The Tree

I stopped my car as the signal turned red and simply out of habit, looked outside the window towards the junction where the three roads met…at him…

 ‘Oh no… you idiot, why do you keep thinking of it as if it’s a person… don’t you know a TREE is supposed to be an “It” not a “him”’ I chided myself for the hundredth time…

But then that is how I look at any tree. For me, it is never just “wood”, never just a static body that doesn’t move, never just a sensation-less piece to be treated as just a thing to be used… and then cut off if it was in the way…

For the past eight years or so that I drove on this road, I had formed a very special bond with him. I remember the first day I noticed him. I was stuck by awe with that giant size which he had reached. The first word that had come to my mind was – HUGE! Easily over 50 feet tall, the base of the tree was may be around 3 feet in diameter. I had often imagined hugging that large trunk – and thought I will not even cover half of it! From the base two branches sprouted and then grew upwards with pair of branches sprouting in perfect symmetry till top to form a beautiful and widest possible canopy of a lovely shade of green leaves. That green umbrella covered almost half of the road on one side and half of it spread towards the other side over a building compound. In summer that lush green canopy of leaves would get spotted with lovely pink feathery flowers. For a person who loved trees it formed a sight which caught their breath with its beauty!

I had often wondered about his age... 100, 150 or 200? How long does it take to reach that size? I am not a botanist, nor do I have any collected information on trees…  I did not even know what his species was called. But did that really matter? The day I noticed him, for me the connection was formed, it was may be love at first sight J

Each day as my car stopped at the signal, I looked at him and just soaked in the amazing perfection of him. He was such a beautiful expression of life. As I met him each day, I was reminded of how complete, self-sufficient and absolute life could be, in its truest form!

He had stood there year after year, always steady, bravely taking on the blazing heat of the Sun or the heavy batting from the wind or the sharp slaps of the rain… One just had to pay attention to the mesmerizing changes he went through as the seasons changed to see the miracle of nature right there in front of their eyes! The way the leaves changed color, the way the flowers bloomed…

He inspired me to persevere, no matter what changes life brought to you. He inspired me to be self-sufficient and giving. The way he offered shelter to hundreds of birds… the way the squirrels played on his branches… the way he would give cover to anyone who stood below his canopy, and protected them from heavy rains or blazing afternoon Sun. He inspired me to blossom under life’s harshest conditions. He inspired me to be one with the world and yet never lose my true-self, even if the world around continued to evolve. He inspired me to be whole, complete and perfect!

That day, as I looked at him, I noticed that someone had tied a rope around his trunk. Frowning over what that was… my gaze roamed from the base towards his branches and just froze in stunned disbelief…. My beautiful tree was cut!! All his branches towards the side of the road were cut at their base…. That amazing perfectly symmetrical canopy was totally deformed, ruthlessly axed…

My mind screamed in denial… this could not have happened, this is not acceptable! Who did this? Why did they do this? How could they do this?

Whoever put an axe to his branches, did they just not look at him? Whoever ordered to cut him, did they not even think twice? What was his fault – that he had spread himself over a busy road? Did they not realize that he was nature’s perfect creation over hundreds of years, which no one had a right to destroy in an hour!

Somehow I managed to move my car ahead as the vehicles behind started honking, but tears of rage and frustration kept rolling down my eyes.

Each day now, I still do visit him each day. Each time I look at him, my emotions rise in chaos. I feel ashamed for being part of the species which has conquered this earth for themselves with no consideration for other forms of life around them. I feel frustration, for the authorities who are not being diligent enough before ordering cutting of all trees along the road. I feel rage for the sheer manipulation of these municipal officers in charge who cut off each and every branch of a tree just leaving their trunks standing on the road as the so called law prohibits them cutting of the trees but not the branches.

But then – as I looked at him today – instead of feeling the piercing hurt in my heart, I smiled. I saw there are new leaves growing on his branches which are cut. I realized that now with the rains these new small branches will cover the large branch which is cut off. Life finds a way to flourish and grow. He is a perfect form of a complete life and I know he will not give up. I know he will conquer and I know he will continue to inspire me for years to come….

Just that, now each day, I also keep praying that he stays safe from the humanity and will not get completely chopped off one day… if that day ever comes, my trust in that word will be destroyed forever….