Wish

I once wished a tree into existence. No one believes me when I say this. I remember someone protesting "You can't wish anything into existence". I countered "How about babies?". That said, I would like to make it clear that I did not give birth to a tree. But I believe, it happened this way.

It was a sunny afternoon. By sunny I don't mean the hot 40 degree summer sun. It was more like the bright 29 degree winter sun. The brightness hurt my eyes. So I decided to rest under a tree. The weather was pleasent and it felt pleasenter under the tree. I lay down on the grass and looked up at the tree. The branches started thick from the trunk and tapered as they reached their ends. Green leaves sprouted from each of the branches. Though the season was considered to be winter, the trees continued to be decked by leaves as we did not have autumn and winter in our lands. My eyes travelled along the different branches of the tree. I noticed a few squirrels scurrying about. A crow sat on one of the branches singing one of the popular rap songs of our times. I don't understand crowish and so could not identify the song. Soon, another crow landed on the branch. They exchanged caws with each other. I was not sure if they were talking to each other or singing a duet. It did not matter for my attention had turned towards the squirrels. They were involved in some sort of drill. They ran quickly from one point to another before stopping abruptly. They, then, scanned the vicinity for something. Suddenly, they stopped scanning and stared at something for a few seconds. I looked in the direction of their vision. They were looking at another branch. I did not anything worth noticing on that branch. By the time, I looked back at the squirrel, they had shifted their sight to another location. Soon, they lost interest in staring at the different locations and decided to continue running around. I watched them till they disappeared into the leaves. 

I moved my gaze directly ahead and stared at the grassland that seemed to stretch out till the horizon. I could not see anything other than the greenness of the land and the near empty blueness of the sky. A few white clouds bravely fought the heat of the blue sky that enveloped them. I thought I identified a face among them that looked at me with envy. The shade under the tree was cool. Soon, I fell into a light sleep. I was not sure for how long I slept. I was woken up by the touch of a hand on my shoulders. The touch did not startle me. I opened my eyes and saw the bearded face of a man who was dressed like a sadhu. He looked at me kindly. Between his moustache and beard lay a benign smile. We looked at each other for a few seconds. For anyone passing by, we would have looked like a three dimensional version of the Raja Ravi Varma painting, 'Wish-a-mitra'. I closed my eyes and opened it again. The sadhu still stood at his place looking at me. I realised I wasn't dreaming. I sat up and bowed to the sadhu humbly. He held up his hand and blessed "May you live for long, my boy" (actually, he said "jeete raho, putr" but I am refraining from the use of Hindi here as I want to keep away the Hindi is/isn't the national language of the India - I will use English, which I believe is the national language of the whole planet). I got up and and with folded hands asked, "How can I help you swamiji?" The sadhu's smile became wider as he responded "Large is the heart that believes in helping others. I wish to rest son." I looked around and realised that the spot I had used a few minutes earlier was the best spot to sleep. I pointed to the spot and requested the sadhu to rest there. 

I extended my bottle of Aquafina to the sadhu as he settled down at the spot. He took the bottle from my hand, looked at it and said "Hmmm, Aquafina!" I looked at him surprised. He smiled and responded, "I cannot read English but I can identify the label and the letter for the sound 'A'". I smiled sheepishly but did not say anything. He returned the bottle to me and said "Water refreshes one's mind. Now let me rest for sometime". I sat at a distance and watched the sadhu sleep. Soon, sleep overcame my wakefulness. Once again, I was lost in lands that only existed in my head. I was not sure how long I slept. I woke up with a start when I felt the touch of a hand on my shoulders. I looked at the bearded face of a stranger. I did not remember the face and asked in confusion "What! Who are you?" The stranger smiled and responded "Don't you remember me, son. You allowed me to sleep at the spot that you found comfortable enough to sleep and let me drink a few sips of water from your bottle of Aquafina." The mention of Aquafina struck a bell; I remembered. "Forgive me Swamiji. I slept." The sadhu said "You are a good man. I shall grant you a boon. Think of a wish." I felt confused "A boon?" The sadhu nodded his head in affirmation. My confusion did not fade away and I repeated "A wish?" Once again, the sadhu nodded and said "Wish!" At that moment, I noticed the tree behind the sadhu and for reasons known only to 'noone-knows-who' thought "What a beautiful tree!" The sadhu confirmed "Yes, this is a beautiful tree, and I am glad that that is your wish." He turned around and said some words while waving his hand. Instantly, a tree that looked identical to tree under which we were, appeared in front of us.

I looked at the new tree with amazement. The amazement soon turned into disappointment. I realized that I had lost my boon. I protested "but I only thought the tree was beautiful. That was not a wish." The sadhu "But did you not wish the tree well when you thought it was beautiful." I responded in confusion "I did but that wish is different from the wish that I have." The sadhu corrected me "A wish is a wish. Goodbye son". I tried to protest but the sadhu took no heed of it and walked away. Soon, he disappeared behind the new tree. I lay down against the tree, the first one, and stared at the tree, the new one. I felt disappointed. What use is a tree for me? I wasted a boon on a tree! I could have asked for millions and all I could think of, at that moment, was a tree. I looked up at the tree I was lying under. It was beautiful and in a way, gave me comfort but was it worth giving up the riches for. I punched the root of the tree. I am not sure if the punch made any difference to the tree but my fist ached badly. I held the aching palm in my other palm and rocked myself to sleep. 

When I woke up, I found the leaves of the tree I was sleeping under, glaring at me. The sun's journey for the day had nearly come to the end. I remembered the dream and smiled. What a selfish dream! I stared at the leaves and wondered if I would have been as frustrated as I was in the dream if I had really wished for a tree. I thought "No. I would have been happy for the world. The world needs more trees and not another millionaire". I sat up and noticed a tree right in front of the tree I was lying under. I felt shocked. I did not remember the tree. A million questions ran through my head. The underlying thought behind all these questions were the same, "Did that tree exist earlier?" One part of me was told me that the tree did not exist earlier. But my rational side did not agree. Ultimately, the rational side lost the argument. I believed that I had not dreamt the sadhu and his boon. I had actually wasted a boon by wishing for a tree! I felt bitter and angry. How could I have wasted a boon on a tree? I could have asked for millions. What use is a tree for the world? What use is that tree for me? What kind of fool am I? Once again, I punched the root of the tree that I was lying under. As in the previous case, my fist hurt. I held the hurting palm in my other palm and rocked myself to sleep.