Article 370 made inoperative; By an Amendment by Presidential Order
President Ram Nath Kovind in “concurrence” with the “Jammu and Kashmir government” promulgated Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 on Monday, August 5, 2019 which states that provisions of the Indian Constitution are applicable in the state. The President issued Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 which comes into force “at once”, and shall “supersede the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954“.“All the provisions of the Constitution” shall apply in relation to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, it said.
Any lay person would wonder about the usage of the words ; 'concurrence', 'Jammu and Kashmir government' used in the above Presidential order as we have no government as of now in the state. The state of J&K has been under Governor’s rule.
President however could issue the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 2019 by which Article 370 has been made inoperative that too “with the concurrence of the Jammu and Kashmir government” because of the amendment that was crept in to Article 367 by this very Presidential Order.
The order has added a clause to Article 367 of the constitution so far as the state of J &K is concerned, which reads as under:
“(4) For the purposes of this Constitution as it applies in relation to the state of Jammu and Kashmir-
(a) references to this Constitution or to the provisions thereof shall be construed as reference to the Constitution or the provisions thereof as applied in relation to the said State;
(b) references to the person for the time being recognised by the President on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the State as the Sadar-i- Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir, acting on the advice of the Councils of Ministers of the State for the time being in office, shall be construed as references to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir;
(c) references to the Government of the said State shall be construed as including references to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of his Council of Ministers; and
(d) in the proviso to clause (3) 0f Article 370 of this Constitution, the expression “Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2)” shall read “Legislative Assembly of the State.”
One thing that has been baffling me since yesterday is almost complete silence, barring a few muted voices, of our legal eagles on this aspect on various television debates where this move is being hailed by most of them as historic and bold, which in any case this is. I understand this surreptitious amendment to Article 367 is only with regard to the erstwhile (by the time this write up would see the light of the day the reorganisation bill would have become an Act) State of J&K but nonetheless it amounts to amendment of Article 367 of the Constitution of India. As per the mandate of Article 368 of the Constitution, an amendment to the constitution can only be brought about by following the procedure laid down in Article 368.
I do not wish to on purpose speak on the merit of scrapping of Article 370 as that is a separate discussion and would need thorough understanding of the historical context, terms of Instrument of Accession etc. and is being discussed by virtually everyone who knows something about the turbulent past of the State and its politics. One can understand the fact of Article 370 being a temporary or a transitional provision but even if that had to be done away with, the procedure had to be duly followed, is my only submission since we call ourselves a constitutional democracy.
Misuse of Article 356 is something that we have been a witness to in the past also but this time we have seen it being misused in a way that could and should make all states shudder, whether they have special status or not.
It is understandable that Article 370 could be made inoperative by a notification issued by the President of India, in view of its clause (3) which reads;
(3) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify:
Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.
The proviso to this clause puts a condition i.e. recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the state. In order to meet this constitutional requirement, the government has amended Article 367 and has inserted, as mentioned above, a clause numbered as (4) with 4 sub clauses with respect to the state of J&K.
As far as plain reading of Article 368, which deals with amendment of constitution goes, amendment means any addition, variation or repeal . In this case a clause has been added, therefore as per my understanding an amendment has taken place therefore procedure in the subsequent section of Article 368 had to be followed. However, in this case that procedure has been completely ignored. I am sure the government would have their defence ready in this regard and I can’t seem to wait to know that. A clever way to get out of the mandate of the constitution without violating its spirit would be indeed enlightening for all students of constitutional law. A part of Article 368 is reproduced herein below;
368(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may in exercise of its constituent power amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this Constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down in this article.]
