Articles / Special

Article written by : Ashish Joseph Carvalho, Derebail

The words of a wise man and the deeds of a noble human being can inspire many to work towards a goal that seems impossible. Yes, this is what I felt when I listened to and watched the tremendous work that Mr Sagar Singh, an Environmentalist and Founder of Eco-Warriors has done to increase the greenery around us.

I was indeed fortunate to be able to listen to Mr Sagar Singh on a day as significant as World Environment Day. St Aloysius Institute of Education, Mangaluru had invited him as a Chief Guest for the Virtual World Environment Day Celebration on June 5th, 2021. I was truly inspired by the talk that was delivered by Mr Sagar Singh. The life he is living is really amazing. His love towards the environment, towards plants and animals is really wonderful.

Let me in brief give you some information on this noble and thoughtful Environmentalist. Sagar Singh, a Social Science teacher by profession, used to visit schools and colleges to educate students. He is also the founder of Eco-Warriors India, a community of like-minded individuals who are working to protect the environment and dedicated to protecting the 'Lungs of Mumbai.' This organization is tirelessly working to make Mumbai a cleaner and greener city through its tree plantation drives, beach clean-up drives and various water conservation projects. Sagar Singh holds a degree in Biotechnology from the University of Mumbai and shows his proficiency in social service and as a nature lover.

Tree hugger Sagar Singh, as he is fondly known, has contributed in many ways towards protecting the environment in many ways. He chose to share with us his story of how he was motivated into not just embracing the lifestyle of a nature lover but also turning it into a national concern. The story is as follows.

One day after finishing his job, he sat beside the sea as usual and thanked Mother Nature. At that very next moment he realized looking at the surroundings how people are harming all that has been gifted to us by Mother Nature. The following week, while at the beachside enjoying sunset, he noticed a lot of plastic waste in and around the ocean. He began to question the attitude of mankind by asking himself, “How can we be so selfish to the place we live in?”

In search of an answer to this question he met with a lot of friends and discussed these pressing issues. It looked like he had with him a group of like-minded people with similar concerns. They began by initiating clean up drives in Mumbai. Many youngsters joined hands and that's how a community called Eco Warriors India was built and every weekend beach cleanup drives were taking place.

Sagar Singh’s attempts to embrace a simple and minimalistic life can be seen in his lifestyle. He has lived in a house made of mud and wood since August 2020. Luxury doesn’t define his life. He believes that the more material things you have the more likely it is to reduce your peace of mind. In addition he said, "I don't want anything luxurious in life. I just love a simple life. I want to experience the smell of the forest, the chirping of birds all around me and the sound of the flowing river." All this gives him peace and relaxation to his mind and soul.

I was definitely one among the many who were inspired by listening to Mr Sagar Singh.

During this two-and-a-half-hour online session he gave us a small virtual tour in and around the place where he lived. It really touched my heart to know how simplistic he was both in his thoughts and actions. The apple orchard and the vegetables that grow in his garden were all shown to us. This house as I saw had more books than clothes. Yes! He mentioned that he has very few pairs of clothes. Sagar Singh also nurtures and does bee keeping. His love for even the smallest of small beings was evident when he rescued a single bee that was about to die.

Mr Sagar Singh continues to engage classes (for free) for children in and around his place. To gain a wider insight into his life and his work you can follow him on his Instagram handle (Mreath_). He was kind enough to share a book among his audience titled “The Hidden Life of Trees” , the link of which has been given at the  end of the article.

Today we all have an important lesson to learn from the life of Sagar Singh. The sacrifice that he has made towards protecting the environment and the challenges he faced in building a community of Eco-Warriors India is remarkable. It is indeed hard for us to live a life like Sagar Singh, but surely we all can contribute by planting a tree and nurturing it. World Environment Day is just a reminder for all of us that we need to protect our Mother Nature. Let’s not wait for June 5th to plant a tree rather consider every single day as an environment day.

Link of book “The Hidden Life of Trees” : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZuicoyOrfpX--_Wa1aNNiWjKNBNqsF99/view?usp=sharing