The Tree

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The Tree?
Some strip her skin and boil it
Others tear her leaves and crush them
Roast her pieces and boil them
Smear it on boils and soars
It’s healing for the skin
Some chew on her leaves
Eat her young buds raw, or fried with vegetables
It is good for health
Her green twigs are wrenched off to be chewed and spit out
It is great for the teeth
The physicians praise her virtues
The patriarch is pleased with her
He declares, let her be, she is good for the household
So she is not uprooted
But nor is she cherished
She stays in the backyard
Debris and garbage collect around her
Someone decorates her by paving her base in tiles
It is but another form of garbage
Then one day a new kind of man happened by
He looked at her with love light in his eyes
Did not tear, wrench, skin or break her, just admired her
Saying, How pretty the leaves, what beauty!
Look at that cluster of flowers,
As if a bunch of stars have descended from the blue sky to a green lake,
How lovely!
He stayed a while, admiring her, and then moved on
A poet, not a physician
The tree wanted to go away with him, but couldn’t
Her roots were too deep in this backyard
She stood there, forlorn, surrounded by garbage
Just like that efficient superwoman,
The lady of this house

Adapted from Banaful’s Neemgach
neem+tree_1boumahousewife

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Published by Wiseguy From The East

Soumya is an alumnus of St Stephens College and Delhi School of Economics where he was supposed to have studied Economics. He, however, did not let studies interfere with his education. Currently he earns his daily bhat mach by working for a PSU Insurance company, and lectures for peanuts. He is addicted to the printed word and has been devouring it since learning to read. In whatever time this leaves him he pursues his other passions, family, films, travel, food, trekking, wildlife, music, theater, and occasionally, writing. He has been published earlier in TOI, HT, Express, and other lesser known papers and magazines. He is currently trying to learn the ropes of tech challenged blogging. He has published what hopefully is his first of many novels, Memories, the hilarious nightmare of growing up and has a weekly humour column in different truths.

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8 Comments

  4. Once upon a time , there were trees
    And
    There was Man, the civilised man ,
    Who in his depraved intelligence removed the anchor, the symbol of Mankind–Roots
    Man always wanted ,from times immemorial, to hold dominion over all created things, to subdue nature, to degrade environmentally, ruthlessly wasteful in his attitude .
    Man knew trees have power to grow to life again, but the modern butcher in him
    pulled out the roots itself.
    It is said , ” to survive all men must hold hands ”
    “Sar santey rukh rahe to bhi sasto jan”
    As it was famously said.
    The soil, water, forests we have to protect
    “Forest is our mother, our life sustains on her, our spirituality is tied to the trees”
    Thats from a place I spent more time outdoors with the adivasis at Jharkhand, spellbound on seeing the indigenous trees like Mahua, Amla, Sal, a life changing experience to see the smile on the faces of children in these communities where their life is bound with Nature, unspoilt, untouched, green

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    Reply

      1. You are the julius ceasar
        of humour ,
        In what you see
        In what you put across in a simple lucid style
        In the minds you dwell

        Makes people want more

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