Autobiography of a Bonsai Banyan

Autobiography?

Why should a tiny banyan plant on a tray in an unknown garden write an autobiography, you might ask, when other trees, some of them sacred and illustrious, haven’t? An arrogant, presumptuous, pompous, egoistic, narcissistic brat, you may call me. But I am a thinking plant, and I’ve a story to tell. Don’t I know how you love stories, especially about lives of others, and pay for it to read in a book or watch on TV or in a theatre?

A Travel Tale

First, my story which has all essential elements - suspense, drama, adventure, action, and thrill.

I am well-travelled, which makes me special, though not as distinguished as the sapling which travelled all the way to Anuradhapur, Sri Lanka with Sanghamitra, and flourishes even today.

My kind owner, and keeper dotes on me, personally looks after me and never keeps me far from her. Whenever her spouse’s job moved them to a new town, she gifted away all the ordinary plants in her garden to neighbours and friends, and packed me with immaculate care to travel with her to the new station. That is how I have been privileged to see many towns of the undivided Madhya Pradesh, and the national capital, too.

(BB is real, not fictional. Photo by this Blogger)

This journey was from Gwalior to Bhopal, and while the lesser bonsais took a bumpy ride on a truck, I had the singular honour of travelling in the luxury of an AC coach. Now, how many of my kind have travelled in such comfort? The lady had her precious stuff in a suitcase, and me by her side. The spouse had his four suitcases, one with clothes, and the remaining three with the most-treasured books of his personal library.

The train arrived at Bhopal in time at 5.00 AM on a chilly December morning. When a vendor announced chai garma garam chai, my keeper and her spouse were startled awake only a minute before the train was to depart after the usual five-minute halt. They quickly hailed a porter and the spouse managed to unload all the luggage including the lady’s suitcase, and deboarded the train which had begun pulling out.

Be quick, come down at once, the train is still slow and safe, said the spouse. My lady was at the door and shrieked, ‘Did you carry my bonsai?’ He hadn’t.

'Please get down, I will get the plant collected at Hoshangabad,' he said.

‘No way, I won’t abandon my precious bonsai,’ said she, and returned to her seat and caressed me. I was touched by her maternal care.

The spouse was non-plussed, but only for a moment. He went to the station master’s room, and got him to send a message to the station master at Hoshangabad, the next halt for the train, who as requested promptly relayed the message to a senior district official about the little crisis.

Lo and behold, when the train reached Hoshangabad, there was quite a party to welcome us – senior district officers including the District Horticulture Officer who examined my health and certified that though I had suffered a minor anxiety-attack, I was fit to travel by car to Bhopal. A car-cade brought us safely to our home at Bhopal which I have never left again. That was four decades ago, but the memory still gives an adrenalin rush.

Now, what do you say; am I qualified to write my autobiography?

Let me now put on my thinking hat. Thinking comes naturally to my species. We think, and nourish thinking in others.

Bonsai: Art, Craft, or Vanity?

How did it all begin? The Chinese sculpted miniature gardens about three thousand years ago. A clever, ingenious method to domesticate nature. Not unlike the cruel practice of castration of young bulls, and foot-binding of girls to create small, delicate feet, considered dainty and beautiful for elegant women. That required feet of young girls to be broken and plastered in tight moulds to achieve the desired shape and size! How is bonsai different from that? Stunted size through starvation diet, and queer, fanciful shape achieved by clipping and pruning, wiring, and twisting; is that any less cruel? How is that artistic?

Does not a banyan or any other tree best express itself and realise its full potential in the lap of nature? I recall what a great poet wrote:

Is there any denying woodland vines

Far surpass those nurtured in gardens?*

I have a Dream

I am looked after very well by my keeper, no complaints there; yet I pine for freedom. Nature guaranteed for all its children the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; but I languish in a little prison called a garden, in a stone tray that is my cell, and forbidden to flourish on the bountiful earth and gift happiness and joy to others. Earth is my mother, Sun my father, and the sky the vast roof of my home; but I am deprived of all that. A domesticated animal in a zoo.

