With YOU Without YOU?

Most of us have a routine query to ask on meeting anyone in daily life: How are you? But if the same quesiton comes to me, especially from those whom I consider my loved ones, i simply ask them ---With you , Without you?

The persons who don't undestand what it means just say WHAATT? And, the others who understand, just realise what am I complaining about to them?

I feel like pin-pointing many of my affectionate friends or relatives at times with deep anguish and concern, the kind of void (gap) that has started to affect our warm relations these days. Be it computers, cellular phones' long chats or the growing work pressure and increasing requirements for children's workload. All this is rapidly taking away the sweet juice out of close relations. Be it family or family of friends, the effect is sadly everywhere.

Irrespective of the pace of life, there is always some scope to stay in touch with each other. But who bothers? Regrettably , our loved ones don't realise that the modernity and cut throat competion in everyone's life has killed the original affection in relations. During festivals, we have started a trend to send boring and forwarded messages. We have forgotten the joy of greeting or meeting each other with a hug full of warmth.

It looks as if we feel the 'duty' is over after greeting each other over phone. And, perhaps, this is the reason why strong relations have suffered a set back. The day is not far when there will be no family relations just after individuals would marry.

Interestingly, our professional engagements never let us realise that social relations are also very important in life. The world would come to its end much earlier than others, if we kept on staying so much engrossed running after meeting one deadline to another and losing out on personal and caring relations.


Who is responsible and who will do something about this mess, if not me or you? And, only then we may never need to ask from our loved ones How are You?

The Speaking trees and we, their fellow living beings.....

The Speaking trees and we, their fellow living beings...........

Be it any chance to stand near a river and look at the vast spread of greenery or visit a mountain and watch the far flung expanse of trees or just even pass by any ridge area while driving on any morning, most of us can easily fall in love with the all embracing natural green?

At time, most of us feel like enjoying that green just like we wish to feel the breeze on our naked face during rainy days. But many of us, just don't. Perhaps, that’s why we often tend to get drawn to anything that reminds us of this green.

Be it due to our exhausted self, irritated mood or just the much-needed break to get close to something that always appeals, we can always reach out to soothing sight of the Green that exists around us in the forms of trees and plants.

All we need is to feel their presence in our lives, as we pass our everyday life without pausing for a few moment and enjoy their glimpse.

Be it the trees or plants, they are always there to add joy in our lives only if we are ready to allow them. They are always standing with open to embrace us, comfort us unmindful of who we are, what we can or cannot do ?

Incidently, none of the Green family expects anything from us. But they are always ready to give whatever we can get out of them.

When was the last time we took note of their natural self, independent growth, entrancing shapes and the readiness to spread happiness all around. It is suprising not many of us spare a few moments ever to feel what can appeal the most and lift our spirits.

But not very long ago a curiosity to understand these trees beyond their beauty of green, generated a fascination for them. I don't know exactly what withholds me to look at them and visit them whenever it's possble. I wish to enjoy the feeling of reaslising their strong , wide and vast presence as fellow living beings.

I wish to know them, feel them and celebrate their association. But how can I until I am ready to spend time in their company and accept their existence and their living being just like us.

But are they equally ignorant towards the human beings as much as the latter is to the former’s presence and total beauty or lifestyle?

It has always been an interesting observation that almost all of us like greenery. We just cherish looking around as far as we can to enjoy a huge spread of Green.
In the hum drum routine of meeting deadlines or spoiled moods due to either neighourhood gossips about us or office politics or even perosnal setbacks, we tend to forget in all this to notice almost something as captivating as trees.

Trees, perhaps by their nature, don't seem to bother who we are or not, what is our level of success, how dumb or intelligent or ugly or good looking we actually are. That's why the trees just welcome us all in equal measure and everytime whenever we visit them. The seem liking embracing us by charming to enter their natural enviorn and just turn oblivious to the human world and just realise the trees's world.

It looks like trees welcome us all in all kind of seasons and with all reasons They simply charm at hearts through their quiteness. A tree charms through its static existent. It draws attention through its never changing orignal self. No matter what season of the year it is but it just stays as carefree as anything, and perhaps, as embracing to all as anything. Perhaps, that’s why we love revisiting the trees for the nth time.

For some time now, a curiosity in trees has added a huge joy that doesn't need anyone but just trees, trees and trees. Their attraction has made most of my long drives worth taking them. Especially, since being mesmerised by the deep and unexplored beauty of trees.

A sudden mind flash last year 2007 pushed me to try to look beyond the greenery of trees. I looked at some of them for their distinct appeal and tried to figure out what was there in them that was fascinating me. Is it all about green leaves or the cool wind coming of them and soothing our mind and soul for a brief time? Or, they are there to show how trees could be beyond that little enjoyment of mind? I just started clicking them through my cellular phone's camera (http://www.delhidelhi.blogspot.com/).

I started looking upon them with a sense of involvement and liking, perhaps like a painter who desires to capture something of anything on a canvas that only his mind and soul observed. It was not intentional that I was finding myself drawn to the trees. But something unusual was drawing me with each passing day or whenever I was outside. And, there I took note of the trees’ branches.

It is interesting to notice, every tree has different shape and size. Every tree takes its own time and way to grow up or age. It never depends on us, the fellow living beings, for its nurturing. It just grows in its own carefree way.

We the human beings may not be more than seven to 10 billions in population on this planet. But we believe we rule this planet and it is only we who is existing on this vast spread of land under equally spread sky as the natural roof.

But how many of us ever spared some moments to think is this earth only belongs to the human beings? Or does it actually belong to animals or birds? Or, perhaps, it also belong to the trees spread all around us much before we human beings came into existence. Then isn’t that it is the plants and trees who have more right to exist as its oldest inhabitants on earth?

Just because trees don’t speak our language, they should be best ignored by human beings. Who are these trees? What they do , if they do at all anything in their day to day life in their life span? Don’t they take birth, grow up, age, suffer and die one day like we, the human beings?

Isn’t it our limitation that we haven’t given a thought to understand them at all? Beyond coming close to them occasionally, mostly for a shelter, shouldn’t we reach out to them and have a feel like going to be with some affectionate human being. After all they are also living beings and have their life like we have in our world of human beings.

Only because they cannot interact or be heard by us in our known languages, we should believe they are nobody or non-existing things?

Trees do speak. They live a life, celebrate it and die one day while giving their little ones space and a chance to grow and carry on their families in different shapes and sizes. They also communicate with each other. They have moods and they express them too. A language need to be accepted as a language only after it is spoken or fully understood by a particularly species like we, the human beings.

Look at the branches of any tree. They speak in shapes. They convey messages. They influence. They dance. They inspire even after they are dead. But…..it is only understood when we have a sincere and deep curiosity to empathise all these unexplored, ununderstood and even unappreciated aspects of their lives.

Trees communicate through the shapes of their branches. All we need to visualize that classical danseuse on a stage who doesn’t use words but uses gestures to convey emotions of any legend or folklore. The dancer says much more than we understand. But whatever we understand is because we try to find out the meaning of the classical dancer’s steps, initially, as per our personal interpretations and later on with a firm understanding.

The same way, we will understand the language of trees. Perhaps, completely or more firmly once we have made a beginning to take an involved look at the tree beyond its temporary greenery. We would learn more if showed involvement with nature no matter whether it expose its beauty in the shape of rivers, landscapes, mountains or the trees. Just do it!