Out of million species in the world, only Human beings are capable to even surprise their own maker. Sometimes, we can be a painful ass and sometimes we can show mercy even in critical situations. Emotions are so much complex, that it can’t be theorized nor it can be defined. We are capable of war as well as creating poems.
We humans, can be quite opinionated, although we say that we modern people are open minded, but the truth is that all of us are fixed built. And sometimes all it takes is an incident that can change all our perspective.
I live in a typical colony where many people live together. Not in same house but in houses close to one another, you can say that its a close knit colony. There are some 30 odd numbers houses in our colony and everyone knew each other. Each person knew more about their neighbors than their own relatives, or at least think they know each other.
In few occasions, our colony organizes events where many of the us take part. Both old and new generation contribute making the event entertained. On one such occasion, there was an incident that changed the way I look at things.
It was the time when monsoon has just ended, leaving all the trees lush green. The temperature is smoothing, sometimes moist cold winds reminded us that monsoon just ended. In our colony, the houses are clustered side by side with small roads in front every house and beside 10 house, there is a field. There are two fields in our colony. One large another small. In front of almost all the houses there is a tree.
The last shower that the monsoon has brought left a big tree somewhat tilted. It has leaned in the middle of the field and it looked like that it wanted to see whats goes in the field. But it has somewhat made many of the young guys agitated as it has blocked some parts of the field. The field which they play every day religiously.
A few days has passed, and our society committee has started to discuss what is to be done to that tree. To make the matter interesting an occasion is about to come and most of our events takes in that field. There were a group of people who were of the opinion to cut the tree down and one group who opposed it.
The tree which I am talking about is a neem tree. It is situated 13 building after my house. It is not quiet a big tree, but its branches has spread a quite a bit, making it look like a short but spreader umbrella. Cutting down a tree is something which is quiet common now a days, so why is it that some people will oppose it, this was something which was bothering me. And the most unusual thing was that the people who were opposing the decision of cutting down the tree, were not the kind of people who gives a rat about these kind of things. So it really made me curious.
Our society is a middle class society. Most of them are normal day to day worker who are least concerned about nature or anything other than spicy gossips. Often a times I have heard from few of them, that how great would be to cut down the tree, as often a times, crows has been pooping in their car or there are always leafs in front of their house.
Then why! Why all of a sudden they are so against cutting the tree. I decided to take a stroll in front of the tree and scoped the tree couple of times, trying to find out what so special about this tree. Didn’t find anything.
The event was coming really close and the tree was blocking some part of the park, making it difficult to built the tent. So, some action has to be taken. Then finally, the day came for action, some of the committee along with local municipal authority came with axe to cut down the tree. It was Sunday, so most of the people were present in the colony.
Suddenly there were some commotion and the two parties were having heated argument. I couldn’t hear much as there were a good crowd in front of me. Though my inquisition was high, but couldn’t hear what was going on. After an hour the arguments closed and it was decided that the event would take place in the small field this time and the tree has to be trimmed and local governing body has to be informed to make the tree straight again.
Although the matter settled but my questions were unanswered. Next day I woke up early in the morning and went for a walk. I found few of the people who were opposing the decision of cutting down the tree were having conversion. Though I was younger than most of them by large, but I decided to join their conversation. I asked them why did they do it.
The answers that they gave me were quite unexpected. Our colony is an old colony, most of the trees are quite old. Most of them gave me lecture about how global warming and pollution has affected our climate. Some of them expressed that due to less tree in metros, we might all have various diseases. But after a while they started to loosen up. They started to tell their old stories of how when they were kids they use to play around this tree, some of them have carved their loved ones names in the tree as a memento, how one of them use to meet his lover behind this tree, how the swing in the tree helps their children happy, and many more stories.
After hearing all their stories I was really shocked. Shocked to find out that a person who on a normal day would scold because you have broken his tub, could meet his lover behind a tree, how a person who would normally not talk to most of the people in the colony, could climb a tree to call his friends for playing, how a government officer could take a leak every time when he use to return from his late cochin classes.
Their stories taught me to value small things of life and how small things comprises larger values. The beauty of childhood is that we are not judged in every action. We are not concerned about other people opinion. Our children of this generation are all modern and civilised, they are more advance than their previous generation. All the time they are surrounded by gadgets. Their patents are all busy making them smart and modern. But they are missing the most important aspect, their Childhood.
The hero is the story is not just one person, but the bunch of people who stopped cutting down the tree. They have inadvertently saved multiple memories of next generation.
parijanam 