(2) An amendment of this Constitution may be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill for the purpose in either House of Parliament, and when the Bill is passed in each House by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting, 4[it shall be presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill and thereupon] the Constitution shall stand amended in accordance with the terms of the Bill:
It might be a bold step but it has filled me with fear, fear for my legal and also constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights, fear for the very existence of my state as in province , fear for my identity and what I stand for. I fear because I witnessed that the constitutional mandate and spirit can be subverted, brutalised by brute majority. The constitutional safeguards can be consigned to the bin of history by brandishing numbers and circumventing the norms and established precedents and procedures. Yes, it can be challenged in the court of law which I am sure it shall be but the faith of the law-abiding people and all those who understand how system works has suffered an irreparable loss. To me all the venerable concepts of constitutional safeguards, constitutional democracy, due process of law and rule of law sound hollow.
Friday, May 24, 2019
Need to Decipher Democracy
The people of India have spoken loud and clear and given their verdict decisively and unambiguously. There is absolutely no denying the fact that Mr. Modi is seen by the majority of Indians who opted to vote to be the most suitable leader to be at the helm of affairs.
All sorts of allegations were/are levelled against BJP and their modus operandi which were said to be, and rightly so, against the basic tenets of our constitutional spirit. Religious sentiments and nationalism were whipped up and exploited to the hilt and the results are here for everyone to see; his methodology worked and people have responded.
It is high time for people who think otherwise (yours truly included) and have a different notion of what nationalism should stand for and what role religion should play in public polity, to do some introspection. It would be absolutely necessary that a serious attempt is made to understand the reason behind this overwhelming support of the Indian electorate for a party that openly flaunts its religious preference, intolerance of dissent and is a believer of an alternative narrative which till the results were out was considered not mainstream at least by people who are well educated by any standards and have an inclusive worldview ( refraining from using words like much maligned intelligentsia or looked down upon intellectuals).
We need to explore as to why a party that had very little to show or say about jobs, development and growth in a country which needs a healthy dose of all these, absolutely nothing to write home about its credentials vis a vis inclusive tolerant society in a country which has as much diversity as one can think of and can be safely said to have inflammatory views on most sensitive matters, strikes a chord with most of the people of this country. To decipher the anatomy of this mandate is a prerequisite if we have to understand how democracy works and who wins elections.
It surely would be a foolhardiness and a certain arrogance on the part of those people who don’t approve of what Mr. Modi stands for, if this mandate is dismissed as propaganda trumping real issues. Mr. Modi cannot be denied his credit and the fact that he is seen by the majority as not only a saviour but a leader who will take India forward on the path of becoming a super power and a major economy in the world. The adage that you can fool some people sometimes but not everyone all the time works here also. I am sure people would have seen something in him, his ideology and methodology to have placed their destiny for the next 5 years firmly in his hands. Rhetoric could have according to me fooled only a few and not such a large proportion of our electorate. If one could have a better and clear idea of the profile of people who have supported him so decisively and also of people who have not supported his policies, we could perhaps understand what people want. We need to understand better what does he stand for and what have people voted for. We also need to understand what is peoples’ perception of a strong leader and how do they feel that he and his party are most competent to deliver what this country needs most which according to an educated guess should be an inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The only slogans that I could see in this campaign were the need for the country to be in safe hands and the fact that our country needs a strong leader who could make us visible on the world stage. Were we not in safe hands till now is something that baffles me no end. I always thought that we were a strong nation and stable democracy with our able armed forces always ready to face any challenge if there were to arise any.
It was a matter of pride for a lot of us at least that there is a perfect balance as far as division of powers is concerned between the executive and judiciary, between the executive and legislature and also how our armed forces were away from the machinations of politics. Everything seems to have got shaken up in these last few months, but I do understand that these things can’t be of grave concern to a large chunk of population in a nation like ours where poverty is still rampant and education not world class.
I thought people were at least interested in jobs, growth and development and they will support whoever would deliver on those fronts. If the statistics, whatever are available and can be relied upon, are to be believed, there doesn’t seem to be anything worth celebrating on that front but still a majority of this country feels that the current dispensation deserved a more robust mandate. I agree that none of the governments so far have been true to their words and there is no one visible on the Indian political horizon who could be considered both competent and trustworthy to deliver the growth promise, but to say that lack of options or alternative resulted in this landslide victory would be to belittle the wisdom of the electorate of this country.
