“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky"

Yesterday I received an unusual message from my Chinese friend Lee, which inspired me to write this article. It said, “ Be like a tree, stay grounded, connect with your roots, turn over a new leaf, keep growing.” This message is simple and profound, and instantly it brought many thoughts of past, present and future. I grew up in a small place in Bengal, named Santiniketan, which was established by the Nobel prize winning poet Rabindra Nath Tagore. It was a centre of learning where children grew up in the lap of nature, learnt to take care of nature and cherish it. Tagore introduced annual tree plantation ceremonies during the rainy season where five children dressed as the five elements of the nature (earth, air, water, fire and space) and planted five saplings, while appropriate songs were sung and poems were recited in praise of the nature. It was a beautiful ceremony and is still now vivid in my memory. In ancient India, knowledge was imparted to students by teachers sitting under the trees. In the scriptures trees play a central role =- from a place where saints are born as as a place of meditations and enlightenment, to references to mythical trees where all our wishes come true. Trees have long been considered the wisest and most tolerant of all beings, being the oldest. To learn to live well one must learn from the oldest among us. Modern education systems doesn’t incorporate the wisdom of nature. Information oriented education has made children more tech savvy, but could not knowledgeable about what life is and what it means to develop a loving bond between humans and nature, from where we arrive and unto where we dissolve. As a result of this disconnection, people are now more self-centred, and are forgetting the art to establish a loving communication with nature, animals, trees and even with fellow beings. We live in an imaginary bubble called modernity that is nothing but systemically enforced ignorance. Realising the obvious degradation of nature, these days many organisations and even spiritual masters are coming forward and trying their best to bring awareness and develop a sense of responsibility of human beings towards nature. Long back, a great scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose proved at the World Science Congress that plants have feelings and emotions, and silently they respond to the act of love or hatred of people towards them. Now the time has come to change our insensitive attitude towards nature. We must be ready to come out from the concrete jungle and return our awareness to learn from and connect with nature, from which we have been and always will be inalienable. To try to be a silent giver, humble, and caring for other lives on earth - and not just the humans we call our own. Trees give shelter to all, and by bowing down with it’s fruit laden branches, they teach us to be humble and wise. The life giving oxygen that is provided by trees is for all. And all while the insensitive modern mind caged in concrete does not hesitate to chop it off for his selfish motives. We must try to be more flexible, and intelligent, to change our attitude and make this world a better place for future generations to live in. After all, as Kahlil Gibran says, “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky" .