A tree near the window

NIRMALA HARIHARAN

A short holiday to my grandparent's home, a small village at the foot of the Western Ghats and I had decided that the window near my room should remain shut... for ever.

During my holiday, I spent most of my time wandering around gathering flowers or fruits, peering into ponds for fish or running behind squirrels. It was on one such evening, while I was chasing a butterfly across the field, that my cousin stopped me saying, "Don't go beyond the field. There are drumstick trees on the other side." I wondered how that mattered.

"What if there are drumstick trees there? We have one right behind our house," I said almost puffing with pride.

"Aah!" she exclaimed, her mouth agape and her fingers tapping her lips. "Don't you know that drumstick trees are the resting places of ghouls and ghosts? "she asked.

In a hushed tone she added, "Our old housemaid says they hang on its branches at night. At times they play and dance around it. They even spit on its leaves. Grandma never lets me go there."

I walked back pondering over what she had said.

On our return I resisted all attempts to open the window in my room. I spent several nights lying awake conjuring up images of the scene on the other side of the window. The shadow of the leaves on my window-pane made me sit up. I even felt a whistle- like sound coming from the tree.

Then one Sunday evening, I was working on a problem in Math when my mother said, "Mini, this boy says his kite is stuck on our ledge. Open the window and let him remove it."

Before I could do anything the rushed in and flung open the window. As he pounced on his kite I stood transfixed, staring at the tree. Pearls of white flowers covered its surface as though a crop of popcorns had suddenly sprung up. Little birds flew in, to dip their beaks into the flower and to rest on its branches. Bees, hovered, appearing to be unable to select one flower over the other. There were butterflies too, adding colour to the tree. It was like a showcase of nature's bounty.

"A tree that can feed and take care of so many creatures cannot hurt me," I said to myself. I realised I had a window to mother nature and I was not going to let it remain shut.

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