This election has according to me busted several myths, one of them being that people are most interested in their own growth, development and well-being. There is something else that ticks democracy and no one else except Mr. Modi knows that.
The people of India have spoken loud and clear and given their verdict decisively and unambiguously. There is absolutely no denying the fact that Mr. Modi is seen by the majority of Indians who opted to vote to be the most suitable leader to be at the helm of affairs.
All sorts of allegations were/are levelled against BJP and their modus operandi which were said to be, and rightly so, against the basic tenets of our constitutional spirit. Religious sentiments and nationalism were whipped up and exploited to the hilt and the results are here for everyone to see; his methodology worked and people have responded.
It is high time for people who think otherwise (yours truly included) and have a different notion of what nationalism should stand for and what role religion should play in public polity, to do some introspection. It would be absolutely necessary that a serious attempt is made to understand the reason behind this overwhelming support of the Indian electorate for a party that openly flaunts its religious preference, intolerance of dissent and is a believer of an alternative narrative which till the results were out was considered not mainstream at least by people who are well educated by any standards and have an inclusive worldview ( refraining from using words like much maligned intelligentsia or looked down upon intellectuals).
We need to explore as to why a party that had very little to show or say about jobs, development and growth in a country which needs a healthy dose of all these, absolutely nothing to write home about its credentials vis a vis inclusive tolerant society in a country which has as much diversity as one can think of and can be safely said to have inflammatory views on most sensitive matters, strikes a chord with most of the people of this country. To decipher the anatomy of this mandate is a prerequisite if we have to understand how democracy works and who wins elections.
It surely would be a foolhardiness and a certain arrogance on the part of those people who don’t approve of what Mr. Modi stands for, if this mandate is dismissed as propaganda trumping real issues. Mr. Modi cannot be denied his credit and the fact that he is seen by the majority as not only a saviour but a leader who will take India forward on the path of becoming a super power and a major economy in the world. The adage that you can fool some people sometimes but not everyone all the time works here also. I am sure people would have seen something in him, his ideology and methodology to have placed their destiny for the next 5 years firmly in his hands. Rhetoric could have according to me fooled only a few and not such a large proportion of our electorate. If one could have a better and clear idea of the profile of people who have supported him so decisively and also of people who have not supported his policies, we could perhaps understand what people want. We need to understand better what does he stand for and what have people voted for. We also need to understand what is peoples’ perception of a strong leader and how do they feel that he and his party are most competent to deliver what this country needs most which according to an educated guess should be an inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The only slogans that I could see in this campaign were the need for the country to be in safe hands and the fact that our country needs a strong leader who could make us visible on the world stage. Were we not in safe hands till now is something that baffles me no end. I always thought that we were a strong nation and stable democracy with our able armed forces always ready to face any challenge if there were to arise any.
It was a matter of pride for a lot of us at least that there is a perfect balance as far as division of powers is concerned between the executive and judiciary, between the executive and legislature and also how our armed forces were away from the machinations of politics. Everything seems to have got shaken up in these last few months, but I do understand that these things can’t be of grave concern to a large chunk of population in a nation like ours where poverty is still rampant and education not world class.
I thought people were at least interested in jobs, growth and development and they will support whoever would deliver on those fronts. If the statistics, whatever are available and can be relied upon, are to be believed, there doesn’t seem to be anything worth celebrating on that front but still a majority of this country feels that the current dispensation deserved a more robust mandate. I agree that none of the governments so far have been true to their words and there is no one visible on the Indian political horizon who could be considered both competent and trustworthy to deliver the growth promise, but to say that lack of options or alternative resulted in this landslide victory would be to belittle the wisdom of the electorate of this country.
This election has according to me busted several myths, one of them being that people are most interested in their own growth, development and well-being. There is something else that ticks democracy and no one else except Mr. Modi knows that.
Friday, March 1, 2019
Have been meaning to pen down my thoughts about my parenting style....
