The Red Gulmohar

Tinku was returning from school when he saw the giant Gulmohar standing upright its branches stretched. . . . and the bright red flowers sparkling like magic, the ground underneath was perfect red carpet. . . . . with the withered flower. . . . entire thing was a pictureque. . . . perfect. Tinku loved watching this tree when it was in its full blossom. How long it had been standing there no one knew. He was walking past the tree and stopped to take a look. . . . he bent down to touch the surface of the red floral carpet. . . while engrossed in the magic of the flowers, he felt something at his hands 2 seeds. . . .

Seeds of the gulmohar tree. He was excited he wanted to plant them in his garden. . . . . .

He ran as fast as he could. . . chirping like a bird. . . . giggling. . . . laughing. . .

On reaching home he straight away went to his grand mother. "Granny. . . . granny. . . look what do I have. . . "Tinku showed the 2 little green seeds of the Gulmohar. His grandmother smiled, "what are you going to do with them Tinku?""I will plant them in the garden. . . "he said excitedly.

Tinku's grand mother smiled. "Oh my darling grand child, this is not so easy. . . planting these two seeds will not help you get a Gulmohar that big and beautiful like the one across the road. ""C' mmon granny. . . please help. . please. . . . "Grandmother laughed. . . "if you sow these seeds you will need to care for them, water them and above all love them. "

On insisting grandmother helped Tinku sow the seeds in the back yard. Tinku started caring for them. . . watering them regularly visiting them expecting to see a sapling grow. . . . days passed by. . . . the summers came. . . Tinku wanted to protect his little seeds from the scorching sun. . . . he built a shed above them, using 4 bamboo sticks and a cloth wrapped on top to protect from the direct heat , then the monsoon came. . . the rains were heavy. . . . . . it washed away so many plants. . . but Tinku had a positive heart, his little seeds would grow. And one fine morning a small sapling appeared. . . Tinku's joy knew no bound. . . . his tree would grow. . . . . . the monsoon ended and the falls came. The trees around started shedding their leaves, the sapling was slowly and gradually peeping out of the soil amongst all the other plants. The bitter cold brought in dry frozen air, chilling around everything, Tinku would wake up and jump of his bed to take a glimpse of his sapling in the morning, when he would return from school he would run to the garden to see if his sapling grew an inch. . . . he felt sad when he saw just and few centimeters was the growth.

Tinku's grandmother would boost him saying, "The sapling too is trying to survive this cold winters, do not worry it will definitely grow". Tinku kept on wishing passionately that his Gulmohar sapling grows fast.

Then came the spring. . . . . flowers of different colors and species bloomed in Tinku's garden but Tinku was not happy. . . he was waiting for the gulmohar sapling which was now quite a few inches tall to grow fast.

Time flew by. . . . Tinku's love for his Gulmohar sapling brought true colors. . . . . . it was a baby plant now trying to spread its thin branches around swaying them and dancing in the along with the wind. Tinku was the happiest person ever. He dreamt of when this plant would grow and provide shed and all the birds would nestled on its branches. . . . .

With passion Tinku took care of this plant and one day the plant did grow into a tree.

The trunk grew straight and borne branches which formed umbrella like crown. The birds from all over chirping and nestling in it, it was spring again. . . . the red flowers of love and passion showed colors like magic. Tinku sat on an easy chair under the shed of his Gulmohar away from the scorching heat of the sun. . . . the leaves swayed above him giving fresh air and the ground underneath was a red carpet from the withered flowers. . . . . . wrinkles has gathered on his skin, face seemed white, age has taken shape of dark circles around his eyes but his love for the tree never was less. . . . his eyes sparkled. . . . . his love and passion had yielded him this beautiful Red Gulmohar. . . . .