It’s where you place yourself

Priya S Tandon

I had an opportunity to take a walk in the precincts of the UT guest-house and was intrigued to see a peepal tree growing on the trunk of a gulmohar tree. I stared at it, trying to absorb what I thought was a miracle; a lesson on how everything in nature is in harmony. A gardener came by and said, ‘Madam, this is nothing! Come with me, I will show you something even more spectacular!’

A few yards away, I saw myself staring at the dead trunk of a tree. It had a peepal growing atop, merrily swaying in the cool morning breeze. He said, ‘Madam, the top of this tree broke off in a storm. Sometime later, a peepal sprouted on the top. I stared at the 10-ft-high trunk, with a 2-ft peepal atop it, bobbing its head merrily at me. And I thought, ‘Wow! Peepal is a tree we worship and here it has manifested on the trunk of a live gulmohar and on this dead tree trunk… nature never fails to mesmerise me!’

Back home, I was overseeing some renovation work on the rooftop. We have had a spot in our lobby that inevitably leaks in every monsoon. That being done, the problem remains.

Today, I had at my disposal a mason. I noticed a few small peepal plants growing on the terrace. On a hunch, I told the mason to break the tiles on the terrace around one innocent looking peepal plant that was no more than 6 inches tall. What lay before my eyes was a big fat tap root, the size of an egg along with hundreds of thin roots spread like a network of sorts. The entire area under the tiles was soaked. A veritable reservoir of moisture! We removed all the roots and poured mustard oil and salt into the cavity. Cement plaster and some tiles were laid down to do a closing ceremony.

That being done, I felt a huge sense of achievement at having gotten to the root of the problem, literally. As I discarded the tiny saplings of peepal, the stark contrast in my mind came to the fore. Merely two days back, I had marvelled at the versatility of the peepal tree and its ability to grow in the most trying circumstances. Today, I was clearing my terrace of all traces of the peepal saplings.

Then it struck me! It is where the peepal had placed itself that determined the value accorded to it. A peepal tree in a temple is worshipped and revered. On a dead trunk, amidst lush green lawns, it was a subject of wonder. On the terrace, it posed a threat to my home, so I had to remove it, roots and all.

Placement matters! Surroundings matter! Place yourself where you are valued, otherwise you too may end up with a fate akin to the peepal on my terrace.