Vidyarthi literally means student ,learner ,education seeker ,Van Vidyarthi is learner of Forests , Vidyarthi is pen name added to name of a Forest officer Om Prakash Sharma.Om Prakash born in the hills of Ramnagar developed attraction for nature in his infancy ,used to wander brooks ,pony paths ,meadows ,forest glades,fields ,mountain peaks ,hill tops ,valleys with an intention to know nature ,adore & explore nature in its varied manifestations.He had schooling in rural setup where he noticed splendour of nature in different seasons and locations ,he enjoyed chirps ,melodies ,sweet notes of birds and looked at blooming flowers fondly visited by bees and butterflies during season of spring.He felt attracted towards lush green grassy meadows and forest glades having colours of blooms and blossoms sprinkled with rain droplets during misty weather of monsoon .Thundering clouds and mushrooming of edible Termitomyces mushrooms enchanted Vidyarthi as a school student .He accompanied village shepherds ,traversed miles in the wilderness to get acquainted with native plants & animals before he opted for Biology at intermediate level ,Botany Zoology at Graduation level and Botany at Post graduation level.
At college level ,Vidyarthi added name Vidyarthi as Pen name while sending literary compositions poems ,folk tales and stories for publication in the quarterly magazine Sheeraza in J&K Academy of Art ,Culture & Languages.He edited Dogri section in the GGMSc college Magazine Tawi during 1978-79 and studied Dogri literature in college library.
As MSc Botany student ,Vidyarthi compiled first poetry book Chanani di Kanso which got subsidy from JKAACL and was published in 1984.Journey of writing started with poetry book but Vidyarthi focused writings on forest with equal flair.Book on Plants -Duggar di Vanaspati published in 1986 was followed by book on animals -Duggar de Jeev Jantu published in 1987.
Love for Forests and Nature made Vidyarthi to leave Kashmir Administrative Service and join Indian Forest Service where he put his hard efforts to understand more on forests ,forestry and wilderness.He won laurels from Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy as well as Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration Mussurie.He got opportunities to visit Shola forests ,Mangrove forests ,Conifer forests ,Teak ,Tea,Chambal ravine plantations to know more about flora of India.He took keen interest in bird watching ,accompanied known bird watchers & wildlife experts to know little about ornithology and mammology.He learnt little on Herpetology from Prof Deep Sahi .
After completion of IFS training at IGNFA Dehradun ,he landed back in the state of Jammu & Kashmir where he pioneered first ever compilation on Wild & Cultivated Plants of Jammu ,Kashmir & Laddakh as Directorate of Social Forestry publication still seen in the shelves of various libraries of well known departments, organizations and research Institutes.Index to local names made compilation user friendly for the learners of Taxonomy.With various other compilations in Digri ,Hindi ,English ,he pioneered work on Plants of Parks & Gardens ,Medicinal Plants of Plains & Hills and Dogri short story writing on Ecology , Environment and forests while rendering service in the J&K State Vigilance Organization in 2001-2002 before embarking upon writing of mega- compilation on State Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan in the year 2003 .
Through various bilingual ,trilingual compilations ,magazines ,Radio news bulletins Vidyarthi added new terms and expressions in the field of forestry and environmental education.Dogri book on travelogues ,Trip Trip Chete fetched Vidyarthi Sahitya Akademi Prize ,book contained 11 travelogues ,it included new vocabulary ,some forgotten some newly coined words included in the poetic prose style won appreciation from acclaimed writers like Desh Bandhu ,Kunwar Viyogi ,Ved Rahi ,N D Jamwal ,Shiv Ram Deep ,Champa Sharma and Col Shivnath.
Vidyarthi wrote immensely on flora & fauna ,worked tirelessly to acquaint himself with varied biodiversity of Jammu ,Kashmir & Laddakh ,his Illustrated compilation -Vidyarthi's Dictionary on Plants & Animals is a monumental work with local vocabulary as well as scientific identification for life forms as varied as Algae to Angiosperms in plants and Protistans to Primates in Animals ,with hand drawn sketches of over 2 thousand of plants & animals including protozoans ,coelenterates ,insects ,mushrooms ,lichens and ferns.
Vidyarthi's literature includes 20 creative books on varied genre poetry ,short story,essays ,flora & fauna ,equal number of forestry books on Plants ,flowers ,birds ,medicinal plants and write-ups on trees.
Vidyarthi's initiative of outdoor weekly Tree Talk interactions is another outstanding contribution to raise mass awareness on Biodiversity understanding in the traditional and modern perspective.Tree Talk launched wef 19th December 2010 organized more than 1100 tree talk sessions during the decade. Tree Talks have popularised field identification in the field ,added ethnic inputs on cuisine development ,made students aware about Vernaculars of neighbourhood Biodiversity ,learnt and taught in an atmosphere of free exchange of traditional & scientific knowledge on forestry ,biodiversity ,ecology , environment,sustainable utilization of Biodiversity ,choice of species ,herbal innovations and modern approaches.As a forest officer ,Vidyarthi innovated meanigful awareness interactions out of lecture halls ,seminars rooms ,conference auditoria ,motivated younger minds to find time for Nature walks ,Tree associated Talks ,Nature interpretation ,Forest Foods innovations ,Forest Flower Festivals and view forests ,wetlands ,wilderness as basis of life linked to human survival ,food & water security ,health & livelihood security in conformity with UN declared International Decade of Biodiversity (2011-2020) and UN adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
Van Vidyarthi as a passionate learner himself have developed a niche for himself in the forestry education & understanding ,miles to go to unravel all that makes forests as basis of our existence .Let us come together ,develop partnerships to contribute for the betterment of human environment.
Man of multiple interests & pursuits,ShOm Prakash Sharma (IFS)born in Ramnagar hills loved nature as child, teenager, college student, University Research Scholar and Forester traversing forest glades, meadows, mountains, understanding man & environment in the traditional and modern perspective. Using his creative acumen, he has written profusely on various aspects of nature ,forestry ,Biodiversity ,culture & literature with over 45 books in Dogri ,Hindi ,English.Popular for his Biodiversity awareness initiative named, 'Tree Talk',he superannuated in January 2020 as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests from J&K Government.
Environmental crusader,Sh Om Prakash Sharma with experience of over 32 years of Forest service has contributed immensely to the cause of understanding ecological issues and environmental concerns related to Floristics, Biodiversity conservation, Human health care through folk traditions, conservation of medicinal plants, documentation of ethnic folklore and creative pursuit of writing eco-stories ,green poetry, environmental essays spreading message of environmental preservation and conservation of nature.
Man of green woods ,Om Prakash Sharma Vidyarthi launched an innovative Biodiversity awareness campaign wef 19th December 2010 to coincide with UN declared International Decade of Biodiversity (2011-2020) .Tree Talk with a focus on outdoor interactions to spread mass awareness on elements of Biodiversity involved inputs on different aspects namely tree conservation ,tree nomenclature ,local names ,folk traditions ,modern approaches ,habitat conservation ,sustainable utilization of bioresources including medicinal plants ,edible trees ,forest fruits ,wild vegetables and associated consumption patterns of communities in the ecological perspective .So far Tree Talk campaign has organized more than 1100 interactions.