..
Rain, the elixir of life! There is an abundance of water, greenery, and life. The dry and dehydrated trees in summer get revived by quenching their thirst on this elixir.
Oh, what greenery! The atmosphere is colored with all hues and shades of green that is pacifying and cooling to the eyes. Birds flock and frolic on the trees chirping and cooing. Flowering trees blooming with colors of the rainbow adorn streets and housing complexes. While forests may boast of and revel in the eternal, thick foliage and flora, cities have a different story to tell!
The ultra-modern cities face severe waterlogging due to clogging of the drains caused by the falling leaves and branches in rain and storm. Trees are the lungs of the city. But these trees and their foliage pose a danger to houses and people. The branches like a naughty child dare to enter through the windows, bang on the roof and walls, and crawling species tend to be an unwelcome guest. Hacking them is the only option!
Everyone has their own cozy corner in the house. I too have mine in the balcony. Yesterday, I sat there with my cup of coffee admiring the opulence of the Gulmohar tree. Its branches falling all over my roof, a vivid floral canopy, and caressing the smoothness of the petals of its bright red flowers which had dared to enter my window. Felt like paradise!
Today, it’s paradise lost! Within a day all is lost. There was absolute mayhem in the afternoon. The opulence of the trees was looted. All the trees surrounding my building are bereft of its branches and foliage. I sadly looked at the freshly axed tree standing helplessly and appallingly amputated, devoid of its treasure. I felt lost. I couldn’t find the branches and flowers with which I had developed a friendly bond. The birds too seemed lost looking for their nests and their familiar branches to sit and coo. Their chirping too sounds melancholic.
Today I sit here at my usual place with my usual cup of coffee but watch an unusual sight of the amputated tree with a sigh and wonder at the uncertainty of life and how ephemeral certain experiences in life are!
Was this, mindful or mindless hacking? The tree stands amputated, bereft of its abundance, while I stand burdened with an abundance of grief and regret.
Aren’t we too amputees to some extent? Haven’t we too lost something or someone in life that defines us, supports us, completes us? We have been amputated of people due to death, relations due to misunderstandings, good health due to wrong lifestyles, joy and peace due to stressful life, feelings and emotions due to selfish tendencies and an unsatiable hunger for materialism.
The tree will grow back its branches but will we get back what we have lost? I stifle a sob, sigh, and wipe a tear…
mynirvanablog 