The Story of Amrita Class 4 Notes EVS Chapter 4

The story of Amrita is about a girl who lived in a village named Khejadli in Rajasthan, known for its Khejadli trees. The villagers believed in the importance of nature, especially trees. When the king ordered the trees to be cut down, the villagers, including Amrita, sacrificed their lives to save them. Their bravery moved the king to stop the tree-cutting. Today, the villagers still protect the trees.

Khejadi Trees

• Khejadli trees grow in Khejadli village, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. 
• A girl named Amrita lived there about 300 years ago. 
• The villagers are kind and take care of the trees and animals. 
• You can often see goats, deer, and peacocks without any worry.
•  People believe that while plants and animals can survive without humans, humans need them for oxygen, food, and the ecosystem. Khejadi trees can grow in deserts without water. 
• Their bark was used for medicine and food, and insects couldn't harm their leaves. 
• Children used to play in their shade.

Amrita’s Friends

• Every morning, Amrita and the other kids from Khejadli village would get up early and hug the khejadi trees, treating them like friends. 
• They'd pick one tree each day and say nice things to it, like how strong and lovely it was, and how much they loved it. 
• Afterwards, they'd play under the trees' shade until the sun came up.

Trees in Danger 

• One sunny morning, Amrita went to visit the trees like she always did, but she found strangers with axes standing by them. 
• These strangers were the king's men, ordered to chop down all the trees for wood to build the palace. Amrita was surprised and scared. 

• She hugged one of the trees to protect it from being cut down. 
• Sadly, the men had no choice but to harm Amrita and others to obey the king's order and start cutting the trees. 
• When the king came to the village, he was shocked to see so many people had been hurt trying to save the trees they respected.

The Village is Protected

• The king was deeply moved by how much the people of Khejadli village cared for the trees. 
• He decided that from then on, no trees would be cut down and no animals would be hurt. 
• Even now, the people of Khejadli village, also known as Bishnoi, continue to protect the trees and animals.

Important Points 

• Deforestation refers to the decrease in forest areas across the world that are lost for other uses such as agricultural croplands, urbanization, or mining activities. 
• Effects of deforestation:
  The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification,soil erosion, fewercrops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people.
• We can contribute to the efforts against deforestation by doing these easy steps:
  (a) Plant a Tree where you can.
  (b) Go paperless at home and in the office.
  (c) Buy recycled products and then recycle them again.
  (d) Buy certified wood products.
  (e) Support the products of companies that are committed to reducing deforestation.
• The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan
  It was a group action in India with the goal of saving trees. This is mainly done through the act of hugging trees to protect them from being cut. It aimed at protection and conservation of trees and forests from being destroyed.
• The plant and animals depend on each other. The different ways that animals and plants are interdependent in an ecosystem because they depend on each other for basic survival needs like food, protection, shelter and propagation. Plants provide food for animals and humans, who cannot make their own foods like plants do.