….

A new house is being built on the road facing the Mini Forest. The &^ architect built the gate BANG in front a beautiful  copper-shield bearer tree that was at least 20 years old. My friend Mythreyi and I , on our evening walk, kept looking at the gate apprehensively. But I thought the house-owners would not be able to get permission to cut down a healthy tree, so the (*&(  architect would change the position of the gate, a fairly simple thing to do. Yesterday, the tree was there.

Today, the stump remains. I feel like crying.

But the some good news is…all along the road from Ragigudda temple to the flyover, new neem saplings have been planted. Many new saplings of neem, sampige, akasha mallige and honge have been planted in the Mini Forest too. More saplings are ready.

…But I can’t get over the dead blossoms of the copper-shield bearer lying sadly on the road, and the pieces of the trunk stacked neatly in death, to ensure that some proud houseowner can recount how he bribed the corporation to get the tree chopped down…. and I know our “love” for trees is as long as we feel like it, otherwise, off with their heads….

..and just to show that we were, and are, sometimes capable of treating trees with respect, here is a photo Mohan took in Jageshwar, Uttaranchal, of the 8th to 11th century temples nestling under the mighty Deodar trees…I have included myself in the photo to give an idea of the size, and antiquity, of the trees…just look at that majesty! Those trees awed me almost as much as the Himalayas….