I know given your intrinsic nature both of you would consider this a futile exercise but I would still go ahead...
I know you guys would think that I am a rogue parent who made you do all sorts of things, some of which you didn't like at all and some of which you didn't want to do the way I made you do and some of which you would not have done as much as you ended up doing.
I am sure you have already seen the worst in me in every which way while I was bringing you guys up. Let me confide....I found motherhood the toughest thing I have done in my life not that I have done much.
Being a parent is being afraid and unsure all the time as you are or atleast I was on tenterhooks all the time wondering whether what I am doing is right for you guys or not or whether what I am doing is enough or not. I felt so underconfident at times about my methodologies, knowledge, intellect, efforts and the affect my short temperament or ambitious nature would have on your personalities. I used to assure myself that God must have chosen me your mother keeping something in mind. If you guys deserved more or better, you would have been born to someone else. I know that is warped logic but I am a human being with regular failings and may be more than regular failings. For this toughest role in my life I didn't have to take any entrance exam, no one ascertained whether I was capable or not or whether I had all it takes to be a parent. That's how it happens all the time but I thought it's my duty to tell you guys that it is a task of humongous importance and can't be taken lightly. My personality changed being a mother. You get to peep deep inside yourself while raising your child. I know myself so much better now than I knew when I did not have kids.
When I reflect I realise a lot of things could have been done differently and may be the results could also have been different. You guys are fine boys so I feel after all whatever I did wasn't so bad at all. I was what I was and was operating within my limitations, with my strengths and weaknesses. I evolved/ de-evolved ..while you were growing up....
The most important thing I have learnt living my life thus far is that in retrospect you should not criticise your well thought out actions/ decisions. There should not be regrets but definitely there should be lessons. I did whatever I could or was capable of or had capacity for or thought what was right according to my understanding. I am not justifying anything. I am just putting everything on the table... communication for me is the life blood of social beings. I don't like to leave anything to speculation between people you really love and care for.
Well, I am an old school of thought creature. I was somehow convinced and am still absolutely convinced that it's my duty since I gave birth to both of you, to ensure that you are exposed to everything that I know of or can know of. It's my duty to make you guys competent enough so that you can navigate through life successfully whichever way you deem fit. I want you guys to be able to live life fully and explore yourselves completely. I wanted you guys to have all tools to be able to deal with the surprises, curve balls and challenges of life. I wanted you guys to be able to see everything from all humanly possible perspectives and whatever resources I had at my command; intellectually, monetarily, socially and emotionally, I deployed all with utmost sincerity.
I did what I thought was the best and I believed that since I am a mother or a parent it is my natural right to try and bring you up my kids whatever way I deem is the best.
My endeavour all these years was to make you guys independent thinking individuals, didn't want you guys to be our replicas. I wanted you guys to pick up the best from us and discard what held us back. I wanted you guys to be able to explore whatever there is to explore and figure out for yourselves whatever work for you guys.
When I say something i am not trying to intrude in to your lives, I am just concerned that you guys are doing well and on the right path. My intent is to make you guys understand and believe that I love you both unconditionally though it might not look like that. I would always be there when you need me and want me...that's my promise. I will never stand in the way of you guys and your dreams and happiness and I mean this. But I reserve the right to express my independent opinion forever ....well you will have to live with it whether you respect/accept what I think or not and that is irrelevant in any case. I will always respect the fact that both you guys (once you are grown, my first born already is and the younger one is just a couple of years away) own your lives completely, I don't lay any claim on it at all....it will stay like this till I live..
There is absolutely nothing that parents want in return except to see their kids grow in to responsible, sensitive human beings who can empathise with other sentient beings and live happy, healthy and joyous lives.
I do not want to have an obligatory relationship with you guys or for that matter anyone in my life ever.
I wish we have been able to do enough right stuff so that you see merit is ensuring that we are always a part of your life in the real sense of the word.
