{"id":179663,"date":"2021-03-01T12:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=179663"},"modified":"2021-02-19T10:20:15","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T10:20:15","slug":"the-dried-up-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/03\/the-dried-up-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dried-up Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A tree looks gorgeous when it is leafy and green
\nIt provides us with twigs, clean air and oxygen
\nBirds build nests and lay their eggs in a green tree
\nOn a hot day sitting under its shadows we feel so free
\nLord Buddha got enlightenment sitting under a Bodhi<\/em> tree
\nEven if we don\u2019t get inspiration like the blessed Lord
\nWe can sleep peacefully and live in his accord<\/p>\n

Trees give us delicious fruit \u2014 grapes and berries
\nWhich help us in making sweets and pastries
\nDon\u2019t forget the delicious apples and oranges
\nBut the kings of fruit are the heavenly mangoes<\/p>\n

Take away its leaves, a tree looks so forlorn
\nFrom admiration it is now an object of scorn<\/p>\n

A dried-up tree looks like an old person sitting alone
\nWithout family or friends \u2014 they avoid such a man<\/p>\n

Forgetting how nice and helpful he was earlier
\nHow much he loved his children and the pet terrier
\nA symbol of energy, verve and goodness
\nA man of joy, wisdom and robustnes<\/p>\n

Even if the tree has lost its leaves
\nIt still has its roots firmly in the soil
\nLikewise a man sitting all alone
\nHas experience, through efforts and toil<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t bypass a dried up tree
\nDon\u2019t avoid the lonesomeness of the elderly
\n______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Dr Ravi P Bhatia is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, an<\/em> educationist, Gandhian scholar and peace researcher. Retired professor, Delhi University. His new book, <\/em>A Garland of Ideas\u2014Gandhian, Religious, Educational, Environmental was published recently in Delhi.<\/em> ravipbhatia@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A tree looks gorgeous when it is leafy and green
\nIt provides us with twigs, clean air and oxygen
\nBirds build nests and lay their eggs in a green tree
\n…
\nSo don\u2019t bypass a dried up tree
\nDon\u2019t avoid the lonesomeness of the elderly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":179664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[1170,391,868,2194],"class_list":["post-179663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-life","tag-nature","tag-poetry","tag-tree"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}