One more!

One more tree down in the neighbourhood! It was due to the rain. Fortunately no one was hurt. It was only a few bikes that got hit. That was a big sigh of a relief… but it hurts still….

Just fifty years back, this place was full of trees, in fact was of only trees. Looks like, even fifteen years back, more than 70% of the space was filled with trees and buildings were occupying only the rest of the place with good amount of vacant land in between them for the children to play. In 2001, a new set of buildings were erected to host 200 families vacating several hundred families of birds and squirrels away chopping away a good number of trees.

Last year, government decided to host a few hundred more police officers and their families in new buildings! Hmm… a few more hundreds of birds lost their homes. It was a sad site to see the trees being cut. If I had so much money and power, I would have bought the entire land to save the trees, birds and squirrels. I was just a silent witness… This tree was a survivor I should say, given the fact that it was very close to a new construction. Many of its branches were cut; I could feel the effect of it in the reduced flowers this summer. I was hoping that I would see more flowers next summer as the tree would have healed by then. But… to my unhappiness, she died today!

This morning I woke up smiling, listening to the chirping of myna family from my window sill. A little late in the morning, when I was trying to calm myself down after a few unpleasant things, it was this myna family that gave me pleasantness and strength again. From my window, they flew back to this tree. I was trying to locate them thru the thicks of the leaves. It was a good hide and seek though they did not know that they were hiding and I was seeking them. In the game, I also could see a parrot couple. They all lightened my heavy feelings and the day started to look up!

Now, the tree has gone! It is raining heavily. The birds can't build their nests quickly. Where will they be? It feels a lot like a Tamil movie scene - their homes broke on a rainy day. If it was humans, neighbours or government would have given them a shelter for tonight and probably till the time they get a better place to move in. What will happen to these birds? Do they also have such support systems?  I don’t even know how to help them for the kind of joy they gave me everyday, especially this morning! It feels like not helping someone who helped in a dire need!!

My neighbour called me to tell me that the tree fell down (as I was away from home at that time). She told me that no one was hurt, it was only a few bikes… Really? Was no one hurt?