When I miss a place
I mainly miss its trees.
The प्राजक्त or पारिजात at our neighbors
orange stems on tiny white flowers
fallen on the entire road.
तगर and other pretty white flowers
with dark green leaves
False Ashok, whose leaves were
the colour of chillies
(I made fake भाजी with them as a child)
My mother showed me how to make the flowers
of the Cork tree (बूच), into a braid.
My grandmother taught me to love
the wash of an orange Gulmohur
the brightness of tea leaves
against it, a purple jacaranda
And the crooked strange orange of
the पळस, पलाश
The bright shamelessness of Ghaneri
the elusive toxicity of pink weeds
that we used to call
ice cream flowers
My brother showed me
the canopies of Bangalore
and infinite shade.
The giant delicate Neem, its flowers
वटवृक्श, its own ecosystem of sorts
I would casually meet some बाभूळ or बबूल
with its selection of thorns
The most important summer tree was अमलतास
Its yellow flowers signifying
an unrestrained summer.
The tamarind trees at our school -
the gunja or रत्ती
little read beads from the pretty tree
with compound leaves
I have never liked the perfect पीपल
Heart-shaped leaves that are
holier than thou
Or the weak चाफा or चंपा
Reminding me of the feminine and the fragile
And from ふるさと
dry teak leaves larger than our faces
showing the web of their veins
Ghost-barks of Eucalyptus -
the import and the fantasy
I moved later to some coconut palms, and
Mango trees fruiting and flowering, and
The silk cotton trees across Chennai's roads
Giant Jackfruits growing in people's homes
And later, in Hyderabad
I met the African Locust tree,
filled with tennis balls in the spring
The copper pod trees
that beautified and littered our campus
And the autumn display of the Bougainvillea
Hyderabad roads hit by a blinding flash
of paper flowers.
And i still will never forget
the 松、桜、菊、but mostly the
松
Its crooked nature, and its habit of growing anywhere,
even on the beach.
Its getting overshadowed by the pretty 桜 and 梅
and their blossom.
Now I am amongst conifers I do not know.
Maples I do not understand
Mushrooms that are sometimes toxic
Berries I can't rely on
And trees that don't have a habit of
staying green.