Trees that tell a story!

One of the things that fascinates me when I visit new places is to look out for old tress on the wayside, in the park, or gardens or in the farm land. 

Since we started living in our cottage eleven years ago, we had to cut nearly seventy trees which grew to cover the land area with thick foliage, not allowing other vegetations to grow in the land. These were trees which normally had a life span of about twenty years, after which they are usually cut for using them for timber. Their trunks will show signs of hollowing in the centre. I remember most of the trees had already shown early signs of disintegration. 

That is not the story of some other trees, Teak, Oak, Eucalyptus, Berch, Banyan, Peepal etc. They are trans-generational trees. 

The environmentalists have often lobbied to protect such trees especially if they are flourishing in public or historic places. 

While visiting this city, I took time to get a glimpse of the trees on the road sides. Those trees carry a history of hundred or more years. 

An elderly gentleman who saw me take pictures asked me about my interest in old trees. I told him, that I am at mid seventies, and I am looking for trees older than me. He laughed and said that most the of the trees on the road side are older than him. He happened to be in his early nineties. He was working in his garden when he initiated this conversation. He had an interesting comment to make, after the initial pleasantries. We need to have respect for trees, because they make our environment conducive for humans and avians. He pointed to the nests in a tall tree and said, for years birds use the trees as their home. 

I remember a visit I made in the mid eighties to the Asha Kiran Hospital in Lamptaput. The barren land that was bought for hospital, had plenty of saplings planted to make it look like a tribal belt to make people feel a home. During my last visit to the hospital which was fifteen years  ago, I found the hospital buildings hidden amidst a wide range of trees and shrubs. The mango trees, pepper, banana and the vegetable and floral gardens gave a feeling of a place created for wellness and environmental preservation. 

What spoke to me as I was returning, was the silent presence of these trees, giving shelter and breathing out oxygen. They are not watered or manured or given any particular protection. They grow from what the earth and rain provide. They take only as much as they need and they give abundantly. When a tree is felled for some reason or other, its timber continue its history of presence as furniture or roof for buildings! 

The quiet presence, but full of giving habit!

Our presence in our homes and work place is for self-giving!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)