Forest Man Of India (Rap Summary)

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• published: 03 Nov 2015
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A Rap Summary of the awesome little doco 'Forest Man' The inspiring story of Jadav Payeng who planted an entire 550 hectare forest all by himself over a period of 30 years. Many thanks to the makers for permission to include their footage. Watch the full version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkZDSqyE1do Also includes some supplementary footage from 'The Forest Man of India' Watch that one here: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/53490?fb_ref=Default Music Track: Tabla Toy by Beats Antique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUC8izazhyU Grab the full track here: https://hugothepoet1.bandcamp.com/track/forest-man-documentary-rap-summary Lyrics written and performed by Hugo The Poet Video edited by Flomos Audio Mixed and Mastered by Frank Pearce at Studio Squid Thanks to my early adopting Patrons who pledged on Patreon and chipped in for some Audio Mixing and Mastering on this track: Sod Oscarfono, Sarah Smith, Nils R Grotnes, Stephan Taylor, Chad Schott, Tommi Mononen, Olivier Serres, Eero Af Heurlin Support more videos by Hugo The Poet: PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/hugothepoet?alert=1&ty;=h PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.me/hugothepoet LYRICS: Commencing this short rap in Jorhat, north east India the city where living for many is hard, for others even trickier Also the city of our narrator, Jitu Korlita A photographic capturer of images of nature In all its splendor, and splendor it certainly delivers near to the Bhramaputra one of India's most crucial rivers The banks of which many millions call home who are threatened every year during the monsoon With floods brutally rising, eroding land, unruly climbing No where more evident than Majuli island The world's largest river isle a natural diamond pristine It's lost half its land mass since nineteen seventeen And could be completely gone in thirty years' time Nevertheless on a visit there in two thousand and nine Jitu Korlita overlooked a barren wasteland and to his surprise he seemed to spy an entire forest on the horizon He couldn't believe his eyes and when he saw a man Jitu approached him to see if he could perchance explain After being convinced that Jitu wasn't a poacher, the man made a startling claim He planted that whole forest himself and his name is Jadav Payeng This is the tale of Jadav Payeng Who saw the harsh end of this hard path we wend And while many acquiesce to the dark farce ahead He made a means to mend our ways by planting plants instead Jitu reported this tale in the press and on-line How this man had been planting trees since nineteen seventy nine Every day of his life, assisted by his family and wife Heading over the water to arrive Bucket in hand, At the former sand bar of land where his forest stands and which year by year incrementally he expands Planting seedlings, and tending each one with best care His forest is now five hundred and fifty hectares Bigger than central park and providing habitat For deer, rhinoceros, rabbits and even elephants to travel back And on top of that, it's well known that The roots of healthy trees maintain soil and halt erosion For almost forty years his routine’s been to plant plants and tend and every tree and animal that exists there he calls his friend Poachers and loggers are a constant threat So he guards and defends, saying cut me before you cut my friends Now Jitu and this man are the fastest of friends He's watched him attain fame but never let it go to his head The prime minister even honoured his name The Forest Man Of India, Jadav Payeng Jadav Payeng loves all animals, humans the same But humans are the only animals of which he's afraid The only difference is that humans will take take take And would log his forest for the sake of making a short-term economic stake Jitu watches Jadav at awards engagements But suspects that in his private thoughts he hates them He's too humble, too self effacing To get caught up in all that noise they making But he goes along to try to make a statement About the benefits of undertaking widespread afforestation So far, too few people are listening to him speak But he doesn't get discouraged, he has patience indeed Because whether it's a whole forest or a change to our creeds Jadav Payeng knows you just have to keep on planting the seeds Who knows what we could achieve if this started a trend And every town had a Forest person, lauded as him And enough people reduced consumption, and planted plants instead All thanks to the example of Jadav Payeng This is the tale of Jadav Payeng Who saw the harsh end of this hard path we wend And while many acquiesce to the dark farce ahead He made a means to mend our ways by planting plants instead Our planet may seem far too vast to defend But the imminent catastrophe is far too large to pretend And which story would you rather artists sing The chant of our end, or the tale of Jadav Payeng?