BONSAI

The speedometer was showing 90 km per hour. It wasn’t that Ansh was a speed maniac or that he was analyzing how fast his black beauty {he referred to his thunderbird} could take him, but he wanted to outrun the city, its crowd, its lights and its roar as soon as possible.

He found it hard to believe that once this noise, this crowd fascinated him. He hardly missed a chance to go to the markets, look for different stuffs, he used to enjoy parties and hang outs. Now all this repelled him. Traveling with friends used to be his passion, now it seemed as if he wanted silence and peace. He had grown tired of all that.

To take a ride to the beach at the outskirts of the city after returning from office had been incorporated in his routine now. He used to sit there for hours listening to the melody of the tides accompanied by the salty winds… he felt as if that added flavor to his tasteless life. The few moments he spent each day on the beach were like his driving force. He spent each day in hope that at the end of the day he would get a chance to come back here again.

Sitting in front of the massive ocean, he often thought about his life. Being the eldest son of the family had its price to be paid. With everyone expecting so much from his and the responsibilities that were put on him seemed to crush him. He didn’t blame anyone for expecting from him, but the pull of the anticipations from him were working as gravitational force pulling him into something unknown.

Everyone just saw him as a person settled in life. To them being settled meant having a job that paid him enough and the lifestyle he maintained. But no one actually cared to think of the numerous pains he underwent to be where he is today. It felt as though he was walking on a path that was decided by someone rather than himself, no one ever asked what he wanted out of life. The anticipations were chocking the life out of him.

He often wondered if anyone understood his dilemma. He wasn’t the kind of person who kept nagging about everything but preferred to remain silent. Though it never helped him, yet he wasn’t hurting anyone either. Everyone seemed so engrossed in their own lives that they hardly had time to understand him. His family was happy to see him settled in life that he didn’t want to disappoint them. The girl he loved also came to his mind. It had been days since he talked to him. Did she understand? Maybe not. She was still very immature and captivated in her own life to notice him. Every time he called her she would go on about how many days later he called her and all.

He wanted peace. He wanted to be as he used to be. Sometimes he felt as if he had grown old overnight.

Something he saw this morning has been troubling him since. He didn’t have much to do in the morning so Atul called him up to ask him if he could accompany him for some shopping. Ansh also had some things to buy so he agreed. While they were entering in to the mall, Ansh saw a new shop at the ground floor. It read “BONSAI TREES”

Though Ansh wasn’t a essentially a botany person, yet the art of growing dwarf trees intrigued him a lot. On entering the shop he was enthralled to see many small trees in pots, some were laden with fruits some flowers etc. an old man came up to him and asked, “Can I help you sir?”

He was pale and looked old enough to be sitting on a wheel chair than working here. Ansh replied, “I am just taking a look around”

The man followed him may be out of suspicion that he might intend to harm the trees or god knows steal something. Ansh came to a stop when he saw a tree that looked spiral and next to it was a tree that was almost spherical in shape at its trunk. Unable to hide his curiosity he asked “do the trees grow this way naturally?”

He replied, “No. we actually tie the trees with steel wires when they are growing up and give them the shape we want”

Ansh said ‘don’t you think plants have their own wish to grow as they want? They are also alive”

The man said. “If we let the plant grow as it wants, it will grow many unnecessary branches and wont fruit in time. We won’t get what we expect out of it”

The smile on the man’s face haunted him till now. Seeing a tree all twisted and tied in cables resembled him somehow. Each cable wanted the tee to grow in a certain direction to meet expectations. No one ever wanted the poor tree to grow as it wants, to fruit when it desires.

He looked at his watch. It was nearly 11pm. He should get going. He couldn’t sleep that night.

The next morning he got up and went to the very shop. He specifically asked the man to get him a tree that was tied with wires. He carefully brought the tree home and with the help of a wire cutter, cut each wire, removing them with utmost care. After all the wires were removed, he realized that although he had removed the cables, the scars will always stay on the tree till it breathes its last.

Wish someone kind enough would cut the cables that tied him. A tear trickled down his cheeks.