for Premjibhai Patel, the title ganda bapa (crazy old man) fails to work as a deterent in pursuing his zeal for trapping much-needed water and restoring the depleted forest cover around his hometown in Gujarat.

In his 60s, Patel is also known as vriksh premi (tree-lover). He abandoned his profession as textile distributor in Mumbai and returned to his village Bhayavadar in the state's Upleta taluka to help his people. His decision, to some extent, was prompted by his disillusionment with the frenetic pace of life in the metroplis and his inability "to fit in'.

Upleta falls in the arid belt, and the forest cover