An Ode to the Rain Tree

A few days ago when Anitha (my wife) and I were on our usual post-dinner walk our discussion turned towards the nearby rain tree. She noticed the tree and said something was different in it at night. I told her that the tree was sleeping as the leaves were folded. We stood under the tree and gazed at the canopy for sometime wondering at its animal like behaviour. Looking at the bright fluorescent street light close to the tree she asked me how could the tree sleep with the bright light so close by. This question made me think as I didn’t know the answer but raised some more questions in my head. Are we doing any justice to the tree for all the things the tree is giving us? We are shamelessly utilising the many benefits of the tree and not even allowing the tree to sleep peacefully at night!

I see you every morning,
Wholesomely green with not a chink,
With your leaves shining,
And with your blanketed canopy pink.

To find you feeding the parakeets,
With your ripened sweet pods,
And the bees buzzing on your flowers,
For your sweet nectar in florid pots!

I wonder at the glow,
Your flowers show,
Echoing the sun’s rays,
To lift my mood in many ways!

Am in awe looking down,
To see your shell like pod,
With the seeds in line as if sown,
Flattened and adhered to the road.

I wonder if I can make a ball,
Like I made them in my childhood years,
With the thick gooey pulp,
Of those dark ripened fruits of yours.

[Video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HwR5ZE99RA ]

In the golden dust of your dead flowers,
I stand shielding myself from the callous sun,
And seeing the scorched flowers tumbling down the air,
Ah! Yes, they remind me of my granny’s hair!

I gather as the sun goes down you fall asleep,
With the darkness your leaves fold in a clap,
But I wonder where at night will you go,
With all the city bright and aglow?!