The Gulmohar Tree

Last week was a sad day for me!
The kitchen window in our flat opens out to a square plot of land, which housed the corporation’s water pumping station. The pump was on one side of the plot and the rest of the plot usually remained empty, to be used by the corporation sweepers to park their “koora” removal vans. It also served as a dumping ground for all sorts of wastes like broken water closets, door frames, iron gates, etc which may have been generated in the course of the municipal corporation repairing some public offices somewhere. It may have even been kept by some scrap dealer who probably used the government space as his own. I agree with you certainly on the fact that if one’s kitchen window, or any other window for that matter, opened to a view like the one I described just now, it would not be a pleasant thing for the residents of the flat. Who wants to have a junkyard right in front of their house, worse still having to see it every time the window was opened?

However, there’s a bright side to everything and the bright part of the window opening into an open space is the Gulmohar tree!! It stands right outside the boundary wall that runs all along this patch of land and which signifies the Kolkata Corporation’s right on this plot of litter! It is almost as if the tree wants to be independent, not wanting to be associated with either the filth of the politicians who run the corporation or with the filth that lies spread on the land for days together. The stout trunk stands ram-rod straight with minimum of bends finally culminating into a flurry of branches that spread like a wide canopy. The leaves of this tree are small and shaped like small elliptical green buttons. They are numerous and spreads like a green carpet on the top, giving the canopy a green colour. It is probably because of this thick growth of foliage that the tree is able to provide shade. Indeed this tree is known for this ability and used to be planted along the sides of the road in the past, mainly to provide shade to the weary travellers. Today it is usually grown in the cities to add much needed colour and vibrancy to the surroundings.

Discovered by a botanist from Madagascar, Wensel Bojer, in the early 19th century, this tree has come to become famous for its colourful flowers and has gained fame as the world’s most colourful tree. In full bloom, the tree is a sight to behold. The flowers are a mix of orange and red in colour and are so numerous that when the tree is in bloom its as if someone has hung a bright colourful cloth up in the sky. Its an artist’s delight and given the fact that it blooms during spring, the very sight of the tree lifts up the spirit a notch higher. So many times have I looked out of the window and “Poof”-the laziness, that feeling of being low, has simply vanished into thin air. The colours that one gets to see are also varied and dependant on the seasons. In spring time, the tree is a shade of bright orange-red. In summer/monsoon when the rains have start, it’s the leaves that one has to behold as they are lush and green. When its time for autumn, the leaves turn yellow and they fall down on the road below. At that time the colourful carpet is brought down to the ground and it is bright yellow in colour. Wordsworth must have felt the same when he saw a colourful rainbow and wrote those famous line-

“My heart leaps up, when I behold,

A rainbow in the sky.”

The tree obliterates those negative and depressing feeling as soon as the kitchen window is opened and the eyes fall on all that filth lying directly below. One has to just lift one’s eyes and take in that proud colourful beauty, standing in full bloom. Despite the strong gust of wind that threatens to douse the flame of the gas stove, I am reluctant to close the window to block the sight of this beautiful tree. It makes the short visits to the kitchen filled with joy and happiness.

Alas, this happiness would be short-lived! I realised last week that the Corporation had decided to clear out the empty space of all the rubbish and erect a multi-storied office complex in that plot of land. This is going to block the view from the kitchen window! I will not be able to see the Gulmohar tree any longer. I would not be able to watch the tree changing colour with the season; only the drab walls of an office with paints peeling out due to ravages of nature.

If this is what a “shining India” is all about, I would rather prefer to be a part of a darker, less developed India!