Poems written upon the sky
By K S S Pillai
When I observe several birds flying at twilight high in the sky in battle formation to the sprawling trees beyond, making raucous sounds now and then, I feel assured that there is nothing seriously amiss in the world.
Trees are considered sacred, and cutting them down has always been considered an act of destruction. Our country had the unique distinction of the Chipko movement against deforestation, when men and women hugged trees and wrapped their arms around them when they were about to be cut.
We come across frequent reports of protests when trees are going to be felled for the so-called development. Construction of highways through mountains and forests has been stopped indefinitely, as many trees came in their way. That is also the case with the widening of roads or other construction activities involving the removal of trees.
Trees are thought to symbolise life, growth, strength, fertility, and divinity and are associated with specific gods and goddesses. Different religions have sacred trees with symbolic meanings and rituals. Righteous people are often compared to strong, fruit-bearing trees.
One religion says that if a follower plants a tree and a human being or an animal eats of it, he will be rewarded. Planting a tree is considered a charity with rewards even after death, as long as others benefit from it. All religions ask their followers to treat trees respectfully and not harm them.
I grew up in a Kerala village, where most families had compounds. All houses were thatched with coconut leaves, replaced with seasoned new ones every year, with the enthusiastic participation of neighbours. While the males worked on the thatch, the women were busy preparing food for all.
Each compound had several coconut trees, bearing coconuts and other materials used in the hearths on which families cooked food. There were also native mango trees of different varieties. While enjoying the fresh mangoes, they also preserved some in salt water in big Chinese jars for the entire year. There was also at least one cashew tree far from the house, as its roots could travel far and damage the buildings.
The vacations came during the mango and cashew seasons. Every village had a family of traditional tree-climbers. Their male members visited each house, carrying a long bamboo ladder on their bare shoulders to harvest coconuts.
They would also harvest a few tender coconuts that contained sweet water and a thin layer of sweet coconut along with dry leaves, spathes, flower stalks and other parts. The spines of coconut leaflets were also used to make brooms.
Children would spend most of their time under the cashew trees. Some would tie a swing from a low branch to spend the hot afternoons collecting nuts from the fruits that fell in the strong wind. The women would start using the tender nuts to prepare dishes with coconut. As time passed, the trees would begin bearing colourful cashew apples with nuts at the end.
Children faced competition from crows and squirrels, who could even go to the very end of branches. As most of the trees were infested with red ants, children were prohibited from climbing them. They would then bring down the fruits by throwing stones and heavy twigs.
The sweet juice of the apples would be drunk, discarding the remnants and pocketing the nuts. The crows would fly to nearby coconut trees with fruits in their beaks and eat them at leisure. They would drop the half-eaten fruits with nuts to the ground. The children would frequently comb beneath the coconut trees to pick up the nuts.
The vendors visited every house with cashew trees to purchase cashew nuts and later sold them to the factories a little distance away. By selling the nuts, the children will have a considerable amount by the time schools reopened at the beginning of June.
Bats consumed the ripe fruits at night and dropped the dry remnants with nuts. The children would wake up before sunrise and search underneath the trees for the nuts in the light of kerosene lamps.
The trees are the first thing that comes to one’s mind while remembering one’s village. As Kahlil Gibran said, “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in many national and international publications)
