A tree in the garden

Sujay wanted to be an inventor, but what could he invent? Then his mother gave him an idea.

February 03, 2014 06:48 pm | Updated May 18, 2016 05:40 am IST - chennai:

Illus. for YW

Illus. for YW

Sujay was pensive. His mother went up to him and lifted his chin.

“What happened? Why is my little one so worried?”

Sujay came out of his reverie.

“Mother, I was wondering if I can ever invent anything. Most of the exciting things have already been invented by great scientists”.

Sujay’s mother laughed. This was not new to her. Her son thought of things that she had not thought of as a child. Her own childhood had been amidst nature and books as she had grown up in a hill station called Ooty.

“You need to be patient. We did not have mobile phones when we were young. Somebody invented them later. Similarly you too may invent things that will be popular in future. In the meantime, I have an idea.”

Sujay was all ears. It was summer and the holidays had begun. He looked at his mother with interest.

“You can plant a tree” his mother said.

“What?” Sujay exclaimed. “Is that the greatest idea you could think of? Ma….”

A scheme

His mother had a twinkle in her eyes. She said simply, “It could be, if you want it to be.”

She continued, “You could plant a seed and take care of it till it grows into a big tree. Imagine ‘Your Own Tree’. How cool would that be. “Like the special cakes I bake,” she said.

Everybody knew about Sujay’s mother’s passion for baking.

“All right,” Sujay said. He knew there was no harm in planting a tree. All he had to do was sow a seed.

A while later, while he was on the verandah, he saw a pleasant sight. He screamed with delight. His mother rushed out.

“What? Why did you scream?”

“Ma, look! A tiny shoot. How cute! We have a mango tree…a mango tree,” he shouted in delight.

“A mango tree! In our house?” his mother puzzled. “But our balcony is too small!”

Sujay smiled mischievously. “What do you expect Ma, this is summer. Of course it had to be a mango seed.”

His mother calmed down and said, “We’ll take care of it for some days. Once it gets slightly bigger, we will ask our apartment gardener to re-plant it.”

After some days the gardener came and took the sapling. Sujay went with him to help him re-plant it. He was excited. The gardener watered the plant and took care of it along with other plants of the apartment building. The mango tree was first to be planted in the apartment complex. The gardener smiled to himself as the mango sapling brought back memories of his village. Sujay took care of the plant as and when possible. His friends also helped him. Every day, the sapling looked bigger and his chest swelled in pride.

Yes, his mum was right. It was a great feeling to grow a tree. This mango tree would always be special to him.

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