Tunza Eco generation posted this story for Shashwath Venkatraman, a 10-year-old boy who wants to participate in the Happy International Youth Day event but can't join our website because he's too young to register.

To Mum and Dad, who stood by me no matter what.

“For heaven's sake, get up Rahman!”  Rani shouted irritatedly.” Why can’t you be more like Charun and Tharun? Charun and Tharun were the boys from the Nei boring house, they always bullied children. But to Rani, they were perfect and lovely. “Well, if you find pushing and beating people perfect, then I agree with you.”  Rani rolled her eyes and left the room.  Rahman got up and went to the back of the house to get ready. Rahman was a 13-year-old boy who lived in a village, He had a square face and two round eyes, He had a two monkey-like ears and a pair of thick lips as well as a sensitive pointed nose. He had a built of a body builder with perfectly positioned shoulders and strong hands. But, he was not such a good boy; he did not care what happened to the environment, people or anything except him. He went inside the bathroom and turned on the tap, but no water came in. He went to the well with a bucket, but there was no water in the well. For the past few months there had been people cutting down the forest and trees. Without the trees, no rain came in and all the wells had dried up. Rahman sighed and cleaned himself with a towel Wich showed no signs of water in it. He then changed into a different set of unwashed clothes. He went inside for food. His mother gave him a plate of dry idli and old chutney that was made three days ago. He ate an idli and choked on it. “Why don’t you complain about the water problem to the village headman? He is plenty rich; he can help me.”  Rahman asked his father Raju. “It is not that simple son, the headman lives in the town; if I want to meet him, then I will have to go to the city and it will cost a lot.” Raju lectured He is the VILLAGE headman, not the town headman. Why is he in the town instead of helping me?”  Rahman questioned. Raju hesitated; He did not want to tell his son the truth. He did not want to tell his son that nobody cared about the village and villagers. So, he started lecturing about politics. Rahman soon got bored, so he went out to play. The sun beat down on his face as he went towards his friend Ram’s house. Suddenly out of nowhere, Charun and Tharun stood in front of him. “What are you doing here sucker?” Tharun spat. Charun and Tharun were 14 years old and much taller than Rahman, so he was an easy target. Rahman did not reply, so Charun punched him in the face. Rahman ran away. He ran and ran, only when he stopped did he realize that he was in the forest. He had heard that there were people from the city who had come to cut it down. Then suddenly, a tree broke and fell. Rahman jumped away at the last minute. He started to panic. Just then he heard a man saying the word village, so he crept closer. “What fools the villagers are, they do not understand that without trees there will be no rain. They just think it is the headman’s fault. Good for us, we can take as much wood as we want.” the man said laughingly. Rahman felt something he had never felt before: Pitiness for his villagers and boiling anger on this man.

Rahman quietly crept towards the village with a plan in mind...

“You have to believe me” Rahman pleaded. “The people from the city are cutting down our trees and without trees there will be no rain”.  “What do you want us to do, plant trees?” a man asked. “Yes, if we plant trees then there will be rain and our wells will be full.” Rahman explained. But the villagers laughed and went away without listening to Rahman. That day Rahman went home and cried. Raju came and comforted him. He said “If you want to change something, then you have to take the first step.” Rahman made up his mind to follow what his father said.

The next day, Rahman asked his mother for a banyan sapling. His mother gave him a sapling that was almost dry. Rahma took it and planted it in the middle of the village. Every day he would travel a mile and get water for the plant. All the villagers looked at him and laughed saying that it was a foolish idea. One day Charun and Tharun came and tried to kick the plant and break it. Rahman stood in their way bravely and defended the plant. They got angry and punched him in the face. He walked a whole mile to get to the water tank with blood dripping down his chin. He watered the plant and went home to get his face cleaned. As time passed by, the plant started flourishing. The villagers watched in awe as the plant grew, but no one would help. As goodness flourishes, problems befall. Just as the plant started turning into a tree, Rahman fell ill. By ill I mean terribly ill. It happened just a month after the plant started flourishing. He was walking back after collecting water. He was very, very tired. As he entered the village, he got dizzy and fell to the ground. Luckily, the villagers caught him and took him home. Since he was ill, there was nobody to water the plants. The doctor said that he would get worse if he went out or walked a lot in the sun. Every day, he would look at the banyan tree through his window and wonder if it could survive. It soon got worse; Rahman lost hope that he could save the tree. Every day, he would look through the window and worry about the banyan tree. One day Rahman had one of the worst pains ever. He turned towards the window, almost crying out in pain. A peculiar sight got his attention. He saw all the villagers crowd around the tree. Young children carry small cans, middle aged carrying cans of water. And surprising of all, old men carrying small pods that looked like seeds. The villagers dug holes and planted the seeds. In the middle of all this, a boy shouted and pointed at the banyan tree. One of the villagers took a can of water and watered the banyan tree. Rahman watched this all with awe from the bedroom That was the start of true solidarity between all generations. Or Intergenerational solidarity. The villagers got together and drove the city men out. They planted trees, they grew plants. They did not need help from anybody. The goodwill and thought of Rahman brought the villagers together. Or to say, the banyan tree brought them together. The unity caused by Rahman and the tree not only saved the village, but brought intergenerational solidarity between everyone so that none of the villagers were left behind.