Sitting on the wooden bench outside Murari, under a rain tree, the fellow in unstarched dhoti and jibba with a face and eyes housing more lines than me has ever put on paper, was sipping chai from a glass; a sip, a thought, a sip, a forgetting before backing to the chai.., maybe, the chai was enjoying the fellow ... me did not probe or the few crooked lines of rains ... came home, settled into sofas; with kapi, Rama and me talked trees, this morning. Of trees Rama grew up.... at school, St. Anthony' Girls High School in Alleppey of no cars and no mobiles, grew an Ilangi maram and mango trees, the scrambles when they fruited... and they talked to Rama and her friends.. of birds nesting in them and of times when humans prayed to trees more than gods; of that fine tradition of kavus. Growing up in 34B Lake Temple Road, Calcutta-26, me had a friend in a neem tree outside the window; with Horlicks or Ovaltine (coffee was banned), me sat quietly with the tree and chatted; sometimes crows and sparrows dropped from the branches for biscuit crumbs; and the wide circle of thick, brown tamarind trees (me am not sure) in one corner of the Maidan; every day me went and touched them, sometimes they turned dreams; when upset by class teachers for not doing home work, me would complain to the clump and feel happy. Do not know whether they are around but they pop up in sleep; more in afternoon snooze. Many trees on Link Road me was friends with on walks are no more; most have gone to widening and extension of Link Road as without development life cannot be; downing trees for roads and cars; never got this logic but there it is; in serene IC Colony, cars go round trees with footpads; remember a jamun and tamarind, of many clocks, with birds and seeds; yet, some still are around; the couple of rain trees on Karuna Road with fruit bats upside down and the many-beamed banyan outside the Karuna Hospital; the silk cotton tree on LIC Road; on mornings to Vazira Ganesh temple, stands a peepal; a tree never sits or lies down; a lady lights a diya every morning, prays and walks round before turning to gods; Rama and me follow; there is also a banyan near Lord Ganesh; the faithful put their heads to its trunk. For sure, the peepal and banyan will be there forever; till gods are; as none chops a peepal and a banyan in a temple; peepal and banyans are Brahmins.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Trees
Sitting on the wooden bench outside Murari, under a rain tree, the fellow in unstarched dhoti and jibba with a face and eyes housing more lines than me has ever put on paper, was sipping chai from a glass; a sip, a thought, a sip, a forgetting before backing to the chai.., maybe, the chai was enjoying the fellow ... me did not probe or the few crooked lines of rains ... came home, settled into sofas; with kapi, Rama and me talked trees, this morning. Of trees Rama grew up.... at school, St. Anthony' Girls High School in Alleppey of no cars and no mobiles, grew an Ilangi maram and mango trees, the scrambles when they fruited... and they talked to Rama and her friends.. of birds nesting in them and of times when humans prayed to trees more than gods; of that fine tradition of kavus. Growing up in 34B Lake Temple Road, Calcutta-26, me had a friend in a neem tree outside the window; with Horlicks or Ovaltine (coffee was banned), me sat quietly with the tree and chatted; sometimes crows and sparrows dropped from the branches for biscuit crumbs; and the wide circle of thick, brown tamarind trees (me am not sure) in one corner of the Maidan; every day me went and touched them, sometimes they turned dreams; when upset by class teachers for not doing home work, me would complain to the clump and feel happy. Do not know whether they are around but they pop up in sleep; more in afternoon snooze. Many trees on Link Road me was friends with on walks are no more; most have gone to widening and extension of Link Road as without development life cannot be; downing trees for roads and cars; never got this logic but there it is; in serene IC Colony, cars go round trees with footpads; remember a jamun and tamarind, of many clocks, with birds and seeds; yet, some still are around; the couple of rain trees on Karuna Road with fruit bats upside down and the many-beamed banyan outside the Karuna Hospital; the silk cotton tree on LIC Road; on mornings to Vazira Ganesh temple, stands a peepal; a tree never sits or lies down; a lady lights a diya every morning, prays and walks round before turning to gods; Rama and me follow; there is also a banyan near Lord Ganesh; the faithful put their heads to its trunk. For sure, the peepal and banyan will be there forever; till gods are; as none chops a peepal and a banyan in a temple; peepal and banyans are Brahmins.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment