Resilience..Story of a Tree

Through the days of ongoing Lockdown due to COVID 19 (Corona Virus), balcony is my new happy space. I sit, sip tea, read books, look at my plants and buds over and over again, smell the mint leaves and watch the little timid Eggplant grow. It makes me wonder before Lockdown we never invested in world around us which was unfolding its myriad hues for all of us. May be it was because we were so engrossed with things we deemed busy that life happened without us noticing it.

After years I could see a perfect blue sky in Gurgaon and migratory birds flying and rejoicing. The music of peacocks and chirping of birds being the new normal, which was more than welcome. As I was cleaning my balcony one fine day, I stumbled upon some old pots kept in a corner. As I was arranging my old pots my eyes fell on something green and tender trying to wriggle out.

Dream of Possibilities

I picked the pot, which was buried deep down. I remembered it was once a flourishing curry plant who just wilted away when I was out of town for fortnight. A thin dried stem signalling its death. I tried to revive it but it didn’t spring back to life. Three Months back I kept the pot aside and forgot to remove the dried stem and what I saw was unbelievable to my senses. A young fighter curry plant emerging from stem I thought was dead. 3 months after being buried in corner and without being watered. I immediately moved it to sunshine and watered it profusely. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Tears welled up in my eyes as I literally saw life snatching its ways from claws of death. Those tender leaves reminding me that there is life in death.

And as Richard Bach said in book Illusions :

” What the caterpillar calls the end of world, master calls it a butterfly.”

I called my husband to witness the miracle. Same plant, which had died had sprung back taking energy from well of life. It taught me an important lesson. Lesson of persistence, resilience, hope and understanding that sometimes life wont go as planned but within each of us is the hidden heroic courage and indefatigable spirit which can make impossible possible and a barren garden into dream of possibilities.

Against all odds