A bushy tree that yields at least four season of crops of fruit went unnoticed during our stay at our cottage for the whole year since we arrived here. Yesterday, Anna decided to pluck some of them and process them to make jelly.
The fruit, Water Apple or Bell fruit , is often found in bunches of five or six, pink in colour when ripe and has a rectangular opening in the centre, which attracts ants to feed on them. It has a watery taste, which is why it is called water apple. Children normally like its colour, shape and size, but not its taste. So the fruits would remain on the trees unharvested. They drop to the ground finally and even birds do not feed on them.
It is one fruit bearing tree that does not receive any attention in the garden. It happened to be there and would go often unnoticed till the colourful fruits appear on three or four occasions in a year. The banana tree, wine, papaya tree, coconut trees, etc receive much attention. They are manured and watered regularly.
Each of us fulfils a role and function, wherever we are positioned. Some of us get noticed and some others do not. However that is not what shall determine the usefulness of our presence or contribution. Others view us from their optic of how much we are useful to them. Even the water apple is useful to the ants.
Let all of us believe that we are unique and God is fashioning us to a role which no one can substitute!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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