The last mango tree, the last solace ..

On my recent trip, the mango tree still stood, laden with small green mangoes from every single stem. I didn't expect to see it this time. This tree which once stood in a lush orchard of mango and coconut trees is the last one still standing. As the city grows eating up every bit of free earth, the concrete jungle is closing in fast on this tree.

Sitting in the balcony of my parents apartment in the high rise building opposite this plot of land, I have watched all those who have sought the solace of this tree.

An old man who slept on the bench in the afternoon, poor mothers from the area who tied their saree to a low branch of the tree and rocked thier babies to sleep, the stray dogs that curled up under the bench, the construction workers who gathered there for a brief respite from the toil. The young school boys who plucked and ate the tart mangoes. The squirrels that ran up and down the tree and the pigeons and crows who called the tree home. 

This tree will be sorely missed! Nobody can save it from its doomed fate.....it is only a matter of time ..