoration of
old tanks and traditional water bodies such as farm ponds, as well as creating
new watersheds in the area. Villagers who once cut down trees indiscriminately
have realized the importance of the green cover and have become the best
guardians of Penukonda's trees.
Baba Fakhruddin's
mausoleum still stands in Penukonda today, among all the trees.
[The article originally
written by Amit Manikoth, for SEDS's 30 years celebration. This is simply a
reproduction.]
