There are many inspirational personalities across India who singlehandedly have taken efforts to bring a change in the environment .Among them is 78 year old, Tulsi Gowda who is a Karnataka-based environmentalist, also known as the ‘Encyclopedia of Forests’ due to her vast knowledge of diverse species of plants and herbs.
Tulsi Gowda is a member of the Halakki tribe in Uttara Kannada. Tulsi Gowda was born in 1944 into the Halakki tribal family within the Honnalli village, a settlement transitioning between rural and urban within the Uttara Kannada district in the Indian state of Karnataka. She used to work with her mother since the age of 12 years , which is why she has an indepth understanding of plants and herbs.
Gowda, who is from Honnali village in Karnataka, had planted more than 30,000 saplings. She lost her father at the age of two years because of which she could never attend school. Tulsi Gowda then worked with her mother at a local nursery and was also quickly married off at an early age even before she reached adolescence . According to reports at a young age, she was married off to an older man named Govinde Gowda. Her exact age of marriage is not clearly known, though she was estimated to be around 10 to 12 years old.
As per reports Gowda continued to work at the nursery, she took the responsibility for taking care of the seeds that were to be grown and harvested at the Karnataka Forestry Department, and specifically for seeds intended as a part of the Agasur seedbed. Tulsi Gowda continued to work as a daily wage worker with her mother at the nursery for 35 years until she was offered a permanent position in recognition of her work towards conservation, and her knowledge of botany.
Tulsi Gowda was the recipient of Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award (IPVM)in 1986. The IPVM award recognizes pioneering contributions made by individuals or institutions to afforestation and wasteland development.
She also received the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 1999, the “second highest civilian honour of the Karnataka state of India”.It is given yearly to distinguished citizens of Karnataka State aged over sixty.
Then on November 8, 2020, the Government of India awarded Tulsi Gowda the Padma Shri award, the fourth highest award given to citizens of India. While receiving the award, Gowda was quoted saying that, while she is glad to have received the Padma Shri, she “values the forests and trees more”.
The Photos of Tulsi Gowda receiving the award while barefoot in the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar hall have attracted a lot of positive attention since it was really a sight to watch .
A lot of pictures and videos of her award moment had then surfaced online, where Tulsi Gowda was seen walking barefoot in the Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan while also stopping for a while to greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before proceeding ahead to receive the award from the President.
No formal education. But known as the Encyclopedia of the forests. Tulsi Gowda, the barefooted tree-lover from Karnataka India 🇮🇳, honoured with the Padma Shri Award this week. Congrats! 👍
— Erik Solheim (@ErikSolheim) November 14, 2021