Your wingspans would increase further and will take you higher and farther but I hope you always remember where you belong and who you are not because I want you to live in the past but because it is only through nutrients received from roots that your wings would become stronger.
I don't want you guys to share with me anything if you don't want, visit us if you don't want. Do things that you want Dil Se always..
For me sincerity, honesty and transparency in my life are important whether in actions or speech or relationships. Well when I am using these words obviously I don't mean everything in absolute terms. These qualities should be in a measure that is humanly possible for an individual given who he or she is.
I hope both of you live well, love each other and be brothers till life lasts DIL SE
I hope we stay relevant in your lives till we live DIL SE.
I know given your intrinsic nature both of you would consider this a futile exercise but I would still go ahead...
I know you guys would think that I am a rogue parent who made you do all sorts of things, some of which you didn't like at all and some of which you didn't want to do the way I made you do and some of which you would not have done as much as you ended up doing.
I am sure you have already seen the worst in me in every which way while I was bringing you guys up. Let me confide....I found motherhood the toughest thing I have done in my life not that I have done much.
Being a parent is being afraid and unsure all the time as you are or atleast I was on tenterhooks all the time wondering whether what I am doing is right for you guys or not or whether what I am doing is enough or not. I felt so underconfident at times about my methodologies, knowledge, intellect, efforts and the affect my short temperament or ambitious nature would have on your personalities. I used to assure myself that God must have chosen me your mother keeping something in mind. If you guys deserved more or better, you would have been born to someone else. I know that is warped logic but I am a human being with regular failings and may be more than regular failings. For this toughest role in my life I didn't have to take any entrance exam, no one ascertained whether I was capable or not or whether I had all it takes to be a parent. That's how it happens all the time but I thought it's my duty to tell you guys that it is a task of humongous importance and can't be taken lightly. My personality changed being a mother. You get to peep deep inside yourself while raising your child. I know myself so much better now than I knew when I did not have kids.
When I reflect I realise a lot of things could have been done differently and may be the results could also have been different. You guys are fine boys so I feel after all whatever I did wasn't so bad at all. I was what I was and was operating within my limitations, with my strengths and weaknesses. I evolved/ de-evolved ..while you were growing up....
The most important thing I have learnt living my life thus far is that in retrospect you should not criticise your well thought out actions/ decisions. There should not be regrets but definitely there should be lessons. I did whatever I could or was capable of or had capacity for or thought what was right according to my understanding. I am not justifying anything. I am just putting everything on the table... communication for me is the life blood of social beings. I don't like to leave anything to speculation between people you really love and care for.
Well, I am an old school of thought creature. I was somehow convinced and am still absolutely convinced that it's my duty since I gave birth to both of you, to ensure that you are exposed to everything that I know of or can know of. It's my duty to make you guys competent enough so that you can navigate through life successfully whichever way you deem fit. I want you guys to be able to live life fully and explore yourselves completely. I wanted you guys to have all tools to be able to deal with the surprises, curve balls and challenges of life. I wanted you guys to be able to see everything from all humanly possible perspectives and whatever resources I had at my command; intellectually, monetarily, socially and emotionally, I deployed all with utmost sincerity.
I did what I thought was the best and I believed that since I am a mother or a parent it is my natural right to try and bring you up my kids whatever way I deem is the best.
My endeavour all these years was to make you guys independent thinking individuals, didn't want you guys to be our replicas. I wanted you guys to pick up the best from us and discard what held us back. I wanted you guys to be able to explore whatever there is to explore and figure out for yourselves whatever work for you guys.
When I say something i am not trying to intrude in to your lives, I am just concerned that you guys are doing well and on the right path. My intent is to make you guys understand and believe that I love you both unconditionally though it might not look like that. I would always be there when you need me and want me...that's my promise. I will never stand in the way of you guys and your dreams and happiness and I mean this. But I reserve the right to express my independent opinion forever ....well you will have to live with it whether you respect/accept what I think or not and that is irrelevant in any case. I will always respect the fact that both you guys (once you are grown, my first born already is and the younger one is just a couple of years away) own your lives completely, I don't lay any claim on it at all....it will stay like this till I live..
