How do I save my tree?
Somebody sang 'everybody knows the dice are loaded' but forgot to set his strings on how to play the game. A general knew the fight was fixed but pushed his men to the battle line. Some old fellow taught life is tough but that is no reason why one should lie down and die. He hanged himself.
A middle class moron mumbles the poor stay poor the rich get rich and builds castles in the air. A liberated woman can't imagine getting married without knowing a man. So she sleeps with too many of them. A man won't tolerate his wife smiling at any other male but him. He laughs under any woman's skirt. A brother kills a sister for honour when she is found to be in love. He rapes a girl and leaves her to die a slow death.
Doberman gets the feed all right; old man is left to rot in a help age home. Dear mom plays kitty to cool off at parties; baby cries lullaby to itself and hits the bed. Man and woman live-in to get familiar but stop short of making family. Anandan studies hard, flies to
The government wants dams and tells people be damned. The people want their houses back but are driven to the jungles to strike back as militants. Rice godowns feed rats fat; the poor lap up mango gruel and farmers treat themselves to poison.
Ram and Rahim are breaking bread together after a hard day's work; a madman stabs one of them and cries murder. An old man calls God in the dark as he straightens his back on the pavement; a wealthy brat, high on spirit, drives on him, flat.
Time to look up. But how many times must a man look up before he sees the sky? As many times as there are stars. Do not be cowed down by the sky's limitless expanse. Keep counting the stars, the twinkling lights, and you will see your sky.
Not all are saints and great souls. But all can help. Some are as daring as to stand by a tree ready to face the chopper; some plant a sapling for every branch that is felled. To each his own tree.
© urmishree bedamatta (2007)., all rights reserved.
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