I lived in Bangalore, India for 10 years. After 8 years of the stay, I got to read this wonderful piece of information about how the "Garden City" (Bangalore) was designed. Saplings from across the world were brought to be planted across the city. The choice was made in such a way that there would be trees which would bloom during different months of the year. So that one would see greenery of leaves and colorful flowers all through the year in this city. It was such a joyful experience for my son to revise his learning about colors when we were on road. As a two year old he would jump out of joy and point to the red, the pink, the purple and so on. There were trees which would shed leaves and grow them back. But we never had the feel of a complete Autumn.
In Poland, for the first time I saw "The Golden Autumn", just a few days when the leaves are yellow and orange. Then the terrible autumn winds ruthlessly blow away the dangling old leaves. I wonder if 'Fevicol ka jood" would have helped (lol). Tonnes of these leaves are swept and packed into plastic bags. Children collect handful of these colorful ones after each visit to the park. Towards the end of Autumn all the trees have shacked off the last leaves on their branches. It was during these days when we went for our first trip to mountains in Poland.
All through the drive these leafless trees smiled, starred, waved their sticky branches and greeted me. I wondered in great awe the difference between how we prepare to face the winter and how nature does. Middle of autumn, the shops change their displays. The shelves are flooded with winter clothing. Both the sale and the new collection have equal takers. As the days pass by and the mercury dips, more layers get added as we step out. Thermals, regular outfit, layered on top with a thin jumper, a scarf, a pair of gloves, not to forget the hat, the jacket, and the special winter boots. Actually, I need to get back and add to the beginning of the list some special skin care.
I am just 1 winter old here and my poor fashion sense contributes to my poor knowledge in this front. I am still learning about the kinds of fabric, the combinations of what goes along and what does not. When we add more to keep ourselves warm the trees decide the shed the only thing they have to protect themselves. We warm ourselves with the heater during the most time which we spend indoors and have such protective gear for just the few hours which we go out. The trees stand out there 24x7 and they shake off their leaves and stay there in the cold silently preparing for the spring that would come after 3 months. All that we do to prepare for the spring is to pack the winter clothing and bring down the boxes of spring and summer clothing. Maybe shop for some more.
I had so much to learn from these brave trees that I hardly any inclination to hear about the depression wave that hits people when they see the leaveless trees. Year after year this testing time made them stronger. They stay put because they wanted to survive and move on. If I had a chance to shed my perception about someone or inhibition to something or a bit of my ego every year and have space for new tender experiences how different life would be.
All the way through my journey, i admired these leafless ones in awe. the more I saw them the more I was in love with them. But suddenly had this strange thought. Just like the apple for Newton were these leafless trees an inspiration for Wilhelm Roentgen to discover the X-Ray?
