Groom's unusual dowry demand

Patna: A groom in Bihar made an unusual request to the bride's family by asking them to plant 250 saplings as his only condition for marriage.

Nisith Kumar, who married Jaishleen early this week, surprised his in-laws when he requested them to plant the saplings at his ancestral village.

His in-laws happily obliged and planted the saplings at Badshahpur village in Shekhpura district, about 125 km from here, Friday and Saturday.

"We have planted saplings of fruit bearing trees of mango, guava, lemon and others on the land of my son-in-law," said Ravikant Sinha, also a doctor and the bride's father.

A resident of Ranchi in Jharkhand, Sinha along with his family members visited Badshahpur and planted the saplings with the help of dozens of villagers.

Both the bride and the groom are doctors in Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

The groom's father, Prabhat Kumar Sinha, also a doctor, is well known for being sensitive towards the environment and advocating having a green cover.

The move was much appreciated by the villagers. Lakhendar Prasad said it will "inspire and encourage others to follow his path".

Another villager, Suresh Singh, said that if youth follow his path, a social change for environment protection will begin. He said it is also a step against the social evil of demanding dowry.

The incident happened at a time when Bihar is facing impact of deforestation and the state government has announced to increase the state's green cover to 20 percent in next few years.

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said last month that the state's green cover which was only seven percent in 2005 has increased to 13 percent.

A few years back, Dharhara, a small village in Bhagalpur district, was in the spotlight for its unique tradition of plating at least 10 trees whenever a girl was born, a step which was lauded by former chief minister Nitish Kumar in 2010.