I was born a
long, long time ago.
I was born as a baby plant. When I started to
grow slowly, the surrounding trees told me I am
called a peepal tree. My leaves are heart
shaped. Children used to gather my unwithered
leaves. I used to wonder why they collected
them. Then one day I overheard them saying that
they soak my leaves in water for days, scrape
out the pulp gently and get out my sturdy
venation, the arrangement pattern of my veins in
the leaf. Then they painted on my venation and
made very interesting cards.
By the time I grew up the surrounding trees had
died and I was all alone. Then some new fruit
trees like a mango tree, banana tree and a
litchi tree were planted close by. I made
friends with all of them. They all supported me
when I was sad. Everyday many people came to
rest under my cool shade. Among my friends I was
the biggest tree with lots of foliage. I was
very proud of it. My friends and I used to talk
always with the sway of our branches and leaves.
We had lots of fun. But when all my friends grew
old and stopped bearing fruits, they were all
cut down. I was the only one left. Sometimes I
used to wonder when my turn would come! I was
very unhappy about the thought of being cut down
because so many types of birds live on my
branches. They all have their nests too. The
squirrels also crawl up and down my brushwood.
Then one day I heard some people talking that
they would fell me down to make room for a
market. I thought they were joking but they were
not. When they actually felled me I was feeling
happy and sad as well - Happy, because I
imagined I would be with my old friends and sad
because I would never see this world again.