“Son, Son
where are you?” asked my mother.
“I’m here
mom”, I replied. I was 8 years old then.
“Where” she
asked again?
“Sitting on
the tree mom”, I said.
Mr. Contest
Chair, fellow Toastmasters and dear guests, let me tell you the story of the
day I fell from a tree. It was a big fat tree in front of our house. Hun, name,
you ask? Well, I have no idea and neither did I try to find out because a wise
man once said, the name comes in between you and your tree.
So there I
was on that sunny summer evening, sitting at the top of the tree, playing with
the leaves with the wind in my hair. I saw my mother walking towards the porch
calling me from a distance as she turned into a something that can only be
called as the opposite of Lata Mangeshkar.
“Where are…?! Come down right now or I tell
you father.”
“Mom, relax!
I’m fine.”
Play time was
over. I started climbing down. I had not even crossed the halfway mark and I was
mesmerized the scintillating smells of her beautiful hair and I could feel my
heart beating faster and faster as she walked passed under me! The love of my
life, Ritika!
Ritika used
to live two houses next to mine. We were of same age, in the same school AND in
the same class BUT not in the same section. For three years I was in A, she was
in C. And this year when the time came to change sections, that devil woman the
class teacher, she changed everyone’s but we were still separate.
And there she
was, my beautiful, my Juliet; walking down the road. My Juliet, your Romeo is
here playing on this tree! My Ju…
AAAaaaaahhhhhh…
Boom!
“How many
times do I have to tell you not to climb the tree? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine
Mom!”
Ladies and
gentlemen, I learnt a painful but a very important lesson that day. Never mix your
love and your tree.
Yes, that
tree was my best friend! There was never a day I hadn’t climbed on him and
there was never a day my mother hadn’t turned into a Lata Mangeshkar’s opposite.
And slowly summer
went away and like a thud on the ground came the autumn. When I heard the news
that in a few months Ritika was going to leave the school, leave the house even
leave the city. Oh my God! The love of my life shattered like the glass of a
broken window. In despair, I climbed up on my friend. As I reached the top I
saw the tree was also shedding its leaves. I thought, “Ritika? Did he also?”
“Oh no. He’s a tree. How can he?” “Could he?”
I hugged him
and told him not to worry. She won’t leave us like that. She loves us too.
But she left.
It was winter. And I was heart-broken.
And I went to
my friend to take refuge and I saw him also standing frozen like an eskimo with
his branches dangling from his arms, floating like pendulums. He looked so sad
and creepy! Heartbroken nonetheless…
It was then
that I decided to take the hard path. I decided to rip the bandage, throw the
wound away and feel the lightness within.
I went to my
friend and hugged him and told him not to worry. She has left us to find a
better place. Maybe we too will.
And we did!
In a short
while spring came in both our lives. With new leaves and the wind all around,
my friend was flourishing and so was I. I had found Tina!!! We were in the same
school, in the same class and in the same section! My heart was swollen with joy!!
And this year
things went perfect for me and I was dancing with euphoria, but I saw that my
friend was still happy in the summer, sad in the autumn, and cold and hard in
the winter. My life was all ok. So was he not my true friend after all?
Then I
realized it was not the tree that was changing, it was my way of looking at
him. l realized he never moved, never tried to stop whatever was happening. He
was just there, standing his ground and letting whatever life bestowed upon
him. And I saw how similar his and my lives were.
My springs,
summers, autumns, and winters also come and go but if I’m his true friend, I
too will stand my ground and let them pass. I too will get tickled by gentle
morning breeze, roughened by hot summer winds and slapped by chilly winter
frost. But if I’m his true friend, I too will stand my ground and let them
pass.
