Name on the tree

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Summer is at its prime here in Finland, flowers are blooming and all the trees are full of green leaves. The only time I lived so close and within so much of foliage was when I would spend my summer vacation in my maternal grandfather’s farm in my childhood days.

My grandfather worked in forest department, a job he chose due to his high interest in nature. He has a huge farm in his ancestral place and it had all kinds of trees, some esoteric species of plants, creepers, bamboo bushes and also a small pond for the fishes. Every year we would go there to spend our summer vacation from school which those days used to be of 45 days. All of our cousins would also come during that time, it was so much of fun to be there, eat, play, run, and do everything except studies. Sometime we would take a round with my grandfather and he would tell us about the trees, their botanical names whereas I would be more interested in climbing the trees and plucking the green guava or hitting the little mango with a stone hoping it to fall down.

There was this funny incident which I still remember, it started when I was 10 years old. It was afternoon and all of us children were out among the trees, I was trying to climb the guava tree, one cousin was trying to skid a flat stone off the water in the pond, one was eyeing the ripe dates on the tree. I don’t know whose idea it was but we thought to engrave our names on one of the tree, everyone chose a tree, I chose the guava tree and engraved my name there. In evening grandfather saw our names on the trunks of the treesbut he didn’t say anything.

So far so good, our holidays ended and we went to our places, next year we all met and we decided to check out the names on the tree. Everyone went and saw their name was still there except mine, there was no Guava tree, I looked around trying to confirm the place, and it was the same place except the tree. I ran to house and asked Uncle about the tree and he told me that they had to cut the tree as some construction was to be done at that place. I was sad, everyone’s name was there after a year except mine, when grandfather came I cried a lot and he took me to trees and said that “this time you chose any tree and it will not be cut “. I saw the tall papaya tree and decided on it and half an hour later I had printed my name there. I was happy, now also my name was there.

Next summer we all met, this time it was me to propose the idea of checking our names and again the same story, everyone’s was there except mine, the papaya tree was no where to be seen. I went to grandfather and told him the whole story,he explained and then I came to know that life span of papaya tree is only about 3 or 4 years and after that it dies its own death. My papaya tree was already three years when I put my name there, so again it was only me whose name was not there. The same day I decided that this time I will engrave my name on such a tree that it will always be there, I took a knife and decided to engrave my name on Mango tree, there were three mango trees and one of them was huge having two trunks and looked most imposing among the three, I chose this one.. I was happy with my choice, no one would even think of cutting down the mango tree and it will be there for ages. One hour later one of the trunk had my name engraved on it.

In India during summer storms are quite common and a week later one such storm came, it was a powerful storm we stayed indoors with all the windows closed to stop the dust from entering the house. After the storm subsided we went outside and to my utter sadness I saw one of mango tree was uprooted, I went near and saw it was not the whole tree but only one trunk had fallen down and the same trunk on which I had engraved my name. This mango tree had two trunks which was always surprising as trees normally have only one trunk and the trunk with name was lying down. All the green mangoes were scattered. So again my name could not be there on one of the tree, this is when I thought that it is enough of co-incidence and I will not try to engrave my name again.

Of course I had again failed to keep my name on tree; it was as if some divine power didn’t want it to be there. I gave up and never tried to engrave my name on any tree again. I am sure till this day all my cousins remember how I tried thrice and was never successful.


I don’t how many years have passed since I last visited that place but I know those three mango trees are still there, the place has lost its charm, grandfather has become too old to take care of the trees, and no one has time to go there in summer. In fact I haven’t talked to cousins in years, all of them now working at different places, all of us busy in our own lives

Such were the golden days of my childhood time.