Long ago (before the British rule in India), there was a farmer named Hazari in a village of Kokrah forest region (later on a part of Bihar). He planted some trees of mangoes around the boundary of his fields. As the trees grew and blossomed, some birds nested there. The flowers on the trees, early-morning chirping of the birds — especially the melodious warbling of the Cuckoos magnified the beauty of this land surrounded by beautiful hills.
Hazari happily used to distribute the fruits to his neighbors; the raw mangos were used for making chatanis, pickles, and the ripened sweet mangoes were a great delight for everyone in his family and neighborhood. The happiness of everyone around motivated him to plant more mango-trees so that more people could freely use the fruits.
For the benefit of the entire village, Hazari planted a garden of mango trees in his village. He enthusiastically continued expanding this service in the surrounding region with hardly any support from others in ploughing the land, etc.
When his children grew up they also helped him in this altruistic effort. Later on, Hazari gave the responsibility of his own farms to the children, and devoted his full time and focused efforts on his noble mission. He planted one thousand mango-gardens. With so many mango-trees around, not only the people, but also the birds and animals there were benefitted. Thick gardens in the mountain-rich region invited more rains. This helped the overall farming activities and enhancement of greenery there. Nature too thus blessed the land with its generous grace. What the hard work and altruistic motivation of an illiterate, resource-less, farmer could do is, in my views, many times bigger and higher than the great scholarly works of arrogant intellectuals, or the royal monuments like “Tajmahal”.
It is because of these Hazara (one thousand) Baghas (gardens) and also as a mark of respect to the great endeavor of Hazari that the place became popular as “Hazaribagh” (which is now an important district of Jharkhand). So you see, the self-inspired extraordinary deed of selfless service of an ordinary person thus resulted in an immortal, monumental contribution to the society and the motherland!
Akhand Jyoti Magazine 2017 May-June
credit : Freepik