There is absolutely nothing that parents want in return except to see their kids grow in to responsible, sensitive human beings who can empathise with other sentient beings and live happy, healthy and joyous lives.
I do not want to have an obligatory relationship with you guys or for that matter anyone in my life ever.
I wish we have been able to do enough right stuff so that you see merit is ensuring that we are always a part of your life in the real sense of the word.
Your wingspans would increase further and will take you higher and farther but I hope you always remember where you belong and who you are not because I want you to live in the past but because it is only through nutrients received from roots that your wings would become stronger.
I don't want you guys to share with me anything if you don't want, visit us if you don't want. Do things that you want Dil Se always..
For me sincerity, honesty and transparency in my life are important whether in actions or speech or relationships. Well when I am using these words obviously I don't mean everything in absolute terms. These qualities should be in a measure that is humanly possible for an individual given who he or she is.
I hope both of you live well, love each other and be brothers till life lasts DIL SE
I hope we stay relevant in your lives till we live DIL SE.
I woke up in the morning and decided to have my morning cup of tea in the balcony. I love this little open space in our apartment which opens to, by Delhi standards, unlimited green area, though divided by physical boundaries in to parks with different nomenclature. We got some rains last night and I was very happy at the thought of some of our severe pollution having got washed away with the showers and that was the reason I was keen to breathe in some less polluted air first thing in the morning.
We have this absolutely gorgeous peepal tree right in front of our balcony. I remember when we bought this apartment about 15 years ago this tree then was a little bigger than a sapling, like a gangly, unsure, teenager trying to find its way in life. We were advised that this should be transplanted somewhere else as in no time it would become a full-fledged tree and take over the entire space around it for a few yards. Its roots might cause danger to the foundations of the building as it has an extensive root system. We didn’t want it to be removed or transplanted because we were happy that this tree would give us our daily dose of oxygen in this polluted city. I knew that it is supposed to give out oxygen 24x7 as apparently peepal tree can do this special type of photosynthesis in the absence of light also and therefore take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere even at night and release oxygen in the process in to the atmosphere. I, infact always looked at it as a natural air purifier which protected my family all these years from the insidious air of delhi. We were for some reason not really bothered about its roots posing a danger to the building’s foundations. It looked benign to me and I could not imagine it willing to do any harm to us as I could feel that it sent me friendly, positive vibes. I could see it smile at us and promising to be of use in future. It was extending a hand of unconditional friendship in a city where nothing is done without a motive by anyone including people that we call friends and family. I could not have said no to its friendly overtures so it remained in its place and I made sure that no one else also tried to either remove it, transplant it or harm it in any way, in the fear of threat that it might pose to the building in future, that in any case is always uncertain and unpredictable.
The lanky teenager peepal started to grow with every passing day and we got busy with raising our family. My younger son was a baby when we moved in over here and his elder brother was almost 4. Everytime I would go to the balcony I would look admiringly at the peepal and marvel at the speed with which it was growing up and didn’t realise when did it become my peepal. Life picked up speed and then I was almost being carried away with its fast currents. There was hardly any time to sit and ponder. Every now and then when I would actually observe my peepal I would be happy to see it grow and being healthy.
Today when I was sipping my tea I realized that like my boys the tree is also in the prime of its youth. It has become big, its branches spread in all directions like wings or may be wanting to embrace everyone to give them a dosage of oxygen. It looks beautiful and is green from top to bottom covered with leaves. To me my peepal is my savior….as if every leaf on it is tirelessly working for my family to ensure that we breath good air.
I can actually hear it speak to me and telling me that it is happy that we didn’t get frightened of him when he was young and didn’t give in to others’ advice of moving him away. I can hear it say to me that I do not pose any danger to your house and will never be, on the contrary I try to protect your family and purify as much air as I can.
