This Tamarind tree
with a thick thatched roof of leaves
spread to all the sides
like matted dreadlocks
of a sage
in silent, inwardly turned contemplation,
for long long years
has such cool, comfortable shade,
that is--
lovely rendezvous
to the love smitten,
to bill and coo for hours,
transit home for nomads
who own nothing more than their backpacks
and looking for a shade,
playground for children
in the neighborhood,
with curious eyes,
resting place for laborers
tired from toiling, in the sun all day long.
pen for itinerant goats,
that playfully fight with each other,
kennel for stray pups
finding companionship
all by themselves,
hive for honey bees
that hum tunes for all these refugees,
venue for a cocophonous
congregation of birds of different feathers,
obviously very political,
probably arguing about the future
plans when such a kind tree no more
would be there, soon
when the road gets broadened.
Such amazing trees, are fast disappearing from suburban Bangalore , the silicon valley of India, undergoing a makeover as it greedily want to be the part of "flat world" though the dream is already fading, due to economic slow down.