President Draupadi Murmu's words keeps resonating

On 20 June, President Draupadi Murmu's auspicious birthday, her fans from all over the world congratulated her and prayed for her long life. On this auspicious occasion, different institutions, schools, colleges, institutes remembered her inspirational words, repeated  and discussed them. In Bollywood too, people remembered her sayings and inspiring incidents. Let us all  follow her words which she had said last time, in view of saving the world's environment, which touched everyone's heart.

While inaugurating the two-day National Conference on Environment - 2025 at Vigyan Bhavan, President Draupadi Murmu shared  the story of her life in such a way that everyone clapped and many people's eyes became moist.

Murmu was born in Uparbeda village in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Recalling her life and childhood in this small village of Odisha, she said that due to lack of resources her family had to depend on dry wood from the forests for cooking.

Draupadi Murmu is the first tribal woman to become the President of India. Her life story is full of hard struggle, simplicity and deep respect for nature.

In her emotional speech she shared her childhood memories. She remembered how her father, who was a simple and hardworking man, used to go to the forest to collect dry wood. This wood was used as fuel to cook food. But before cutting the wood, her father would always stop, fold his hands and apologize to the tree. He would bow to the wood and pray for forgiveness. One day little Draupadi asked her father why he kept folding his hands and apologizing to the wood every day. What her father said then got imprinted in Draupadi's tender heart for life. Her father said, "All trees and plants are living beings and we should not hurt them without reason. But we are forced to cut wood for fuel. When all these trees and plants are young and green, they keep giving us fruits, flowers, juice, leaves, shade, etc. Then when they become old and dry, they burn themselves to satiate our hunger and cook food for us. Throughout our lives, we humans,  have only been taking from nature. But, if we take something from nature, we should give it back with respect and gratitude. That is why I apologize to the dry wood."

President Murmu also told how her father used to apologize to the earth and pray before digging or plowing the land for farming. He would touch the soil, bow his head and apologise to Mother Earth for the trouble he caused her by ploughing the land and for hurting the insects and other creatures that took shelter inside the earth. He would also ask for their blessings so that the crops grow well and everyone can live."

These memories and emotions of Draupadi Murmu show how much her family respected nature and understood its importance in our lives.

She said that when she was a little girl she saw green hills and dense forests all around her country and village. There were lots of birds, animals and clean rivers. But now, whenever she travels anywhere, she feels sad because many hills have disappeared. The forests are gone and the rivers are not as clean as before. She asked everyone, 'Where did the mountains and hills disappear?' but there is no answer. People also ask  the same question that when humans cannot create mountains, hills, rivers, even a single stone of the environment, then why do they destroy it? This question reflects her pain and concern for the environment.

According to her , "Our ancestors lived close to nature and treated it like a family member. They knew that if we harm the earth, we also harm ourselves. Today we see many problems like pollution, climate change and loss of forests and animals. These problems exist because we have forgotten to respect nature."

Draupadi Murmu's touching speech is a lesson for all of us. She stressed on treating nature with love and care. Even small and big acts like planting trees, saving water, not wasting food and keeping your surroundings clean can make a big difference. If we all work together, we can bring back the beauty of our earth and leave a better world for our children.

True progress is not just made by big buildings and machines but by living in harmony with the earth. Her simple message touches every heart and makes us think about our actions. Let us remember the teachings of her father and promise to protect our environment like a family member.

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