The reflections of a banyan tree:

                                         

I am a unique tree and do not depend upon a second or third generation for support. I am proud to stand on my own feet and numerous hands – the aerial prop roots. In fact, it is a rare sight to come face to face with me – not many of us are around and an eyeful even if I am the only tree within a radius of few kilometers. My philosophy is simple - “I am the then, now and the future”.

I do not know when my feet,  first, touched the earth, most probably a crack in the wall of an abandoned fortress, or a residential building or a crevice in the trunk of a tree. I am cursed by the host tree when it becomes a ghost – my strangle hold is powerful. 

Sometimes, the sapling gets pulled out from the residential walls, but I fear no such aggression from the derelict fortress. Rather it openly welcomes me to camouflage its wounds with greenery, feeling comfortable in my solid presence – root, trunk, branches and aerial props.

I am in  no hurry to sprout, shoot, spread and wither. Like the tortoise, I live on a slow heart- beat, as far as longevity is concerned, for a few centuries! But it must have been 5 to 10 years before I could get a peek at my immediate surroundings. Subsequently, the appearance of the whiskers of aerial roots heralded my puberty.

Now, you may wonder why I bear innumerable fruits packed with a handful of seeds packed in every one of them. May be in the hope that a healthy seed dispersed, far away from my towering presence, might start its own ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’! For the sake of that one seed, I have to feed hundreds of birds, who visit my hermitage as guests.

Don’t mistake me for the other type of hermitage where sages live, guide and contemplate on life “now” and the “herein after”. Surely, one of them must have told this story of a weary traveler, who stayed a brief while, to rest under my shade. 

He had this doubt – “why such a small fruit on a big banyan tree?” He got the answer when he woke up with a start from his slumber. The reason - a tiny fruit falling on him causing a sharp pain. Had it been a fruit the size of a coconut, what would have happened to me? So went the story and enlightenment.

The mirthful children hanging onto my aerial roots and swinging to heart’s content gives me pleasure. Any religious rites you perform, don’t you use dry banyan twigs to seek the blessings of god Agni? Don't forget this - dry or green , my tender twigs helped you to keep your teeth & gum in good health. Coming closer to home, my green or dried leaves became the bio-degradable,hygenic plates from which elders and ascetics ate their frugal meals.

Inspite of all my outreach to the humanity, I lead a lonely life amidst other flora. Come and experience the soothing silence and get rejuvenated. The countless birds darting among the leaves and branches will keep you tuned to nature.

Now, I have a request to make. As you admire my majestic appearance, from a distance, will you leave me enough space; say a few acres of land in which I could spend my entire life?