Humans tower over me and exult at their cleverness in forcing me to be a stunted dwarf. How would humans like if kept in a tiny cage and given enough food to survive but not enough to grow to full potential?

I have a Dream to return to the bosom of Mother Earth, and show that I am no dwarf, no puny plant. I have never abdicated my dream, and my passion for growth. Even in incarceration, I have created roots for future growth, like the severely handicapped Stephen Hawking advancing the frontiers of human knowledge from his wheelchair.

I have a Dream that one day I will be judged not by my queer shape and size that looks beautiful to some, but by my service to Mother Earth and her many children including the birds and the animals.

I have even devised a slogan to rouse my fellow brothers and sisters: Bonsais of the World, Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains (and wires and prison).

But before I urge my fellow bonsais to break free from the fetters, I must practice what I preach since I am a Gandhian. I resolve to meet physical force with soul force. I resolve to launch a non-violent, non-cooperation struggle and fast unto death.

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*(Duhsanta’s soliloquy at Kanva rishi’s hermitage, Act One-16, Abhijnanasakuntalam, The Complete Works of Kalidasa (Volume Two), Translated by Chandra Rajan, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (2016))

Notes:

First, a disclaimer. This blogger's spouse is not BB's owner and keeper!

1.   While writing this piece, I recalled Martin Luther King Jr’s famous ‘I have a Dream’ speech delivered on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. He was strongly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s method of non-violence, non-cooperation, and civil disobedience to gain freedom for India. I have borrowed several words and phrases (marked in italics) from that great speech which I acknowledge with due respect.

2.   Sacred Trees: Each major religion has its own sacred trees. Banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis or Ficus Indica) is revered by Hindus as Kalpavriksha, and symbolizes eternal life and knowledge. It is India’s National Tree. Banyan tree was so named by early European visitors to India who found banias (traders) selling their wares under the shade of these huge trees! Peepul tree (Ficus religiosa) is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. 'Among all trees, I am (the supreme and sacred) Ashvattha,' declares Lord Krishna in Gita- ashvattha sarvavrikshanam (10.26). Siddhartha Gautama received enlightenment under the Maha Bodhi tree (a Peepul tree) at Bodh Gaya.

3.   BB is real, not fictional. Age 47 years. It has an address and a PIN code.

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Postscript

Bonsai crafted by Mother Nature!

My friend, Madan Mohan’s insightful comments:

“The word Bonsai literally meaning, planted in a container, (in Japanese language) today has expanded well beyond the far Eastern boundaries. This is an extremely creative art of keeping full grown trees inside the house and is very popular among the affluent Indians. It's a misconception that bonsais are indoor plants, on the contrary, it appears that the nature lovers in Japan, centuries ago, while observing the growing of a plant on Barren rocks or around a cliff noticed the beautiful hanging branches and its stunted growth.  the plant is not adequately nourished while stuck in the crevices   of the hill. In fact, if you go to any forest or any hillock you will find the best of the Bonsai in the world - A Bonsai that is created by mother nature, a bonsai that grows minimally so that it can survive on the limited nutrition it is getting from the soil of these stone to which it is clinging. Though this gets adequately supplemented in the rainy seasons But, again in the hot summers it will shed its leaves. One can find beautiful bonsai of Peepal (ficus religiosa) and Bargad (Ficus Bengalensis) on trunk of Palm trees also which have developed some sort of symbiotic relationship, the bonsai getting just the adequate amount of nutrition for its root system and producing the minimum number of leaves to make food from sunshine. There is something unique in nature that allows both the plants to coexist. Having nurtured bonsai plants for more than four decades, I can say with confidence that it's a treat to see these plants slowly grow and co-exist with the environment of the house. Like any species of nature, they need care.

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