The tree will live on and on

There is a beautiful anjeer (fig) tree outside our building compound, which shades my bedroom from direct sunlight. It is a delight to wake up every morning and see this tree the first thing in the morning. Its speciality is it bears fruits throughout the year and is in full bloom in winter and leafless in spring. It provides non-stop food supply for the squirrels and the assorted birds around. About a year back a nutcase almost got this tree cut. He had encroached the land around the tree and was afraid some monsoon it may not withstand the strong wind and fall on his roof. They did cut a lot of branches on his side and when they started chopping on our side my mom saw what was happening and went down and stopped them from cutting the tree. Some feisty lady she is.

Since then the branches have grown a lot on our side and now they touch our window; to my delight! Only problem, when there is good amount of breeze, one particular branch keeps hitting on the tin shade we have on our window to keep the rain out. The thing is it is not possible to sleep when it does that due to the noise it makes. And second, during the monsoon with the wind always strong the branch will continuously hammer the shade and might break it. So we thought we will have a tiny part of the branch cut and asked folks living on the first floor to refer a tree cutter. We live on the second floor.

To our horror they suggested we cut all the branches down to the trunk, so that the problem is solved forever. My ma told them it’s not required; we just want to cut the tiniest part possible. But the psycho kept trying to convince her to cut the entire tree and leave the stump (probably as a reminder of the destruction we humans are capable of). As if that is not enough the jokers who make our neighbours want to have another tree chopped. Reason! Dried leaves from the tree fall on the terrace and make kachra. Someone’s got to tell them the only being that litters this planet is humans. I totally fail to understand the enthusiasm people have for chopping off trees. What will it take for humans to start seeing sense? Complete desertisation?

"Tujhe akele kaam karne mein bore nahi hota hai?" she asks me every time I talk to her. My answer always is no. When I am working alone I don't have to put up an act. I don't have to tolerate people I don't want to. Nobody tries to put me down. No smart asses to deal with. No interruptions. No bitching. No games. No more cacophony of mindless words.

Music...Silence...thoughts...peace

How could I not love my own company?