While going to school early morning yesterday I was shocked to see the big old tree at the corner of Kauserbagh and NIBM road in Pune, fallen on the ground like a gallant soldier killed in battle.
It had been slain sometime in the middle of the night and in the morning lay beside the road neatly stacked in logs. The workers were busy stacking up neatly what had been chopped. I was reminded of the poem by Gieve Patel… “It’s not easy to kill a tree” but the situation on ground was something else. I didn’t have much time to grieve, but I said a prayer. “Forgive them God because they know not what they are destroying. Please protect these beautiful old trees paving the road.”
But this morning I saw the remains of another giant tree, neatly vanquished to the ground. I was aghast. Did we not read about the dangers of climate change, the requirement for oxygen parks, and to remember that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago?
How can people just chop trees that are absorbing the emissions from the overflowing traffic, soaking up carbon from the population bursting at the seams, and negating the never-ending clouds of dust emanating from the city that is in construction mode 24 X 7 X 365?
Let’s all look deep in our hearts and find a worthy reason to murder these benign, graceful giants called trees that serve us and the world. If not then let’s pledge to save our trees and save our city. What do you say?