BENGALURU: In 2019, Saalumarada Thimmakka, who was said to be 107 years old then, was at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi to receive the Padma Shri award, one of the highest civilian awards of the country. While receiving the award, she raised her right hand to place it on the then President of India, Ram Nath Kovind’s head to bless him. Kovind bowed his head to receive her blessings.
Later, Kovind tweeted: “At the Padma awards ceremony, it is the President’s privilege to honour India’s best and the most deserving. But today, I was deeply touched when Saalumarada Thimmakka, an environmentalist from Karnataka, and at 107 the oldest Padma awardee this year, thought it fit to bless me.”
Hailing from Gubbi Taluk of Tumakuru, and never having been able to go to school, Thimmakka started working as a labourer at a young age, and later married Chikkaiah, from Hulikal village of Ramanagara district. She was hardly 12-years-old then. The name “Saalumara” (“row of trees”) prefixed to her name Thimmakka did not come overnight.
The stretch Hulikal to Kudor near Ramanagara district, which is now part of the highway with tree shades on either side, tells you the story of her hard work and dedication. This stretch is some 70 km from Bengaluru. Even after close to 70 years, these trees stand tall, spreading their branches. Along with her husband, she took care of close to 400 trees, each treated like their own child, which speaks volumes of their struggle and determination.
The couple, who did not have children, found solace in planting saplings and protecting them like their own children. It all started with ficus (banyan) trees which were found in plenty in their village near Ramanagara, the couple started grafting saplings from these trees with ten in the first year, 15 in the second, and so on.
While Chikkaiah used to dig pits, Thimmakka — also known as Vruksha Maathe (Mother of Trees), would carry water-filled pots for those saplings. The couple had put their earnings on buying pots and other essentials for planting. Together, they would also protect it with fencing using thorny shrubs.
Chikkaiah passed away in 1991. Overcoming the grief, she again found solace in the trees, and continued to take care of them with a renewed vigour.
In her lifetime, she has managed to plant and grow over 8,000 trees. She not just plants them, but encourages the younger generation to do so too.Her responsibility as the “Mother of Trees” did not end there. She was seen as the face of every environmental issue and took part in protests, extending her support. In 2019, when HD Kumaraswamy was the CM, there was a proposal to cut trees on the Bagepalli-Halaguru road (in Mandya district) to widen the highway (that includes the stretch where she and her husband had planted 385 banyan trees all those years ago). She opposed it, leading to the government looking for alternative routes, thus saving those 70-year-old trees.
Thimmakka has been honoured with many national and international awards other than the prestigious Kannada Rajyotsava Award by the Karnataka government. The Central University of Karnataka also honoured her with Honorary Doctorate, and in 2016, BBC listed her as one of the most influential and inspirational women of the world. Earlier this year, the Karnataka government appointed her as Karnataka Environment Ambassador with a cabinet rank.
Besides those, she was awarded Nadoja Award By Hampi University (2010), National Citizens award (1995), Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Awards (1997), Veera Chakra Prashasti Award (1997), and Karnataka Kalpavalli Award (2000), among others.
Even today, at 110 and despite her age-related health issues, she attends various events, including those in colleges, where she stands like a green crusader, spreading messages to GenNext.Although receiving some prestigious awards, she remains firmly grounded,like the roots of her beloved trees.