I open windows in the mornings which are in my peepal’s directions and I can feel him sending in oxygen. Its amazing but my peepal seems to have become a very close family friend and seems to talk to me all the time.
To my surprise, this morning, I felt that my peepal is beckoning me to see beyond him. It has become so big that the only thing practically now I can see from my balcony is just him…..i felt that it was trying to tell me that there is a beautiful world beyond the luxurious expanse of its magnanimous branches. I could hear it say very clearly that I need to move out of my comfort zone and explore the world and also that I can always come back to the hygge of my peepal whenever I want.
Am I imagining or this peepal that I call my peepal knows me better than others as it has seen the journey of my life day in and day out for years now. Does it know what I want and what I yearn for… I don’t know, I really do not have answers but it does talk to me and reaches out to me.
We have this absolutely gorgeous peepal tree right in front of our balcony. I remember when we bought this apartment about 15 years ago this tree then was a little bigger than a sapling, like a gangly, unsure, teenager trying to find its way in life. We were advised that this should be transplanted somewhere else as in no time it would become a full-fledged tree and take over the entire space around it for a few yards. Its roots might cause danger to the foundations of the building as it has an extensive root system. We didn’t want it to be removed or transplanted because we were happy that this tree would give us our daily dose of oxygen in this polluted city. I knew that it is supposed to give out oxygen 24x7 as apparently peepal tree can do this special type of photosynthesis in the absence of light also and therefore take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere even at night and release oxygen in the process in to the atmosphere. I, infact always looked at it as a natural air purifier which protected my family all these years from the insidious air of delhi. We were for some reason not really bothered about its roots posing a danger to the building’s foundations. It looked benign to me and I could not imagine it willing to do any harm to us as I could feel that it sent me friendly, positive vibes. I could see it smile at us and promising to be of use in future. It was extending a hand of unconditional friendship in a city where nothing is done without a motive by anyone including people that we call friends and family. I could not have said no to its friendly overtures so it remained in its place and I made sure that no one else also tried to either remove it, transplant it or harm it in any way, in the fear of threat that it might pose to the building in future, that in any case is always uncertain and unpredictable.
The lanky teenager peepal started to grow with every passing day and we got busy with raising our family. My younger son was a baby when we moved in over here and his elder brother was almost 4. Everytime I would go to the balcony I would look admiringly at the peepal and marvel at the speed with which it was growing up and didn’t realise when did it become my peepal. Life picked up speed and then I was almost being carried away with its fast currents. There was hardly any time to sit and ponder. Every now and then when I would actually observe my peepal I would be happy to see it grow and being healthy.
Today when I was sipping my tea I realized that like my boys the tree is also in the prime of its youth. It has become big, its branches spread in all directions like wings or may be wanting to embrace everyone to give them a dosage of oxygen. It looks beautiful and is green from top to bottom covered with leaves. To me my peepal is my savior….as if every leaf on it is tirelessly working for my family to ensure that we breath good air.
I can actually hear it speak to me and telling me that it is happy that we didn’t get frightened of him when he was young and didn’t give in to others’ advice of moving him away. I can hear it say to me that I do not pose any danger to your house and will never be, on the contrary I try to protect your family and purify as much air as I can.
I open windows in the mornings which are in my peepal’s directions and I can feel him sending in oxygen. Its amazing but my peepal seems to have become a very close family friend and seems to talk to me all the time.
To my surprise, this morning, I felt that my peepal is beckoning me to see beyond him. It has become so big that the only thing practically now I can see from my balcony is just him…..i felt that it was trying to tell me that there is a beautiful world beyond the luxurious expanse of its magnanimous branches. I could hear it say very clearly that I need to move out of my comfort zone and explore the world and also that I can always come back to the hygge of my peepal whenever I want.
Am I imagining or this peepal that I call my peepal knows me better than others as it has seen the journey of my life day in and day out for years now. Does it know what I want and what I yearn for… I don’t know, I really do not have answers but it does talk to me and reaches out to me.
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