Flowering trees and rhythm of nature

There are some seasonal experiences which strike one's attention. Most of the fruit bearing trees, which bear fruits in summer, like Mango, jackfruit, cashew nut, etc are full bloom in our village now. This ushers in a new season climatically and ecologically in  this part of Kerala. 

The rainy spell will be on the decline soon and many more birds from other places would arrive to feed on the fruits and for mating. Already, there is a cacophony that wakes us up in the morning. We spot birds which we are seeing for the first time in our compound. This adds even more colour to the sights and scenes.

This reminds me of my childhood. I grew up in this farm which had a collection of many fruit bearing trees, banana plantation, paddy fields, cows, etc. I offered to milk the cows and pluck the fruits from the trees during the school summer vacation. It was a respite for my parents and helped them to have a short holiday to visit their parents who lived about 150 kilometres away. The farm workers kept the farm and made it a special place for our neighbours to get some experience in farming.   

Now Anna and I are back in the same farm without any of these demands of a farm. There is practically no labourers available to work in the farm as most people in the rural setting have moved up socially to be engaged in income generating projects or in self employment or in white collared jobs. 

Many things have changed here since my childhood. But the trees still blossom, birds still come to spend their winter and summer and the rural folks live in harmony with nature.

To me, the blossoms in the trees is an announcement of permanency of the rhythm in nature. This is inherent to nature that it should make us grateful to all those who honour the rhythm of nature and till and sow the ground indue season in the hope of  receiving the yield on time. They do it to nurture  their families and others. They give away their time and skills to honour the rhythm of life in nature. 

An elderly person in his eighties, who dropped in to greet us, said that 'during their time they tilled the land for pleasure and living, now people exploit the land for profiting, disregarding our responsibility to preserve it for the future'. 

There is a need to pause and reflect on our role to leave the land space better than when we occupied it, as we are stewards accountable to God and people who follow after us.

Anna and I were able to plant about 200 plants in our courtyard in the last two months, some of which are already in blossoms. This took little efforts, but brought much joy to us. All of us can join in to foster the rhythm of nature, in our own way, That is how we continue the tradition Adam and Eve initiated.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)