Felling of the Banyan Tree
Grows and seethes in one's dreams
Explain the last lines and the poem's message about the environment.
Soon after, the family moves from Baroda to Bombay, a city where there are no trees.
Except one, the poet says: the banyan, which grows and seethes in his dreams.
In his dreams, its aerial roots are still searching for ground to strike. The memory of the tree, and perhaps the guilt, will not rest.
The poem speaks to a concern of our own time: trees cut down to make way for buildings and roads, and cities left without green.
Words from the poem: drumstick (sheoga), cluster fig (oudumber) and neem; the banyan's 'scraggy' beard of roots; an aerial view; a sacred river.
A felled tree can live on as guilt and longing.
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