Mr Banyan

I hear a low, coarse voice calling for attention.

I remove my earphones to listen carefully to a rooty, low voice talking:

“I hope she looks at me!… Oh my God, yes! I’m so excited, she has heard me.”

This was weirdly laughable.

And in the next few moments, I realise…

A tree!

A tree, quite a few rings old,

bigger than my height and my life was standing behind me.

It had emerged out of the earth on my barren bus stop. In a day?

With the tree looking eager for a conversation, I ask Mr Tree, “How do you do? And how did you grow so much in a day?”

Mr Tree, clearing his sleepy, tired voice, answers,

“Hello, Bavishya” (I wonder how he knows my name). “I am Mr Bravely Amiable, calmly Nonchalant, forever Youthful, most Adaptable, and proudly Non-conformist Tree, and people call me Mr Banyan Tree in short.”

I am too astounded and excited to be formally polite, and he seems not to care and goes on…

“No, I have not emerged out of the earth in a day. Oh well, it’s a big, scarily sweet story!

When men, staring at me with great confidence and some coldness, with so many tools I had not seen in my long life, gathered around me, all of my bravery, nonchalance, and readiness for adaptability disappeared.

I feared my death at their impure hands…

But they offered a pleasant surprise, of me being relocated! Now isn’t that so exciting!”

I keep listening as this tree, Mr Banyan, somehow knows the questions on my mind!

“So yes, last evening, with all those not at all scary machines and vehicles, I was brought here. What is this place again? Everyone there seemed to forget the name.”

I answer, “Risala Bazar?”

He continues again, “Yes, yes, Risala Bazar it is. Therefore, a lot of earth was dug out, a whole lot of soil was emptied for my entry.

Well, I’m the first of my family to have moved to a new location without dying.”

Before I could ask if his roots and his health were alright, he answered again.

“Oh! Don’t you worry about it. I’m in that perfect age for growth, not too young or weak, nor too old and vulnerable. What do you folk call it? Mid-life, is it? But I ain’t in any crisis. I’m alright, just a few cuts and pains…anything better than death.”

Just as I was about to gather more details, a bus came honking, reminding me of my need to reach a boring college.

I bid farewell to Mr Banyan for the day and ask him to take care.

I have been checking on Mr Banyan’s life and health every day now. He thankfully reads my questions and wishes me good morning every day, always pointing proudly to his new chigurlu.

Mr Banyan and I have been friends for ten days now. I give him a litre of lightly sugared water every day, and he thanks me with a new set of shoots or success at a new branch of growth.

Meeting Mr Banyan has made my mornings warmer and happier.

His youthful adaptability, at more than a few rings of age, makes me wonder about the things I am capable of -inspiring me to be stronger, satisfied, and to grow eagerly.

May Mr Banyan have the age of the earth, and may we be friends till I become a part of his roots too!

~Bavishya 

(3 February 2026)