The Parijat Tree

- October 19, 2020

It is a bright Sunday morning. Little Shinu gets up and opens the door to balcony which is next to her bedroom. She starts her day with greeting a Parijat tree that grows just below their first floor apartment. She looks at the tree and cries out, “Why does it look so horrible? Mummy, who did that?” Her parents rushes to the spot. Shinu is right. The tree is chopped short; it looks awful. Her father gives a call to Salim, the gardener, who is working at a distance with the red lawnmower. “Salim, have you cut the tree short?” Salim looks at the tree and answers, “Yes sir, I did it last evening. I trim all trees in the park before winter so they can grow well during spring. You will see that the Parijat tree will reward us flowers in the coming autumn.”

Shinu, being just five-year old, does not know when it will be autumn. “When will it be, Papa?” Father chuckles at her sad face. He bends down and pats her, “Not very far, my dear, it's just a year away." Shinu gets upset."Isn't that too late?" Her father explains, "Not at all. There will be only four seasonal changes. You can count them down. Soon we will get a chilly winter when you will need to wear sweater and scarf to prevent cold. After a few months, there will be a lovely spring when we will see lots of flowers in the park, except in our Parijat tree. But that will also change to a scorching hot summer when all grass in the park will turn yellow. A few months of those hot days will be followed by the monsoon -- the season of rains. Autumn will arrive after that.”

She considers the Parijat tree her friend. She longs to see it growing. Standing in the balcony, she watches the tree shedding its old yellow leaves in winter. It looks terribly withered and sad. But the weather changes in a few months. Shinu feels a lot of excitement on the day she finds four tender leaves coming out shyly from the tree. Within a few weeks those small leaves grow bigger, but they look different from the rest of the dark green leaves. Shinu brings her mother to show her new finding in the tree. Mother, looking at her happiness, says, “These new leaves have brought the message of spring.” Time goes on and the new leaves change their light green shade to a darker tone. On one of the days, while taking a stroll in the park, mother tells her, “Have you noticed that all leaves are now back in the tree? You wanted that, didn’t you?” Shinu smiles to show her approval. Spring days do not stay long. Gradually it becomes very hot. Shinu knows that summer has arrived. She finds the leaves of her tree dirty with a layer of soil. Mother assures her, “Don’t worry. Let’s wait till the monsoon. Rainwater will clean our tree and the leaves will be bright again.” Monsoon begins in the month of June. After the spell of showers, the Parijat tree takes a new smarter look. The soiled leaves are now clean, fresh and shiny. No one can call it dirty again.

With the entry of September, the black rain clouds slowly disappear. From the balcony Shinu stares at the blue sky where white clouds are floating like cottonballs. That looks wonderful. She also finds a magical change in the touch of sunlight that no longer feels hot. She wishes some changes to happen in the Parijat tree as well. Only there are some small soft buds hanging and trembling in the air. She shows them to her parents. Her father, grinning cheerfully, says, “Do you know why the tree has produced those little buds? Because we have finally reached the season of autumn and our wait is almost over. Most probably we’re going to get the tree's first flowers tomorrow morning.”

The next morning, Shinu is awake by six O’clock. She has to see the first flowers before her parents. She quickly unlocks the door and rushes to the balcony. A splash of morning breeze touches her face. Leaning over the railing she looks down at the tree. There are beautiful white flowers with orange stalks dangling from the branches. Shinu is ecstatic in joy. She wakes up her parents and all of them come down to the park. Little Parijat flowers are lying scattered below the tree. Some flowers are still in the mood of falling down from the tree. Shinu picks up some flowers and brings them closer to her nose. They have a nice fragrance which she never smelled before. Seeing the family in the park, Salim, the gardener, comes with a small flower-basket. He hands it over to Shinu and says, “The first flowers of your tree are yours. Collect them in this basket.” Shinu smiles and replies, “Thank you, Salim uncle.” She requests her mother, “Mamma, will you make a garland with these Parijat flowers?” Her mother nods smilingly, “Yes of course. Let’s go back home. When you will have breakfast, I will prepare a garland for you.”