If I were to be something else tree I would be Devdar or a mighty oak Standing tall on the mountain slopes My roots be spread far and deep Entwined with the others near me Holding tight to the soil, Rocks and water As would be my branches Shooting up to the sky... Bare and naked in autumn and winter Shedding all that I have Carpet of brown leaves beneath On which I walk carefully In another world Where I don this human form In the other months The branches lush green with foliage Allowing the sun to sprinkle itself From between to reach the ground As I sit under, In my human form, I capture the magic of light and shade... Nothing lasts forever and fade we must Mightiest of trees also go... So when time comes let me fall silently On a dark monsoon night Fall such that the path is not blocked That me in my human form can still walk past on The hike to the jungles And occasionally rest on me for a while As I tie my shoe lace. A moment saved forever A tree (that's me) si
I visit a mango orchard in Uttar Pradesh--my birth state. Almost all, but a few trees had been harvested. They stood still, exhausted but happy after a bumper crop. The few which still bore the almost ripe chausa mango appear like a woman in full term. The fragrance of the leaves, the scent of the ripeness still on trees reach me with the light breeze caressing my being, all of it intoxicating. I am transported to my childhood home in Kanpur. We lived in a huge 3-storey house built by my grandfather. He had a green thumb and an immense love for fruiting trees. One because he loved fruits and two because he loved to light a fire each night during winter months, in our cozy fireplace and needed firewood. Our house had a mini orchard. There were 5 mango trees, 4 lemon trees of different varieties, 1 pomegranate, 1 sweet lime, a chandan tree and a neem tree. A bougainvillea shrub, 2 gulmohar trees, 2 ashoka trees, chameli, kamini , lilies, roses, and bela . . .. Once in a whil