Doon Denizen: Man with a mission to save earthworms and snails

DEHRADUN: Morning walkers in

Rajpur

on the outskirts of

Dehradun

often spot a man bending down and carefully scooping earthworms and snails from the road and putting them away from harm's way in a plastic bag lest they get trampled under people's feet or run over by a passing vehicle. This is a ritual that

Tenzin Kunga Luding

, a Tibetan who grew up in

Mussoorie

and now lives in Dehradun, has been following for the past ten years now.

A few regulars who are familiar with him stop to greet him, a stray dog stops by to look at him quizzically even as

Tenzin

studiously goes about his job. “On an average, I collect almost a thousand snails and earthworms every day. On some days, the number can even go upto 2000. Then it takes me three hours or more to have them safely released in the nearby jungle. I was not an early riser before but have become one now due to this practice,” says the soft-spoken 44-year-old with a broad smile.

Ask him what prompted him to embark on what some would say was ‘a thankless job’, he recollects, “I was taking a walk one morning almost ten years ago when I came across hundreds of snails lying dead on the road. They had been crushed under passing vehicles. I felt an urge to do something to save these creatures since many people perhaps are not even aware that they are inadvertently killing them,” he says as he prepares to release a scoopful of earthworms after uttering a silent prayer for them.

Even though it is essentially compassion that drives Tenzin, he says that saving earthworms and snails helps the environment too. “Earthworms are regarded as a farmer’s best friend since their faeces help in increasing the fertility of the soil. It’s a similar thing with snails too whose shells contain calcium that adds to the nutrient quality of the soil after they are dead. However, we have entered their natural habitats and built roads across the jungle.”

In 2011, Tenzin who turned vegetarian when he was eleven years old and is now a vegan, did an exercise to plot the months when the maximum number of snails and earthworms could be seen. “I found that they were spotted the most during September and October after the monsoons,” he says. However, he adds that their numbers are steadily declining. “I believe this is because of the concretisation of the jungles. More buildings are coming up and this is impacting their survival. Also lately, during my walks, I have seen some people trying to capture earthworms for making what they termed as ‘desi medicines.’ I tried to dissuade them. How can you create a cure out of somebody else’s suffering? I have seen these insects trying to save themselves by coiling up. They are also beings who want to live. In fact, earthworms can live upto 6-8 years and snails upto 15 years in the course of their normal lifespan.”

Although he is usually alone in his morning expeditions, sometimes his mother “who was initially a bit scared of these things but nevertheless determined to help” joins in. “I wish more people would volunteer. It will not only help save more creatures but also inculcate compassion towards other beings. So many animals are being killed because of reckless driving and can be saved if people are only a little careful and compassionate,” he says.

In fact, the topic of compassion is something that Tenzin -- who works for an NGO -- is quite passionate about. “I wish children are taught about compassion in schools-- not just as a subject in classrooms but how to practice it everyday as a habit so that they grow up to be individuals who care about the ecosystem and the environment,” he says adding that it is his dream “to see Dehradun where I have lived most of my life become a city of compassion.” “There are cities across the world which have emerged as compassion cities. Why can't Dehradun, which is an education hub, be like them?” he asks eyes filled with hope as he finishes off another day’s work of saving over a thousand lives.