J&K newlyweds plant trees to celebrate wedding

April 25: Yasir Hussain Sheikh, who works as a school principal in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bhaderwah valley, often referred to as ‘Chota Kashmir’, and his bride chose to celebrate the joys of their marriage and family in a special way.

On Monday, a day after Sheikh tied the nuptial knot with Daizy, a local girl, the couple was expected to be joined by friends and relatives at their Walima or the marriage banquet. But the couple chose to leave their home in Halyan village early in the morning and relocated to Bhaderwah Valley Public School to plant trees to celebrate their marriage.

“We decided to start our new lives in an exceptional way and something that would be beneficial to the present and future generations,” the 28-year-old Sheikh said.  As reported in Kashmir Life, it was a pleasant surprise for the staff and students of the school to see Sheikh in wedding attire and Daizy in pink bridal dress with beautiful mehandi-clad hands and layers of jewellery planting saplings in the school compound.

The residents also appreciated the gesture and a local cleric reminded the couple of a hadith or saying of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that planting a tree is ‘Sadqah-e-Jariyah’ or ongoing charity as each time a person or animal sits under its shade or eats from it the one who has done it will gain hasanat (reward) even after his or her death.

“The couple instead of allowing itself to be swayed by the festivities attached to a traditional wedding started plantation drive which has not only been appreciated by everyone here but set a pleasant precedent,” said a local reporter. Sheikh told Kashmir Life that he and his wife share concern over ecological imbalance and are keen to do their bit towards improving the environment in the neighbourhood.

“When we interacted for the first time, there was one thing common that we both wanted to save our environment and plant more and more trees. This likeness bonded our relationship further,” he was quoted by the news portal as saying. While Sheikh is a postgraduate from Jammu University, his bride is pursuing Masters in Political Science.

Sheikh said that he has been associated with plantation campaign in Bhaderwah and surrounding villages for some time and will continue to do so during his wedding leave period to celebrate it in ‘special way’. “Daizy is part of my dream as she doesn’t believe in materialistic things and is equally keen to save environment,” he said.