I am the centerpiece at the exhibition. I am the first one
they see as soon as they enter the huge hall. They come closer to me, and with
an obvious wonder on their faces, they examine me from all sides. They see me -
a small banyan tree, just over a foot tall. Almost an exact miniature replica
of a fully-grown banyan tree. Their wonder expands, their intellect running at
fast speed. How!? How is it possible that a tree which is supposed to be over
30 feet tall, known for its huge trunk and giant shoots hanging from its
branches, has remained so small!
As they look at me, they marvel at me, and think
of my “creator” with great admiration. I am a “masterpiece” you see. It has
taken years and years of effort, knowledge of trees, great maintenance and
patience to make me the way I am – A Bonsai!
The man who made me a bonsai, my creator, his name is
displayed prominently where I am kept. He has taken over 42 years to shape me,
mold me to his wishes. You see, it is in my nature to grow, and he has been
very careful to not allow me to do that. He understands trees very well. He cuts
me – my branches, leaves, roots – so precisely that he makes sure that I will
not overcome his requirement for my size even as I keep aging...
For my creator, I am an obsession. Since last 42 years, he
has owned me completely. The amount of sunlight I should get, the amount of
water I should get, the kind of soil I need to be kept in, the kind of micro-nutrients
I should be given - he monitors everything. Each of my parts has been examined
closely since my birth every week. My stem is measured for its girth. My leaves
for their breadth. My roots for their length. My leaves need to be small. They
need to be in proportion to my small body. As they grow, they are cut. I am
allowed to have only as many mini-leaves as they are needed to give me a little
canopy with the look of an old tree.
My visitors are now looking at my small but perfectly
developed shoots growing from my branches, seeking the ground. One of the
reasons I am called a masterpiece is this growth of these perfect shoots on my
body which make me look like an aged banyan. My creator has tricks you see. He
keeps spraying water on my shoots and confines them in straws. He keeps small
pots of water at my base to deceive my shoots to grow towards them. He has his
tricks, he knows how to manipulate the nature in me.
I am not allowed to grow branches any which way I want. They
are cut periodically. My branches tend to grow wider, but my creator often
experiments with them. He loves to mold them and grow them in a shape he likes.
He has changed their direction of growing so many times. Do you know how he
does that? He has these special wires. Highly flexible but strong wires. He winds
them spirally around my branches and molds them with the wires. This must
happen when my branches are young, and my stem is softer. Then my branches
remain confined to the shape of the wires. Sometimes he leaves the wires on my
body for so long, that my tissue grows around the wires. Every time this
happens, my tissue is scarred. I wonder if these people who are looking at me
so closely right now – are they seeing these spiral scars at the base of my branches?
Do they know that this unnatural wavy shape in which my branch has grown is a
result of tight wiring and twisting of my branch for over an year?
My roots are a particularly problematic part of me for my
creator. I am a banyan tree and I am
That is why all these people come here to this exhibition of
bonsai trees. Where hundreds of trees like me are kept. Some of them are older
than me. Trees of various species, various categories. All resembling their grown-up
versions, just in a miniature form.
In the world of humans, I know, bonsai tree making is
considered an art form. My creator calls himself an artist of trees, a
craftsman. He displays me with so much pride, his prized possession and they
all congratulate him for his achievement!
Really… can none of them see us beyond their childish sense
of wonder? Most of them see us as if they are seeing a toy, just a miniature
version of something big… and they get excited! This senseless excitement of
theirs brings them to such exhibitions and acts as incentive for many to keep a
bonsai tree as a showpiece. That in turn promotes this whole business of bonsai
tree making…
Humans look at the extreme chopping, pruning, even root
reduction used to make a bonsai tree as attention given to the trees. They look
at the branch twisting of trees with tight wires as artful shaping of the
trees. They look at precise monitoring of light, soil and water given to the
trees as knowledge applied to keep the tree healthy, instead of knowledge used
to manage the tree’s growth. Is this their definition of “care”?
Can none of them see the life inside us – dying to burst
free – yet not allowed to do so? We are not even allowed to die for hundreds of
years, just kept alive in an artificially shaped, tortured body form standing
inside shallow containers! Can they not see that we are a living, breathing
life and it is cruel to treat us this way?
It is unnatural to not allow life to be the way it is
supposed to be… can the human mind not understand this basic truth? Or could it be that humans have made a bonsai of their
conscience and human consciousness as well – not allowing it to grow fully,
keeping it at a level convenient for them? If that is a case, then probably
such humans are more unfortunate than us - the bonsai trees!!!
