R
Sidharth K
During the vacation, my father had paid a
woodcutter to cut the branches of one of our
jackfruit trees because its leaves were falling
over our neighbour’s verandah which was
causing them a bit of a nuisance as they had
to clean it up every day.
I always had an idea to cut down the whole
tree so that my father didn’t have to spend
so much of money every year on maintaining
this tree. I was watching the woodcutter do
his work and I noticed that right before he
climbed up the tree he prayed. And, I was
curious as to why he did so.
After some time, the woodcutter had climbed
back down to take a break. I went over to
suggest to him to try out my idea. Hearing
my suggestion, the woodcutter looked at
me with disgust and anger and stated that
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the tree is like a member of our family and
that we should rather take care of it just like
our parents take care of us. Then, I went on
to ask a tirade of questions to satisfy my
curiosity. Queries like why he prays before
cutting down the branches of the tree. He
replied that he prays before climbing a tree
and cutting down its branches because it is
his way of asking the tree and its creator,
God, the permission to climb the tree and cut
its branches.
I was astounded and he had widened the
vision of my thinking through his wise and
spiritual words for which I thanked him. From
that day onwards, I had a different view
about our nature and environment and had
learnt how to nurture, care and respect them
like a very own member of our family.
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