A Bodhi Tree in Our School

The wood jasmine filled the school ground  with its heady fragrance and toddlers were picking them up to learn simple math.  The multifarious aroma of opened lunch boxes mingling with this scent created an unusual yet a lovable ambiance. While some students preferred the veranda  the majority ran towards the shady trees filling their bottles from the RO plant of the school to share the joy of lunch with friends. The crowd under peepal tree was one  among these groups. Their teacher had told them that this tree is venerated throughout India. It is the king among trees giving out maximum oxygen during the day. The reverberations from this beautiful tree when the breeze passes through the leaves is  similar to the laughter of innocent children!!

"Auntie miss.... auntie miss... please come and see our tree please please..." Raising their lunch steeped hands up the  peepal tree gang eagerly beckoned a lady.  'Auntie miss' the creator of the school, the prime value giver and a great sculptor moulding the younger generation was on her usual rounds, an event eagerly anticipated by the children big and small. The lady was all in smiles when she looked up! The tender red leaves of the peepal tree  were peeking out as the old ones had withered  away!

"Are you taking care of your tree?"

"Yes miss.... yes miss..... we pour water every day before we go home" was the chorus

"Fine.... fine..... have you brought some vegetables, greens and pulses for lunch?"

Auntie miss had become a nutritionist now!!

"Except Nithya who has brought some chips."

"It is ok for a day Nithya..... Can you ask mother to make some vegetable or greens daily?"

"Sure miss... she is not keeping well........cough and cold miss ....and she couldn't cook much today."

"Oh what a pity!! Take some adathoda (justicia adathoda)  leaves from our herbal garden and ask her to boil the leaves and take the  concoction thrice daily along with palm sugar........" The palm sugar  will give the brew a better taste and it is also good for cold. Can you take the permission to go the herbal garden please?"

"Miss......  adathoda plants are  growing near our house."

"That is better Nithya. Please give my regards to your mother ."

"Sure miss, thank you miss....." The rapport between the teachers and the students is  pleasantly contagious in nature!

Of the hundreds of trees in the school  this peepal tree occupied a vantage location. Teachers loved to conduct classes under its shade. The yoga mistress enjoyed the location for exercise and meditation!

As days went by  the peepal tree in accordance to the nature's call started the process of shedding . But the children observed a change in the way  the leaves fell. It  happened  too  fast and the tender red leaves failed to appear.....   and in  no time the tree turned bare!! Their luncheon location  had to be shifted to the nearby neem tree! The peepal was indeed going through a metamorphosis of thinning. The children were worried. Auntie miss was called to the spot and she could also feel the change.

"May be it is affected by TB  miss. It has become a skeleton" said one of the boys. "My grandfather was  just skin and bone when he had TB but became ok after taking medicine for 6 months. Can  I ask my father  to get the same medicine for our tree?"

The other boys laughed at this suggestion .

"We should regularly pour water in the morning and in the evening."

"Red soil would help."

"How about fertilizers?"

"Fertilizers are chemicals. We will go for cow dung."

"Vermicompost is the best."

The ideas were many and varied.

 Next day morning   the arrival of a bullock cart  to the school surprised the  children !

The parent who accompanied it was met my auntie miss.

"My boy wouldn't stop his pestering till I loaded my cart with cow dung manure." He laughed and unloaded the contents.

Bags of red soil arrived.

The vermicompost prepared at school  was thrown in the pit dug around the peepal tree!

The panchgavya,  a special preparation to enrich the soil, was gifted to the school by a parent!

The children standing  around the tree held their hands together and closed their eyes in fervent prayer.

The intention was a focused one even though the end result was zilch!

The teachers were indeed touched by this act of faith!

They suggested "We will uproot the remains of the tree and plant a new one in its place during the beginning of the summer holidays and when the children come back for the new school year they could at least see  a tree coming up." We were there in the school during that summer. My sister who is the correspondent (auntie miss)  said   "Lord Tennyson is right. 'More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of.'

We were anxious to know the context of such statement. 

'Has the vast amount of outstanding  fee collection had come into the school kitty?' We wondered!

 "I want to give you a surprise ." So saying she pulled us to the school ground.

"My peepal tree has sprouted new leaves. My children's faith had indeed given the tree a new life!!"  We witnessed that wonder tree  along with the interesting story behind the show narrated by my sister!

 On November 16th 2018  the  newspapers were full of the devastation the Gaja cyclone caused in the delta region of Tamil Nadu.  I called up my sister.

"Are you ok? The news says that Trichy is not much affected."

"I am in the school..... It is a sight no one would want to see. Thirty  trees have fallen down and our peepal tree is one among them..." She was  on the verge of tears.

I too was depressed. Years of effort by the school administrator ( my sister's husband) had indeed filled the area with greenery and it would  take  years  to replace them. I was also worried about the children's reaction regarding the peepal tree when they come back to school from the cyclone holidays.

The 'auntie miss' had indeed prepared a philosophic speech for the day. In the school assembly on the opening day she said  the loss of trees is nothing compared to the damage the Gaja cyclone had  caused to thousands of people who  have  no roof over their heads and bereft of  all their possessions  were hungry and thirsty. The children indeed did their best by bringing in sacks of food articles and clothes. The parents and the teachers  chipped in. Even though it was not a rich school and most of the students belonged to the lower middle class their spirit of sharing made it possible to fill a full lorry load!

She comforted the children especially those who cared  and believed and brought the peepal tree back to life.

"Auntie miss....." one among the boys hesitantly started " Why don't we try to replant our peepal tree again please?"

"Try what...... my boy?"

"We will pull the roots inside, bring it to upright position and try our best miss..... Let us not lose hope please ."  That single voice became a slogan. The parents brought in strong ropes and the gang of energetic youngsters slowly and gently brought the peepal  back to its position.

My sister though admired the faith in the children kept her fingers crossed.

The other day there was a photo in our school Facebook page, wherein I saw the smiling face of my sister with a few new leaves from the peepal tree as the back drop. She called me up to say

"The peepal tree and my children are my Bodhi tree. 'Focus, Belief and Action' are the pearls of wisdom which would be my lode star and my revelation written down in indelible ink in my heart by my children! "Even over the phone I could feel her great energy flowing